Last night I started to think about what “rules” I would give myself for this challenge. Would I give myself a deadline? I looked at the table of contents for each season and there are 27 Breads recipes, 10 Breakfast recipes, 36 Soup recipes, 29 Salad recipes, 37 Sides, 75 Main Dishes, 47 Desserts, and 42 Extras. I started to do the math. But then I thought hmmm, some of these recipes call for asparagus and other items that are now out of season and I won’t be able to get locally until next spring. Others have multiple variations.
Speaking of local, it’s almost September. Not very many months left of veggie producing season here in Michigan. Will I blog even if I buy the produce at Meijer’s? Is that going against my purpose?
Then I remembered that this is supposed to be FUN, and to encourage other people to cook. One of the things I like about Simply in Season is that it encourages variation.
So I concluded that I’m not going to give myself any rules. If I get all the recipes done except the ones that call for asparagus I’ll move on to the next cookbook in the trilogy (the other two, also by the Mennonite Central Committee, are More with Less and Extending the Table). If I don’t think that cherries will make a good substitute for cranberries I’ll cross it off the list (I’m allergic to cranberries). It’s my blog, I can do what I want. Ha.
No rules sounds just right. I happen to know that at least one of the co-authors of SiS would think your approach is spot on. Make it work for you.