To Recipe or Not to Recipe…That is the Question!

Did you ever hear someone comment on someone else’s cooking and exclaim, “…and she doesn’t even use a recipe!” There seems to be a lot of pride taken in that statement as if food is always better sans recipe.

As a former professional seamstress I used to have a lot of people ask me if I use patterns, and then they would sigh disappointedly when I replied, yes, pretty much always. I do not mean to be disrespectful or condescending when I say this, but as a many decades experienced seamstress, their reaction only served to show their general ignorance of the seam-stressing world. Not ignorance as in stupid, just lack of knowing the art of sewing. Patterns exist for a reason, and a good one. Because people out there have put a lot of time and effort into sizing, proportioning, and fine tuning a pattern that will actually work and fit a person when it is done. I have pulled numerous “my-own-patterns” off Pinterest only to ruin pieces of fabric because someone took pride in not using a pre-made pattern, and it did not work, or fit, at all! Have I created my own patterns myself? Certainly, and some good ones. But that takes a lot of time and effort, not to mention certain specific skill sets.

So, back to recipes. Recipes exist for a reason, because they have been tried and tested. I make many things without using recipes, but I do not scorn the recipe when it is needed. Here’s where this really came home to me. My Mom made a lot of foods with no recipes; in fact most of the things she made. They were always delicious. But here’s what happened. As she got older she simply forgot how she made some things. She meant to make them the same but just could not remember. I waited way too long to ask about some of the things she made and now those “recipes” do not exist. She could never tell me in full how she had made them, so now they are lost.

I finally took the time to get down on paper how I make certain family recipes. Like plain old chicken noodle soup. No one would ever be able to recreate it unless they have written down how I make it. And I’m honest enough to admit that parts of my memory will go to the same place my Mom’s did, and there will be a time when I just can’t remember how I did it. But I will now have that down on paper…at least the basics…so I can continue to make my usual delicious chicken noodle soup, that will always taste the same, right up until I can no longer hold a spoon.

To recipe or not to recipe?…BOTH!