Cookbook Challenge

I have a pretty extensive collection of cookbooks. I'd estimate that I own at least 15-20 cookbooks, not to mention a giant binder of magazine recipes and I subscribe to 3 magazines which contain recipes.

So yeah. It's a lot of recipe sourcing.

I also read like 100 blogs (actually) and I'm on Pinterest. The amount of recipe options is out of control.

I often turn to the good old worldwide web, rather than check out my cookbooks for recipes or while meal planning. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but I hate that I have this extensive collection that just doesn't get as much use as it should!

I'm going to change that.

I've decided to make it a challenge. I'm going to pick a recipe from a different cookbook each week and get busy in the kitchen. I'm ashamed to admit that I have some gorgeous cookbooks in which I haven't made a single recipe! While others, I have made numerous recipes (Rocco, I'm looking at you!).

The challenge is actually two-fold in that I plan to choose recipes that are slightly out of my comfort zone...ones that use new ingredients (to me), new flavors. This doesn't mean that they have to be particularly difficult, but I think it will be fun to simply try some new things in the kitchen.

Right now, I have two recipes in the hopper for this week. Why two? Because I planned to make one of them last week and didn't do it. I know...not a good way to start off the challenge! And so this week, I plan to make two dishes. From my Williams-Sonoma Food + Wine cookbook, I plan to make a pork loin with apple chutney, and from my Better Homes and Gardens book, I plan to make a kalamata olive & lemon chicken. I can't wait to try these out and let you know how it all goes!

So that's my self-imposed culinary challenge. Who's with me? If you want to join the cookbook challenge and you have a blog, we could set up a link up day or something for our cookbook recipe posts! If you're not a blogger, I'd love to see some photos that you take of your goods and can share them here on the blog or on the Facebook page! Let me know!

Questions of the Day:

Do you use cookbooks?

Or do you scour the Internet for recipes?