Welcome!

My friend Jenny was the final inspiration to do this blog. I made her lunch the other day and she sighed, looked at me, and asked “Are you ever going to write a cookbook? Is there any way I can get a recipe from you?”

My favorite recipes are the ones I create. When I follow a recipe from a book or magazine exactly it never works. I cook from instinct, smell, taste, color, texture. Each recipe is an original or modified from someone else’s original. If I can remember what it felt like to create a dish then I can repeat it. If I can’t – well then it was a one time experience. ;-)

Obviously it creates a problem when I pass on recipes. I do write things down occasionally – my husband harassed me for years before I got better about it (thanks, Mike). Inevitably it’s in some sort of Sonya-short-hand and almost all the measurements are an approximation. The exception is a product that already has a measurement on it, like a pound of pasta. Otherwise, I throw things in until it smells, looks, feels and tastes good.

Here’s the upside. If you dare to follow one of these recipes, you could see it as an adventure. The recipes are a creative starting point. It will be an opportunity for you to be present with your own senses, creativity, instinct. Will your dish taste like my version? Probably not. But it will be better in its own way because it will be a unique creation for you and whoever you are cooking for.

This blog is a way for me to share what I love -- food and cooking -- with the people I love. I hope the recipes inspire you to play. Please tell me how it goes – I’d love to hear about what you create!

Much love,

Sonya Amrita