A Little Bit of Improvisation

When people talk about cooking (savory, not in an oven,) and baking (sweet, in an oven,) they often talk about improvising in the kitchen. To them, people who like to bake like to have things done precisely, with temperatures and measurements and timings clearly laid out. And on the other hand, people who like to cook can just free-wheel through the kitchen, making things up as they go. It's like the baker is the control freak aunt who has to have everything just so and keeps plastic on the furniture so it never, ever gets dirty. The cook is the fun uncle who never shows up on time and is always fun when he does show up.

Do you see why I take exception with this characterization?

Something a little, well, different.

If you think about it, you've probably eaten no more than a dozen pies in your life. Seriously, after the big names that everyone knows, the pickings get a little slim. You've most likely eaten:

Apple

Pumpkin

LMP

Pecan

Banana Cream

Coconut Cream

Chocolate Cream

Peanut Butter

Berry (a catch all covering all summer berry pies)

Peach

And, um, yeah...that's probably about it. Sure, anyone who reads this list will be able to think of a couple more, but the common variations get narrow really fast. 

I remember complaining, as a kid, about a culinary experiment my mother put in front of me: "Why can't you just make the food that you know we like?" (As an adult, I'm already annoyed with my nine-year-old self. "Just eat it, kid, you might like it." But that's beside the point.)

Buttermilk Preserves Pie

Occasionally, people ask me what draws me to cooking, or ask me how I starting cooking. I generally hem and haw, try to come up with something that sounds reasonable or logical. Like, "It's cheaper than eating out." Or, "It's a really useful hobby. I mean, you gotta eat, right?" All true. Also incomplete. There's a lot more to the story than just not wasting my time. After all, it is faster and cheaper to change your own oil in your car, and I don't do that.