baking books

As 2017 begins, you may be reinvigorated to create in the kitchen, especially if you received new cookbooks or kitchen gadgets for the holidays. I've already put together a list of recipes to try from cookbooks that have recently found their way to my Bookshelf, including Classic German Baking, Dorie's Cookies, Art of the Pie, and Marbled, Layered & Swirled (good thing I didn't make any healthy eating New Year's resolutions). Plus I am searching for recipes to fit in my squee new Le Creuset petite oval casserole, and I haven't even peeked at the bargain eBooks I purchased in December.

When I get a new cookbook, my first order of business is to read the introduction. Then I skim the book, cover to cover, mentally evaluating and ranking each recipe. This procedure inevitably results in an impossibly long list, so I go back over the book a second time to pare down to a handful of dishes that I designate as "must try" dishes. Choosing recipes that make use of ingredients on hand helps cull the list. The reading and selecting usually takes place during the week, and I tackle the actual cooking and baking on the weekends. I try to focus on one cookbook or baking book at a time so I don't get overwhelmed, but I have been known to cheat on this practice.

No matter how many new dishes I make, my list of "must try" recipes grows longer. This is not a surprise as the list corresponds to my ever-enlarging library. The lengthening of the list doesn't bother me; it's reassuring to always have something new to look forward to trying. Even when the recipes utterly disappoint me, I don't regret trying them because I always learn something. 

So far I've made three recipes from Classic German Baking. I've left notes on the recipes (Chocolate-stuffed yeasted cake (Schokoladen-gugelhupf), Poppy-seed braid (Mohnzopf), and Apple strudel (Apfelstrudel)). Next I'm working on Dorie's Cookies, starting with Vanilla-brown butter madeleines.

What's your approach to finding inspiration and trying new recipes in cookbooks? Do you go through a book cover to cover or just stop at the first recipe that catches your eye? Do you stick to one book at a time or do you flirt with many volumes simultaneously? Which cookbooks are inspiring you from your holiday haul?