Gastro-Love! Foodies and Kitchen-Dwellers UNITE!

[Medusa]

Originally Posted by Kätzchen

I think it was about a month ago now, but I watched a superb documentary about Julia Child on PBS. She was ahead of her time and she was meticulous in all her endeavors to help people learn how to cook foods in a variety of ways. And super funny, very dry humor .... I would say.

I have one cookbook that my mother gave to me back in the early 1990s. It's full.of recipes from ladies in her church, ladies we grew up knowing at church, and we're very close to.

I rarely use cook books. I learned ratios and various cooking methods from my Aunt, on my dad's side of the family. Aunt Kate was my dad's mom's only sister. She was of French and German descent. I learned from her, and use her style of cooking and baking. By heart. No recipes.

But if I personally make something that turned out fairly well, I convert everything I did to recipe form.

Btw, have you ever tried roasted cactus???

I just dined at a locally owned restaurant, which is owned by elderly Mexican family friends. Omg, it was d e l i s h!

I am SO going to look up that Julia Child documentary! I hope I can find it on the net somewhere! LOL

I rarely use recipes either...or at least in their exact form. I've been making certain things since I was a kid so the recipe exists in my head and experienced hands. Occasionally I will pull out one of my favorite recipe books to compare the basic ingredients but generally wing it.
If it's something I've never made before, I might follow a recipe more closely (especially if it is something delicate like a souffle) but generally once is all I will need the written instructions.

I haven't had roasted cactus but it sounds delish! They have several different kinds of cactus at the Farmer's Market in Decatur so I might have to grab some and give it a try the next time I'm out that way!