So many people make New Year resolutions that they find too difficult to keep. We have all done it. We promise ourselves to change things for the better but often life gets in the way, and we just can’t keep it up. It doesn’t matter how hard we try or how desperately we want it, we can’t stick to it. Do you ever wonder if you promise not to change anything then it will?
As foodies, we often tend to steer toward the higher quality products out there. We want great flavour and texture to make our dishes really sing. Fresh is great when we have the time to prepare it. Finding the right recipe with the right ingredients makes dinner time a real pleasure.
This year may be the year I try some new places out. I’m not committing to sticking with them, but I may give them a good go. And it certainly doesn’t mean I’m moving away from my regular haunts. But to enjoy something different from time to time could be a good resolution, even if I only do it once!
Every so often we trawl the web or Pinterest for some new ideas. Or maybe we do it when we’re bored? Whatever leads us to great new things doesn’t matter, so long as we expose ourselves to the possibility of other choices in life. Recipes that have been tried and tested in the past quickly fall away as I find the next yummy looking thing. The trouble is, there are more in my deleted folder than there are those that I keep to use again.
I think what puts some of us off cooking too often is the risk the recipe isn’t to our taste. It is a lot of time, effort and money to invest in something we can’t sample first. But hey, if we don’t try something new once in a while, life will be pretty boring, right? There are hundreds of apps and websites out there. Some of them also sell the ingredients for the dishes that is quite handy. For example, if you like roast beef, you could look at the recipe on the site where you are buying your meat.
For all those fanatics of the five a day rule of fruit and veg, there are some places that sell you the veg in the right quantities for the recipe cards that come with them. There are even places that are selling you all the ingredients in the exact quantities for your recipe. Life is getting easier and easier when it comes to cooking. But again, it depends on you liking the dish you are making.
Wherever you buy your ingredients from, sometimes the pleasure in the meal comes from the act of us throwing the dish together ourselves. Improvising from what we have in the cupboards is sometimes more fun and more delicious than sticking religiously to a recipe card. If you are cooking for yourself tonight, bon appetite.
