I collect old cookbooks, preferably used and well worn. I buy them inexpensively at flea markets, used book stores, and yard sales. When I open the fragile pages and find an old stained recipe, grocery list, or a birthday card, I feel like I am opening a time capsule. I love scrutinizing the old recipes, noting what ingredients were popular, and what particular dishes (usually long fallen out of favor) were considered fashionable at the time. I love making fun of the old jello molds, kodachrome pictures, and fatty meat roasts. And at times, I actually learn a little more food history, and feel like a low budget archeaologist.