The Journey Begins...

I've always dabbled here and there in baking.  A batch of cookies here, a pan of brownies there, but never anything really more advanced than that.  I learned mostly everything I knew from watching my mom and my sister, who to this day bakes the best chocolate chip cookies in the world.  Then, one day a few months ago, I bought my first stand mixer.  From that day, I was hooked.

I started baking cakes, I baked cookies, I baked brownies, and I baked bread.  I even tried my hand at cheesecake (which the first one, I might add, had a completely soggy crust.  But I think we're over that hurdle).  My pup Riley (yes I had to show her off below), she would watch me in the kitchen for a while, then get distracted and wander off when she realized she wasn't getting any of what I was making.

Getting back to my sister, she let me borrow this book, Baking Illustrated.  I paged through it and it looked really interesting.  I loved the way they disected their recipes and made it interesting to learn why they did the things they did.  I quickly bought my own copy and made my first recipe out of it....Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies.  They were a complete failure.  They burnt on the bottom, flattened like a pancake, and were raw in the middle.  I threw the whole batch away.

After that headache I decided to start over, with a new recipe: Snickerdoodles.  They were much more of a success, and after that I got an idea.  I want to bake my way through this cookbook.  I know I know, it's been done before, time and time again I'm sure, but I don't care.  I'm not trying to be a copy cat, I just want to learn.  I want to expand what I know how to bake, and learn more about the science behind it.  And what better way than to force myself to bake things I not only know well (Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies), but also things I've never even heard of (I'm still not even sure what Babas Au Rhum is, but I'm sure going to find out!).  I'm sure this will take some time, but I'm in it for the long haul!

My family is great, and many of the comments so far have included "You're a maniac", "Holy Moly", and "Who's going to eat all this?!"  Hence the name of the Blog, Who's Going to Eat All This?  I'm sure someone will find room in their stomach!