7/13/06

being a good cook

To be a good “cook.” What exactly does that mean? And why does it feel like I’m not sure if I fit in that sentence? Is it all in how you define cook?

I check out a couple of blogs on a regular basis that are “cooking” blogs. Some are simple and others are more gourmet. I try to get ideas or grab some recipes. But when reading them I realize I’m not really a cook, or what they seem to be defining as one, with what they have on their blogs.

I love making dinners and lunches; breakfast is left to Pat because frankly, I’m just not awake in the mornings to care about food. He’s great at all the breakfast staples though, plus he can make a mean omelet and is on his way to conquering our favorite from Paris, the crepe.

But the things I make…well, they aren’t exactly gourmet. I’ve got a few specialties such as the extremely light fried mozzarella, the white wine chicken that Pat says he could eat everyday and of course my “famous” dips that get devoured at the lake house. I didn’t come up with any of those things on my own though…grabbed them all from someone else’s recipe book. Maybe that’s okay…I sometimes change things around a little for what we like or to use organic ingredients. But I’m not the type of “cook” that can just throw some things in a pan and have a tasty dish come out of it. I need a recipe to follow. My mom drives me insane when I ask for a recipe and she says, “I don’t really have one.” How can people do that? I always have to follow one. Maybe it’s that I’m a more detailed person so I want to make sure it tastes the same every time. Or maybe this is something that comes with age…because it seems to be a common thing with moms and grandmas.

Who knows…in the meantime, I think I’ll go home and make tacos for dinner tonight. Easy…hamburger meat and seasoning, heat up some wheat tortillas and we’re set. There you go…I didn’t need a recipe for that!