The Rules

So I’m thinking of writing a recipe a day for each day in 2007. When someone learns what I do for a living, they almost always want to know what my favorite dinner recipes are, but when I say I hardly ever cook the same thing twice, they look at me like I have three heads. I love the creative process, and I’m curious to see what a year in my kitchen really looks like.

I realized I need to come up with some ground rules. Here’s a start:

1. The recipes must be original, but may be based on ideas from other people, in which case credit will be given. Obviously.
2. “Recipe” may be either a printable recipe, like the kind you see in most cookbooks, or simple “oral” directions (see previous post).
3. Readers may suggest or request recipes, i.e. “I can’t find a recipe for homemade pineapple jell-o, can you create one?” However, I won’t promise anything, and might say no if I think it’s gross (ewww, who wants pineapple jell-o?) or impossible (in this instance, for example, I’d say no, because the enzymes in real pineapple fruit counteract the gelling agent in gelatin).
4. EVERY day? Do I get federal holidays off? It doesn’t seem worth doing unless I do 365 recipes. However, I may not actually WRITE the recipe on the exact day I publish it here.
5. Failed recipes count (see “Meringues make me angry” from Dec. 7th).

Sound like fun? Any other rules for me?

Happy holidays!