Donna Currie's Make Ahead Bread

How wonderful that we have one of our own cooks, a newly published author, offering the current challenge! Donna Currie has been one of our cooks since day one. In fact, if my memory serves me correctly, it was Donna who first suggested the name "37 Cooks" for our group! She is not only a member, but she has recently taken over management of the group, a post she is not only more than qualified for, but one in which she will undoubtedly thrive, as will the group.

Donna's book is called Make Ahead Bread, 100 Recipes for Melt-in-Your-Mouth Fresh Bread Every Day. The challenge given to our group by Donna's publisher was to choose from among several recipes that were released to us in advance of the book's publishing date. Each cook that accepted the challenge made the recipe of their choosing with his or her own unique twist. We had a blast, as you will see in the coming days!

Not only is the book is beautifully photographed, the format of the recipes is a real time saver, allowing the cook to make part of the recipe one day, and the rest another day. For cooks who question their ability to bake bread or other recipes containing yeast, this step-by-step approach, broken up over 1-3 days, is a real lifesaver.

Having followed Donna's work on her blog, Cookistry, and her articles on Serious Eats and many other publications online and in print, we all knew we'd love the book. But, we just didn't know how much we would love it! You will too!