6 from 4,000

This year, my overall project is to try more new recipes from my cookbooks, rather than always relying just on ones I know work well and we like.  I am not the kind of cook who will ever be happy with 14 or 28 recipes on rotation.  I want to have more variety than that.  And while most of the recipes I test or continue to make use the simple, basic ingredients, the combinations and techniques are different, and so produce different results and a varied menu appears on my table.

I honestly think dearest might be happier with more repeats and fewer new recipes, but I'm working on that as well.

I took the first two weeks of the year and went through my cookbooks, ticking off nearly 4,000 recipes that sounded interesting.  Some of those I have actually already made, and some of those I think of as the definitive version of whatever it is.  Other recipes are duplicates or similar enough to be considered duplicates.  I have three separate editions of the Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book (the classic Red Plaid cookbook everyone's mother and/or grandmother had), and though there are differences between them, the recipes for things like biscuits or basic muffins did not change from one edition to the next, so if I made the recipe from the 1953 edition, I ticked it off as tried in the 1965 and 2007 editions.  Also, a number of my cookbooks are Better Homes & Gardens, so recipes repeat across different books -- lasagne appears not only in the New Cook Book, but also in my copies of the:  Casserole Cookbook, Meals with a Foreign Flair, and Cooking with Cheese.  I ticked it as tested in each book, though I've only ever used the version in the Casserole Cookbook.

Not counting the duplicates and the recipes I've already tried, I still have over 10 years of a new recipe every day!  That may be a bit much even for a lover of variety like me.  Note, it's not 10 years of a new meals everyday, just over 3,600 individual recipes -- so I could tick off as many as 4 recipes in a single meal if I were to use one for the main dish, one for the starch, one for the vegetable, and one for dessert or salad.

This was the first week I have made a conscious effort to schedule new recipes when I was planning menus.  Even then I didn't plan a new recipe for each meal, so that 10 year estimate may actually take me a lifetime!  After all, favorite dishes are favorites for a reason.

The plan this week was:

• Tuesday: Skillet Lasagne, Garlic Bread
• Wednesday: Spicy Meatball Soup, Garlic Bread
• Thursday: Greek Garbanzo Salad over Orzo
• Friday: Crunchy French Toast, Fruit Salad
• Saturday: Country Fried Steak with Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Peas, Candy Bar Brownies
• Sunday: Easy Vegetable Bulgur Salad, Golden Sesame Loaves, Candy Bar Brownies
• Monday: Egg Drop Soup, Spring Rolls, Candy Bar Brownies
• Tuesday: leftovers/fend-for-yourself night

New recipes were planned on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  As it turned out, the Spicy Meatball Soup and Greek Garbanzo Salad over Orzo made enough for two meals each (with a serving left for lunch!), so I didn't need to make the Crunchy French Toast or Easy Bulgur Salad on Sunday.  I shall keep those in reserve and plan them for another time.

Of the new recipes, I can say the Spicy Meatball Soup will go into the rotation as something I can make again.  The Country Fried Steak with Gravy is a definitive version of the dish so it will definitely be a keeper.  And the Candy Bar Brownies are well worth remembering for when I need a dessert.  The Golden Sesame Loaves were very good, and I could do them again, but I don't know that they are a definitive recipe.

Overall, the first week of the experiment was worthwhile.  I will definitely try to continue it, if only because I have to make a dent in the nearly 4,000 recipes I ticked off.