Chez Panisse is certainly all about Alice Waters but imagine my glee when rummaging around a Palm Springs thrift store, I stumbled upon a first edition of Chez Panisse Desserts by Lindsey Remolif Shere.
Remolif Shere was Chez Panisse's pastry chef when the restaurant first opened in the 1971 and she stayed on until 1998. The book not only showcases scrumptious illustrations by pop artist Wayne Thiebaud, who made his name painting pastries, but it also has some irresistible recipes.
Imagine the seductive originality of recipes for Blood Orange Curd, Rose Geraniun Pound Cake or Sugared Rose Petals. It doesn't get any better than that.
Regarding old cookbooks, our well-used "Joy of Cooking" is one that dates back before the edition that the current one was meant to fix. It's held together with a thick rubber band when it isn't in use, but it's still better than the current "fixed" version.
We also have a handful of old books that we keep around for entertainment purposes more than cooking, including an original hardcover copy of "Wolf in Chef's Clothing: The Picture Cook and Drink Book for Men." A hilariously out-of-step book for swinging bachelors.
OMG! What a gem you've found! Have you tried any of the recipes yet? I recently tried Alice Waters' apple tartine recipe (it was published in my local Sunday newspaper magazine) and it was awesome!
Glad you found it! The paperback edition remains in print, but the Thiebaud jacket makes the first edition more fun, and the binding more practical.
She wrote the entire book in soft pencil on discarded sheets of typing paper, typed on the other sides, and I had to decipher the whole thing and type it in -- on the first computer we ever owned, a 64k Morrow. Those were the days.