So far, I’ve only known the bachelor lifestyle. I must admit there are many times the cooking has been on the pitiful side. If it were not for processed foods that come in a can, box, or frozen in a bag, I would not have eaten as much as I have over the years. However, in my observations about health, I am trying to eat more natural foods. As a result, I am learning more about how to cook. My experiments over the years appear in all likeness as those of an uncommitted scientist. I quit shortly after my experiments end up in the trash.
Fortunately, I have had some great teachers, if you can call them that. I say that only because I have yet to replicate what I have been taught. Seldom have these teachers ever pulled out a detailed list and then carefully measured out each ingredient. It was always a little bit of this and a pinch of that. How on earth that works for them, I may never know. They even ask me to take a quick taste, which I gladly do. They hang on the edge of their seat, waiting to know if it needs more of some ingredient. I fumble around for how to politely say, “how should I know?” It tastes a whole lot better than what I am used to, you perfectionist!
After they try it for themselves, they make a funny face of displeasure. “Needs more salt.” I am starting to wonder if this magic cure-all ingredient called salt is really a disguise used to manipulate the taste buds. In other words, if there is something we don’t like about the taste, we dump salt on it to make it all better. Either way, there was more to it than I thought. However, I am learning the importance of ingredients and how the right combination of different ingredients can produce the most delicious recipes. At the same time, I am learning how the wrong ingredient can ruin everything, such as the first time I used a ton of fresh garlic in a dish I made. Not only would it have sent vampires running, it sent me running out of the kitchen making hissing sounds!
In a sense, the truth is kind of like a recipe. It is a particular thing, yet people experiment because they want to change the flavor of what it is they are saying. Sometimes the truth is hard to swallow, which might be where we get the expression “sugar coat it” to make it easier to go down. There are times when the temptation arises to tell just a little lie. The size of a lie is merely justification to grant ourselves power to manipulate the truth. Lying to a person is a betrayal of another person’s confidence in you. Doing so puts the wrong ingredients into that relationship, which alters the desired taste one should expect. In the end, it will leave a bad taste in your mouth and theirs. Truth is one recipe best not to mess with.