eat
SPRING RECIPES
PRACTICE MAKES MAGIC Words by Maureen McGuire | Photos by Cat Mayer
M
y husband Ira affectionately teases when
cookbook, but with enough practice, substitution
he calls me a “kitchen witch.” There are
and/or exploration, the result is still delicious.
times when I cook that I open the fridge or the
One of these recipes is in the “kitchen
pantry, and I can literally make up a recipe
witch” style, and the other is in the “look in
with what I have on hand, no measurements
the cookbooks” style. I’m sure more seasoned
required. He calls it magic. I call it practice. I
culinary practitioners can tell the difference.
also had the great fortune to learn from my
I’ll never tell which is which; they were both
grandmother. To be clear, I make mistakes all
delicious. In order to flourish in my own kitchen,
the time. We usually eat the mistakes anyway.
I do what I tell my students: no one expects
But, there are times when I run out of creative
perfection, especially on the first try of anything.
juices, and we eat the same five dinners two
Sometimes, we get lucky. However, in order to
weeks in a row, because it’s easy. Occasionally,
flourish (and make magic), we must try new
when having to cook for a dinner party (or a
things, learn from others, use our resources,
magazine article), I pull out the cookbooks for
make mistakes and, above all, practice —
inspiration. I rarely have everything called for
countless times, with purpose. :
in a recipe, so it’s never exactly the same as the
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