The challenge is set!

So after watching the movie Julie and Julia, in which a home cook cooked her way through Julia Child's cookbook, "Mastering The Art Of French Cooking", I was inspired to take up a similar challenge. At first I was doing this for my own enjoyment, but at the suggestion of some friends (thanks Dave and Julian!) I have decided to turn this challenge into a blog, Julie and Julia style!

I have so many cookbooks (I would be embarrassed to share the exact number here) that at first I was struggling to decide which of them to use. When Stephanie Alexander's "The Cook's Companion" came to mind, it seemed to me the perfect choice. The recipes are broad enough to cover most occasions and there were enough of them (655* by my count) to make the challenge worthwhile.

In case you are wondering, yes I did count the recipes one by one, and yes there is a rather complicated spreadsheet that has been created in order to track my progress. For those who know me well this will not come as a surprise. I have something of an illness when it comes to spreadsheets (they make life so neat and ordered!)

I was going to allow myself the luxury of not having to repeat recipes I had already cooked, however I have had a change of heart and have decided to go the whole hog and attempt to cook, capture and enjoy all 655* recipes. Wish me luck!

*Updated to 1038 once the third edition had been purchased