The Purpose of this Blog

Why this NEW Blog? - I keep getting asked for recipe ideas. 

I will be honest, I use my ever expanding knowledge of cooking and baking to make meals that are usually a success, but sometimes a flop. I have chosen to record the successes in a NEW Blog I put together called "Pretty Darn Close to 10". This Blog will use recipes with my theory; Close to 10 ingredients to a great meal. Some will have less than 10 ingredients some a little more, but hopefully never more than 15.

Some of these recipes will vary in skill level and assume you know a little beyond the basics of cooking.. Try them, I think... you won't be disappointed. http://darncloseto10.blogspot.ca/

People have simplified recipes down to 4-5 ingredients, which is fine if you are a college kid and all you have is Spam, Kraft Dinner, Bread and a Vegetable.

But let's be Real for a minute here. Most recipes are good because they;

• are balanced in flavour
• take whatever time they take
• and incorporate more than a few ingredients (with some exceptions)

When I cook, I pick things from my kitchen I already have on hand. That said; one of my pet peeves are pretentious food shows which claim to use "on hand" ingredients like fennel, or eggplant, or fresh herbs.

I am sorry but, I live in Canada... "fresh" and  "on-hand" mean something completely different to me than someone from say Sicily.

In Canada if it is not in season it is either; Grown in a hot house and tastes like cardboard, or; Imported from Chile, Greece, USA or Mexico.

So my "on-hand" is premeditated. When I go grocery shopping I ask myself:

1. What produce is fresh today? 
2. How many of each item do I need to cook meals for the next 3 days before these ingredients spoil?

I go to the grocery store and pick up some items to compliment what is in my garden, or what needs to be consumed next. This prevents food from going bad and needing to be thrown out, and promotes healthy amuse bouche lifestyle. Which, when translated crudely from French means "mouth amuser". Why shouldn't you have a varied and entertaining homecooking experience?

I am going to record some of my "meal ideas" in this blog to share for people who are fresh-out of ideas for fresh on-hand ingredients.