Cooking 101 - Do You Remember When?

I don't know about you, but I think I was 7 when I started cooking.  I was your typical latch key kid, letting myself in the back door, heading straight to the kitchen to find a snack, before heading back outside to play.  The only problem was, back in 1976 no on had neat little microwave popcorns, pre-processed cheese slices individually wrapped, or individually portioned snack bars. 

Nope.  In the good old days (I can say that now that I"m 41) we had to take whatever ingredients were in the pantry or the fridge and create our own concotions.  For me it started as simple as Cheerios with maple syrup, or perhaps saltine crackers with butter and parmesean cheese melted in the oven.   Then I expanded to tortillas, leftover spaghetti sauce, and velveeta cheese.  Eventually I learned how to make macaroni and cheese, tuna noodle casserole, and even almond cookies.  Let me tell you, those were the days of my culinary birth.

Today however I am a much more refined cook.  I rarely ruin a meal (but yes, I have been known to do so on occassion), and sometimes I even surprise myself with something amazing.  Take for example last week.  We had some ground beef and ground pork in the freezer (which I was in the process of cleaning out so I could buy some new meats).  I decided to make salsbury steak with a brown mushroom gravy, buttered egg nooodles with fresh parsley, and a side salad.  Much to my delight, those were some of the yummiest salsbury steaks I've ever eaten.  Way better than the frozen kind my mom used to buy for us as kids.  And in all honesty, it took no longer than it would have if I had made hamburgers or a meatloaf. 

I remember when I used to have to follow a recipe so thoroughly that there was no room for creativity.  For those of you who know me now, my idea of following a recipe is to Google whatever I want to make, reading 3 to 5 recipes online, and then creating my own recipe.  I"m not sure if this is an art form, but I have to admit it sure makes cooking fun.   And the more creative I can be in the kitchen, the more willing I am to try something new, be it a new technique, a new ingrediant, or a new kitchen gadget. 

Remeber back when you first started cooking.  Perhaps it was because you got married and your husband wanted dinner on the table at 5 pm.  Perhaps you grew up cooking and found it be a passion like I did.  Maybe you stumbled your way into cooking because being single and eating out every night wasn't exactly good for your waist line. 

Now think about how you want to be as a cook.  What kinds of things do you want to learn?  What meals do you want to make?  There's no time like the present to get inspired to learn something new in the kitchen and surprise your husband, your kids, your boyfriend, or even yourself. 

If you want any new recipes I will be adding a recipe link to my blog page soon which will help you find some simple and enjoyable new recipes to make.  And if you ever have any cooking questions feel free to contact me.