When we entertain, particularly on weekends, my partner David and I usually divide up the cooking dish by dish: one takes the soup, the other the meat, and so on. This works pretty well. Responsibilities are clear, nobody feels like the other’s sous-chef (or galley slave), and it’s relatively easy to work out the timing so that one of us is free to chase little Julia around the house.
When we share cookbooks, though, we sometimes bump into each other. Around the third time one wheels around to check a measurement or temperature and finds the cookbook turned to the wrong page, things can get a little tense.
For the sake of harmony as well as efficiency, some sort of bookmark is required, and a couple of weeks ago I found the perfect item. These are hinged like a clothespin so each can mark two spots in the book. Their large handles also let you to turn between two recipes without touching the pages with your sticky kitchen fingers. Best yet, they are beautifully inlayed in Egypt with an intricate pattern of bone and mother of pearl.
I found these markers for $8-$12 each at Bram, a unique cookware shop on the town square in Sonoma, California. (More on Bram later.) They’re not available in Bram’s online store (www.bramcookware.com), but if you call them on (707) 935-3717 or toll free on (866) 970-2726, they can send them to you. 
