The general rule is "you can always add more." Meaning, "start with just a little bit."

If I'm trying a new recipe I try to stick to it pretty closely. If it's a variation of something I already make, I might not be as persnikidy. Like last night, I made the mushroom marsala pasta recipe in the Feb Rachel Ray magazine and followed the directions. I was introducing marsala to my family. At dinner I got 'this is ok but it would be so much better with....' So, next time I'll pump it up.

I treat recipes like Jack Sparrow treats the Code. "They're more like guidelines."

And if you don't measure you will never get the same thing twice. Le sigh.

If you make a recipe or cook something and it comes out "perfect", write it down!

That is the one problem with it. When I come up with something outstanding, I try to hurry up and write it down - amounts are approximated. My notes generally read "handful of _______, sprinkle of ________, etc..."

Thank you for putting up with my neuroses. I just want to do things well.

This is exactly why I bake only... very little room for interpretation.

Cooking freaks me out.

Oh, thank goat! I'm not alone. Thank you JayJ.

It's just food. If it turns out icky, chuck it and order pizza.

:kick:

I know. You're absolutely right. I need to just do it.

word...

Hork! I found that recipe on his website.

Kit, I measure all the time. I wasn't a natural born cook, I had to learn because the family would all ditch me at mealtime becaue they didn't like my cooking.

I had to learn how to read the instruction manual first and then I became a good cook.

Thank you, Boatn.

The old orange Betty Crocker cookbook has great step by step instructions, illustrations, glossary and cook time charts for just about everything. This is the cookbook that I got when I was learning to put things together. Great resource for someone that isn't comfortable with "cooking by feel".

My mother gave me (among many, many cookbooks) the one and only cookbook bible...The Joy of Cooking.

Truly, it gives me a headache, but it is a masterpiece in a lot of ways!

I have my grandmother's old Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (the red/white checked binder one). I don't use it much really, but it is fun sometimes to flip through it and look at the things they cooked in the 50s.

I have that red/white checked one too!! There are several editions to it.

A lot of the things I cook were "recipes" handed down to me from my mother. Read that to mean, I watched her prepare these dishes for years and years and then TaDa, I knew how to make them. We have so many family recipes that are not written down anywhere.

I have my mom's old Better Homes & Garden cookbook and the only recipe I use out of there is for homemade egg noodles. I do enjoy looking through it on occasion though.

Oh, it's not a spice but I always have a garlic bulb on hand. I put fresh garlic in as much as I possibly can!

Thank you, everyone, for your suggestions and input. It really helped and I greatly appreciate it.

I do what I can