Taste Tests
I love cookbooks! I love eating! I even like trying to cook. I’m just not that good at it. For one, I’m too impatient. I want my concoction to be ready to eat NOW! Secondly, I’m not exact in my measurements. Since cooking is both math and science, being exact is rather important. Even great-grandmothers whose recipes called for a pinch of this or a dash of that, knew enough about the science of cooking for their “inexact” measurements to actually be exact enough to achieve the desired results. Third, I am a walking disaster in the kitchen. Once I tried to make some sort of carrot soup recipe found in my Oprah cookbook from the 90’s. Somehow the top of the blender flew off and pureed carrots were flung all over the kitchen. I think there was even some residual carrot spatter uncovered during a kitchen make-over in 2015.
This lack of culinary skills means that my culinary repertoire is quite slim. ( I once dated a guy who lamented the fact I couldn’t even make ice cubes.) However, that doesn’t mean I don’t try expanding said repertoire. I have folder upon folder of screenshots of recipes that sounded too good to pass up. Actually, I have about four folders on my desktop alone—don’t even get me started about what’s on my phone. (Maybe THAT’S why I’ve run out of space on it!) At one point I enlisted my cousin’s wife (who is definitely a foodie and wonderful cook) to help me rectify this glaring lack of knowledge. She kindly sent me 50-100 of her favorite recipes which spanned all manner of goodies from appetizers, sides, mains, desserts, and more. I latched onto the popover recipe and never moved beyond. And of course, during the weeks of lockdown the first spring of the pandemic, I joined the ranks of millions of others who created sourdough starters. Mine flourished for the first few days before succumbing to inconsistent temperatures and was ultimately dumped onto the compost heap in the back yard.
Fortunately, I can make grilled cheese sandwiches, toasted cheese sandwiches, veggie soup, pasta salad, ratatouille, pralines, popovers, and a nice Italian lemon breakfast cake. I won’t starve, but I do have a rather limited range. Lately, though, I’ve decided I need once again to add to my repertoire, and after some deep, honest self-reflection, I have realized I need simple-to-follow recipes which contain few ingredients. So, I am embarking on a recipe test-drive.
For the next few weeks, I am going to be digging through my on-hand stock of cookbooks to find recipes that fit my requirements: simple-to-follow instructions with a short list of ingredients. Then I’m going to test drive them. Just because something looks simple, doesn’t mean it is. (I’m reminded of the sewing instructions “stitch and turn.” My sewing peeps will know what I mean.) To capture my progress, I’ll be posting pictures and thoughts for each recipe to K’s Blog, so you can follow along. If I’m feeling pretty techie about things, I might even post a video or two.
It may be a grand adventure. It may be a colossal flop. Can’t wait to see how it goes.