How often have you began reading a cookbook and rolled your eyes and said in your head “Who has the time to cook this?” or how about “Really, I can’t even pronounce that!” I truly believe if you can read you can cook almost anything. Cooking doesn’t need to daunting. It is sometimes difficult, often involved and even expensive but it doesn’t need to be stressful.
I remember the first time I made an Opera Cake. It has about two million layers, uses genoise, whole egg butter cream and ganache. An opera cake takes all day and uses half the dishes in your kitchen. And, it is possibly one of the best tasting things I have ever eaten. Here is the thing about that first opera cake; I made sure I had all the ingredients before I started. I also made sure I had time in case something went off the rails. And, I had a damn good reason for making it….my husband’s birthday. Was it difficult? Did I maybe cuss a little or a lot while making it? Did I think at one point what in the world have I done? Yes to all, but I persevered because I had faith it would work out.
Have I ever had an unmitigated failure. Yes, definitely yes. I will never make caneles again; NEVER. The first time I made sourdough baguettes the top was almost burned and the bottom raw . We all have failures but we can all learn from them. Sometimes a recipe goes wrong an hour before your guests arrive and you just have to make a substitution or add a little garnish to cover it up. Or, just tell your guests you tried something new and, well….the wine is good anyway. The point is to have fun and embrace cooking.
Stick around and we will have a little fun on here.
Steve