It won't come as a
surprise to many if I say this has been a long, cold, snowy winter
and we still have several weeks to go before it may begin to feel
like Spring. The first few days of cold and snow are just fine and
it's easy to find something to do, but after the number of stormy days we
have had so far, I am not sure how many more times I can clean out
the 'junk drawer'. So... looking for something to occupy my time, I
thought that maybe a bit of cooking might fit the bill. After all,
these are desperate times.
I can handle the grill
and hamburgers pretty well but I am not a cook or a baker, although I
have been known to whip up a pie every now and then, pumpkin being my
favorite, as long as I don't have to make the pie crust from scratch
and everything else comes in a can. The ready made pie crusts in the
frozen food department at the local store work just fine for me.
I must admit there are times the recipes are somewhat confusing. I know how to measure
a cup of flour or use those little spoons that are labeled 1 tsp or 1
tbsp for additional spices, but there are some measures I don't
understand.
Add a 'pinch' of salt!
How much is a pinch of salt. The amount in a pinch may vary
depending upon the size of one's fingers.
Perhaps the directions
call for a 'smidgen' or two of nutmeg. A 'smidgen' is...how much? Does that differ from a pinch?
One recipe called for
just a 'trace' of vanilla extract. I thought that a trace of
something involved paper and a pencil. If it's just a trace, why
include it in the recipe at all. But then, in the next line, it says
to add a 'dash' of cinnamon to personal taste and liking. I always
thought a dash was of the 100 or 200 yard type, like at a track
meet.
Building a fine piece
of furniture or sewing a piece of clothing usually require precise
and accurate measuring, thus the saying...”measure twice and cut
once.” But fine cooking? It requires a very different set of skills
and obviously a lot of experience in order to get it to taste 'just
right'.
The recipe for the
chocolate chips cookies suggests at least two 'handful' of chocolate
chips. My hand is fairly small which means less chocolate chips per
cookie in the mix, right? By the way, I prefer to substitute those
little peanut flavored chips instead of the chocolate ones, or may
I'll use one handful of each?
Several 'drops' of
vegetable oil will keep the pasta from sticking together in the bowl,
but I guess too many drops may cause the pasta to slip and slide out
of the bowl or off the dinner plate.
A 'dollop' of sour
cream on a freshly baked potato is very tasty. Along with an
additional 'dab' of butter too often though and you have the makings
of an eventual trip to your doctor to be treated for high
cholesterol.
Another recipe called
for a 'nip' of sherry or cognac while cooking the chicken fillets
over low heat in the skillet. No problem here. One 'nip' for the pan
and one 'nip' for the cook. OK. Two for the cook. Those chicken
fillets are beginning to smell better already.
A 'speck' of food
coloring added to a cake batter can transform a plain old pound cake
into a colorful addition to the dessert plate, piled high with
vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce.
Some have called “good
cooking” a science. The 'chefs' on television make it look very
easy as they move about the stage adding a dash of this and a dollop
of that in such dramatic fashion. The sciences I am familiar with,
however, are very precise and accurate in their measurements,
Otherwise, something might just blow up.
What I would really
like to see is just a 'smidgen' more of winter, a few less 'specks'
of snow and one less 'handful' of salt that I need to throw on the
ice in my driveway. Until then, I think I'll leave the cooking to the
experts and sit back and enjoy one more 'nip' of sherry before I take
a nap.
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