Do you get discouraged when...

[Kay in Texas]

you go to so much trouble to fix these wonderful sounding recipes and then they don;t seem to be totally wonderful? I have fixed 8 things so far this year. 2 have been repeaters, 1 a definite no and 5 may be worth trying again. for instance I have made 2 of the risotto's. the baked one on pg 117 I think of the 2003 annual. It needed more liquid in the end than the recipe called for but it was pretty good. I am thinking tho that perhaps I do not like the parmesean cheese taste in them. what could I substite for parmesean? Fontina perhaps? I have no clue.

anyway, I am going to keep trying. I love this board!!

kay

[wallycat]

depends for me...
some days I get bummed and feel like we should maybe have standard rotation meals
but most times, I figure, it's all an experiment and maybe the next one will be a "wow" recipe.
If I get 2 failures in a row, I usually go back to some tried-and-true items for a few days and then get the urge to experiment again.

[sunberst]

i do get discouraged only if i make more than one failure in a row. then i get bummed. but you live & you learn right?

[Terrytx]

I rarely worry about it. I do so many new recipes (4 yesterday), that by the odds of it-they all can't be winners. Keep on cooking!!

[txbobbie]

I get bummed out when I find a great recipe that I really liked, and then go back to find it and can't. I made a leek soup about a month ago for some neighbors we had over and I craved it last week, and I tore through my cookbooks to find it. Still haven't found it.

[jphilg]

I am with Sunbert (whom I have not seen in a while...Hi!)--one failure I can live with, but after a few, I am convinced that I have "lost my touch." It happens every couple of months, and generally ends with some big to-do dinner that actually comes out good.


I just really enjoy cooking, so even when the finished product is jsut average, I have still enjoyed myself.

[RebeccaT]

Hello to a fellow Houstonian!

Kay, sometimes I do get discouraged, but since the alternative is making the same thing over and over, I keep trying! I have only been cooking regularly for three years or so, and so trying new recipes had been essential in order for me to learn technique and "what works" so that I can improvise.

I also depend quite heavily on reviews from this board to learn what has worked and been enjoyed by folks who have tried it!

As far as your risotto is concerned... what kind of parmesan did you use? The stuff in a can doesn't work very well for risotto in my experience, although I haven't used it in a while since I have gotten addicted to freshly grated! Asiago would be a good choice, since it's another hard cheese. The cheese department at Central Market is wonderful, and they have a very knowledgable staff, so maybe you could stop be there and ask them for ideas!

[Kay in Texas]

I used the last time the DiGornio shredded in the plastic container. I had bought the regiano-parmeasean at HEB (their packaging) and I tasted the two and really preferred the DiGornio....it was much less strong and pungent. I will try the asaigo and also I will try Central Market. I haven't been in that place since when it first opened. It was wonderful.
thanks. Kay

[krispy spo]

I know what you mean, I get bummed out if I spend a lot of money or a lot of time on a recipe and it's not a hit with my family. But, my weekly menu is usually a combination of new recipes and repeaters so I don't get into a rut too much. You just have to look on the bright side, if you don't like a recipe than it's one less you have to keep! It's an ongoing job to keep my "to try" and "tried and true" recipes organized!

[cminmd]

I get bummed if it is something I had to go out of my way to pick up a rare ingredient, spent a lot of money on the ingredients, or if I was making it for company. I also get upset if it si something that took a lot of steps and ingredients and then it turns out blah. I think I would rather have it taste foul than like nothing. Has anyone else ever have that happen? You have a recipe that calls for all these spices, vinegars, sherrys, shallots and strong ingredients that somehow manage to cancel each other out like a math equasion, leaving you with zero flavor at the end? That infuriates me. If I wanted blah I would open a can of processed food and have dinner on the table in 10 minutes!

[claire797]

Kay,

Before I found this board I would go into a major funk if I messed up one small thing like pie crust. Now I know that if I mess something up, I can get feedback regarding what might have gone wrong. Reading everyone's trials and tribulations regarding the making of, oh, Malaysian Chicken Pizza or a simple roast chicken has taught me that even the best cooks have bad days or may not be aware of a simple technique that everyone else is using.

This board has also made me feel better about spending money on top quality items and new ingredients. Cooking is my hobby, and if my hobby were scrapbooking or needlepoint, I'd be spending the same money on fancy paper or canvas squares.

So hopefully this board will help you feel less bummed out .

[Canice]

As others said, only if I invested a lot - either time or money - in it. Otherwise I tend to:
•Try to figure out if it the recipe could be adapted and improved •Say, "Hmmm - to each her own! I didn't care for it myself."
•or, more often, "Oh well, that's one more night I got dinner on the table without making something I've done before." (How low can we get that bar?? ) Still, I learn from those dinners, too.

I soooo agree with Claire. In fact, I never would have been this philosophical about "failed" meals before I joined the BB! I don't mean sound sappy, but now I often think it's the recipe/ingredient that failed - not me!

[Loremma]

I do get bummed, but not for long. I try to figure out what I may have done wrong, or what taste I don't like, then fix that. If I make it again and it's still a disaster, I eliminate it from my cookbook.
Keep trying!