I love all aspects of cooking, but baking is my first love. Many years ago I had the opportunity to attend a free seminar put on by the King Arthur Flour company and it was a spiritual experience. The baker was demonstrating how to make a baguette and I was on the edge of my seat throughout her entire show. It is hard to describe the joy I get from working with dough and knew afterwards I was a changed woman and needed to get home and bake.
As with most sponsored events such as this, there were door prizes! I hoped and prayed, yes prayed, that I would walk away with the cookbook. The universe smiled upon me and God just knew he had chosen wisely by allowing my name to be plucked from the canister of hopeful attendees names' scratched onto tiny pieces of paper. When my name was called out, I shrieked like I had just won the Showcase Showdown on "The Price is Right". It was mine!
Upon first inspection I found I was overwhelmed with its size. I flipped through the pages of my new treasure and enjoyed reading about the history of King Arthur Flour in the opening pages. As I worked my way through to the end I found I was holding a resource that was going to help me become the home baker I had always wanted to be. It has been at least 10 years and I am happy to say that I haven't stopped using it.
I have accumulated other baking cookbooks over the years but find myself returning to the King Arthur Flour cookbook. It is a comprehensive educational manual that helps the home baker create wonderful creations through simple to read recipes, easy to understand scientific explanations of how baking works, and a complete guide to tools and ingredients at the end of the book. Some of my favorite recipes are whole wheat bread, scones, and sourdough english muffins. I have learned how to be a better baker by utilizing this resource and continue to return to it for some of my favorite recipes.
I highly recommend adding this cookbook to your collection if improving your baking is what you desire.
