Cooking

I enjoy cooking and trying new tastes and flavors, but I don't like to cook just for me--I find that boring and often opt for a bowl of cereal over going through the fuss of actually putting together a meal. Last week I tried a new soup recipe. I went to Bristol Farms--upscale boutique supermarket that has just opened in the area--and bought a fennel bulb. I remember eating fennel in a restaurant in San Jose with Cam that I really liked. I don't remember how it was prepared just that I liked it. So I found a fennel, leek and potato soup recipe. It was so very good and so very easy that I plan to make it again tonight.
Sometimes my recipes turn out quite good and sometimes not so good. Except for baked goods, I have never really followed a recipe to the letter so this means that end up with mixed results. I hate measuring and feel that most things are better if I throw in a few of my favorite ingredients like garlic, onions, sambal olek (phillipino hotsauce), etc.
I can't wait until my neice comes for the summer because then I will have a reason to try lots of things. She is somewhat picky as an eater so there is the possiblity that she will not like my cooking and we will be stuck with eating out. I hope not.
Tonight I will also have potstickers along with sauted mushrooms and wilted spinich. I have no problem mixing cultures with my food. A little Asian and a little Western discribes the way most of my food turns out. I have very few straight up American recipes, everything has a little twist. For example, I really like my blue cheese, minced olives and mushroom potstickers served with a soy sauce balasmic vinegar sauce. Potstickers are so easy and fun to make and you can experiment with almost anything.
OK enough random thoughts about cooking.