So one thing I realized, when I moved, is that my cookbook collection was out of control. Books always added with good intentions and hopes of expanding my cooking skills. Most sadly sat on my bookshelf their spines hardly bent and their pages mostly pristine. As I sat organizing my home office-library-craft room, oh heck... my multi-use room, I pulled out three titles and brought them upstairs. I thumbed through them and thought I should give myself a new fun project. Perfect timing as the outside temperatures are about to tumble.
I selected the two Mark Bittman books in my collection and one slow cooker book in my collection. I may pull up a fourth on cooking with cast iron if I get ambitions, but for now the three are enough to keep me me occupied with a weekly cooking project.
Why these three cook books out of the few dozen that are in my library? Well I like how Bittman write and I have heard enough people rave about his original book, the yellow one in the picture, I decided it would be a good one to work with out of the blocks. (Note this book has been revised and is now in a red cover, people seem to still like the original one better according to several reviews I have read.) Next, I selected the other Bittman book in my collections, "the basics". Why? because through this process, I would like to expand my culinary skills and I am sure there are plenty of lessons in this volume to keep me occupied for quite some time. The third book, a slow cooker cookbook was also to expand my culinary repertoire. Slow cookers, or as many of call them Crockpots, kind of intimidate me. Not sure why, I guess leaving the thing on, cooking away and unattended, while I go off to work unnerves me a bit. My friends that use them regularly, swear by them and the thought of walking in the door to dinner ready and waiting is enough me to allow me to dabble in this area. I figure I will break myself in easy with a soup or stew that can simmer away while I run short errands near where I live. Most of my cooking projects will be on Sundays and many may make their way into posts (both the successes and the failures.) I think I am looking forward to this winter more now than I was earlier in the month.