Williams-Sonoma Cookbooks

Williams-Sonoma has a collection of cookbooks where each book focuses on a different type of food or cuisine.  A few years ago I purchased Mexican, Italian, and French.  They have been great inspiration for my themed menus.  Each book starts with a chapter called "The Classics" which includes recipes that anyone would consider traditional recipes for that food or cuisine.  Then chapters on starters, main courses, soups, veggies, desserts, etc follow.  EVERY recipe shows a beautiful color photograph of the completed recipe, one of the reasons I love this collection.  A few weeks ago I ordered Asian, American, and Hors d'ouevre and was again inspired.

After recently watching the movie Julie and Julia, I liked the idea of trying to cook my way through a cookbook.  But which one?  After receiving Williams-Sonoma American and reading the table of contents I thought... This might be a good book to cook through.  With recipes like Baked Macaroni and Cheese with a Crumb Topping, Blue Plate Meatloaf with Mushroom Pan Gravy, Cream of Tomato Soup, Buffalo Chicken Wings, New England Lobster Dinner, Yankee Baked Beans with Apple Cider, Wild Rice Pilaf with Dried Cranberries and Pistachios, Artichokes with Garlic-Basil Mayonnaise, Baked Acorn Squash with Pineapple-Mustard Glaze, Spiced Apple Pie, and Sour Cherry Pie, how could I go wrong?  All great recipes.  Some of these recipes are simple and some are more complex, and there isn't really a focus on low-fat or anything like that.  But why not learn how to cook some American classics?!

So my goal is to cook at least one recipe from this cookbook each week.  I won't be able to post the full recipes here due to copyrights but I'll share with you how they turn out and what I learn along the way.