41. Vintage Cookbooks - Worth Up To $3,000

41. Vintage Cookbooks - Worth Up To $3,000

Why are old cookbooks suddenly valuable? Who knows. Maybe retro food is going to be the next big thing in dining. Maybe people are curious about what previous generations ate during an area where you couldn't send out for a takeaway. Maybe it's just those pesky hipsters again, demonstrating that they'll overpay dramatically for anything that's old and vastly inflate the market price by doing so. Whatever the cause, old cookbooks are definitely 'in.'

Chances are you may know someone who has a few of these around their home, because they're less likely to be the sort of book you'd throw out when you're doing some home clearing. After all, you'll always need food, so why not keep the recipes? Early works by celebrity authors and chefs are particularly popular, with an original edition of 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' by Julia Child from 1961 being valued at anything up to $3,000.

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Did You Know...

I

Chefs made their way into celebrity land a while ago. But how many celebrities that weren’t trained as professional cooks are actually whizzes in the kitchen? Here are several that come to mind.

II

Actress Julia Roberts is confident about her cooking skills. “I’m quite a good cook,” she told E! News. “I’m like a closet home ec teacher…I can really cook anything.” Roberts has said she often cooks fish for herself and her kids. And speaking of her three children, “They think that I’m a good cook,” Roberts told People. “They actually told me that I should open a restaurant.” She also relishes cooking for the holidays, particularly shredded Brussel sprouts. Roberts hasn’t published a cookbook, but we did find recipes attributed to her for peach crisp and banana hemp muffins. Or you can make the same summer salad the actress supposedly eats.

III

Chrissy Teigen started off as a supermodel. Then her love of cooking filtered into her professional life too. At this point, she’s created recipes for a limited Blue Apron release and also just launched her own home and cooking line at Target named “Cravings,” after the two cookbooks she’s released. Teigen describes cooking as “a time of peace” for herself. So maybe peace out to her tuna melt sandwich or the fried chicken wings that are a favorite of her husband, John Legend.

IV

Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, comes from a cooking Italian family. Her father started his own restaurant in New York and also published a cookbook. And apparently, Lady Gaga has inherited the family’s cooking genes. Her Instagram account occasionally features photos of her culinary activities. Sure, sometimes it’s topless cooking. But other times it’s more poignant like in the post she shared about her bringing food to the family of her dear friend who passed away. Want to try a Gaga/Germanotta family favorite? Check out her recipe for whole wheat pasta with a sweet fennel sauce.

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