I think it's cake timeee

I just ordered 3 books - and yes, all 3 are cookbooks! I've pre-ordered 'Jamie's 30-minute Meals' by Jamie Oliver (bless him and his wonderful food revolution work) and 'Kitchen: Recipes from the heart of the home' by Nigella Lawson. I had fully intended the third purchase to be for 'Knit Fix', which was recommended by a Knitting Daily newsletter, but I ended up getting side-tracked with the cookbooks and getting Rose Levy Beranbaum's second cake book, 'Heavenly Cakes', instead. Incidentally, this book was also voted 'Best Cookbook of the Year 2010' by the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) (her first cake book, 'The Cake Bible', which I also have, won the award in 1988).

I remember seeing her new cookbook at an interstate bookshop last year some time, but figuring it would probably just be an updated version of The Cake Bible, and keeping in mind my already over-stuffed suitcase, I decided to leave it, as I was sure it would become available at my local bookshops. I found out tonight though, upon reading about the book, that although it does feature an occasional repeat of a previously published recipe, all in all it is supposedly a book of modern cake recipes. Another reservation I had in getting another of her books is my extreme dislike for imperial measurements and temperatures in fahrenheit, which most, if not all, books published in the USA tend to use. I am a metric measures girl. Cup and spoon measurements is tolerable, but American measures just tick me off, because I have to whip out the calculator to convert measurements for every ingredient (and oven temp); not to mention, I can't remember the equivalent measures for the life of me!

But anyway, I found out about Ms Beranbaum's blog and how she has video clips showing techniques and things, as well as 2 blogs that do a Rose version of a 'Julia and Julia' thing (ie working through the whole cookbook, and posting results and pictures along the way), and I thought, hey, with these websites to help me along and gauge/compare the success of my attempts, this could potentially work out! hm I should probably start by digging out my copy of The Cake Bible and working through those first. Converting everything is going to be a beast of a job, but I guess since I spent the money, I'm going to make this work. Maybe it's not so bad to start a cookalong type blog either - that way, I'll be forcing myself to try and learn new things, which will surely benefit me. I guess my knitting will have to be given a rest for now! (I have, by the way, finished knitting the back piece of the aforementioned Bergere de France top, and am currently knitting the sleeves.)