Ok so I'm not actually 'cooking the books' (in either sense of the phrase!) but I've decided once and for all (having tried to come up with several ideas in the past and failed!) to really start using my cookbooks to cook from rather than just reading them! True, with reading comes a lot of knowledge and inspiration but it's also nice to actually cook the recipes as the author intended. It's far too easy to read them, drool over them then pop them on the shelves and over time forget about the recipes you were absolutely going to try! Trust me – I am the worst culprit for it! In fact I am quite often frustrated when I decide to randomly pick out a book to look at again and then am reminded of it's delicious recipes and beautiful photography and prose that I had completely forgotten about!
Dom over at Belleau Kitchen hosts Random Recipes which is a fantastic monthly bloggers challenge where you randomly pick a book every month (depending on his theme) then pick a random recipe from it, which I love and try and take part in when I can (if you haven't seen it have a look here for this month's challenge). This is a little similar except I get to pick my books and the recipes that appeal (big difference!). The similarity between the two is more to use your cookbooks to cook from! Therefore starting now, every month I will select 2 books to try and hope to make at least 4 recipes from each book. At the end of the month I'll post my reviews. That simple.
If you have the same books that I select please feel free to cook along with me and let me know how you get on. If you feel like doing a review I would love for you to add your link, however that's totally optional – it's not a challenge after all, just more a resolution for me really to use my wonderful library of books!
So there you have it, I am finally going to really start Cooking the Books! Up first for the month of January I have picked one of my new Christmas additions, Full of Flavour: Create....how to think like a chef by Maria Elia and Jamie's 30 Minute Meals by Jamie Oliver – a good one for this time of year I think!
Remember if you have one or both of these books please feel free to join in and make an effort to cook from them this month! Happy Cooking!
Great idea! ... and I remember that you have a ton of cookbooks to choose from! I look forward to this series!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
Sounds like a lot of fun... I wish I had one of those cookbooks to join you. :) I have a lot of cookbooks but I don't use them enough either. This year for Xmas I got "A new turn in the south" and "Escoffier" hubby always buys me cookbooks that are NOT on my wish list lol to surprise me. Maybe the next cookbooks you choose I'll have. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! I am just like you and tend to just thumb through my cookbooks. I love that but I rarely actually make a recipe from one of them.
ReplyDeleteAwesome idea - I totally am guilty of forgetting about recipes myself! :)
ReplyDeleteI have the same problem, read them and shelf them, I should go dust off the layers of dust and make a few recipes from them.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! I have stacks and stacks of forgotten cookbooks. I need more space in the kitchen!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! Love this. I am guilty of NOT cooking the books too and this is a great resolution for the new year. Can't wait to see what you come up with!
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent plan and I look forward to reading your cookbook reviews! That way I know which books to go out and buy :)
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone!It's so easy not to use books and I think it's easier to do the more books you have!!
ReplyDeleteI have to say it actually feels so good actually cooking from a recipe book!! Will definitely give me some new inspiration and guidance for those days when I can't think of anything and of course means you get some reviews which you can read before deciding if you want to buy the book or not!
Hopefully next month I will pick some books that you have so if you want to join in you can! Happy Cooking : )
Great idea! I'll cook along with you! I've got a Jamie book, but not that one...
ReplyDeleteFantastic Elizabeth! How have you got on? I've just posted my review of Jamie's 30 Minute Meals so feel free to add a link if you do a review of your Jamie book! Happy Cooking! : )
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