Cooks have been doing this magic since the position of cook was first created. I mean, it must have started not long after the first person made a meal to be shared and, by the time 'cook' became a division of labour that other people relied on for survival, this alchemy would have been essential. But how is it done? How do you feed people day after day with limited resources? The puzzle for the home cook seems particularly tricky: turn limited money into a grocery list that can be used to create a variety of meals for a specific number of people with known likes and dislikes within a limited amount of free time. I just spent a month attempting to do this and I still feel I have no idea how it's done and I have a new sympathy for women who've spent years doing this who say they no longer enjoy cooking. I mean, after juggling the grocery list and menu and finding seven recipes that are varied but that don't have completely divergent ingredient lists and that don't include any of the things people hate to eat and that are affordable... it feels like I've completed a jigsaw puzzle in record time without the aid of the picture on the box. Fun, sure but... every day?Anyway, some of my recent forays into this area have seemed more or less successful and I'm going to attempt to make note of them since odds are good I'm going to need the information again sometime. (but right now there's pizza dough rising in the bread robot and I have to start the sauce making, cheese grating activities... I forget - can grated cheese be frozen?)
