An Introduction to Ad Hoc at Heather's Home

Welcome to my new endeavor! For a while now, I've been casting about for a new way to stretch myself creatively. For a while I thought what I really needed was a goal to work toward - so I started working on my MBA. I'm still plugging along, working on that MBA - but I quickly learned that while I enjoy the sense of accomplishment I get from working my way through another graduate program, that's not what I really wanted. I wanted/needed to be creative again. I used to write quite a bit (got my undergrad in English Lit and went to UMSL for my master's in the same field) - and I don't think I realized how valuable that was to me. Until I got too busy. Thanks for that, life.

But I've always loved to cook, I read food blogs voraciously and I'm always excited to try something new in the kitchen. I discovered Carol Blymire's French Laundry at Home just a few weeks after she started it. Reading her blog while she cooked her way throughThe French Laundry Cookbook inspired me to take a few cooking classes to bring my skills up a notch, to buy the cookbook myself and try a few of the recipes. Now I'm following her through Alinea in her new blog, Alinea at Home. Carol has learned a lot through her "cook through blogging" and I decided I wanted that for myself - I want to push myself and learn a greater appreciation for what I eat and how it gets there.

So I posted on my blog, The View from a Broad, asking for some input from my friends and family. And Ad Hoc at Home was the popular choice (I think it was the drawing of a pig on the cover). The book was already on order anyway... so... why not?!?

And then the book arrived! I got home from work today and there was a box from Amazon sitting on the front porch. Isn't it pretty? And luscious? And soooo exciting? Okay - maybe not to any of you - but I was excited. 

Here's the plan - and it's not at all original if you've read other cook through blogs. I promise to attempt each and every recipe. I will do my very best to be faithful to Chef Keller's instructions and ingredients. And I will post the results - good and bad, delicious and blech - for your amusement. I won't be sharing the recipes with you (go buy the book - Ad Hoc at Home) in detail, because that would just be wrong - they're not mine to share.

I honestly hope you all enjoy this as much as I think I'm going to enjoy it myself. And please feel free to leave comments, forward this to anyone else you think might enjoy it.

Here we go... first up, Grapefruit Cake...