Cooking is Fun!

I love to cook! Here are some of the basics that everyone should remember.

Plan Ahead! Planning ahead is a big part of cooking. You need to make sure you have all your ingredients ahead of time.

New Ideas! Getting ideas can be simple but not always. You should always have staples available so if plans change, you can change with them. Remember if you change your dinner plans, it's not the end of the world. You can get an idea from walking down the aisle at the grocery store, a cook book, or a commercial off the TV. Doesn't matter where the idea is from, use it if it sounds good.

Don't make it harder than it really is! Cooking doesn't have to be hard. Anyone can learn to cook, you just have to be patience and ask questions if you don't know.Don't ever be afraid to try something new.

Point in case, I wanted to try to make risotto but I thought it would be soo hard, so I put it off. I mean I watched Chef Ramsey yell at those chefs about messing his up on Hell's Kitchen so I thought it was going to be a real challenge. Guess what, it's not as hard as it looks. I understand perfectly why he was yelling. I mean if I, an untrained home cook, can do it. They should never have a problem making it.

Find a good recipe, it doesn't have to be original. If it's the first time you're going to try making something, get a good starter recipe.  After you make it according to the recipe, then make some changes. Don't expect it to go exactly how the recipe says for time either. I tried Rachel Ray's Wild Mushroom (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/wild-mushroom-risotto-recipe/index.html) and Emeril's 3 Cheese Risottos (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/emerils-three-cheese-risotto-recipe/index.html). Both are delicious but it took me more time to cook both than what the recipes said. I now make them with different cheeses and more of them but the basics I keep.

Always remember, there's always pb&j if things go totally crazy!