Today I had lunch at the hotdog place on Route 7, and as I was sitting under a tree waiting for my hotdog, I decided to tot up the number of recipes I had to cook before I could finish a chapter. So I started counting unfinished recipes in the chapter on the Northeast. Wow. There were, 42 uncooked soups or appetizers, 38 recipes for fish, 23 for main dishes, 39 for vegetables, 60 for pies, cakes, etc. 60!! I couldn't believe it. And, finally, 38 recipes yet to go in Miscellaneous, which involves pickles, jams, punch, etc. That's 298 recipes, just in New England.
If I cooked two dishes from the cookbook four nights a week, I would finish up this chapter in 37 weeks. I'll never finish. I'm going to have to get serious about this. So far, in 6 months, I have made roughly 63 dishes. At the beginning, I had one post for two or three recipes. That's why it's roughly. When I think about Julie Powell, sauteeing away in her tiny apartment kitchen and knocking out all the recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a year, or Julia Child, taking 12 years to produce the damn thing, I feel inadequate.
So, gentle reader, we are talking about years here. I think for now, I'll focus on New England, and see if we can make some progress. At least until my family complains.
Hey, don't be afraid to venture beyond NE or to bore us. As long as you're willing to keep cooking and writing about it, I for one ma happy to keep reading.
ReplyDelete