We’re going to be moving on to some heavier topics, namely the relationship between women and cooking, and that whole evolution.

But first a fun little aside.

There is a natural progression that comes with cooking-

First, you follow recipes to the letter.  Sometimes they work, sometimes they are less than perfect, but you don’t know why.  Regardless, you blame yourself and still stick to the recipe.

Then you start to learn about oven variations, hot spots, and that no two stoves/ovens are alike.  You factor in temperature and humidity.

Eventually you learn to cook by feel, to trust yourself to know when things are done instead of of the kitchen timer (who can be a fickle mistress and fail you more than you may realize).

You learn to smell and listen when your back is turned to a pan, and your senses are heightened and tuned towards kitchen awesomeness.

This is something that naturally carries a lot of pride when it happens, regardless of the stage you’re in.

The recipes are shedded, and used only for references and ideas.

We then start to feel the need to tweak every recipe we do use- putting our own “twist” on them, making sure they’re ours and not someone else’s.

And there is nothing wrong with this.  It’s good to have confidence in ability and pride in work, to keep venturing forth and breaking boundaries.

However sometimes, a recipe is good to the letter.  No changes, no tweaks, and a humble reminder that the best way to build is to do it with other people, not in spite of.

We all want to be pioneers, probably because those people get a lot of attention.  But what’s your endgame?  Really?  Will having a show on the Food Network bring you happiness and joy?  Who’s opinion matters most; yours and your families’ or millions of strangers?

Take in all ideas open-mindedly, evaluate, and use the good info.  It doesn’t make you less awesome, it makes you more awesome.

We have a recipe like that, we had it last week, and again almost licked the bowls.  Corn Pesto.  Here I’ll put the link below.  Anyone who’s known us for longer than 30 seconds has probably had this, and you know what, it’s amazing every time.

Sure we vary the type of pasta we make, but the recipe itself never changes and I’m finally ok with that.

I’ve struggled for years wanting to “make it better,” to put my own spin on it because my hubris told me using someone else’s recipe was a defeat.

Now, do most recipes need tweaks?  Yes.  Because you have to look at the angle they were written from, and take into account the author’s prioritizing of time, ingredients, etc.

For example most braising recipes set their oven temps too high (in my personal opinion) because of the time factor involved, and they want to appeal to 30-minute meals in this instant recipe search world.

However when something works, it works.

And I’m learning the best cooks know when to recognize this, nod to it, and openly enter the information into their repertoire with joy instead of self-doubt or jealousy.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Tagliatelle-with-Fresh-Corn-Pesto-360209