I’ve been trying to learn how to cook more things of late. Milca’s family does a good deal more cooking than my family did, and I’m picking things up here and there. I’m still confident that I could kick some culinary ass in the camp kitchen, but I know I need to learn a lot more. I’ve been flipping through The Joy of Cooking of late, and I am learning that all those quick meal ideas are only a tad bit more complex when done from scratch, and taste infinitely better. Example? Buttermilk pancakes. I forget what it was, but Milca had cooked something that required buttermilk. Having buttermilk in the fridge, I thought, “Why not make buttermilk pancakes?” So, I looked it up in The Joy of Cooking, and found that I had all the other ingredients, which were all very basic. If you’re a bachelor, you likely don’t have flour, baking powder, or baking soda, but otherwise you should be okay. The recipe in the book doesn’t mention adding water to the mix, but I do anyway to thin it out a bit. It serves about 8 pancakes, perfect for two people, and they are the crazy bomb. I will never buy instant pancake mix again, unless camping, but even then I typically get the ready to pour stuff. There are never lumps, no mixing bowl to clean, and you just pour the stuff, for pete’s sake.
Long story short (too late), go buy The Joy of Cooking NOW. I’ve linked the thing 3 times already, just click one of them. Come on… you can do it. It tells you how to cook anything. I can’t stress “anything” more. It tells you how to cook bear. Yes, bear. Even squirrels. but then you can also learn the finer arts of a fondue, and what a fondue pot really is. The index is magical. It’s the backbone of any kitchen.
I’m thinking I might make some cookies soon… maybe peanut butter… with chocolate chips… *drool*