The problem is that I don't taste individual ingredients. If I am eating chocolate cake, what I taste is chocolate cake. I don't know whether there is too much flour, too little sugar, not enough salt, etc. Hey, if it is chocolate cake, who cares?!
But seriously, since I don't taste all the parts I can't discern by looking at a recipe whether or not it will taste good as a whole. So I pretty much go by the titles. (note to reader: most recipes that actually make it into cookbooks, whether they are amazing or disgusting, have catchy yummy-sounding titles). So, if there are 2 different meatloaf recipes, one called "Meatloaf" and the other called "Tasty Mexican Meatloaf", I will probably choose the second. Because what sort of a Texan doesn't love Mexican?! This is not a good way to decide which kind of meatloaf to make for dinner. Unfortunately, it's all I've got.
All that to say, I am working on this problem. At this point, it is kind of trial and error. I find a bunch of good-sounding recipes (ok, titles) and plan out the meals and shop. And then it is total hit or miss whether dinner each night is going to bomb or be awesome. (sorry now to my poor family having to endure this growing pain with me. Papa Johns is just a phone call away when it is too awful to endure.)
Tonight I asked the kids to help me snap the ends off green beans. Who knew it would be so much fun for them?! (and they LOVED hearing the "snap" they were able to make each time) I can't believe I had never thought of this before. When we were done, Elias stood up and said, "Thanks for letting us do that , Mom. That was really fun!"
I have memories of being as young as 4 or 5 and snapping beans with my Meme (dad's mom) out on their farm. Thankfully, she was a much better cook than I am, and everything she ever made was incredible.
Maybe the beans tonight will turn out ok. Really, how bad can I screw that up, right?!
4 comments:
You know summer is just around the corner. It will be time to shuck the corn too. Any good Hoosier (even a part timer) teaches their kids to snap green beans and shuck corn. (I never have understood doing it in the produce section at HEB. It's best done sitting in the driveway with the kids!)
check out the friends and recipes link on my blog for some easy, yummy, almost no-fail recipes that we've compiled! you can do it!
that's awesome. my memories are of peeling shrimp with my mom's entire family. that was always fun.
oooh, oooh. i just thought of something. the more you let the kids get involved, the more blame you can pass for sucky food.
;)
I have fond memories too of snapping beans, picking strawberries out in the field (though the time I wore sandals and my feet got scratched up by the thorns isn't such a fond memory) sorting through dried beans to find the bad ones to throw out...definitely something to start doing with the kids. Thanks for the reminder of how fun that stuff is!
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