Things To Know…

A NOTE (OR TWO) ON MY RECIPES

TIME:  Overwhelmingly, I do not list the amount of time it takes to re-create one of my recipes.  I find this practice a bit pointless.  I have never made a recipe in the time represented by the author.  The promise of the 5, 10, or 15-minute meal usually requires that EVERYTHING be prepared in advance (washing, chopping, drying, measuring, etc.).  My mother always referred to this as a “Julia Child kitchen,” meaning everything you need is measured out and sitting right within arm’s reach.  A nice way to cook if you have a large staff of people working for you!  However, most of us don’t have that luxury.  The time to get all of the ingredients for the dish together and properly prepped is rarely, if ever, added into the recipe time.  Because of allll of this, I don’t list timing (except for bake times or rise times).  Everyone has their own pace.  If you are inexperienced in the kitchen, it won’t take long before you know how long a recipe will take you just by reading it.  And, if you are experienced in the kitchen, you already disregard the timing listed on other’s recipes; am I right?

QUANTITIES:  Sometimes I don’t list quantities.  Fundamentally, this is because I don’t cook that way.  I am a taste-as-I-go cook.  In wanting to share my recipes, I have started to force myself to set quantities so that the meal can be re-created.  On the occasions when I don’t, it’s because I think you, as the re-creator, should be deciding how much of that particular ingredient you want to use, either based on your taste preferences or how many people you are cooking for.

SWEETENERS: In any given recipe I am following, 10 out of 10 times I reduce the amount of sweetener used by at least half.  As such, when I am creating my own recipes, I call for much less sweetener than most other similar recipes.  Overwhelming, I think people make an error in how much sweetener they really need in order to enjoy a particular dish.  I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, an anti-sugar fundamentalist, I assure you.  I love sugar unabashedly and I do not buy into the notion that it should have a biohazard label, as seems to be the popular notion nowadays.  However, because of its various side effects, potential health risks, and impact on weight, I only use the amount I need to achieve a great flavor.  I first started experimenting with how much sugar/sweetener to use in my recipes when my mother started being concerned about developing diabetes.  Over time, I kept reducing the sweetener in all of my recipes, sometimes completely omitting it, and the results were initially shocking.  I liked my food better with less sweetener; go figure.  I very highly recommend experimenting with how much sweetener you use and how much you really need.  You might go through a brief adjustment period where your tastebuds acquaint themselves to the reduced sweetener.  It’s worth the investment both for your health and the health of all those for whom you cook.

SALT:  I love salt!  I like it flaky, crunchy, fine, coarse, and from every continent!  I like it all.  If you don’t, remember to reduce the quantities from my recipes.

PEPPER, CHILES, & GARLIC:  I rarely use any of these ingredients because they do not agree with me or for those for whom I cook.  I will usually list them as optional add-ons in my recipes, but for some of you, they might be a critical component to your enjoyment of the dish.

RECIPE CATEGORIES:  For the most part, understanding my recipe categories is a no-brainer.  The two things to note are my Foundation Recipes and So Simple & So Good categories.  Recipes that fall into Foundation Recipes are those that do not specifically instruct on how to make a complete dish, but rather make up a component of a meal.  For example the skillet tortillas or beans.  These recipes will be referenced in other posts that use this item to build a meal.  The So Simple & So Good category is filled with recipes that are composed of only a few ingredients.  This section is my attempt to share my simple food philosophy.  As you know, if you read through this blog, I am not afraid to invest time and energy into cooking projects, but there is something to be said for fresh ingredients, simply combined to exalt their natural qualities with little to no fussing.  Some of these recipes are embarrassingly simple and hardly even count as recipes.  However, I’ve added them because I seriously enjoy them and perhaps they will spark new simple ideas for y’all.

HEALTHY EATING & WEIGHT-LOSS THOUGHTS:  How I Lost 50lbs From Scratch

 AND LAST, BUT NOT LEAST…SOME BLOGGERS THAT ARE INSPIRING ME:

• Cake Over Steak
• Chocolate + Marrow
• Dishing Up the Dirt
• Faring-Well
• Fix Feast Flair
• Green Kitchen Stories
• Half Baked Harvest
• i am a food blog
• London Bakes
• Minimalist Baker
• my name is yeh
• My New Roots
• O&O Eats
• Orangette
• Renee Kemps
• Sprouted Kitchen
• The Pig & Quill
• The Year in Food
• Two Red Bowls