If you’re an enthusiastic and creative cook, chances are good that you have a goodly number of cookbooks on your bookshelf. Cookbook collecting can become somewhat compulsive, with so many cookbooks and cookbook recipes, you couldn’t possibly try them all in a lifetime. However, you may turn to reading them all for the sheer entertainment value.

The problem is that some cookbook recipes are quite easy to follow, while others are somewhat snobbish, assuming that everyone knows how to brown butter, skillfully filet a fish, saute mushrooms or deglaze a pan. Your attempt to ‘brown the butter’ may result in a burned mess in the pan, spewing clouds of smoke into the air. Fillet a fish? Hmmm. You give it a shot and end up with a fish with much of the meat on the bones! Saute mushrooms? “Hey, I can do that!” You put a cup and a half of mushrooms in the frying pan, only to end up with a panful of steamed mushrooms without a hint of browning. Now, when the cookbook recipe directs you to deglaze the pan, you know by now, it’s time to call Mom! Hopefully, she’ll know, because you’re halfway through the recipe, with the remaining ingredients waiting for you to proceed.

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