[ljsocal]

Use cookbooks as inspiration for your own concoction. Use the ingredients you have, don't measure and be creative. It's more fun and less work-like (i.e. no treasure hunts for random ingredients) and cheaper. Note: this method doesn't work well for breads, cakes, soufflés and other precise baking recipes.

[tom_mellior]

Agree with everything about this, except to say that once you have a bit of a "feel" for baking bread, you can also stop using recipes and try whatever you fancy.