i was seduced by the beautiful pictures of baking

Three things you'll need:

1. A scale, much more accurate than using cups to measure things. [product="26622"]My Weigh Kd 8000 Digital Weighing Scale [/product]
2. [product="23406"]Ratio The Simple Codes Behind The Craft Of Everyday Cooking [/product]
   by Ruhlman. He makes basic recipes soooooo simple. Start with this book, please, so your mind doesn't get cluttered with every recipe in those other huge baking books.
3. And a single book on baking like[product="16588"]The King Arthur Flour Bakers Companion The All Purpose Baking Cookbook [/product][product="27451"]Baking By James Peterson [/product]

Scales are more accurate and consistent to use.  WHen using a scoop and measuring cup to measure flour, sometimes the amount of flour scooped is more compressed than others.

Baking is largely, as another member mentioned elsewhere at this forum, an experience consisting largely of observation (visual) and textural qualities not to mention flavor.  And books therefore recipes can convey only so much.  That's statement is the reason that the pastries and baking threads only have one fourth of the posts that the main threads have.  With baking, you gotta' be able to persist, to bounce back from failures.