Only a small portion of my collection!
I have, literally, hundreds of cookbooks! And I have read hundreds more! (As I take over more and more shelf space in our home, at all times I have at least a couple cookbooks I have borrowed from the library!)
Having read and studied so many cookbooks, I have come to realize that many recipes have not been well-tested, or have not been tested with the average home cook in mind. Sometimes important steps are forgotten, probably because the author thinks it’s obvious, such as one recent example I found where the recipe neglects to mention that you should remove the cinnamon stick before puréeing the mixture in the blender.
But it’s not easy for the authors of cookbooks, food magazines, and cooking blogs to step back and think like a home cook, not only because they are often more skilled in the kitchen, but also because they know the recipe well enough that it’s easy to overlook small details.
In my well-equipped home kitchen I will test your recipes with the mindset of a home cook to eliminate mistakes and pitfalls! Not only am I well-versed in all kitchen techniques, as a teacher of middle and high school students, I am also well-practiced in making sure instructions are clear and thorough.