Despite my love of cooking and my many, many cookbooks I do not cook every day. In fact, I don’t necessarily cook every week. You may also think that I’m about to write a cookbook review. I’m not. Sorry if you’re disappointed. Or perhaps, my musings will lead you to buy this cookbook. Okay, this is one part cookbook review and one part musings on cooking in general. So basically it’s a little all over the place. That’s how my mind works.
Let’s start with why, as someone who loves cooking, I don’t cook that often. Cooking for me is a production. It requires time, choreography, and the right performers. It cannot be rushed or pulled together at the last minute. Cooking for an audience requires rehearsal’s and direction so that you get the five star reviews you were going for. So time, in particular, stands in my way most often. Cooking after work does not appeal to me nor does cooking on a weekend where there are many other activities going on. If the pace and the rhythm are off, then I will not be bothered. I do have quite a few scripts to go through (a.k.a. cookbooks) and the one I rely on and use most often is How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman.
No, I don’t believe that the book actually teaches me how to cook everything. Nor do I think it is full of restaurant style recipes that will have people lining up at my door and knocking in the dead of night to get a fix of my delights. I’m not Monica and this is not Friends. I do, however, think that it is full of recipes that are for the every day cook. Especially cooks that have limitations. For example, I have Joy of Cooking and as a Midwestern gal who has a German heritage you would think I would love it. Except my husband is allergic to whey and if you know anything about Midwesterners you know we like to smother our food in cheese or cream of something. Because of Bittman’s writing style and direction, I have been able to make food on the fly, finally mastered a roast chicken, make paella regularly, and bake bread every week. I can also do this without looking at the recipes. I’ve rehearsed and edited and tweeked these scripts until they are just right for me and my family so they are now mine.
Maybe you had a different option for learning to cook. Maybe you learned at your mother or grandmother’s knee or have a different go to resource whether it be a book or blog or magazine. The important thing is to not be afraid to adjust and change and make the recipes that you and your family like. We need not be all the same in life or in the kitchen.
As Julia Child would sign off … “Bon appétit!”
What is your favorite cooking resource?
Carla's Book Crush 
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