In Which We Discuss To-Do Lists and Not Being a Lady-in-Waiting

Last year, I began using the term 'Lady-in-Waiting' to describe the state of having endless to-do/cook/read/make/experience lists which you are never ever going to get around to. Having things left undone makes me twitchy. Plus, I watched my grandmother build up a huge collection of cookbooks which she eventually threw out, having made nothing at all from most of them. It seemed like such a pointless exercise.

Deep-fried breaded mozzarella balls - on pizza!

To that end, I logged all of my unread books on GoodReads and vowed to get through them. I got it down to under two hundred, and have stepped it up by not buying any new books this year, and aiming to get it down to under one hundred by next January. Currently, it's one 171, so I'm making good progress.

Prawn toast and chicken chow mein -
the containers are for versimilitude.

Regarding cookbooks, I only own a handful. Vegan Brunch, The Happy Herbivore's Cookbook, Nanny Ogg's Cookbook, The Hindi-Bindi Club (if you want to count it), and The Takeaway Secret. All except that last one, I own as physical books, so whenever I actually make a recipe I write a comment on the page and tick it off on the contents page. That last one is a kindle book, so I've taken to doing it all with notes instead.

The idea of actually making everything from a cookbook has been something I've toyed with for the past few years. I didn't see Julie and Julia until about six months ago, so it probably wasn't inspired by that. On the other hand, it may have been - I did hear of the movie long before I saw it. For me, it's less a big personal challenge, more a way to be frugal and to experiment with new foods, since I'm a former fussy eater.

Battered fish, potato scallops, and chips.
The peas and sweet chilli sauce are mostly there so the photos aren't just beige.

I've pretty much decided that it'll be The Takeaway Secret that I complete first.  It has the easiest recipes, with the simplest ingredients, out of all the cookbooks I own.  I think a big part of that is that it's written by a British author, Kenny McGovern.  American cooking is weird.  And on that note, can I just say something?  We consider boxed cake mixes as being something you'd make with a child, not something an adult would seriously make and serve to other adults.  You can't call it a recipe if you use boxed cake mix, and it looks so weird when we look at American cookbooks that are seriously suggesting exactly that.  Also, your food is too sugary.  Take note.

Anyway, yes.  American cookbooks.  They sometimes call for ingredients that are harder to find over here, or offer a taste palate that's a little sweeter than we can handle.  I'm not accusing either the Happy Herbivore or Isa Chandra Moskowitz of any of these crimes, you understand, it's just a more general rant.

Anyway, The Takeaway Secret.  It's a whole book of fast food and takeaway recipes, and most of them taste pretty accurate.  It's been great fun making them every week, and mein liebling has enjoyed taking the photos.  It's been good practice for him, and he gets to eat them afterwards.  I think I'm about halfway through the book now, so I'll let you know how it goes.