"No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers." --Laurie Colwin
Most people who know me know that I am a serious foodie. There's almost no food that I won't try (or like, for that matter), and I am always in the kitchen experimenting out of my vast recipe/cookbook collection. I love cooking and food, there's no two ways about it. My favorite thing to do is cook for my college/early career friends, because most of them primarily eat either cafeteria food or their own hastily prepared meals--that means that they are my most enthusiastic taste-testers. I can make just about ANYTHING for them and they'll eat it and enjoy themselves hugely. I'm a fairly good cook, but that's just all natural instinct--I'm not trained or anything. But recently, since I'm now out of school and have some time, I've been pursuing my own culinary education. I've been finding and reading books on techniques, basic prep explanations, and other foundational stuff. I can follow a recipe no problem, but now I want to be able to be an excellent cook WITHOUT always having the crutch of recipes. Recipes are good, but man cannot live from recipes alone. I loved this quote when I found it because it so describes where I am right now: on the hunt for all the wisdom acrued by those who have gone before me. My 27th cookbook is en route to my house right now, and I'm so excited. (I initially felt weird at having such a large cookbook collection...until I started reading about these people who have cookbook collections of over 500 books. I don't feel awkward anymore. I'm in the minor leagues.)