I’m a foodie. I’m a huge foodie. And I love to cook. Which is good because my OH doesn’t know how to boil an egg properly, let alone do toast without burning it. Luckily for both of us I paid attention and watched my mother diligently (though I didn’t know this is what I was doing) and learnt all her tricks. My dad less so, as he mostly did the roasts and specialty breads.
As a result of watching them I knew I had the basics. And, like them both, I’ve never been scared at changing up a recipe, which I see as a basic template from which to create something else, something that will suit my palate more. And yes, I know, some recipes you just don’t mess with. Others, though, just beg to be personalised to taste. That’s how they were first created to begin with.
And so, where a recipe might include chilli peppers, something I cannot eat, I will experiment with other heat giving spices coming up with my own combo to recreate a dish to my liking.
Sometimes this works, sometimes the dish is inedible to the point it ends up in the bin. Although it’s true to say, the OH who has a cast iron stomach, will probably do their best to eat it regardless. I have no idea how they’re able to eat what they eat half the time. But that’s a whole other post for another day.
The upshot from all this experimentation is that I have a fairly good idea at what works together and what doesn’t and, just recently, dazzled my sister in law and husband at a dinner I cooked by seemingly haphazardly just throwing stuff into pan and having it taste edible. So much so, my sister in law wants cooking lessons to up their own game. Thing is, what I’ve learnt has taken me not just years but possibly decades of trial and error and practise to do. It doesn’t easily translate into a couple of lessons on a weekend.
That isn’t to say, I can’t write up what I do in a recipe. I’ve done that for her and hope she gets it when I say a dash, or a dribble, or a pinch and that she needs to work out what works for her, and her taste buds. The important thing is to taste at every step of the process and make sure that what you’re doing tastes right for you.
And you, are you competent in the kitchen, or do you just get by?
NaBloPoMo: 13/30
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I would say I am fairly confident in the kitchen but I jsut don’t like it all that much. Part of it is that no matter what I do there is always someone in my family that is not pleased. Luckily my husband likes it so we share the cooking. He follows the recipes to the point whereas I experiment more. It drives him crazy if I don’t have a real recipe for something he wants to re-create. The pinches and dashes don’t agree with him…
I think it’s one of those skill sets and places we either get to learn and love, or we don’t. I was lucky my mother was tolerant enough to have us all in the kitchen learning. So I got a head start. And your husband sounds like my OH, they need a step by step detailed recipe or they are lost. Not that my partner can boil an egg.
I am not the best of cooks I would say. I can follow a recipe. And I can improvise. And occasionally I can tweak a recipe to my liking but it may bot always come out great.
I am soup expert though. I think. At least when I cook for myself. I love them all.
Everyone who can cook has my utter respect. I would never try a roast or stuff like that. I do basics in the kitchen.
I am a baking wizard though. I can easily see a recipe and make it my own. I can read 5 recipes and combine all of them together. I think I have only had tow or three real baking disaster and I blogged about it ten years ago https://www.craftaliciousme.com/epic-fails-and-other-cake-related-endeavors-world-baking-day/
I think as long as we can cope in the kitchen without panicking, we’re all winning. And being a soup wizard is great, throw in the fact you’re good a baking and you’ve obviously found your niches in the kitchen. My sister too is a wiz at baking but don’t ask her to do dinner. And I think we need to have disasters in order to learn. I know I’ve had many over the years.
I’m a lot like you at cooking, although usually my recipe changes are because I’m partway through cooking and don’t have the ingredients. I also learnt a lot about substituting ingredients when my daughter couldn’t eat dairy or soy as a toddler. My younger daughter spent a bit of time cooking with me and learnt how to make some of her favourites. She now lives in an apartment with her older sister and does most of the cooking, although it’s mainly the same things each week, and she doesn’t use recipes. My son asked for the recipe for my “nacho meat,” but there is no recipe. I had to think through what I did and guess actual measured amounts so I could write it down.
Having kids that have allergies I think forces you to be creative in the kitchen. It’s a hard way to learn how to cook, but, as you say, you can do things now without thinking and without the need of a recipe. That’s an achievement right there.
Oh, I had the same problem with my mother asking her for her recipes and … she had none. They were all in her head. I hope your son got his “nacho meat”!!
I think I’m very competent. I don’t love cooking, I think mostly because at this point in my life meal times are hectic. Two young-ish kids, extracurriculars, sometimes my hubby is home, sometimes he’s travelling. I don’t hate cooking, but I don’t look forward to it. BUT I think I really could in retirement and/or when it can be a bit more leisurely.
I don’t like complicated recipes. Give me stick-to-your-ribs comfort food!
Ah, yeah, kids add that extra level of anxiety to cooking, especially if you and your husband work full time. I never knew how my mother did it with six kids. And, as with anything, cooking can be a chore when you feel rushed I know I like to take my time. So don’t be hard on yourself. Thankfully we live in a world where we can buy things to make life and cooking so much easier.
I admit too, that especially during winter I’m a comfort food kind of cook. Soups and stews, and one pot meals you cook for a couple of hours suit me just fine.
I love to cook, I also watched and learned from my mom diligently over the years and I am very experimental in the kitchen. Good thing that both Jon and I are foodies and we love to cook and eat 🙂
Some of us are lucky enough to have had great cooks in our mothers willing and patient enough to teach. I know my mum wasn’t always a great cook, she use to make me laugh at some of her disasters. But her and my dad persisted and loved to experiment. I think I owe my love of food and cooking to them.
And sounds like you and your husband have it right.
I enjoy cooking, but I do get tired of it sometimes. I’m not great at throwing things together, most of my meals come from recipes. My husband and my MIL are much better at throwing things together. Sometimes to great effect, sometimes meh, but I’ll never bin it. 🙂
Oh, I hear you on the wanting to take a break. I cook Mon-Fri and then, at the weekends, me and mine wing it. I buy a lot of pies and or sous vide meals or rely on the freeze for left overs. Lucky for you if you have a husband who can cook and a MIL as well? As for binning, never? That would be rude, unless it really is *that* inedible!