me: i like to cook. i like to cuss. i do both with great gusto every thursday night, as i take on a new recipe from my ever-expanding cookbook collection and attempt to bend it to my iron will. in between, look out for original recipes, restaurant reviews, food related musings and more. fucking A!

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ANNOUNCING: First Thursdays! 12 Jun 08

There comes a time in the life of many blogs when they reach the 5 month, 9 day mark. Today is that very special milestone for TNS, so I thought it only fitting to mark it with a grand announcement.

Start your engines and get ready to smack it on down: First Thursdays are upon us!

If you read TNS, then you know the Thursday drill - I pick a recipe from my cookbook collection, make it as-written, then photograph and blog it. It’s been an invaluable experience; my cookbook collection has never gotten so much use and I learn a new method or work with a new ingredient almost every week. Most importantly, it’s shaken up my standard repertoire and made my culinary world more interesting.

Why should I be the only one to reap these benefits? After all, if you read TNS then chances are that you have a shelf full of cookbooks or a 4-foot high stack of Bon Appetit back issues. And if you’re a normal person, chances are also that you look at the pretty pictures, tell yourself “I really want to make this,” and then…don’t.

So: the first Thursday of the month will be the Special Edition Smackdown where everyone joins in. Go through your books and magazines, find that thing you’ve always wanted to try, and try it. Use an unfamiliar ingredient, drag out the kitchen gadget you’ve never gotten around to using, try a cooking method that makes you nervous. Tell us how it went, how you liked it and what you think of the cookbook/magazine. We’ll all learn from each other’s triumphs, laugh at each other’s failures, learn about books we may not have heard of and eat well in the process. And it’s not limited to dinner, bakers are welcome too. Here’s how it goes:

The first Thursday of the month, you make a dish of your choosing from your cookbook or magazine collection. Most months, I’ll announce a theme. For the inaugural event, it’s a free-for-all.

Write it up, and send the writeup to firstthursdays at thursdaynightsmackdown dot com by noon on Saturday. If you don’t have a blog, send the details in an email. If you have a blog, send:
- Your name
- Your blog’s name
- Your dish’s name
- The cookbook/magazine you used
- The permalink to your entry
- A 150×150 pic of the dish (optional)

Mention the event and link to TNS in your entry, so more people can come play along.

The roundup will be posted 10am Monday morning.

We start July 3rd. Again, no theme this time, so pick that one thing you’ve ALWAYS wanted to try and get cooking! Seriously, get a move on; don’t make me look like a douchebag all alone here.

Posted in admin, featured, first thursdays |

22 Responses to “ANNOUNCING: First Thursdays!”

Adam
June 12th, 2008 at 9:50 am

This is idea is pretty badass. I’m down like a clown.
laurie
June 12th, 2008 at 11:09 am

Sweet! Im down too. Going on vacation that day. Ill have to see what I can swing.
melissa
June 12th, 2008 at 12:18 pm

You’re on! Great idea Michelle.
Catherine
June 12th, 2008 at 12:35 pm

Holy Crap. This could be fun. Or totally piss me off.
One or the other.
Rachel
June 12th, 2008 at 12:42 pm

I’m so in. I was just going through piles of my Food and Wine back issues trying to figure out if any of them were worth keeping for the recipes. They are now!
michelle
June 12th, 2008 at 1:23 pm

adam, yay, but i have no idea what that means. clowns frighten me.

catherine, that’s the point!
Indigo
June 12th, 2008 at 2:11 pm

Sounds like a plan XD.
Stephanie
June 12th, 2008 at 3:59 pm

This is a great idea! I already have a recipe in mind from The Babbo Cookbook!
evil chef mom
June 12th, 2008 at 4:49 pm

Ack! Okay… but you better fucking remind me because I’ll forget with all these flippin’ kids running around, instead of at school.
Elle
June 12th, 2008 at 4:55 pm

I’m with evil chef mom–I’ll have 4 kids running around the house, so please remind me! I love this idea!!
christey
June 12th, 2008 at 5:35 pm

okey dude. We are going to take this to the extremes, here at the fotocuisine household!!

So not sure if you know, but I don’t cook. like, at all. I know nothing. actually not true, i have learned from peter what a roux is and why it’s used, but i really don’t think i can do one myself.

Peter is the son of an artist. And she’s not a bad photographer either. So he knows a little bit about photography, but very very basic.

So we are going to switch places for this first First Thursday!

I will pick a recipe from my MANY cookbooks i have collected in hopes that one day I would figure out how to cook, or maybe from his very very few cookbooks. (this cracks me up, by the way, the cook has barely any cookbooks and I have millions)

I have set the rules that we can each ask each other only 5 questions, to make it fun. He really wants to make it so we can ask as many questions as we want, but I am trying to remind him that it is for fun (and learning, with the five questions)and not every meal has to be perfect (or edible *coughfishnoodlescough* )

oh and I still have to do the post production of the fotos, as he knows not one tiny thing about PS.
michelle
June 12th, 2008 at 5:39 pm

evil chef and elle, i’ll remind you.

christey, that’s the true smackdown spirit. great plan!
Susan at Sticky,Gooey,Creamy,Chewy
June 12th, 2008 at 5:43 pm

Sounds great! I’m in. Do we need to post on Thursdays?
Brittany
June 12th, 2008 at 7:21 pm

Hell yeah. I’m in.
Vicki
June 12th, 2008 at 9:43 pm

Awesome! I’ve imposed a challenge upon myself to cook one recipe from every cookbook I own, and blog about it. I started out strong, but I’ve been slacking lately. Hopefully this can get me back in the swing of things!
canarygirl
June 13th, 2008 at 4:34 am

LMFAO you could never look like a douche bag, my dear. Count me in!
carolyn
June 13th, 2008 at 8:48 am

I foresee several profane hours in kitchens all across America, and I’ll be proud to be a part of it.
Jess
June 13th, 2008 at 1:05 pm

I am so doing it Michelle! I talked to Brian about it and can’t wait! I know exactly what I want to make
Laura @ Hungry and Frozen
June 13th, 2008 at 5:42 pm

Sounds like a cool idea, I look forward to digging through my cookbooks and setting Nigella aside for once
Christie @ fig&cherry
June 15th, 2008 at 2:38 am

What a fantastic idea Michelle! Count me in… now I need to go wading through my mountains of cookbooks - what a great excuse! x
kittie
June 18th, 2008 at 11:15 am

Love it!

I have a shelf of cookbooks that I haven’t even looked through yet. Their purchase coincided with discovering food blogs… :-S

I’ll try to make the deadline for this month - though am off on holiday on Friday (woop!)

x x
michelle
June 18th, 2008 at 11:35 am

okay everyone, now that you’ve all loudly proclaimed your commitment i’m going to be ROYALLY PISSED when i only get 3 entries, especially if one of those is just mine.

Speak now, or forever hold your piece.

Feel free to start up, but make sure you have your shit-proof fan ready. Tally fucking ho!

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