I play with my food

[ChanellG]

I love to cook! Over the years I have simplified my approach to food and cooking and don't go out of my way to create elaborate meals, but I still like to experiment. Recently I had a baggie of fresh lima beans from the farmer's market and was out of my favorite spice blend. Without stock either, I decided to add one of my new favorite go to ingredients, lemon zest. I went a little overboard, but I'd definitely use it again with a little tweaking. I find it's more fun (and provides more motivation) when you have someone to cook for besides yourself.

Do you cook to eat or eat to cook?

 

[crimsonghost747]

I too enjoy cooking, especially trying something new. When I check for recipes online I never pay attention to the exact amounts of ingredients. Also I usually improvise a bit instead of buying exactly what it says on the recipe. (with spices for example)

 

[Annetteb]

I like to experiment with my cooking as well. I tend to substitute some ingredients for others in a recipe to see what the results will taste like. Sometimes I will make something really good, and other times I will wind up throwing it away it's so bad.

 

[ChanellG]

I often experiment with ingredients as many recipes I find online have peppers or meat, or something I don't eat (or at least haven't yet tried), or even ingredients that are not easy to find locally. I used three different recipes recently to come up with an Asian inspired eggplant dish based on the ingredients I actually had on hand. It came out great, though I don't measure so it's never exactly the same dish twice.

 

[zestery]

I love buying something random or new-to-me from the store to see what I can do with it. It's really more about poor impulse control than true adventurousness, but it is fun!

 

[sandra0530]

I love to cook! I do experiment from time to time but sometimes it does not go as planned haha.
But I do like to find recipes online and cook things I have never heard of/ never done before! I always add a little bit of more spices to those recipes and try to make them a little more of what I like regarding to flavor!

 

[oivas]

I too play with my food and that is only when the cooked food arrives in my plate. ... My wife is the one who plays with it while cooking and I must say she is an expert. She cooks it so well that there is nothing much to complain.

 

[ChanellG]

I love buying something random or new-to-me from the store to see what I can do with it. It's really more about poor impulse control than true adventurousness, but it is fun!

Ha, ha! I know a bit about that impulse shopping, though usually when I get something new I've never cooked with before it's coming in my produce share box from the farmer's market.

I love to cook! I do experiment from time to time but sometimes it does not go as planned haha.
But I do like to find recipes online and cook things I have never heard of/ never done before! I always add a little bit of more spices to those recipes and try to make them a little more of what I like regarding to flavor!

Been there. Hopefully your experiments are still edible when they don't turn out as expected. I tend to leave certain things out (peppers) from recipes I find online, though sometimes I make substitutions.

I too play with my food and that is only when the cooked food arrives in my plate. ... My wife is the one who plays with it while cooking and I must say she is an expert. She cooks it so well that there is nothing much to complain.

Well, good for you! I bet she would appreciate an occasional break from the stove - time for you to get in there and start experimenting!

 

[kamarsun1]

I would say both, I like eating, but cooking is a passion more so then eating, for me. I feel like a scientist in a lab sometimes. I don't know what combo I'm going to come up but it's usually very tasty, and the best meals seem to come when I don't have much choices, when the food storage gets low. We usually keep a lot of spices around and you can work miracles with the right spices.

 

[ChanellG]

I would say both, I like eating, but cooking is a passion more so then eating, for me. I feel like a scientist in a lab sometimes. I don't know what combo I'm going to come up but it's usually very tasty, and the best meals seem to come when I don't have much choices, when the food storage gets low. We usually keep a lot of spices around and you can work miracles with the right spices.

Interesting. To me the passion for cooking and the eating go together. If I didn't enjoy the experience of what is to savor really good food, I don't think I would ever even bother to cook. I agree that you can do very interesting things with limited resources because it forces you to stretch and be creative.

 

[winterybella]

I would say both, I like eating, but cooking is a passion more so then eating, for me. I feel like a scientist in a lab sometimes. I don't know what combo I'm going to come up but it's usually very tasty, and the best meals seem to come when I don't have much choices, when the food storage gets low. We usually keep a lot of spices around and you can work miracles with the right spices.

I like what you are saying here. I have been unfairly, called a food assassin by people close to me who think I eat too much, but they will also be the first to tell you I love to cook and I am "deadly" in the kitchen.

Now I am reading this I am going to call myself the SCIENTIST. Sometimes the way I take the recipes and "dismember" then makes the name fitting for me. I don't remember when last I have followed a recipe to the letter. Sometimes when "playing" with the food, I take a "joke" too far.

 

[ChanellG]

I like what you are saying here. I have been unfairly, called a food assassin by people close to me who think I eat too much, but they will also be the first to tell you I love to cook and I am "deadly" in the kitchen.

Now I am reading this I am going to call myself the SCIENTIST. Sometimes the way I take the recipes and "dismember" then makes the name fitting for me. I don't remember when last I have followed a recipe to the letter. Sometimes when "playing" with the food, I take a "joke" too far.

Why do those people think you eat too much?

Recipes are basically road maps. There's nothing written anywhere that says you can't deviate. People have allergies and sensitivities and can't have/tolerate certain ingredients. Some foods are only available seasonally. There is more than one way to make a soup, and variety is the spice of life.

 

[winterybella]

Why do those people think you eat too much?

They are mostly "playing" with me. I have very bad eating habits so once someone has anything to eat, I am always ready to pick at it. Hence they feel the need to sometimes hide their food from me and call me " the food assassin taking out all the food I can earmark . If I could afford to retire, I'd stay at home and create all kinds of dishes until I am tired creating. There are just so many things out there to in the kitchen. The dishes are unending.

 

[ChanellG]

They are mostly "playing" with me. I have very bad eating habits so once someone has anything to eat, I am always ready to pick at it. Hence they feel the need to sometimes hide their food from me and call me " the food assassin taking out all the food I can earmark . If I could afford to retire, I'd stay at home and create all kinds of dishes until I am tired creating. There are just so many things out there to in the kitchen. The dishes are unending.

Yikes! You may want to work on that, Bella. No one likes having someone pick at their plate uninvited. I'm guessing you're doing this out of curiosity? At least I'm hoping you are, lol. Perhaps you could find a job somewhere in a test kitchen. Then you could get paid as well as spend your time creating and playing with food indefinitely.

 

[winterybella]

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Yikes! You may want to work on that, Bella. No one likes having someone pick at their plate uninvited. I'm guessing you're doing this out of curiosity? At least I'm hoping you are, lol. Perhaps you could find a job somewhere in a test kitchen. Then you could get paid as well as spend your time creating and playing with food indefinitely.[

I am not as bad as I am making it sound but maybe I should cut it out completely. Usually I am just getting a taste to feed the worms and sometimes if it's good I'll get my own and gladly share with the person who's been "picked". I am not the greedy girl. I am more the "picky" girl who doesn't like to buy food that doesn't taste great.

At the end of the day I prefer to called the Food Scientist and truth be told I HATE people in my lab picking at the food. They MUST wait until the experiments have been completed. I've had to slap a few hands reaching out to test my cooking without my authorization.

To your point about testing food, I have often said I would like that job. I don't think those jobs are available around here. I'd have to open my own restaurant.