Sometimes you just don't have it all together....

I never follow a recipe exactly. I always doctor it up somehow to my taste. Recipes never seem to have enough spices that I like so I usually add my own depending on what it is.

Oh No Taface, I use a recipe as a starting point, I almost always change it to fit the needs and likes of my family. Now there are some recipes that you must do exactly what they tell you to do or you will have a disaster, but these are mostly when baking, breads cakes ect. I do not think any recipe is written in stone. For instance I hate cloves and will almost always substitute it for another spice.

I guess like all things, recipes are only as good as the people who use them. I know of someone who is so fond of improvising she might as well not follow any recipe except her own mind. There is another, her sister who cooks the way the recipe says it should be done? Who is better? I guess the recipe makes sure nothing surprising comes out of the kitchen. The improviser will always have fun, but will she be able to duplicate a truly magnificent creation?

I always choose recipes without pictures. That way when I screw up no one knows it and they all think I"m a genius! LOL

I am totally the person that does a recipe line by line on the ingredient list because if I don't you won't be eating whatever it is I'm making. LOL!!! My boyfriend, on the other hand, can cook with the best of them. He can go in the kitchen, find random food sitting in there and make the perfect meal by mixing and matching. I just don't know how he does it :D