Toss the Recipe

When I was a dummy, I thought you had to follow recipes exactly.

As a kid helping my mom cook, I was instructed to read the recipe and do exactly as it says, word-for-word. I suppose that is actually a really great way to learn to cook: learning that there's lots of ways to cook chicken that all turn out perfectly tasty.

Now when I find a recipe I like on Pinterest, I usually just look at the ingredients, substitute one or two things for something cheaper, and have at it. I was especially impressed with myself when I made a Spinach/Artichoke/Cheesy/Chicken/Orzo dish that was supposed to go in the oven, but I decided to use an electric skillet instead. I adjusted the temperature much lower, and let it cook, and it was perfect. I know enough to substitute smartly (there's a hilarious family story of when my sister tried to make cookies using Splenda instead of sugar, and I learned my lesson from her mistake) and to trust my instincts. Shortcuts aren't shameful if they arrive at the same destination.

In the end, I'm much more excited for the dish if I've made my own changes to it. I'm prouder of how it tastes if I added something special of my own.

Last week a child asked me to help him make an airplane out of K'nex. He showed me the instruction page, and it was clear that the elaborate blueprint would take about an hour if I was lucky.

I said sure, we can make a plane. I'll build the middle part where the people ride, and you build the wings, and we'll stick them together. I intentionally sat down, criss-cross applesauce, with my foot over the picture so he wouldn't be bothered by the "ideal" K'nex airplane. After two minutes he lost interest and we didn't build an airplane but we did end up building an "anteater" that looked nothing like an anteater but whatever, if he's happy I'll let him imagine it looks like an anteater. He was way happier with the anteater than if we had kept following the directions to make the complicated airplane.

More generally, I've thrown away a few recipes I was trying to follow in my life. I'm much more thankful for my job than I was with my original career plan. I'm much prouder of my husband than I ever could have been with the boys I had crushes and daydreams on years ago. I am much more comfortable with my friends than I was with the girls I wanted to be friends with in early high school.

Writing your own recipe is pretty fun.