an empty fridge? lets fill it!!

right now, my blog is an empty fridge... lots of white space, no ingredients for content or entertainment, and a blurry idea of what will soon occupy this empty square. the good news? we're going grocery shopping... and our cart is about to get crazy.

this is my goal for this food blog. i want to inspire readers and friends to produce great meals from everyday ingredients. my blog will take you through my personal philosophies of cooking... major belief; no boringness. we want flavor, spice, pizazz, and attitude. no holding the salt and pepper for your eaters to adjust. in the words of morton salt... when it rains, it pours. 

i have some general cooking philosophies i live by:
- NO MEASURING CUPS! this isn't baking. if it were, i would fail. baking is precise, predetermined, and demands a patient person... not to mention a timer. bottom line... i suck at baking. my old roommate katie r. can testify to this. i'm good at cooking. use measuring cups at first if you have to. you'll start learning to "eyeball" it. this saves dishes, time, and effort. except with rice... measuring cups are necessary with rice... BUTTT in order for me to share my non-recipe creations (literally, i always just throw stuff together. ask kyle), i'll make sure to list ingredients with a hopefully accurate estimate :)
 
- A RECIPE IS NOT A FINAL DISH. IT'S A BLUEPRINT: i never follow a recipe. i hate them. it limits you. a recipe is a starter. what you do with that blueprint and how you alter it is your creation. so be creative and add some extra personal flazor! you'll have fun with it and it will make you feel empowered that you thought of something cooler than betty crocker.

- BE FLEXIBLE WITH INGREDIENTS: so you don't have collard greens? use spinach, kale, or another green veggie. out of tomato sauce? mix a little tomato paste with water. dont want to use the fattening whipping cream for alfredo sauce? use sour cream and a little margarine. the key here is to use what you have and adjust to your preference. after all, this is your dish.

- START EXPERIMENTING WITH PRODUCTS: i was always scared of indian food. i had no clue what kind of spices to use nor what it was supposed to taste like. then my new roommate, deby, introduced me to curry powder and yogurt. bam. you have indian dishes. try adding unique products you would never think to use. for instance, i use a jar of baby food in a lot of my dishes. adds natural foods in a puree form. genius and cheap.

- TREAT EVERY DISH AS A "TRIAL" RUN: most of the time, I throw a million ingredients and spices together and hope it tastes good. usually... it tastes pretty good :) sometimes, it sucks... like homemade egg drop soup i tried to make one time. fail. if you treat each dish as a "practice," you can learn to perfect it more each time. maybe it needed more of something and less of another. or you want to put a fruity or spicy spin on it. no one is perfect and no dish is ever perfected. well... maybe.  the point is, treating dishes as a "trial" run allows for way more variations and a lot more experimentation.  

basically, i'm excited to share dishes and adventures in the kitchen. successes, inspirations, failures, and even exciting neighborhood eats i find fantasticly tasty. let's get some conversation flowing: comment, discuss, recommend! for people in my new place of living... can't wait for pot lucks and our weekly dinner :)  now lets get this egg crackin'.