House Rules and Stuff (Repost)

***This is a repost of my first post, so if you've read it, go down to the recipe for today that follows***

Thank you for coming to my blog and for reading these house rules and what I'm going for here. Many of these recipes are altered versions of someone else's recipe (more often than not, an Alton Brown recipe) and I will give credit where it is due. Basically, I try them and adjust them to fit my schedule, altitude, and tastes. I really am not one to try making up my own and writing it down. In fact, many things here are guesstimates of how much I put in anyway.

 I do ask, however (and this is a MAJOR rule of mine with cooking) that you try the recipe verbatim the first time. Don't go futzing around with things until you know what works for you and what doesn't. I'm not saying don't experiment, because I really want you to (and I want to hear the results since that's my whole point here). The only thing I wouldn't mess too much with are the amounts in baked goods as these are all about chemistry. Also, I tend to go light on salt and heavy on pepper on dishes (AND garlic, but there's no such thing as too much garlic) so do those to taste unless sweating vegetables or salting pasta water where you need a good amount.

Ok, that's rule 1, the other rules:

2. TAKE YOUR TIME. Please do not rush anything by jacking up the temperature and trying to cut time. Either you are going to burn it or you aren't going to get the flavor that I want you to. I have already cut time where it doesn't drastically change flavor. As a for instance, I have taken a spaghetti bolognese recipe that took 6 hours to make, and have gotten it down to about 2 hours and you can hardly tell the difference.

3. Feel free to use "light", low-sodium, or fat free on things, but don't blame me if they don't turn out. Some things you'll have to not skimp on, but I'll try and tell you if that's the case. Fresh is best on any ingredient unless noted otherwise and much of the stuff here can be purchased at your local grocery store (Albertson's on Redd has all of this guaranteed since this is where I buy my goods).

4. Baking temps are concrete, but times are not. Ovens vary on how they heat and your altitude from sea level (and therefore the boiling temperature of water) changes that time. Use the times provided as a guide, but definitely start checking before hand and unless it is a custard, souffle, or meringue you should probably rotate your pan halfway through cooking for even cooking.

5. WEIGH YOUR DRY GOODS. Don't use cups of flour. Invest in a scale. They aren't expensive. If you want to know why, take 4 cups of packed flour into an air tight container like Tupperware, mark the top level of the flour, seal it and then shake it for about a minute and see how far off from that mark you are. Besides air, moisture can get in your flour and weigh it down.

6. Alcohol in many recipes is not optional. It really enhances flavor in certain instances and is just not replaceable in others (like Tiramisu). Alcohol NEVER cooks out completely, so if you are a recovering alcoholic or have kids that you don't want to have any alcohol, avoid the recipe or ask me how integral it is to use.

7. I have a tendency to use big and technical terms. I'm going to try not to or at least explain the technical term. If I don't, e-mail me or comment in the post and I will explain or maybe even do a post (and maybe in the future a video) of what I'm talking about.

8. Ask me. If you don't understand, if you want to know a substitute, if you want me to try a particular recipe...just ask.

9. As Alton says, don't buy uni-taskers (things that can only be used for one purpose). I'll post a must-have kitchen item and gadget list at some point.

10. Last, but not least, have fun! This post is a little dry, but I don't intend for it to be going forward. Anyone who knows me knows I can't stay serious for long. Just please be respectful of others in the comments section and keep it mostly on topic. Only 2 things shouldn't be discussed amongst friends: religion and politics. I won't talk about them, so you shouldn't either.

That's about it. I hope to update a few times a week and if it proves successful, daily.