Throw away the recipe book

I haven't done much recipe posting for awhile, it seemed like folks might be getting a little bored. I think I might perservere nonetheless, but even so, this post is anti-recipe.

I did a fair bit of cooking this weekend, we had family over and personal pride forbids just coasting. I want people to enjoy it - cooking is an expression of love for me, I want people to taste how much effort has gone into it.

But nothing I cooked came out of a recipe book. Everything was hybrid of things I've tried, liked and then tinkered with. That's when it gets fun, creating your own signature dishes. Trying stuff, failing, learning and trying again. That's proper cooking.

Getting creative. not accepting that there's only one way of doing things. It takes time to develop the instincts required to experiment - and you have to learn the basic craft skills first. Reminds me of the day job come to think of it.