Do you follow the recipe or wing it?

sure there is hope from you. the only time i don't wing it is when i'm baking. winging it comes from years of cooking & that is something i have done all my life. if u get enough experience you'll learn to wing it to. be creative & don't be afraid to use your imagination when u are cooking.

For the most part, I wing it. I look over what I need, then go from there. It's all about your likings and taste. Very few times do i follow directions. I am a add a pinch of this, a dash of that and well maybe i could throw in some of this as well just to see. I can't say its a talent for me, I would say it's more of a learned thing from trial and error.

I cook according to my own taste and to my own instinct. I am not a recipebook dependent cook. I read recipebooks for me to learn new recipes but once I start cooking them, I just do it based on my own measurements. I have the passion to cook and I learned my cooking abilities through time.

Cooking is an art and if you have the guts to play with flavours then go ahead and do it, As for me I dont have a single cooking book at home, I guess I learned from my ex who is a great chef and worked with him a while in his restaurant, under the pressure of ppl I learned how to play with flauvours(always with my ex's permission) I built confidence in the kitchen since then and now the most simplest ingredients make the best dish, but if you are unexperience just follow the recipie and add or remove what you think is neccessary. Have fun, learn from mistakes and happy lotting!

I am the type of person who gets out a cookbook or two to get an idea, then I combine a few different elements of different recipes and wing it totally! I love to cook and creat recipes. I have well over fifty of my own personal recipes out there on various other sites like eHow and Bukisa that are earning me a little bit of money, even! I never understood how someone coould just use a recipe word for word, but I guess if you aren't an experienced cook, it would be the best way to learn!

I was taught to cook by my Mother so I learned by doing which is why I think I'm able to just wing it when its a recipe that I've made up or one I've learned from Mom. When its a new one I'm tryin out I do follow the recipe but after I fix it one or two times I don't need to get the recipe out to make the meal I can just wing it on what I remember.

I absolutely LOVE to experiment when it comes to cooking. I've tried so many different alternatives for recipes, especially when it comes to cookies or sauces. I think that if you find something that you're really comfortable with cooking, just try a different spice or add something extra that the recipe doesn't call for. It's fun to come up with your own "recipe" even if it is just changing a recipe that you already have!

I think it is a skill, but I also think the knowledge comes from somewhere. Personaly I am a winger. I decide to make something and I just start throwing all kinds of ingredients together, and it works out, but I don't think everyone can do that, I also have a basic knowledge of what does and does not go together, and knowledge of how to cook certain things properly. Occasionally I will do a recipe as written, but usually the next time I make it, I will change it to how I think it should have been.

Cooking is a learning process. You start with recipes, then as you learn to recognize what each ingredient in the recipe does, you can begin to experiment. You'll get some meals that are just edible, but not great and then you'll get some that everyone will beg for more of. It takes some time to become familiar with how a recipe is put together and start "winging" it, but eventually you'll be comfortable enough with the idea to experiment. Baked goods are harder than casseroles or main dishes, but if you start paying attention to the ratio of baking powder to flour, milk and eggs to flower, and how much shortening and sugar is used, even baked goods can be winged.

LOL. Yes, there is hope. When I was growing up, my mom's definition of "cooking" was baking a frozen pizza (which she usually burned) or cooking spaghetti with CANNED sauce (the horror...). Needless to say, I basically knew how to cook eggs, boil water, and fry grount meat in a frying pan when I got married. It's been 8 years since I married my husband and now I cook all kinds of things from scratch and make some yummy home-cooked food. I started out by trying recipes from recipe books that people have given me over the years. The Better Homes and Gardens cookbook was awesome for me and helped me learn how to do so many basic kinds of things. Honestly, it just takes a lot of practice. I tweak my own recipes from recipes that I get online or in recipe books. There are always some things that I can't put in food like mushrooms (hubby is allergic) or things that I don't keep on hand (like fresh herbs). So, you learn how to improvise and substitute. You learn what works for you and what works for your family's taste buds. I used to always be afraid to cook "hard" things...like complicated recipes because I thought I just couldn't do it. I learned that a lot of things are surprisingly easy to cook. It just takes the time to prep it and cook it. The most complicated thing I somewhat regularly make is cabbage rolls...just because the prep time takes a while. I was afraid to try it for many years because my hubby's mom makes awesome ones...I think mine are better now. :) Just keep at it. It really just takes practice. And don't forget that it's a journey. I'm always adding new recipes to my repertoire to keep things fresh and so we don't get tired of the same old things. (My mom used to make tacos, spaghetti, frozen pizza, tamale casserole, and chili EVERY week.) You've gotta keep it fresh. Good luck and keep practicing. We've ALL made mistakes and had meals that were not so great, but that's how we learn!

Most Chinese cooks do not have a cookbook at hand. Even less do we cook at home. We learn to cook by watching, or teaching. We know what will be the necessary contents by the name of the dish. Some food just go together well, to give good taste and good colors. With spices, the most frequently used expression is a little bit. What is a little bit, it depends on the amount of the meat, vegetable and the water. That could be learned only through experience. Chinese dishes tend to be too oily, but we are using less oil and salt to avoid health problems. But in restaurants, cooks would not sacrifice fame by reducing oil. Really good cook must take professional courses, to learn the whole process from cutting to carving, cooking being the lion share of course.

I usually follow a recipe. My mom is one of those people who can just grab anything and make it into something delicious. If I don't have a recipe it usually turns out not so good, even agoing by a recipe coud turn out bad. I have been trying a little with just throwing things together. I am better than I use to be. So, I think there is hope for both of us.

Dee- I do a bit of both. When I'm making bread I follow the recipe. When I'm cooking every day dinner I tend to just go with the flow tossing in this and that until it tastes good. I'm not sure if I learned it or was born with it to be honest. My grandma cooked, my mom cooked, so perhaps it was learned but I don't really recall anyone sitting me down and saying this is how you do it. Anora

I was always able to "wing it" since I was young. I have a lot of trouble with baking but with cooking it is a gift. I believe it is the same for those who bake effortlessly. I believe you can learn but we all have "special" talents.

Hello Deejean, I never follow recipes. I haven't the patience -- something which I'm not terribly proud of. I rely on my annoyingly keen olfactory for all of my culinary conjuring. I think that creative cooking is just that, a matter of imagination and creativity. Of course, successful 'garbage cooks' (those who cook on the fly) must have zero fear of failure. In all honesty some of my greatest successes resulted from perceived failures. I do believe that 'garbage cooks' are precluded from some of the more masterful areas, like souffles and technical cooking like canning and fermenting. For example, my Husband is a homebrewer. His craft is extremely precise -- one small deviation and the batch is infected and therefore ruined. I think that it comes down to this, two types of cooks. Left brain & right brain cooks; i.e. technically apt & creatively inclined cooks. And, I'm convinced that neither is any better or worse than the other!

Deejean06, Cooking is learned and a talent. Some people just can naturally and instinctually good.. Some people learn it and get great at it. It's just like anything else in life Practice make perfect. I have always loved cooking and I have been cooking since I was little as I got older I took 2 yrs of culinary arts and now I just wing it. I know what tastes good together and what doesn't so I don't necessarily need a recipe and I can make one out of the top of my head if I'm looking to try something new. But I will say this .. don't feel bad if you're just learning and starting to cook there is always hope. Take a couple cooking classes or if you have a friend that is a good cook have them help you.. I remember teaching one friend when I was in Kansas how to make homade chicken noodle soup. :) It was the fisrt thing that she learned how to make ... And she got the hang of it and did a great job. Have patience we all learn at different levels. ~Bella~