Thursday, July 23, 2015

The Great Cookbook Challenge

I think I may have previously mentioned a little something about our cookbook challenge that the girls and I are doing. It all started when Rosebud decided one of her life goals was to make every single recipe in a cookbook.

She was thrilled that it was something she could start on right away. One recipe per week for however long it takes. She went through my collection of cookbooks carefully to make sure she chooses one that's not overwhelming, and yet has plenty of great recipes to try. She finally settled on one that will take around two years to get through. So far there was only one recipe that we know we don't want to make again. Most of them turned out delicious.


After week two of Rosebud's challenge Sunbeam and I decided we want to join. We each chose a cookbook we thought we would want.

I selected this one, and so far every recipe has been a winner. An added bonus is we get to enjoy a Mexican night every week.

 
Sunbeam chose to start the challenge with this recipe book. It didn't look overwhelming and the pictures inside looked good. It was a small recipe book that would only take her a little over a year to get through. The first recipe was .... eh. Not terrible, but not really good either. The next two recipes were no better. The one that followed was so awful each of us could only choke down one bite.

If you ever see this cookbook, walk away, do not buy it unless you enjoy dreadful recipes.

With that horrible luck we decided a new recipe book would be chosen for her. She settled on this one. After two weeks of delicious food she counted the recipes and discovered it would take her 14½ years to get through the book. That looked pretty much hopeless to her so once ago she chose another book.

There is nothing Amish about this cookbook other than the name. At least the recipes are great, and she has finally found the book that she will complete for this challenge.

12 comments:

  1. This sounds like so much fun. I think it's now derful that you and the girls are doing this together. That Mexican would definitely be a hit with my Hubby. :-)
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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  2. Do you happen to have a copy of The Best of Country Cooking from 2001? On page 61 of that cook book is a recipe that I contributed.

    Happy cooking! BTW: I love Mexican Food.

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  3. What a great idea! Especially for people (like me) who struggle with what to fix! I have a zillion cookbooks to look at and join!

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  4. I've thought of doing that, too. One drawback is that I don't like desserts, so I'd have to say either "every recipe but a dessert" or try to find a cookbook with no desserts. And no raisins.

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  6. What a great idea! I love cookbooks and sometimes read them just for fun.

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  7. What a fun idea! It's a shame that lunch box recipe cookbook didn't work out.

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  8. When I was still working for a temp agency, we would choose one cookbook to use for a week. Between us, we'd select the recipes and make up a shopping list, and then if I got called in, Hubby would be able to fix dinner without any problems. Fortunately, he is VERY easy to feed. We've found a couple recipes that looked good on paper, but didn't work out, but it's one way to force some variety into your meals.

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  9. What a fun idea, and a great way to make memories with your girls! I have some cookbooks that I keep just for sentimental value. One is my mom's copy of the 1950 Betty Crocker Picture Cook Book that she got as a wedding gift when she and my dad got married in 1954. My two sisters and I learned how to cook using many recipes from the cookbook. Every time I prepare a recipe from it, it takes me back to those sweet times when we were kids and both of our parents were still living (Dad died in 2005; Mom died 5 months ago).

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  10. What a great challenge! And along the way you can gather recipes for a personal recipe book for later. And meals will never be boring! We talked about baking all the cookie recipes in a book we have...Perhaps something to think about again!

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  11. What a great challenge! And along the way you can gather recipes for a personal recipe book for later. And meals will never be boring! We talked about baking all the cookie recipes in a book we have...Perhaps something to think about again!

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment. I love hearing your thoughts.