Cooking Tips for Feeding Your Inner Culinary Xenophile
You will find detailed recipes in the usual format here in The Recipes Index. But, you'll also find lots of variation and encouragement to follow your creative impulses and adventurous spirit.
I was into my twenties before I discovered that I actually liked cooking. Until then, I thought that budgeting for food meant I had to live on grapefruit and popcorn (both cheap, supposedly healthy and not too fattening, but not a great nutritional foundation for a daily diet). I was also a nervous wreck preparing for dinner guests, of course. I am sure that what really turned me around was being introduced to new foods, especially 'ethnic' foods, by friends and family, and then through travel: I became a culinary xenophile!
Well, I still live on a tight budget and I still care alot about how the meal will turn out, but I now love cooking and I'm anxious to share what I've learned and encourage others to adopt my attitude, and adapt my recipes.
I'll share budget tips that have made buying and cooking food an affordable treat, and the advantages of buying at least some of your groceries online.
I've travelled many countries and lived alone or with one person for long periods of time, made dinners for thirty people and contributed to potlucks and picnics for up to a hundred guests.
Along with many recipe-specific tips, throughout the Recipe Box you'll find tips for:
Tip:
Look for these little blue boxes on the recipe pages
- saving money on food and cookware,
- cooking for two and adjusting recipes for any number of guests,
- 'switching-up' leftovers so that no one will know they're leftovers,
- 'wingin it' through just about any recipe, with switch ups and substitutions you can use to give the dish your own signature
- cooking for special diets or preferences, especially vegan, lactose-free, low-carb and diabetic
- buying food on the road economically and avoiding waste,
- storing and freezing food, including spices, herbs, sauces and stocks
- finding other good food reference resources for answers you don't find here
