I love food. Love it. Don’t have a preference for either baking and cooking, because I love both equally. According to those around me I am quite good at it too. But do you know what? I am a picky eater and I mean seriously a difficult picky eater. I am the one that can’t eat half of the things you serve at dinner parties. I am the one that disturbs the equilibrium at social gatherings by acting like a five year old and just putting two or three things on my plate because the rest is “wrong”. I know; mutually exclusive at best, but here I am a picky eater and a great baker/cook.
Picky recipes
No not quite. A great many things I make are not intended for me at all. I bake for my husband who is a serious baked goods eater. He takes his role as the destroyer of all things sweet very seriously. If he just could, he would live on cakes alone. But his favorites are not mine, and I mean not at all. Anything banana, and he is in. I am of the opinion that bananas should only be eaten as they are or in a smoothie, period. He puts it on a freaking pizza. I am serious, he puts bananas on his pizza and not just at home, he actually asks for it wherever we are.
Once, in Spain he asked for bananas on his pepperoni pizza and when he got it the pizza was covered in bananas. The banana was cut lengthwise and layered so nothing underneath was showing. He found his limit there. That he considers too much.
Paying it forwards?
One thing that I am proud of is that we absolutely did not pass our pickiness on to our kids. They were always encouraged to try everything. You could always put something on your plate to try and if you didn’t like it you could leave it. So we produced two individuals that are omnivores in the true sense of the word. They love everything, or almost everything. Both are also interested in cooking.
If you want good food on a budget you kind of have to. Your money will produce better quality food if you make it yourself then if you order out. You also have the benefit of knowing exactly what is in it. I try to make as many things as possible from scratch. That also goes for condiments like BBQ sauces, hot sauce and spice blends.
That being said I love my Frank’s Buffalo Hot Sauce, I’m not a purist, I make my own and mine comes closer and closer every time I make it. I am making a batch right now that I will share with you in a few days. It is so simple, it just needs some time to ferment. Yes, ferment. That will also be a post for itself. If you aren’t doing it already you absolutely should. The taste benefits alone should be enough but there are also big health benefits as well. More on that later.