Red Mosquito

To some home cooks, the dinner kit appears as a godsend, saving precious time while offering exotic ingredients and new recipes, like seared cod with yuzu butter, or charred Nordic chicory with hanger steak...Others say it looks like play food, providing a facsimile of home cooking that does not nurture the skills or taste that make a cook.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/dinin ... erved.html

I came across this piece a couple of days ago and wanted everyone's take on it. For those of you who enjoy cooking, would you pay for somebody else to do the measuring and guesswork for you, or is all of that part of the joy that comes with being around food in your kitchen? Or are you, like me, somewhere between the two extremes..depending on schedule and energy?

My wife and I like to try new recipes, and do the measuring ourselves. It really allows for adjustments on the fly.

E.H. Ruddock wrote:My wife and I like to try new recipes, and do the measuring ourselves. It really allows for adjustments on the fly.

so you guys use the recipe just to get the ingredients but decide all the amounts on your own? thats kinda cool, but for me id have it all wrong so i always have to follow what someone has already had luck with

Dr. Van Nostrand wrote:

E.H. Ruddock wrote:My wife and I like to try new recipes, and do the measuring ourselves. It really allows for adjustments on the fly.

so you guys use the recipe just to get the ingredients but decide all the amounts on your own? thats kinda cool, but for me id have it all wrong so i always have to follow what someone has already had luck with

Not so much the amounts, unless it is stuff like salt and spices. More so we like to use the recipe as a guideline, so if it calls for Swiss cheese we might think that a different cheese might taste better, or substitute one vegetable for another if it suits our personal tastes better.

E.H. Ruddock wrote:

Dr. Van Nostrand wrote:

E.H. Ruddock wrote:My wife and I like to try new recipes, and do the measuring ourselves. It really allows for adjustments on the fly.

so you guys use the recipe just to get the ingredients but decide all the amounts on your own? thats kinda cool, but for me id have it all wrong so i always have to follow what someone has already had luck with

Not so much the amounts, unless it is stuff like salt and spices. More so we like to use the recipe as a guideline, so if it calls for Swiss cheese we might think that a different cheese might taste better, or substitute one vegetable for another if it suits our personal tastes better.

This is how I do it.

A kit would be interesting to try for something that was either something I have never thought of making or something totally different than what I usually make to where I may not want to by a "regular" amount of something if I don't know if the rest will get used.

As a rule, I use recipes to get a basic idea of what goes in and how to do it, and then I just do it my own way. Sometimes I will follow the recipe exactly the first time and then adjust from there for the next time, but I find if I don't write it down that I forget what I wanted to change unless I repeat the meal sooner than later.

I've never eaten hamster.

Dr. Van Nostrand wrote:

E.H. Ruddock wrote:My wife and I like to try new recipes, and do the measuring ourselves. It really allows for adjustments on the fly.

so you guys use the recipe just to get the ingredients but decide all the amounts on your own? thats kinda cool, but for me id have it all wrong so i always have to follow what someone has already had luck with

That's how I cook, too. Unless baking, then it's recipe or nothing. Actual meals, I'll look at the basic recipe, but because I try to avoid certain foods, I usually have to alter everything anyway. This seems like a good idea for people who really don't know much about cooking - or for a bachelor trying to cook for a lady friend.

I'm confused. You cook like that but Doc doesn't?

E.H. Ruddock wrote:I'm confused. You cook like that but Doc doesn't?

Doc more or less only cooks when I'm traveling - like this week. No idea what's he's been eating, he's on his own
I try to make enough stuff for him to just heat up when I'm gone, otherwise he's a big fan of frozen pizza and Homestyle Bakes

Chloe wrote:

E.H. Ruddock wrote:I'm confused. You cook like that but Doc doesn't?

Doc more or less only cooks when I'm traveling - like this week. No idea what's he's been eating, he's on his own
I try to make enough stuff for him to just heat up when I'm gone, otherwise he's a big fan of frozen pizza and Homestyle Bakes

Im traditionally just a kitchen helper and a dish washer, then Im damn good at throwing pizzas in the oven and making tacos and spaghetti but i am trying to eat better so i am least cutting out the frozen pizza

Dr. Van Nostrand wrote:

Chloe wrote:

E.H. Ruddock wrote:I'm confused. You cook like that but Doc doesn't?

Doc more or less only cooks when I'm traveling - like this week. No idea what's he's been eating, he's on his own
I try to make enough stuff for him to just heat up when I'm gone, otherwise he's a big fan of frozen pizza and Homestyle Bakes

Im traditionally just a kitchen helper and a dish washer, then Im damn good at throwing pizzas in the oven and making tacos and spaghetti but i am trying to eat better so i am least cutting out the frozen pizza

Dude has never been excited about food until recently, he usually just eats whatever is around and doesn't give it much thought. He's getting better about trying new things and actually enjoying meals Maybe one day he'll be posting pictures of his kitchen adventures!

E.H. Ruddock wrote:My wife and I like to try new recipes, and do the measuring ourselves. It really allows for adjustments on the fly.

Measuring is a sign of weakness. Eyeball it.

tragabigzanda wrote:With heat, for sustenance

:fistbump:

My mom doesn't measure anything, but I like to do so if I'm baking, or making something like pancakes. Best to get it right. Can still add an extra egg somewhere, or some coffee to the topping.

if it's dinner, measuring doesn't matter that much. Then I'll just prepare it.