Where to begin?

Do cook books help or hinder?
Do they improve your skills or make you feel inadequate?
Do we buy books to learn from them or are they simply gastroporn ?

Join me in an attempt to cook the books and see. But where to begin?

Bread seems to be a good place to start. It crosses cultures and is the staff of life. Even if you are avoiding carbs at all costs there is nothing more comforting than hot buttered toast or crumpets. In the same way that bacon sandwiches can convert a vegetarian to fully paid up member of the nose to tail eating club the smell of fresh bread can tempt many a carbophobe to take the lid off the butter dish.

Bread making is percieved as a form of alchemy and often the excuse is that if you can buy a loaf for 18p why bother making your own?

Taste, taste and taste are just three reasons. Yes it can be fiddly, yes it does take time but is it possible to follow a simple recipe and be successful?

Can I find a recipe in a book that works well and allows me a keen but untrained home cook to produce a loaf my children will eat?

I'm off to try and will let you know how I get on and there will be photographic evidence of my successes or failures.

Wish me luck, I promise to follow the recipes to the letter. Wish the recipe writers luck too, I hope they tested their recipes carefully. We are about to find out!

The first recipe I'm off to try is the Basic bread recipe from Jamie Oliver, The Naked Chef.

Come back and see how I got on.