Recipe? We don't need no stinking recipe...

[Mermaid02]

The Stuffing thread made me stop and think... I never use a recipe for my stuffing. Oh, I use the same ingredients, but no specific amounts. White bread, a sweet onion sauteed in butter, maybe some celery (unless my son in law is eating with us, he hates it) then I use Bell's seasoning, Salt and hot water. I add the Bell's until it "smells right", a couple shakes from the salt shaker and the water until the consistency is "right."

I make soups and stews pretty much the same way.

What do you make that you don't use a recipe for?

 

[daannzzz]

Spaghetti Sauce. I love all kinds of Spaghetti sauce. I just through it together and let it simmer. It may depend on what is on hand or I amy go out and get the stuff the sounds good for it. I do usually use mostly the same ingredients but in different amounts. Even when I have followed a recipe it didn't come out the same each time!

 

[olwyngdh]

I don't use recipes for soups, stews, roasts...pretty much anything I make on a regular basis. I know what goes in them or what will work in them and base how I make them on what I have in stock or what looks best at the grocery store that week.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Risotto

 

[Minnesota!]

I don't use recipes except for the first time I am making something new. Then I tweak from there..

My spaghetti sauce was thrown together on a day my cupboards were bare, and it has been a mainstay since - it is SO good.

 

[RedAngie]

Same. No recipes for stuffing, soups, stews, pasta sauce, etc. They are made basically the same each time, but can vary based on available ingredients.

 

[dyna]

Dressing
Meatloaf
Roast with veggies
stew
soup
Chili
mashed taters
mac an cheese
Biscuits
Rarely do I use recipe but then I been cooking for 50+ yrs YES I'm old.

 

[soccerdad72]

Quite a few things I make, I don't use a specific recipe, but rather, wing it and taste along the way.

 

[tasha99]

I don't use a recipe for most Thanksgiving foods because I make everything in huge quantities and the foods are very simple. I actually SHOULD use one for stuffing now and then, but I only make stuffing once a year, so we go with our standard. I say "should" because for me, following a recipe is how I grow as a cook. I like to try recipes of foods that I make well but are different in some way from my method so I can learn and compare. I'm a pretty advanced cook and I got that way by reading a ton of cookbooks and constantly trying new recipes. I still try to make new foods every week. But Thanksgiving is about tried and true traditions at our house.

 

[mjkacmom]

I’m half and half, I’m an adventurous eater and love all kinds of ethnic foods, so I’ll use a recipe if I’m not that familiar with it. I usually made my own marinades and salad dressings, tomato sauce, soups...

 

[kimblebee]

Cooking I don’t use a recipie, but for baking I do. That’s much more of an actual science.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I always use a recipe. So that I may not follow it to the letter it and do it my way.

 

[smiths02]

I need a recipe. I am usually good at telling if a recipe will be good or bad, but I just need a recipe. I am an okay cook, pretty okay baker, but I would be a terrible chef.

I HATE looking for a recipe online, finding a 5 star recipe, and then everyone writes "great recipe...I just made the following modifications..." Well, then it wasn't a 5-star recipe, was it?

 

[verleniahall]

even if you don't use one, you should hand write your recipes down for your grand kids/great grand kids, etc...

i wish i had some of my great aunt's recipes but she did the same as you all and now we can't make those recipes

 

[Gumbo4x4]

To be clear, there’s a difference between not LOOKING at a recipe, and not USING a recipe. Just because you’ve memorized it, doesn’t mean you don’t have or use a recipe.

If you have 90+% of the ingredients & their portions in mind, you’re using a recipe. If you’re eyeballing everything and making significant changes on the fly, THAT’s not using a recipe.

 

[RUDisney]

I see recipes as more of a suggestion than a rule. Even when I'm using one I don't measure, except for what I pour into my hand as a general measure.

It makes it hard for me when people ask me for my recipes. I give them freely, but give them directions as I think I do it instead of as a rule.

 

[NYCgrrl]

[QUOTE="RUDisney, post: 59955483, member: 37181"]I see recipes as more of a suggestion than a rule. Even when I'm using one I don't measure, except for what I pour into my hand as a general measure.

It makes it hard for me when people ask me for my recipes. I give them freely, but give them directions as I think I do it instead of as a rule.[/QUOTE]
This for the most part. Sometimes I have to find a written recipe to give to another since it's easier than trying to explain, LOL. That being said I always give them one that follows the techniques that I myself use. I do need a recipe to make a souffle because the proportions are very specific.Also baking not so much for the flavorants but certainly for the ratio of butter to eggs to flour; it's much more scientific.

 

[firecracker725]

The only thing I use a recipe for is baking. My usual method for cooking something new involves studying several recipes and then mixing different elements to suit me.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I don't enjoy cooking from recipes.

Almost everything I make, I make just the way I know how to do it.

I may experiment a little here and there.

 

[amberpi]

I'll look at various recipes the first time I'm making something - especially if it's something I want to perfect; otherwise I wing it.

I don't bake often enough to not use a recipe. I enjoy it when I do, but neither I nor DH have much a sweet tooth, and the kids have plenty enough opportunities for sugary treats. Around the holidays I really get into it though, and I can't wait to bake with the kids!