adventures of a food nerd

we recently acquired the smitten kitchen cookbook (read about and purchase it here). this post is not a review of this book.

i’m telling you all this because i’d like to tell you something i’ve discovered about buying cookbooks. previously, i would buy a book or check one out of the library and cook from it until either i don’t need it anymore and pass it on or it becomes a staple in our kitchen library. 

sometimes i get a book, and i only really like a few of the recipes in it. in those cases, i either cook the recipe so many times that i memorize it or change it and then pass the book on. but this book was different. 

we’ve made eight or ten recipes from the book including recipes that are vegetarian, recipes with meat, and a dessert. and we haven’t really liked any of them. i’m telling you this not because it’s not a good book, but to reassure you all that sometimes a cook is not in synch with a cookbook. 

i’m hopeful, though. a lot of the recipes in the book are very winter-friendly and sort of summer unfriendly. sometimes because of the ingredients involved, and sometimes because of how heavy the recipe would be or because it uses the oven and we don’t use our air conditioner in the summer because charlie’s afraid of it. so maybe my winter vibrations will jive better with the vibrations of this book. 

i just wanted to let you all know that sometimes this happens. and you’re not alone. :)