My name is Lauren and welcome to Ditch the Recipe, where everything is easy to make and easy to alter!
I live in the City of Angels and have been happily eating my way around it since I arrived in 2013. Living in a place with such diversity has really expanded my palate and alternately, made me a better cook at home.
To me, the kitchen is an outlet for creativity. Every dish we cook—from the ingredients we choose to the knife cuts we make—is a direct reflection of who we are. So why should we be limited to the confines of a recipe? I say use it as inspiration, then ditch it—make it your own!
Ditch the Recipe is all about exploring your inner chef and experimenting in the kitchen. Alton Brown once said, “A home cook who relies too much on a recipe is sort of like a pilot who reads the plane’s instruction manual while flying.” Do not crash the plane trying to count the exact number of chocolate chips Susie Homemaker says will give you the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Susie’s not eating your damn cookies. You are. Put in as many or as little as you want!
Learn to cook using your intuition. Cooking is a journey of growth through creativity. It is the only form of art that uses all five senses, and I don’t know about you, but I think that’s f@#%$ing cool.
As cooks, we get to see; style our food, make it pretty. We get to smell: apple pie baking, butter melting, umm bacon!? We get to touch: slap dough, ball cookies, squish tomatoes. We get to hear: steaks searing, popcorn popping, fish frying. But most importantly, we get to taste. And nothing tastes better than homemade—so, lets get cooking!
XOXO
