Featured Student: Experiment!

By Sydney Messick

While I LOVE baking (and eating baked goods), cooking is really exciting in that it allows you to experiment. I know – I was afraid to just start mixing things together without a recipe at first too! With baking, you really can’t change the proportions or ingredients because it’s such a science. If one thing is off, especially when you’re making things like bread, you can end up with something very far from what you were trying to make. When you’re cooking though, you can just mix and match things until you find something that works…and if it isn’t going right, you can easily taste and adjust along the way!

For inspiration, I love watching Food Network or reading Food Network Magazine. While most of the recipes in the magazine require ingredients that you might not find in a college student’s kitchen (or at least mine), you can get some great ideas for flavor combinations or using an ingredient in a way you never thought of before. Then, there’s the good old cookbook. I really want to get a copy of Clean Food by Terry Walters because it really focuses on fresh, in-season foods. If I ever get my hands on a copy, I’ll do a review and let you know how it is!

I guess my point is don’t be intimidated by getting in the kitchen and doing some experimenting! Think outside the box and use ingredients in a way you never have before – you never know what you’ll stumble upon. If you see a recipe that looks interesting but you don’t have or even don’t like some of the ingredients, change it up! I used to think “Oh, that looks really good but I can’t make it because…” Now, I just work with it, do what I can, and see what happens! Yeah, you’ll have some dishes that really don’t turn out well at all, but others will be great and it will give you such a feeling of accomplishment! Where are some of your favorite places to look for recipe inspiration? Have you had any kitchen successes lately? Please share!!