Oh, the journey, there are shortcuts and there are easy ways but none seem to be as satisfying as when we complete a hard effort. Hard efforts seem to pull against us all along the way and we often like it this way. With difficulty, we have to be diligent in our approach, be more creative, be willing to mess up, and mostly hang in there till we get to the outcome that we want/need. The metaphor continues with sugar and salt. We all love both ingredients, but they are indeed the simple way to make something taste good. Little effort is required and we know we will like the outcome. Using these two ingredients as our primary sensory drivers, though, misses the depth of flavors that we can get when we include other ingredients that have a wide range of texture and taste. Herbs, spices, plants, mushrooms, roots and so much more open our cooking repertoire to a level of creativity that is not explored with just sugar and salt. We can be playful and creative and find new ways to experience our food and the journey to get there, all it takes is avoiding the shortcut and taking the road less traveled. We get so much more out of it and set ourselves up for more in the future. Here’s to getting creative and leaving S&S on the side for now. We might find that we just like it

Loving life when I am creative with food

Joe