DIY Cooking

A few weeks ago I started with cookies and sesame buns. I have those in my other blog, which has nothing to do with cooking. So I decided to start this one in order to spare people who could not care less about my mad kitchen experiments.

Both attempts turned out swimmingly. The cookies were a wonderful combination of sweet and salty, with a firm-but-chewy texture. The buns were light and buttery. I was quite heartened with the results.

My next attempt was at baking a rustic Italian loaf. I didn't take pictures of the process, or of the finished result. It turned out woefully underseasoned.

I think part of the problem was that I chose a recipe that was very involved. It required starting with a sponge, which did give the bread the intended spongy texture, but had to be made the night before. Then the next day, the dough required three long, separate rises. What was I thinking? I wasn't ready to have to pay so much attention! So I turned the loaf into breadcrumbs.

Today I chose a simpler recipe which yielded some unexpected but pleasing results. I'll post about that soon.

I come from a family of good cooks, but, somehow, I managed to leave the family fold and head out on my own only knowing how to bake a chicken breast and serve it with a side of Lipton's Fettucine Alfredo.

In college I survived my first two kitchenless years on dorm food and take-out. When I finally ranked high enough to get a room with a kitchen, I realized I knew not what I was doing. My typical dinner was pasta, and chicken cut into strips and fan-fried in a bit of butter. Perhaps some raw veggies on the side. Potatoes sometimes made an appearance as well. But I do believe my most heinous creation was fettucine tossed with Campbell's vegetable soup. Mmm, mmm good.

When my now-husband and I got an apartment, the above menu was my contribution to our nightly dinners. I tried to break out and learn more, but I've never been exactly patient and my repertoire grew by only a handful of dishes. If I tried something and it didn't work out the first time, I got exasperated and concluded that I just was not a good cook.

In time I've grown slightly less impatient. I've confirmed that the old adage, "If you don't succeed, try, try again", is actually very good advice. I live in a town that has exceptional produce and meats, and many ways of getting to it. After having good stuff, I was having a harder time looking Lipton in the eye.

I'm a (hopefully) better cook by now. I'm still learning: my main challenge is in the basic skills you need to be able to throw a meal together. How to control heat, what ingredients work together, mastering cooking techniques which, once learned, make life in the kitchen a lot easier.

But just what does "from scratch" mean? I'm not going to, say, breed my own honey bees so that I can have honey "from scratch". I'm not planning on churning my own butter. Some things will have to come made for me already. I'm hoping to stay away from meals that come as a whole, or in part, premade. And in working with all these ingredients, I'm hoping my technical skills will improve as well.