Here's my situation. I HATE what I cook. It simply never tastes the way it should taste (in my opinion!) and I really am starting to wonder if I have a deficiency cooking gene or what????

1. I will go to the bookstore, and buy a $15 cookbook. I assume for $15 instead of $1 it must be good, right?

2. I will pick out a recipe.

3. I will make a list of items I need in order to make the recipe.

4. I will go to Safeway and buy the items on my list.

5. I will come home and I will follow the recipe and cook the food. I am using the correct temperature settings for the correct length of time.

At this point, I have invested my time (reading, shopping) and my money (cookbook, food) so theorically, I should be "invested" in the process.

6. It's time to eat. YUK!!

7. Cooked food goes in the garbage.

8. I eat out (spending more money!)


Maybe it was a fluke. I'll try again with the same recipe or a different one and I get the same result. It doesn't even matter which cookbook I use - I've started going to the library for a cookbook rather than buying one. It doesn't matter if I microwave my food, use the oven, use a toaster oven, BBQ, whatever.

What the heck is going on??

I'm trying for simple dishes. Soups, tacos, hamburgers, hot dogs, garlic cheese bread, toast, sandwiches, whatever.

I'm using fresh food. It's not the situation that I bought bread three weeks ago and I'm trying to make a sandwich now. It's more like I bought the food 2 or 3 hours ago up to a four days ago.

I'm starting to think I should start cooking lobsters and cream of parlsy soup with garlic carrots on the side. I mean, if I screw up the simple dishes, maybe I'll be an expert with the complicated dishes?

Anyways.....anyone else having this problem? How do you solve it?

Thanx all!

Scott

try www.allrecipes.com
I use it all the time, it's fantastic when you're in a rush and you're looking for a recipe, and their ratings/comments system works great.
THey've got all sorts of levels of difficulty, styles of food, prep time and cooking time, etc, and they've even got some cycles posted so that you can make like a week's worth of meals out of 10-15 ingredients. they've also got a tips/advice section too for all sorts of food-related affairs.
On another note, make sure that you're picking the right produce (wow that sounds kinda dumb, doesn't it?) but I know so many people who don't know how to look for the right fruits and vegs. And make sure that you're storing it right too.
And! and! not all ovens are made equally, some are a lot hotter than others, so this you have to judge by looking at the food when it's in the oven.
If it doesn't look right, or it's not cooked to the middle (quickly stab it with a chopstick or fork or something, and if the inside looks raw, or the fork's tip is still cold, then chances are it's not done), ignore the instructions, leave the food in the oven. Oh, and every time you open the oven, the temperature decreased by around a hundred degrees, so only open it when it's absolutely necessary, and instead, turn on the oven light.

hope this helped, gl with ur meals!

---

"My parents live in Ohio; I live in the moment." -himym.