But I followed the recipe to the letter!  How many times have
you followed a recipe as closely as you could and finished up
with nothing but an inedible mess?  I’ll admit, that even
following my own recipes jotted down after countless successful
outcomes, I’ve still been left wondering what went wrong on
occasion.  It’s frustrating and disheartening.  It’s also one of
the reasons that I don’t buy recipe books.  I love cooking and I
love reading, so it should follow that recipe books line my
shelves and gather in ever-growing gangs around my house. 
Instead, I’ve a handful of books on my kitchen shelf and I
rarely open them.  The internet has all but killed any need for
recipe books.  Blogs, recipe sites and food forums share an
abundance of recipes for every imaginable type of food.  Why
clutter the kitchen with glossy hard backs from television chefs
when a quick look on my computer or phone gives me access to
countless food sites?  I’ve only ever bought one recipe book, a
classic by Jane Norman to help me g