A funny thing happened since I started this food blog a few years ago…I began to measure most of my food ingredients so that I could recreate the recipes. Before, I simply seasoned to taste with a little bit of this and a little bit of that – like most of my favorite home cooks. (Baking is different…exact amounts are more important.)
Anyway, I realized how far I had gone when I went to the Weber Grilling event earlier this summer. When we were given the ingredients for guacamole but no recipe, I panicked a bit. Then, I went to work with the rest of my team…adjusting the guacamole to our tastes. It was so liberating (?!) Now, I’m somewhere in the middle. I’m detailed when I’m working on creating a recipe for the blog or for clients. However, I just “wing it” in day-to-day cooking…except for baking.
I’m also making sure that my kids have exposure to both types of cooking – following a recipe and more freestyle cooking. For example, guacamole is one of my 9 year-old son Michael’s favorite summer dips. We regularly make an easy kid friendly guacamole. Practically every week, we get a couple of avocados and the ingredients for guacamole. I put the avocados in a medium bowl, and leave all of the chopped ingredients for our pico de gallo guacamole (tomato, onion, jalapeno, fresh cilantro and garlic – lime juice is optional) on a cutting board. Since it’s his personal dip, he adds his desired amount of each ingredient to the bowl with the avocado, mixes it and tastes the dip until it is how he likes it. We sprinkle a little salt on the dip at the end…and it’s “perfect”. In fact, Michael will no longer eat guacamole by the recipe…he prefers to make his own!
This is a fun little weekly summer ritual that I share with my son, but I also think that a “make your own guac” section would be a fun addition to a kids (or adults) taco party. What do you think?
