Do you rely on cookbooks?

Question

do you cook by the book or are you a natural cook...?
i can say i'm a good cook, but i can't cook without recipe books. I can concoct my own food recipes but i can't repeat it if i don't record it....

Answer 1

Depends on what I am cooking. I grew up in a family that cooked by recipes and by just throwing things together. I never really measure unless I am baking or following a recipe I have never used before. If I don't like it I note the changes in the book. I am always experimenting in the kitchen just like my grandmother. She collected cookbooks and would read them like novels. (I am beginning to do this to and just now realized it) Right now I am trying to per-fect a candy recipe.

Answer 2

If I'm trying something for the first time, I sometimes use a cookbook. But usually I improvise. I'm the only one I know that can bake cookies without measuring, and they come out the same every time. Things I cook often I can remember the proportions of ingredients. I can remember what a teaspoon or a cup of something looks like so that I don't have to measure again. I use my senses as well, to gauge if what I'm making is the right color and consistency, if it smells and tastes right. Even the way it sounds. It's not that I'm supersmart, my brain just works well that way. Now if I could only remember where I put the spatula...

Answer 3

I learned a lot of recipes from my mother. She taught me well. I took what she taught me, and tried to add an extra ingredient or two, just to see what it would do. Sometimes it works great, and sometimes not. By adding only one or two extra things, it isn't so hard to remember, because you're just adding on to something you already know. I can't say that I use a cook book always, but every once in a while, I bring it out, wipe off the dust, and my kids and I have a wonderful time baking cakes, pies, and cookies. It makes the house smell scrumptious, too! LOL!!

Answer 4

I am a natural cook. I am able mostly to copy a meal I'ved had somewhere by the flavor of the food. I experiment with a lot of different cuisine. I tend to not cook by measurement, but adjust ingredients to my taste and have a successful dish made.
If someone wants the recipe to something I've made I am only able to give the ingredients, not measures. And I never write them down either, so each time I make something it may taste a little different.

Answer 5

Depends. When I want to make something with a lot of ingredients in it I do follow the book. I can make many dishes without the book but I am always interested in learning new dishes so thus I turn to books or the net. I am a natural cook though as i know lots.

Answer 6

I use a cookbook the first few times I make a recipe, then I'll use it as a guide after that.
I don't like "winging it" when it comes to cooking. I do better when I have a guideline to follow.

Answer 7

I'm a natural cook that cooks simple things. I occasionally will use a cook book for something different. My family likes the basics, like beef, chicken and vegetables. I don't use a lot of spices. I mainly use recipes for desserts.

Answer 8

I don't ever measure anything!I love to read cookbooks but I don't follow the recipe per say, the only time I do is for baking because you have to.I have always been a natural cook.

Answer 9

I like doing it both ways alot of time I do cook by the book and if i don't like how it turns out I alter the recips to my own tatse

Answer 10

90per cent of the time I use cookbooks. I have a lot of them and I also get recipes from the net. I also add extra of the things I like (Garlic). People spend a lot of time perfecting recipes and I am happy to use the fruits of their work and personalize it.