I just might do it!

I just might cook the book! I certainly wont blog about it... much... Well, i really probably wont. It will be hard enough to keep the commitment to cook the book, let alone document it for someone else's enjoyment. And here is the second disappointment. I'm not doing one of those specialty, highend, wonderful, and challenging cookbooks, like The French Laundry, or Nose to Tail. No Sir. A) I can't even dream of affording some of the equipment and ingredients necessary.
B) I don't think I have the basic skill set necessary to pull off even the simplest of the recipes. Which is know is an excuse, but its mostly the reason I'm starting out with an easy one, so I can....

Learn how to COOK! My mom is a FANTASTIC cook. I mean, darn near gourmet. She would laugh at The French Laundry. Okay, maybe not laugh, but she certainly wouldn't be intimidated. Also, I have this particular ability to get pretty good at most things with a fair amount of speed. It is nice in that it sends waves of jealousy through my friends when my "beginners luck" shows them up the first three or four attempts at "whatever", but then I cannot advance. I am a jack of all trades doomed to be great at nothing, just fair a many things. Such is my curse. But not with cooking! I am a black sheep! My husband can really hold his own in the kitchen, especially when it comes to baking. My mom's abilities have been enumerated and my dad worked as a restaurant manager, so while he can only make that mac and cheese for 20, it's freaking amazing. Even my brother has considered culinary school because he too has found a knack in cooking. The only knack I have found in this area is EATING all the dishes prepared. I can eat with the best of them, but that is a curse as well because I am grossly obese. *sigh*

So you see, I MUST learn how to cook. I love eating and I'm not very good at cooking and ladies and gents, that is a TERRIBLE combination. I'm thinking of using the first cookbook I ever got. My grandmother (who was also not a very good cook, but introduced me to the joy of eggo waffles) gave it to me when I was pretty young and I just hung on to it for years. Now I consult it daily. How much water does Jasmine Rice need (because my Asian cloth bag does not offer instructions to the mentally challenged that have not had it memorized since they were three)? How can you spice a pot roast? How long do you bake a sweet potato? Can you microwave green beans? Etc. So, you see, I would like to beef up my cooking repertoire, get a little experience under my belt. Which leads me to the fact that....

I still haven't gone through the first attempt on many of these dishes you veterans take for granted! You guys are on Lobster Consumee, which is just a variation of the other consumees you've done, but I've never cooked lobster! Lamb Brains? Hm, sounds fun, but where is the lamb chop located? While I think it would be fantastic to try these things, some day. I also think it would be much more useful to learn how to correctly roast a chicken. Plus, I'm 20-something. That means plenty of time to get to brain. Seriously, how cool would I really be if I could make Roasted Guinea Fowl en Crepinette de Byaldi with Pan Jus, but my chicken was consistently dry? Catch my drift?

The only catch is that this cook book has THOUSANDS of recipes. It's so huge. So I might find a smaller book. I do get bored rather easily...