Why Write Stuff Down

[chef jimmyj]

my dad found his grandmothers hand written cook book and it has the same style of recipe's , $.02 of this and that and also she called out "sweet milk" which i am not sure of. it sure is cool to look back at the time period as to how things was cooked and what they ate during the time period. nothing went to waste.

Sweet Milk is as it comes from the cow, cream mixed, shaken, in. This being Sweet compared to Cultured Buttermilk or Sour Milk more commonly used in baking. Kids and adults alike, drank sweet milk while some of the older folks drank ice cold buttermilk. Definately an aquired taste but Buttermilk is pretty darn good with spicy foods...JJ

 

[zwiller]

I totally dig "food forensics" and learning what makes old recipes. IE lemon juice in milk ain't nothing like real buttermilk. Why did grandmas pancakes taste so much better? REAL buttermilk.

So many levels of "writing things down". I am pretty much converted to recipes based on weight now. Wanna blow your mind? Compare SP in weight and SP in volume.

 

[Xendau]

I always write things down... I used to use Moleskine pocket notebooks in the kitchen/grill/smoker... transfer to computer & USB drive for keeping.

I always had issues with staining and bleeding if it got wet. (As things get messy in professional and home kitchens some times)

I recently found these on Kickstarter: https://www.bookblock.com/stone/

Its a notebook that has paper made from stone. Water proof, grease/oil proof, lays flat...

There are arguments about the stone paper not being as environmentally kind as some sell it to be... But if it means not cutting a tree down... Thats good enough for me.

So I am transferring all my favorite recipes into the two I bought and any recipes I havent added to my laptop and back up usb, I will do.

If you use paper notebooks to jot things down, you might look into these... definitely worth the price.

 

[noboundaries]

I learned to cook using the palm of my hand as a measuring device for salt, pepper, sugar, and spices. I used my instincts for wet ones as I poured them from the container. Works great for anything but baking, which is why I never really did much baking. It felt too structured, and I preferred a more freeform creativity for cooking.

Then I married a German woman, one who is a super-taster and very structured. She left most of the cooking to me, but often wanted me to repeat flavors, or a dish, I threw together based on what we had in the cabinet at the time. She insisted I start writing things down, especially my freeform dishes.

I've never been a fan of handwritten recipes, so I started using a recipe book software program. It took me a while to get used to recognizing a tablespoon, teaspoon, etc in the palm of my hand, but with time it became habit. I have 823 recipes in 9 cookbook files (BBQ, Main, Pizza, Italian, etc). Half are family recipes or my own creation. The other half are recipes I've copied and modified to my preferences. Now it is a habit to build a recipe after cooking a dish we love.

 

[Xendau]

Ive had that discussion with an old roommate of mine... she was of the mind that using recipes meant you werent cooking or cooking with love. I explained to her that recipes are indeed cooking. And to use them was not anti-cooking or not cooking from a loving place. Nor were they always restrictive... as you can always alter and "play" with recipes.

I explained to her that a recipe's sole purpose is so that a cooked item and/or meal can be replicated. Do I still cook from the hip and not write things down? Sure... and they most ALWAYS never turn out the way I recalled them, or I wish I had written down ingredients or amounts I used.

Funny story, (she is Indonesian) she tried making a Indonesian dish for me, her mom would make for her. Her exact words, "This just taste the same, my mom's is much better." I then reminded her our recipe discussion. ;)

I hate saying... "This is missing something..." and I agree with chef jimmyj

...my crew like consistency and complains if Pot Roast, etc does not taste the same every time. Additionally the kids will call saying they want to make something and need the recipe...JJ

 

[HalfSmoked]

Miss Piggy Thanks for the like it is greatly appreciated.

Warren