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I haven't posted in a while but I have been cooking. I had a brief fling with braising and and a couple of forays into soups but in these cold winter months I long for a familiar comfort....baking. I've been making whole wheat cocoa nib cookies, hippo cheese crackers and a giant New York Cheesecake. To be honest I've been doing a lot of Smitten Kitchen's recipes. I have taken a break from cookbooks as they have become an expensive habit and I wasn't feeling inspired. I tried the local library and was surprised that the Barefoot Contessa, Nigella or Sophie Dahl were not able to break my cookbook doldrums. 

A couple weeks ago I came across a post about The Communal Table, it's playful design and accessible recipes spoke to me. A Casual Setting is the first in a series of cookbooks about eating and gathering, curated and illustrated by Caroline Hwang. The recipes are accessible and appetizing. The bonus is that any money made from the books will be donated to a food-related organization. I can't wait to make the man steak for eight!

With Spring comes a new crop of cookbooks and while I have no interest in Gwyneth's book there were plenty of good books coming out. One in particular is Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes From London's Ottolenghi, I'm still on the waiting list for that one but I ordered another one with it that just arrived it's called Chicken and Egg: A Memoir Of Suburban Homesteading with 125 Recipes. I don't know if it's  the fact that we're getting more daylight or these new crop of cookbooks but I feel ready to cook again.

every story has a first chapter

I did not grow up with a passion for food. When I was younger I didn't think much about it. I wished for McDonalds and Pizza Hut when my family went out for dim sum or when my dad made these beautiful home cooked meals. As I got older parties were catered by Pizza Pizza and the most I did was open a box in order to bake a cake. Even now I wouldn't call myself a foodie. I don't go out to the hottest restaurants or try the latest in food trends. So you must be thinking what am I doing here writing about food? Well I love to cook and would much rather make it at home. I guess you could call me a "cookie." Which is a suitable name because baking was what led me to love food.

It officially started with one book How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson. Actually it was her lava cakes. Simple, delicious and a huge crowd pleaser. This began my official love affair with baking and cookbooks. I have always collected cookbooks for the photos and when one book turned into 10 turned into 20 I realized I had a problem. I made a promise that if I didn't make at least one recipe from a book I had to get rid of it. It wasn't easy at first. I was a beginner at baking and the only meal I could make was spaghetti and tomato sauce from a bottle. But I slowly began to crack the spines and splatter the pages and would now be what would pass for decent home cook. It only took about 5 years!

I have never had a monogamous relationship with a cookbook, I make a recipe once maybe twice and move onto the next one. But when I realized a couple months ago that I had 6 books which I had yet to make a recipe from I decided that I would try commitment for at least for a month. So I'm making at least 5 recipes from a book and will document it all on this blog. A bit of a poor man's version of Julia and Julia. So begins my first chapter. I've started with Gluten Free Girl and the Chef by Shauna James Ahern and Daniel Ahern.