A little over 30 years ago I set off on a new adventure -- I was on my way to college, taking with me not only a lot of courage, but pretty much most of my earthly possessions. My mom made sure I was well equipped, and relinquished some of her older kitchen ware for my use. (Some well-worn muffin tins, a cast iron frying pan, a half-broken toaster.) Nothing was too good for her daughter. In with the mix of supplies was this little beauty:

The Better Homes and Garden "New" Cookbook was hardly new when I received it in 1979. It was, in fact, a wedding gift to my mom and dad in 1952. Just the same, I was happy to have it, as I really knew nothing about culinary procedures. It had everything in it -- canning and freezing techniques, information on all types and cuts of meat, a list of ingredient substitutions, information on quantities for feeding the masses, etc.

Over the past 30 years that book has become a second bible to me. Not that I'm a great cook, but I know that if I ever need any information in the kitchen, it will be there. So for the past several years this prized possession has started looking a little worse for the wear. Both front and back covers have come off, many of the pages are dog-eared, and several have even fallen out and gone missing. Fast forward to 2010:

I've seen the updated versions of this book in stores for the past few years -- usually at Christmas --and always wondered if I should put it on my wish list. (Suggested retail price of $49.99) I guess the cheapskate in me always figured I could get a little more use out of my old one. A couple of months ago, however, I was at Homesense and found the updated version of this book on sale for only $7.99. How could I resist buying it? It was new. It was shiny. It was obviously in much better condition than the old one, and upon closer inspection it not only seemed to have most of the same information, but even a bit more modern information added to it. I went home pleased with my purchase, showing it off to The Mr. and everyone else at home.

I'm sure it's a really great cookbook -- I even gave it a place of honor on my shelf. And yet, two months later, I still can't bring myself to throw away the old one. We've been through a lot together, and somehow it wouldn't seem right to just throw it out. Almost as if I were being unfaithful. Hmm....

Dixie