Brownsville, Halifax, Brooklyn, Austin, Manhattan, Brandon, New Orleans, and Phoenix.

Bread, soup, potatoes, chocolate, cupcakes, cookies, BBQ, smoking, tarts, seafood, and berries.

Chinese, Arab, Cretan, Italian, Thai, Caribbean, Spanish, Ukrainian, Cuban, and French.

We were cleaning out our teak hutch on the weekend in order to put new legs on it. Hubby emptied the contents - all my cookbooks - on the dining room table. In theory that would be a good time to review and purge. In theory. Instead, I reviewed and reminded myself of some enjoyable reads, vacations, and inspiring recipes that have never been tried.

My collection of cookbooks includes souvenirs from cities visited (both by us and others), gifts from speaking engagements, birthday and Christmas presents, impulse buys from the grocery store and one of my favourite stores, and a growing assortment of community cookbooks. I am one of those weird people who actually reads cookbooks. I try to stay away from celebrity cookbooks, but that is getting harder and harder. Hence the growing collection of community cookbooks. My collection serves as a history of where I've been and want to go - in the world and in my cooking.

Don't get me started on my magazines...