how to cook without a cookbook

dear emily,

one of the trickiest parts in raising five children was the 

cooking.  breakfast alone required a giant skillet, a dozen eggs, 
an entire package of bacon, 16 ounces of cheese,  one loaf of 
homemade whole wheat bread, a carton of orange juice, seven 
knives, forks, spoons, plates and glasses.

it was tempting to say, "and a partridge in a pear tree."

dinner could be daunting, and i resorted to a great deal more

'assembling' than fine cooking.  to make matters worse, i didn't 

seem to be able to follow a recipe.

if the book said, "sautee the onion for 15 minutes until sweet

and tender, i would think, "an onion can't really be all that

necessary."  

when my friends would say, " don't you just love julia child's

cookbook?", i would stare blankly at them and wonder, "who in 

the world is julia child?" 

forget about that "joy of cooking book."  "for the white cream 

sauce, go to page 27.  add the sauce to the roasted pheasant on 

page 1,378."  it gave me carpal tunnel to complete any recipe.


one evening while hans let our little sinners run all over the local

mall, i spied the holy grail of cookbooks.  "how to cook without

a book."  the author preached about a foolproof gospel of saved

ingredients to usher any soup or pasta sauce into heaven.  it was 
the answer to all my prayers.

here's the basic formula:


sautee one onion.  season, please.
add one pound of meat
one pound of vegetables
one pound of a starch (potatoes, rice, pasta, etc.)
one quart of stock (chicken goes best with chicken, etc.)
add any spices or seasoning in your cupboard.


simmer as long as you want but less than one week.  :)
this wonderful book has easy formulas for many dishes,
but the soup has saved my life.


love,
lea


"oh taste and see that the Lord is good!"  psalm 34:8


ps.  what in the world is going on with the font and
how do you underline, again?