Chef Tessa
I'm feeling quite creative today. I walked over to Safeway and New Apple Produce and got lots of food, and have just put a lasagna into the oven. After briefly looking at the recipe, I decided that I could do much better. So currently cooking is Tessa's Magical Lasagna surprise.
My mom called when I was in the middle of preparation. I told her about my winging it plan. Which she thought was for the best. But said that the biggest problem with it, is that if you make the best lasagna ever, you will never, ever be able to re-create it. Cause you will never remember exactly what you did or how much of what you put in. Even now, a mere 30 minutes since I finished making it, I can't remember how much garlic I put in.
The conversation I had with my mom was surreal. She had rented "School of Rock" the night before. I tell you, you haven't lived until you've heard my mom do an impression of Jack Black. It was really, really weird. I think soon my mom is going to be more up to date on pop culture than I am. Scary.
Mmm, your lasagna sounds yummy. Haven't really eaten in a couple days. Mmm. Lasagna.
No, cooking that way means it's never the same twice, but cooking is like life -- if you do it exactly the same way every time, nothing ever gets any better. Recipe-free dishes evolve through natural selection. Sometimes they're not quite as good, and other times they're a little bit better, but once you make them enough times, they sort of find their niche and stabilize there. And then they start making babies and you end up with all sorts of new recipe-free variations, where the genres are families (like soups, savoury layers in pans, fruit-based deserts, stir-fry medlies, things that roast, etc.) and you can always make something out of what's in your fridge.