I’ve had a running list in my head of certain recipes I’d like to conquer, and I thought it’s about time I write it down. This list will probably grow with time, as I discover (or remember) other recipes I want to take on. While there are lots and lots of recipes out there that I want to try, this list is reserved for those that I think of as especially challenging – or just special.

Breads and Rolls

  1. Challah
  2. Brioche
  3. Bagels
  4. Foccacia
  5. Cream biscuits
  6. Parker House rolls
  7. Cinnamon raisin bread
  8. Babka

Breakfast / Pastry

  1. Donuts – baked or deep fried
  2. Something made with pate a choux – cream puffs, eclairs, etc
  3. Monkey Bread
  4. Sticky buns
  5. German Apple Pancake

Pasta

  1. Gnocchi (from scratch)
  2. Homemade ravioli
  3. Manicotti

Entrees

  1. Whole roast turkey
  2. Boeuf Bourignon
  3. Coq au vin

Grains and beans

  1. Grits
  2. Black eyed peas

Desserts

  1. Texas sheet cake
  2. Tres leeches cake
  3. Yule log cake
  4. Flourless chocolate cake
  5. Sticky toffee pudding
  6. Pavlova
  7. Baklava
  8. Lemon meringue pie
  9. Apple or pear galette
  10. Souffle
  11. Pudding cake (not cake made with pudding mix, the kind of cake that turns into pudding on the bottom and cake on top)
  12. Homemade marshmallows
  13. Granita
  14. Frozen yogurt

Dessert toppings/sauces

  1. Caramel or caramel sauce Complete! Salted Caramel Cupcakes
  2. Lemon curd
  3. Pastry cream

Some of the daunting recipes that I have conquered so far:

  1. Homemade ice cream
  2. Lasagne
  3. Cheesecake
  4. Roasted chicken
  5. Roasted turkey breast
  6. Risotto
  7. Cinnamon rolls
  8. Yeasted breads – rustic French boule, baguette, multigrain sandwich bread, 100% whole wheat
  9. Molten lava cakes
  10. Homemade pasta