I like going out to dinner and exploring a new restaurant but I also love trying new recipes at home.
I just figured out that since I have tested out a new recipe every Sunday for the past 40 years, given a few weeks off for vacation and a break from the kitchen, I am going on 2,008 recipes. Do I remember them all?...not a chance but I do have this huge box where I have placed all of the one’s I really love. Back then, there were no computers to keep a database of recipes and now, I throw it into my box out of habit if I love it and intend to cook it again.
Learning to cook has been a passion and often was a competition with my friends and co-workers. Who could do the best ribs? Who could master the greatest lamb chops or Key Lime Pie? It was hysterical when one of us finally had to admit that the other had mastered the task.
Whenever I cook a recipe that someone else gave me, no matter how far away they are, when I sit down to eat it, they are there. I can always remember the first time we ate that dish together, where we were and the smell of their kitchen.
Cooking together and sharing a meal is the glue that has held us together after all these years. I have developed so many great bonds of lasting friendship because of cooking.
