A few years ago, I took on a year-long challenge of cooking as many recipes from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook as possible. I ended up cooking 59 out of 105 recipes and recapped that experience in this post. At that point in my life, I didn’t know much about cooking and cooking through the cookbook helped me learn about new ingredients, practice new techniques, and overall, become more confident in the kitchen. With my success with the first cookbook, I had been eyeing the new Smitten Kitchen cookbook – Smitten Kitchen Every Day – that recently released, and my secret Santa was so kind to include it in my gift at the end of the year.

A few months ago, Boyfriend announced he impulsively bought a Thai cookbook because he heard an interview about it on NPR. (My public relations background is yelling SEE! DIRECT ROI ON PR!) “Oh great,” I, the Debbie Downer, thought, “something that is only going to take up space.” But when it came in the mail, we excitedly looked through it, recognizing dishes we had enjoyed during our Thailand trip.

So, we have some new cookbooks. Now what?

Pineapple Shrimp Fried Rice from Night + Market Cookbook

#CookbookChallenge This Year!

How many cookbooks do you have and how often do you use them? These days, I rely on blogs and food websites to give me recipes and ideas. Search for a recipe and you’ll likely find a handful, if not more, solid versions of the recipe. Cookbooks are beautiful to look at but for me, they collect dust more often than being used. I don’t like being wasteful and with these new cookbooks, I decided we go ALL IN, and that’s how my goal of cooking through Smitten Kitchen Every Day and Night + Market came about.

We’re going to try our best and make all 232 recipes by the end of this year.

If you’re doing the math in your head, that’s roughly 19 recipes a month and four recipes a week, a pretty tall task. There’s a slim chance we will truly make all the recipes but the fun is in the journey, right? We usually cook at home on weekdays, and there will be potlucks and co-workers who will devour sweet treats.

Nevertheless, we’ll have fun with these cookbooks. Smitten Kitchen Every Day has a strong variety of recipes, including recipes for every meal time and sections for cookies, tarts and pies, cakes, and puddings. Night + Market is all Thai recipes, though some feature other Asian flavors.

It’s an ambitious goal, I know, but in this journey, I know I’ll learn/re-learn a lot.

• I’ll experiment with new ingredients.
• I’ll make dishes of different cultures.
• I’ll try out new cooking techniques and processes.
• I’ll save money by cooking more at home instead of going out to eat.
• I’ll find favorite recipes I’ll come back to for years.
• I’ll share the experience with friends by hosting dinner parties or making things for gatherings.
• I’ll become more comfortable with cooking.
• I’ll have a boost of adventure and creativity!

It’s a commitment to cook through a cookbook, but when it comes to food, it feels more like a fun hobby than work. It also helps that Boyfriend is on board (or at least lovingly going along with my plans) for this adventure. Many times, we are cooking the recipes together or for timing reasons on weekdays, I prep them for him to execute. Cooking more at home AND bonding time – sounds like a win-win to me!

Blueberry Muffins from Smitten Kitchen Every Day

How I Keep Track of the Progress

My previous challenge included a Word Document list of all the recipes, and I crossed them out digitally, changing the number of recipes made manually.

This time around, I’m all about the SPREADSHEET. I have every recipe listed with a place to add the date I made it, the difficulty level, and any notes about the process or result. Most importantly, I’ve created it to automatically add up how many recipes I’ve made so far. #NerdAlert, I know, but it makes my organizational brain so happy.

Here’s a screenshot of the Smitten Kitchen Every Day spreadsheet. I added some arrows and notes for you.

Oh, I already know how nerdy this is. When I excitedly showed Boyfriend my creation his response was a slow “ok…whatever makes you happy.”

Want to Join in the Fun?

Our current count is 35 out of 232 recipes made! Moving along!

If you’re interested in joining the cookbook challenge, DO IT! Make it fun for you, whatever that looks like. Let me know what cookbook you’re cooking through, and I would love to keep up with your progress.

Double Coconut Meltaway Cookies from Smitten Kitchen Every Day

Have you ever tried cooking through a cookbook? Do you have any favorite cookbooks or where do you find new recipes?

P.S. A cookbook potluck is one party idea I still love. Have you ever tried it?

Keep up with me elsewhere! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Bloglovin’. You can also subscribe to the exclusive email list.

The post Cooking Through a Cookbook appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

With the wealth of recipes available on the Internet, using a cookbook wasn’t a regular activity for me. Many would agree, it’s much easier to find a recipe or use a combination of recipes online that fit your time limit, serving size, and available ingredients instead of making do with a recipe in front of you. What I didn’t expect when I started this goal of cooking through a cookbook was how rewarding it would be.

In November 2012, Deb Perelman of the blog Smitten Kitchen came to Austin for her new cookbook tour. My friend Rochelle, being a big fan of the blog, invited me to hear her speak and we ended up getting new, signed cookbooks. I’ve had cookbooks before but they are mostly focused on cupcakes and baking. They also collect dust on my bookshelf. With this new cookbook and the desire to expand my cooking skills, I set out to make all the recipes in 2013. Spoiler alert: to date, I’ve completed 59 out of 105 recipes. 

I’ve loved this fun and somewhat tedious journey. Here’s a run-down of what I think of the cookbook, cooking preparation, and recipes:

• The cookbook is filled with personal stories about each recipe told in Deb’s sassy and down-to-earth style, just like her blog. It’s entertaining and makes the recipes so much more meaningful.

• The beautiful photos are plentiful and inspirational. I love that it has a pretty cover when you take the dust jacket off.

• The recipes are easy to follow and execute, though I needed more time than I expected on several occasions. Having ingredients cut, measured, and ready to put together really speeds things up. When it comes to cooking, I’ve learned to give myself more time than I think I’ll need.

• Included in the back of the cookbook is a guide of tools Deb uses in the kitchen and it’s been very helpful knowing what could make time in the kitchen more efficient and stress-free. Two purchases I made and love are my food processor and electric scale.

• Since I’m more skilled in baking, I’ve enjoyed the dessert sections – which include pies, cookies, tarts, and cakes – the most.

• The hardest section for me is the salads. The salads are more adventurous than I’m familiar with since I enjoy fairly simple salads.

• Focusing on cooking from the cookbook made meal planning easier. It brought variety to meals, decreased the time to figure out what to make, and helped me not overbuy groceries. However, I did end up with a lot of leftovers from many meals and had trouble adjusting recipes for one. I loved making the recipes with or for friends though! Most of the things I made, especially the desserts, were a hit.

There are about 12 more recipes from the cookbook I want to make this year but as for the big goal of cooking through the whole cookbook, the pursuit has been taken off the list. I’ve dreaded some of the remaining recipes because my taste buds aren’t as adventurous or interested, so instead of investing time and money into something I’m not enthusiastic about, I’m going to savor all the recipes I’ve tried, loved and will come back to again and again. Hopefully one day I can say I’ve made all the recipes.

What’s your favorite cookbook or go-to recipe?

You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Bloglovin’. You can also subscribe to the exclusive email list.

The post Cooking Through the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook appeared first on Fearless Captivations.