ratio

Without really planning to, I fell into this pattern of posting a recipe, then a narrative, then a recipe, and so forth. I had sort of a back-log of recipes to enter for a while, because I was shooting pictures of every meal I made for a while. In the past few weeks, though, I've been more rushed in the kitchen, or the recipes I've photographed have looked beautiful but not really tasted good enough to share.

First, I tried adapting a Martha Stewart Food cookie recipe, substituting shredded yellow squash for zucchini. They tasted ok - but not good enough to go around telling other people to make them.

Then, I purchased a book called Ratio by Michael Ruhlman. I am really excited about this cookbook. It is not really recipes, but ratios for all kinds of things - crepes, pancakes, muffins, cakes, cookies, breads. It gives the basic proportions, from which one can improvise in limitless ways. It's really pretty cool. I'm the most excited about improvising baked goods, because I love baking - more than cooking, really - and because usually even the tiniest variations in baked goods have a big impact, or don't work well, etc.


So, I tried making oatmeal raisin pecan cookies using the Ratio cookbook. They came out pretty good - but, again, not perfect enough to share with anyone. One great thing about them, though, is that I toasted the pecans before using them. That really makes ALL the difference!


I'm going to keep trying with these cookies - but tonight, I must be honest. I have no recipe to share with you - just photographs of my funny cookies. I promise to keep trying, and when I get something good enough to share - you will find it here.