On Becoming My Mother
The one thing no woman wants to hear is that she’s becoming her mother. I guess it’s mostly because when people say that, they are usually referring to a negative characteristic or behavior of her mother. But even still, I am no different.
Recently I was writing down recipes and thinking of how I make some of my favorite dishes. I found myself saying, “oh just a little of this and a little of that.” And then I stopped short and said, “I’ve just become my mother!”
When I was younger and just getting into learning new recipes and starting to really love cooking, I would ask my mom how she made certain meals or for her favorite recipes. Most of them contained directions like this: “Dice potatoes, onions, carrots, and celery. I don’t remember how many. Guess. Lots. 1/2-1 each per person?” This is an exact quote from her for a recipe I asked for once. How much do I put in? “Lots.” Thanks, Mom.
The thing is, now I get it. I really don’t know how much of some stuff I put in my cooking, especially when it comes to spices. It depends on my mood. It depends on what I have on hand. It depends on who else I am cooking for. Sometimes I’ll make the exact same dish and use some different ingredients entirely.
Now that I’m trying to watch what I eat and pay attention to what I use and how much, it’s been a little difficult. I’m trying to toe the line of still creatively cooking (throw in this, and that!) while knowing what exactly is in my food. Luckily the things I usually am not specific on are spices or vegetables, so it doesn’t affect the recipe or nutritional value much (at least not negatively).
As I try to share recipes on here, I generally post the recipe as I found it with notations of my changes. Sometimes I don’t even say what the changes are because I don’t remember. At least so far I’ve resisted posting a recipe and saying to put “lots” of anything in.
Related Posts:
1 comment
: D
I’m glad it wasn’t worse. ; )