creativity, kitchen credit, and some raw treats to finish
I’m going to get a bit controversial here.
I’ve been thinking about cooking…creating in the kitchen…. and eating today. What a surprise, no? Anyway, on this train of thought, I have come to the conclusion that you cannot be a well- rounded cook if you can’t cook without a recipe. You just can’t. It’s like being in a covers band, playing at the pub on a Saturday night, and likening yourself to Alex Turner from the Arctic Monkeys. Ha, good one, mate. I’d even go as far as saying you can’t be a “good” cook if you can’t operate alone; drawing from only your knowledge, using the skills you have honed… cooking intuitively.
It’s all well and good to be able to replicate someone else’s recipe… very commendable even. If you look at recipe-cooking honestly, you can’t really take credit for the dish in it’s entirety, can you? You can be credited for being skilled in kitchen-related techniques and reading comprehension, yes – but the real creativity and vision came from somebody else. I think this is a huge issue in the food-blog realm, and a massive can of worms within internet ethics…. here’s a very succinct example from Allie (who links back to me and my recipe she tried).
I think cooking without a recipe is the best way to improve as a cook. Take risks, combine different ingredients, make mistakes. It’s the only way to truly learn in my opinion.
I’m really into making raw cookies at the moment. I’m really getting the hang of this dehydrating thing… it took me quite a few goes to get the knack, but I’m really loving raw “baking” now. I suppose this is another example of how cooking is a constant adventure of learning, creating, making mistakes and having (eventual) success… you’ve just got to stick with it.
- 1C raw buckwheat groats, ground into a flour (use a mortar and pestle or a coffee grinder)*
- 1C grated raw pumpkin (losely packed into cup measure)
- 1t ground cinnamon
- 1/8t ground cloves
- 1/16t ground nutmeg
- 1t lemon juice
- 12 medjool dates, pitted
- 1/2t sea salt
- 1/3C chocolate (chips/nibs/or grated – whatever you have… I used some of my home made raw vegan chocolate)
- Pulse all ingredients together in a food processor until a very sticky dough is formed.
- Wet hands, roll into small balls and flatten.
- Place in dehydrator at 60 degrees for 6-8 hours (oven on lowest setting with door open may work here too… they don’t take too long if you like a soft cookie) just keep testing (eating) them every few hours until you get the consistency you like.
These are particularly good warm straight from the dehydrator; the chocolate is gooey and the cookie soft. They harden up on cooling, but the bonus to this is that they can be garnished.
I decided to sandwich these together with a cacao/avocado frosting type thing…. I totally practised what I preached in my opening rant. I know I have some sort of recipe for an avocado chocolatey spread somewhere on this blog but a) I couldn’t be bothered looking and b) I enjoy just ‘winging it’ most of the time.
I simply whizzed in the food processor 1 large avocado, 2T cacao powder, 8 large pitted medjool dates, a pinch of salt, a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of agave syrup. Taste as you go, and you can’t go to wrong in my experience (actually, you can go very, very wrong, but I’m trying to be encouraging here).
15 Responses to “creativity, kitchen credit, and some raw treats to finish”
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Vegan. Stay at home Mum of Misty. Yoga teacher in training. Passionate about REAL food - creating it, eating it, sharing it. I can never stick to a recipe.
I think you are right on the money with the post. I am certainly guilty of adapting/being inspired by recipes on my blog (of course always linking back), but I feel like the recipes which I completely throw together on my own/on a whim are my best ones. The problem is I seldom write those down or take pictures (either because I forget or because I am too lazy haha)… so that doesn’t make for great blogging lol. My WIAW posts and Holden’s lunches tend to be the moments when my last minute throw together stuff gets most showcased, sadly.
This post has helped motivate me though to try to get better with that. Showcasing completely orginal stuff, after all, is why people choose one blog over another. To be honest though, sometimes I wonder if I care enough to even bother… like taking the time to write it down and take pictures sometimes takes the fun out of it for me. The little break I’ve taken from blogging while my computer has been down, has made me wonder if I really am passionate enough about the blogging to keep it up anymore… we will see. I am still trying to work that all out. All I know is I def don’t want to be blogging just to blog… I want to do it because it fills me up somehow, you know?
Anyways, enough rambling
…. those cookies look amazing. A dehydrator is on my wishlist. I have never had one and there are so many things I am dying to test out!!!
Blogging has got to be and outlet for YOU, Ami… something that brings you joy/inspiration – not something you feel you HAVE to do just for the sake of it, ya know?
Some days, if I’m not feeling it, I just don’t post… or I just write/vent about something in my head if I’m not up to kitchen creativity. If you enjoy blogging, you’ve got to make it work for YOU… not feel weighed down by the thought of HAVING to do it… takes the fun out of it that way! I really love to write, and that’s why I’ve found the whole blogging experience very carthartic… the fact that people want to read my ramblings is a massive bonus
You gotta do what makes you happy, Ami (I LOVE your blog though!
)
yum!! those look SO delicious! That frosting in the middle is just calling my name!! thanks for sharing!
The filling is AWESOME… thick, chocolatey, creamy – AND super good for you…. TRY IT!!
I loved reading your thoughts on recipes & adapting & total experimentation. I agree I have become a better cook by stepping back & just letting myself taste ingredients & intuitively put them together. It’s unfortunate some people cling to “recipes”, fearful to try their own hand. Not only is it helpful for our own kitchen creativity, but fresh whole ingredients vary greatly. My fresh lemon might be tarter than yours, so maybe I only need a tiny squeeze. Now baking, that’s another story for me. I adapt others’ recipes by using ratios. Hats off to you for being so inventive & adventurous in the kitchen with your original recipes! You make a good point about raw “baking”. That seems like a good place to start with complete creative freedom.
Personally, I’ve come to the view that it’s unethical to post another blogger’s recipe, even with credit, if you haven’t changed anything substantially in it. People very rarely click back to the original if you’re already giving them the original, so I prefer only to post recipes that I’ve either made myself, or changed enough that it becomes confusing to say “I changed this and this and this” in the intro. Also, I always rewrite the instructions as, according to copyright, you can’t copyright lists of ingredients but can the creative writing part, or something like that.
Anyway! I think it’s an interesting point to discuss
These cookie sandwiches look like awesomeness. Did I miss you annoucing you got a dehydrator?! Awesome!
Totally agree, Hannah (you put it so well!) It IS a very interesting subject, I agree – one we are going to have to deal with more and more as the internet gobbles up life… or becomes life… or we all become computers/cyborgs
I got a $40 Aldi dehydrator at the start of the year…. it’s a silly design, but it does the job… one day I shall get myself a cranking beast with those slidey shelves, but for now, this does the trick (also good to find out if it was something I was actually going to USE ya know, not just buy, chuck it in the cupboard and forget about it!)
First, just to get it out of the way, these cookies look incredible
Second, I fully agree that cooking without a recipe is on a different level to cooking with one. I find it much more fun, for a start. Even when it ends badly, it has a feeling of ‘research’ or a science experiment or some such. And when it works out well, it’s all the better!
Thirdly, I love reading posts that touch on the ethics of food blogging. I find it a really tough area to navigate. I make an effort to always modify recipes enough if I’m going to re-post them (and of course I would link back) but the flip side is I sometimes find myself worrying about inadvertently ‘stealing’ an idea or not giving sufficient credit. There are only so many ways to combine ingredients after all. I also think that giving credit and not taking ideas that aren’t yours is basic politeness, but part of what I love about the blogging world are the way things change over time and are used in different ways by different people. Adapting recipes is part of that and I figure dishes are meant to be shared and recipes too. But it’s a hard line to tread.
It’s such a hard line to tread, Kari! I suppose too, we are at that stage of existence where not much is TRULY original/unique any more… everything from music to physical art has been inspired/adapted/influenced by something that came before it, no? Recipe creating is in line with this too…. I think you just have to go with your gut, and try and be a decent person, huh?
Yeah, can of worms, really. I totally agree that it’s a different level of cooking/creating when one takes available ingredients and comes up with something new – no measurements, no instructions. But, obviously there is very little out there that hasn’t been done before. In a way, every recipe is an adaptation of another recipe. It’s like clothing design or art. But…simply swiping someone’s creation is not right either.
I liked your cover bands analogy, which touched off a personal analogy. I taught myself how to play the piano, and even though I can read the notes and plunk out the keys, I’ve never felt like a pianist. To me, a true artist can improvise and play without the notes written down in front of them. Definitely like cooking!
Ha, I just typed pretty much the same sort of thing in reply to Kari’s comment before reading yours, Annie – I agree, not much is TRULY original these days is it?
Massive can of worms, but such an interesting topic, and one we, as food bloggers/creative people need to be aware of and TRY to do the right thing
interesting post. i agree that to be a well rounded cook one must be able to venture away from a recipe but i don’t think that you need not use a recipe to be deemed a good cook. this is why. i know far too many people that think of themselves as a “good cook” because they are able to boil some water, throw in some noodles and smother it in canned red sauce… fast and simple is what most people want. i mean, look at the sad!(standard american diet) it’s really quite awful and oh so unhealthy. so for people to even venture to a recipe, let alone a health-filled, more complicated one is quite an accomplishment in my opinion!
i think that for someone to become a good cook they had to start somewhere and for most people that somewhere started with reading and cooking from recipes. i think not everyone has the time to devote to creating recipes but should they be considered bad cooks because they take your recipe and create it beautifully and share it and make lots of eaters happier for having eaten something delicious you thought up? i don’t think so. sharing is caring!
for me, it is sometimes scary to venture too far away from a recipe because i am still learning how to cook and i don’t always feel comfortable enough on my own. i also have limited funds and can’t afford to throw away copious amounts of food from a major flop and there are only so many mistakes a girl can eat! lol. my bf wont help me out on that front. i do know however, that when i do venture out and learn to make mistakes (and be ok with them!!) that is when i grow the most as a cook….so i guess it’s the fear of being ok with failure….oy, that’s something that is difficult.
p.s. i think you are incredibly talented in the kitchen and i love making (and sharing your recipes). it feels really good to make some dish or cookies or something and have people like it. then i can be like, “i got it from this rad girl at this blog. here, check it out!”
Oh I love this response, Lou
I agree, when one is starting out on his/her journey of learning to cook, you MUST follow recipes and READ as much as you can – I think I spent a good 10 years simply reading reading reading…. any type of food/cookbook. It’s the same as learning any new skill (I mean how many blimming text books do you have at school!? Yeesh!) This is the true foundation of skill – learning from others and being inspired. Crucial.
What I was trying to get at was when one is at a stage in their cooking “career” when they are confident and have some basic techniques mastered, they are never going to grow/succeed as a cook if they can’t just “wing it” – you know what I mean?
The fear of being OK with failure – another topic in itself, no
Thanks for such a well-thought out comment Lou (and lovely compliments!) You’re a star
(Plus Viper makes me eat my failures, boo!)
I agree with what you’re saying, although it makes me wonder at my own ability. I’ve been cooking and baking for years, but have only recently started being able to improvise. There’s a show I watch called Top Chef, and that’s the whole premise of the show. It’s really interesting to see what the contestants come up with! I’m really impressed by your recipe, especially the filling! Yum!
The filling is GREAT… but that’s another thing, the original idea of making a chocolate/avocado pudding is not an original idea – but I’d have no clue as to who to give credit to where it’s due! It’s tricky!
The ability to intuitively cook is something that is honed over many, many years – so never doubt your own skill! It’s all about trusting yourself and building on those foundational techniques and broadening your creative scope
I think the more MISTAKES you make, the more you learn and grow as a cook – I make MANY many mistakes! Thanks for the comment, Lauren