Put down the cookbook and no one will be hurt

I can always tell the person, the one who follows recipes to a T and can't make that soup that she's made 1500 times unless she finds the recipe. There are some times when recipes bog down the cooking and make it a lot less fun.

For example, my sister just had her wisdom teeth removed. I, being the good sister that I am, went out to get ice cream to make milkshakes. I have seen many many cookbooks for milkshakes and smoothies, but I really don't see a point in them. The best part about making milkshakes is being creative and throwing everything you can think of into them. For my sister's milkshake, I put chocolate ice cream, a banana, and peanut butter. It was pretty good if I do say so myself, but the key was that I didn't measure the exact amount of peanut butter and I can't tell you how many scoops of ice cream I put in or how many cups of milk. I just thought about what might taste good and threw it in.

I think that this form of cooking, the lack of cookbook kind, is the kind of cooking women and men have been doing for years. My grandmother on my dad's side did not have a recipe for anything. Her mother taught her to cook just like her mother's mother had taught her to cook. It is such a beautiful process and one that I fear we have lost in our Stauffer's lasagna 500 activities a day lifestyle.

I do think there is hope for us if we will right now put down the cookbooks. I'm serious just put them down. This is time for change, so don't argue. Now I want you to go into your cupboards and pull out some pasta. It can be any kind of pasta. I'm sure you can make pasta without a recipe, just make sure it's not over cooked. Go into your refrigerator and pull out whatever you think would go good with the pasta, maybe some tomatoes or squash or garlic or chicken or chop meat. Be creative and think back on everything you did with pasta and what you liked best. Fry up and cook all of the extra ingredients and toss them with the pasta, maybe toss them in the frying pan with a little bit of olive oil and some salt and pepper. I know this sounds like a silly exercise, but it will get you thinking about different ingredients and flavors and how things taste.

Recipes can be neccassary. In baking, I try not to make anything without a recipe or formula, because if you forget to add salt, you can't add it at the very end. Baking is a science and in science formulas are needed.

There is a definite time and place for recipes, but you don't always need a recipe to make something taste good. Venture out and be creative. Get some ice cream and let everyone add what they want. Have a milkshake party. Or chop up a bunch of different ingredients and cook some pasta and rice and have your own little Fire and Ice experience at home. Create your own family dishes and if they turn out really good write down what you did, if you can remember. During this recipe intervention you might create some food that isn't as edible as you'd like. If it's really that bad, there is always the Stauffer's lasagna.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily