This evening as we were having dinner Dave stops, looks at me and says: "This is very good! Definitely a recipe you need to add to your cookbook.... If only you could replicate it." He is so right, I probably won't.
I may have mentioned before that I have my mother's cooking style. She cooked daily for 8 very hungry children and a very finicky husband. She often "recycled" one meal into the next, to save time and money. Her meals were simple but always enough to satiate and satisfy. When I cook I often triple or quadruple a recipe. My mother used to say that one should always have enough for surprise visitors. I agree.
I began to help my mother in the kitchen when I was about 7 or 8 years old. First I would pick through beans, then I would be assigned some chopping duties and by the time I was about 11 I was in charge of cooking some meals all on my own (with her guidance of course). I quite enjoyed working in the kitchen. I learned a lot from my mom, except for any recipes. She had none. Every meal was made from whatever she had at home plus a few extra "fresh" items (we didn't have a refrigerator). Some days we would have meat that my dad brought home from work, but all too often our meals were non-meat concoctions she would throw together in her mind as she went.
Yesterday I began to make a chicken chile verde. Don't ask me how but we ended up with yellow curry. Same ingredients, just something about that chile verde wasn't quite right so I changed it half way through. It's not a rare occurrence either. I often start a meal not knowing what I'm making. I just know what ingredients I'm going to use.
In preparing for our Thanksgiving celebration I am trying my best to create a menu and have a plan but I keep changing it. If you are my guest and you are reading this do not be alarmed. I have backups :) I have a big picture idea of what dishes I want to make. I just know that if they don't fall together the day of, it won't be my cooking. Or my moms :)
Happy Thanksgiving preparations.
No comments:
Post a Comment