In the beginning...

I've always liked to cook.  I would drag out my mom's Fannie Farmer Cookbook and beg her to let me make something out of it.  A lot of times I made something edible.  Sometimes, well, things didn't go so well. 

One time I set out to make crab imperial.  The recipe called for a tablespoon of lemon juice.  Well I didn't have any lemon juice, but I did have lemon extract.  And thus, I learned one of my first cooking lessons.  Lemon juice and lemon extract are not the same thing and you cannot substitute them in equal proportions.  Even the dog wouldn't eat it and we ended up eating at Denny's instead.  Anytime you'd rather eat at Denny's, you know it's bad. 

Over the years I've collected plenty of my own cookbooks, but I rarely use them.  I want to change that.  I'm going to try new recipes and new foods and I'm taking you with me.  My favorite cookbook is still my old reliable Fannie Farmer, but I hope to discover some new favorites.