Try Something Different

Tonight I made hamburgers for dinner.  Instead of using my normal combination of pork sausage and ground beef, which with the pork sausage has its own seasoning, I used ground pork tonight.  I found that the ground pork was a much better choice than the sausage.  I used my normal seasonings of Worchester sauce, breadcrumbs, burger seasonings, and eggs to bind them and they turned out a  wonderful flavor after cooking them on the grill this evening. 

I think we have to experiment with different things or try new things in the kitchen.  Last weekend I tried making Loukoumades or Greek doughnuts.  It was my first time trying them and they turned out very well.  I have had them at several Greek festivals in the Rocky Mountain region and they were fantastic.  So I went looking on the Internet for a recipe and found one that was easy to follow and yielded results that were very successful.  It was nice to stretch my culinary legs and try something different.  This morning was making biscuits and gravy from scratch this morning and they turned out very well.  I’m very proud that I’m willing to try different things, and if I do make a mistake, don’t get discouraged, dust off the apron, and try again.  If I had let screwing up a recipe discourage me, I would not be cooking today and would be relying on takeout instead of really enjoying cooking and hardly ever eating out.  I cut my own French fries.  I have made my own bread and do my own soups but my real accomplishment is making spaghetti and meatball from scratch.  I make my own meatballs and my own pasta from scratch the only thing I have yet to do is make my own sauce, but I’m willing to try and fail because I know that eating my mistakes is just as rewarding as anything else. 

I have really enjoyed baking.  I have made the Loukoumadesbut I have  made  many other things like Oreo deconstructed cupcakes, lemon cupcakes with a candied lemon on top, lemon tarts, miniature apple and cherry pies, apple and cherry turnovers and M&M and Oreo brownies. 

I call cooking and baking my culinary recreation.  It helps me relax and I have a lot of fun and enjoy myself.  Many consider cooking and baking a chore, but I really love experimenting with different flavors and different techniques that I see in cooking shows on Food Network, the Cooking Channel and YouTube.  I have now tried experimenting with different herbs and spices.  I have done a lot of reading and watched videos on what herbs and spices go with meats and vegetables and have really experimented with the spices in the baking realm.  I put a lot of different spices in my oatmeal raisin cookies to give them an extra boost, and it has made them delicious.

So if you’re looking for a new hobby or just want to improve your skills in the kitchen, get yourself some good ingredients, find the right combination of herbs and spices, tryout, and the new recipe, put on an apron, and get to cooking.