My husband is super supportive of this project. He’s really excited to watch me go through the process of completing the Forty-Two Things. He will benefit from several of them, the travel Things, and of course, the Thing where I will select a cookbook and cook all the recipes in it. This Thing was inspired by Julie and Julia, one of the few examples where the movie is better than the book. I say that as someone who loved the book, but Meryl Streep as Julia Child…amazing. So that’s where I got the idea to cook through a cookbook. I’m not that interested in French cooking so I chose a cookbook that began as my favorite food blog, The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman. I’ve made a couple of recipes from her blog, including these amazing brownies, and I bought the cookbook soon after it came out. I read the introduction, flipped through the pages and drooled over lovely pictures, and then left it on my coffee table for several months. I was just too intimidated to try the recipes. It did make a lovely coffee table book but now it’s time to try some of these dishes.

I’m pretty confident in my ability to follow instructions on baked goods, but I have some doubts about my abilities as a cook. However, I can follow a recipe and Perelman does distill things to very uncomplicated steps so I think I can do it. Now, my food probably won’t look like hers, and I guarantee my photos won’t look as beautiful as hers. (Although they might get better after I do the Photography Class Thing.) But, I feel pretty confident that I can produce some tasty foods, and I’ll probably recreate my favorites for the “Fancy” Dinner Party Thing. In fact, she includes tips for hosting a dinner party. Score!

I’ve done the math, and I’ll need to go at a rate of one recipe every 3 weeks to finish by March 7, 2022. Like the Read or Rid Thing, this is another one that I’ll need to stay on top of.

I’ve decided to start with one of the recipes that I’ve been drooling over since I first flipped through the book, cheddar swirl breakfast buns. I have all the tools needed to make this one, and I’ve never made bread from scratch before so I like the idea of jumping right into that for the first recipe. I could start with one of the brownies or cookies, but really, I’m going to get to all the recipes eventually so I might as well start with one that looks difficult but well worth it in deliciousness.