— Nancy Johnson-Cramer

You know, when I, when I cook, I'm, uh, usually cooking impromptu just based upon, uh, what's, uh, in the inventory and what I feel like, um, or what I have been, uh, inspired by. Um, and inspiration often comes from cookbooks, uh, sometimes those old sad cookbooks, sometimes the new plant-based ones. And, um, and so what I cook is often something new every day. Um, uh, and, and I don't, I don't necessarily, in fact, I don't usually keep notes. Um, so I don't, uh, you know, have a bunch of recipes that I, that I'm cataloging or storing and referring to. Okay? Uh, it's just cooking, uh, as I go. And it's gonna be, uh, you know, what's in season, it's gonna be what's on sale at the store. It's gonna be, uh, what I pull out of our, you know, community garden plot down the street, um, or something else. Uh, what maybe what, uh, you know, a friend or neighbors shared with, with us. Um, and so things do change. Um, but I, I don't take notes. Uh, um, and, uh, you know, you bet, uh, whether you're, you're in a, in a home setting or in a professional setting, you are gonna return to making things that are popular because you're, people are gonna like them, and they're gonna, uh, pay you in a restaurant, or they're going to, uh, you know, otherwise enjoy your meals at home. Um, so, you know, often we're going to find a, a preparation or a recipe that we like, and then we will make variations of that, right? By changing an ingredient here, an ingredient there. Maybe some of the herbs and spices will change in order to take the flavor profile into one, uh, region or a different region around the world. Uh, and, and so in that way, you know, we are creating, uh, a new dish, but on a common platform or a common theme, uh, and you can, you know, uh, have a half and dozen different recipes, but then create dozens and dozens, um, of different dishes from that. Okay? And so in this sense, what we're doing, Nancy, is we're taking a recipe as a starting point, right? As a point of inspiration. Uh, and then we're understanding the cooking methods and the ancillary techniques that are at the basis, uh, of that recipe. And then we're just looking at that, uh, foundation of, of, uh, methods and techniques, and we're creating all these other, uh, variations from that foundation, okay? And, and that is the way of cooking, and that is what we emphasize here at Rouxbe. Okay? And I wanna, you know, mention that, you know, we do have a lot of recipes in our library, in all of our courses, um, uh, have plenty of practice recipes that are included, but they're only practice recipes, okay? They're only, uh, there, uh, to sort of guide you down this path of practicing your methods, cooking methods and techniques, uh, with the, uh, idea that one of these days, uh, you will finally take off, uh, you know, and, and fly on your own and, uh, not have to refer to, uh, recipes, uh, at least for the most, most part, okay? Uh, when it comes to perhaps baking, right where formulas are used, uh, sure, uh, it, it's important to stick to those formulas. And so we might refer to those, uh, on a regular basis. But otherwise, when it comes to cooking, uh, you're on your own and, uh, you're gonna enjoy the freedom, uh, that comes with learning how to cook. Thank you.