Having access to the Internet opens up the world of fantastic recipes to try and experiment with but many of us follow the recipe exactly only to taste the dish after it is done to find that you mistaken the salt for sugar, or it needed less chili seasoning or more cumin, etc. What happened? 

Answer: You’re not tasting the food as you’re cooking it. This is one of the most important lessons is being a good cook. You MUST taste and season your food at just about every layer of cooking. Have tasting spoons handy when cooking for others (I don’t need to explain more, right?) I keep a container of spoons next to my stove top for quick reach.

Recipes for the most part are just that, one version of that particular dish. It’s up to the cook to adjust the flavors of the dish. For most cooks, tasting is second nature, but if it isn’t for your, perhaps this is why your dishes are not what you anticipated, even thought you followed the recipe exactly. 

Other variables can contribute to the “failure” of a recipe such as your ingredients; are they fresh or have they expired? Your oven temperature, cooking time and don’t forget altitude. Altitude remains one of my challenges even after 5 years at 6,100 feet.

Final Topping: Don’t neglect your taste buds as one of your most important “cooking” tools. Put them to work for you and your dishes will be the better for it and so will your stress level! (lol)