The Need for a Good Editor

Today I had a fun play date with my friend Donnabeth to celebrate her birthday.  I first met Donnabeth when we were clearly the fish out of water at a dude ranch in Western North Carolina about seven years ago.  We instantly bonded over our dislike of ranch grub and have been fast friends ever since.

Donnabeth shares my love of interesting food while at the same time is on the search for high flavor low calorie.  Today I took her to the Saigon Grill where we were able to get the noodle salads sans noodles.  As we discussed all things cuisines Donnabeth, who spent much of her career in television news, continued to interview me about how I come up with recipes.

As we tried to unravel the craziness that is my brain and how or why I put weird combinations together we backed into some answers as to the birthing of a good dish.  The easiest answer is that I start with some ingredient I have on hand and add to it.  The next thing is that I like opposing flavors, but not too many to muddy up a dish.   So if I have something that is sweet I add some salt.  I almost always add lime or lemon juice to things because I like tart — The ying and yang of cooking is how I wold describe it..

We talked about the Cantaloupe soup I had posted on the blog yesterday and I suggested that after lunch we go back to my house so she can taste it.  When I handed her a tiny cup of the cold green soup she tasted it and asked if it had cucumber in it.  No, I said, but I had thought about putting cucumber in it.  Then she asked me if I had used a Honey Dew Melon?  OMG, Yes it was Honey Dew and not a cantaloupe.  I had written the recipe and posted it with the wrong main ingredient.

When you cook with raw fruits and vegetables that you grow they don’t have labels on them confirming exactly what they are.  I certainly know the difference between a cantaloupe and honeydew, but one brain fart and I’m calling them the opposite names.  Herein lies one problem with a blog that I write and post in twenty minutes without any editor.  I ask your forgiveness for any and all mistakes I make because lord knows there are many.  I just don’t have more than twenty minutes a day to commit to blogging.  I need to spend some time living so I have something to blog about.