@seabird20
I am a home cook, love to try new things. Typically don't use processed/packaged foods much. I have discovered bread baking in the last 12 months and am loving it. It's almost as bad as growing squash. You have too much and the neighbors are sick of it. As far as recipe books are concerned - I am more interested in cookbooks than recipe books. Recipes are handy for ideas and key ratios, but I don't follow them much (except for bread, initially, but now its by feel). Famous (or infamous) was Heston Blumenthal's method of cooking steaks. The story is on the blog. All I can say is that it is fantastic. I am also very interested in food/wine pairings, trying to plan what will go well with what. Often a challenge, but one that I accept!