Baking and Searching

I don't often go looking for recipes. Part of that is because I don't bake all that much, and I cook even less. I may have fifteen or twenty things that I know how to cook. Part of that is that I'm not that adventurous a cook (and my standard for what I call 'adventurous' is pretty low); the other is that I am a pretty finicky eater. I say I eat like a kid, and I only eat stuff I've had before. Thats more true than I guess I'd admit in public. The other day, I found a book called Recipes from America's Test Kitchen, which is apparently a television show put on by the people who produce Cooks Illustrated (if I were more adventurous, I'd subscribe, as its really high-quality stuff). I was intrigued by some of the recipes, because they talked about why the recipes worked, why they used the methods and ingredients that they do. It reminded me of The Bakers Manual, by Joseph Amendola et al, which I really liked; he's a former baker for the Culinary Institute, and the book went into some detail about how to make its excellent stuff. I haven't bought the book yet, but its On My List.

I'd like to be able to make something else for Sunday brunches other than the standard French toast, pancakes, waffles and either bacon or sausage. (I'm not big on eggs, though I think I could be, if I could find something that was worth the effort.) I get emails on occasion from ABE Books, which is a used book service, and on a whim I looked for Breakfasts and Brunches, a book I'd seen once or twice by the CIA. They had it, but not for all that much less than a brand new copy (I'm cheap; if the book is expensive, I don't want to pay more than half the original price. I tend to avoid buying a lot of books, as a result). But while I was there, I happened to look for TBM, and I found that Amendola had put out a book called Understanding Baking, which is about why baking is done the way it is -- what the effect is of various ingredients and methods. Now, that sounded interesting -- and a number of places had it for a very low price -- so low, the cost of shipping was higher than the cost of the book. I still might -- but first, I searched the Pennsylvania library system, and I found that its available here, so I ordered it. I love inter-library loans.

Incidentally, if you like searching for recipes, there are about ten quadzillion useful sites -- and this one, Phaedrus, Finder of Lost Recipes, is fun just to browse, if nothing else.