Cook the Book: Tiger Bread and Celeriac Soup

As I noted in my 2025 Goals Post, I wanted to start making recipes from the dozens of unopened cookbooks I bought last year. I made TWO last week! One - a bit of a failure but the second was DELCIOUS.

Cook the Book Recipe #1

My MIL recommended the King Arthur Big Book of Bread and at first I passed on it because I have several bread books but when I got a look at it, I realized how many unique, global bread recipes there were and grabbed it on sale. 

King Arthur is always great at explaining recipes, in detail - this one even has QR codes to videos - and gorgeous photographs. 

I started with Tiger Milk Bread because I've made plain milk bread many times without problems. And it's a stunning bread inside:

I was kind of doomed from the start. I exploded my butter in the microwave. Then I was supposed to warm my cocoa powder and milk to set aside - but I threw in the chocolate chips too - that were supposed to added directly to the dough. So...do over there.

Then...and this was the biggie mistake. I was to divide the dough for a plain layer and a chocolate layer. I did that but I proofed (let the dough rise) both layers at the same time. I was supposed to mix in the chocolate then - before proofing. 

I thought all was ruined. Very bad words were yelled in my kitchen lol but then I was like F it - can this be saved?? So I punched down the future chocolate layer and tried to mix in the chocolate sauce and chips. It went...okay. It never fully incorporated because the dough was dough had proofed and couldn't anymore. But I figured, it's got some chocolate and it did re-proof a second time, so I plowed on.

It did not get the solid big swirls like it should have because it the chocolate layer was a little too moist from not absorbing all the liquid chocolate. And it wasn't the super soft bread like milk bread should be. (If you haven't had Japanese milk bread before it's very similar to US Wonder bread - very soft and doesn't go stale as fast, using a method called tangzhong - cooking a flour/milk mixture first then adding to dough), but it turned out to be pretty decent bread. More like a good toast bread. 

I feel like there's a life lesson in there somewhere - not to give up when things go wrong or let go of perfection or something like that lol

I'm going to give this recipe a 4.5 out of 5. It is a bit more advanced recipe (I would say moderate) but all the mistakes were on me getting flustered. I had read the directions, several times, and watched the video but I'm just a nervous baker lol Having said that - with ALL those screw ups, it still tasted pretty good!

Cook the Book recipe #2 

Kevin bought me Seven Spoons by Tara O'Brady for Christmas. It's been on my list because I'm fortunate enough to have year round farmers markets with really rare/unusual local ingredients and this cookbook had, what looked like interesting, ways to use them.

One such ingredient was Celeriac. It's the ugly root ball of celery and tastes a little like a cross between celery and maybe a turnip/parsnip. It's easy to peel and cut up with a large knife even though it looks super intimidating. You can eat it raw or cooked - roasted, pureed. mashed etc.

I chose Celeriac Soup with Green Horseradish Oil. It was an easy recipe - roast the celeriac and garlic (I added carrot), then add to broth, seasonings, parmesan cheese rind an simmer - then blend. She used a potato to thicken but I substituted a can of cannellini beans. Kevin is pre-diabetic and the beans are lower carb and add protein and fiber, making it healthier for him. 

I was a little iffy about the horseradish sauce. It's a mix of parsley, oregano, lemon, garlic and horseradish with olive oil. It was STRONG lol but a drizzle over the mellow soup added just the right amount of flavor and was delicious. I also added a dallop or yogurt. This tasted like a restaurant quality soup and I will definitely be making it again and trying more recipes from this book. 

Easy, pretty (although sucky pic) and delicious! 5/5

2025 Audiobook Challenge

I usually only participate in the basic Goodreads Challenge (this years goal at 12 books) but I get most of my reading done with audiobooks these days so it seems like a doable challenge for this year. 

It's also super laid back. Here are the basics:

The 2025 Audiobook Reading Challenge is hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer and That’s What I’m Talking About. Choose your level and get those audiobooks ready. JIAM is back for June and we’ll be hosting a special month long challenge. Grab your earbuds, decide on your goals, and sign up below!

Use hashtag #2025AudiobookChallenge on social media to alert others to your listens and progress!

Achievement Levels

• Newbie (I’ll give it a try) 1-5
• Weekend Warrior (I’m getting the hang of this) 5-10
• Stenographer (can listen while multitasking) 10-15
• Socially Awkward (Don’t talk to me) 15-20
• Binge Listener (Why read when someone can do it for you) 20-30
• My Precious (I had my earbuds surgically implanted) 30+
• Marathoner (Look Ma No Hands) 50+
• Over-Achiever (Power Listener) 75+
• The 100 Club (Audiobook Addict) 100+
• I Can’t Hear You (earbuds always in) 125-150
• Audibly Addicted ( listening to all the books 24/7) 150+

I'm going to go a little wild and optimistic and shoot for Weekend Warrior. I think I can get in 6-7 for the year. I am really weird in that I can't multi-task while listening, so that limits me to driving. Most books are about 11-ish hours long, so it takes me WEEKS to finish a book at about 1 hour 5 days a week lol 

Check out either Caffeinated Reviewer or That's What I'm Talking About for more details if you want to sign up!

Tell Me Something Tuesday: Blogging/Reading Goals for 2025

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. 

It is co-hosted by (Linda from Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell, Roberta from Offbeat YA, Jen from That’s What I’m Talking About, Berl's from Because Reading is Better than Real Life  and me) 

Join in by answering this weeks question in the comments or on your own blog.

If you would like to join TMST and receive periodic emails of upcoming topics, please fill out this GOOGLE FORM. TMST is a laid back meme – join in or opt out depending on your interest in topics or schedule.

Question: What are your blogging/reading goals for the year?

Answer: Is anyone reading this??? I have not blogged in SIX MONTHS!

I'm not even sure why I'm bothering at this point lol I'm not sure if anyone will visit this post - or if I won't vanish again for another 6 months. 

I read 17 books last year and posted 16 times on the blog - not even one of those posts were a review EEK!

Last year was a YEAR. For a lot of reasons - Kevin lost his dad to cancer being one of those things but a lot had been going on. 2025 looks to be rocky as well, with the world and I have some medical tests upcoming but I DO want to try to get back to some type of regular reading and/or blogging. I am not one for resolutions or goals but I am going to try to do some simple things to maybe get me back on track.

1) Read one chapter from a physical book or Kindle and listen one hour to an audiobook - per day.

It doesn't seem like much but my book focus is shot! I do somewhat better with audio because I listen while running errands. But I can't seem to listen while doing anything else so it takes me weeks to finish an audiobook. 

My hope is one chapter a day may lead to two - or just get my brain in that reader mode again. If not, one chapter a day will still get a book read, even if it's not very fast. 

Oh how the mighty have fallen - I used to easily read one book a day!

2) Blog once a week or even a monthly wrap up if weekly feels like too much.

I have got to find an easier/more spontaneous way to do this. I want to blog but sitting down and formatting pictures/links and all that is not rewarding for me anymore. 

I often think to post a picture of what I'm reading or somewhere fun I've been but then I do it on Instagram and figure everyone has already seen it. I don't know...I miss the old days of blogging (Old Lady...I remember in my day when we blogged...lol) and I'm struggling to find a way to do it that's still fun for me. But....I always miss it when I step away for too long. 

3) Make 1 recipe from a cookbook I own per week. 

Not quite reading - but I probably bought or was given, at least, 20-ish cookbooks last year and I don't think I've made more than 1-2 recipes from them. I keep getting distracted by new Instagram recipes instead lol

Several of the books are written in a way that tell family/cultural stories along with the recipes and I really want to deep dive into them and learn how to cook better now that I live somewhere with amazing ingredients almost year round.

If you are here reading this MUAH!!! Thank you - I missed you! Happy New Year!

What are your reading, blogging or even personal goals for the year? 

Or do you do a word or phrase? That's what I usually do but I'm sort of just carrying all my past words forward this year since I think they will be relevant - LAUGH, SIMPLIFY, DISCONNECT lol