Why, oh why?

Here I am, attempting two of the many things that I don't know much about- Cooking and Blogging.

Some people are told to open restaurants, write recipe books and blogs, hold classes, for they are excellent cooks.

I have started this blog for the exact opposite reason- I am a terrible cook. But, I have always wanted to be better, and that is the reason I have embarked on this very journey. Come, join me for the ride as I attempt to hack the kitchen.

Whenever I saw my mother in the kitchen or celebrated chefs on cook shows adding mysterious ingredients to enticing potions, I would think it is some sort of dark magic. Why does a certain ingredient precede another when in the end they will all be indistinguishable?

As I started cooking, I realized, its not magic, its science.And Contrary to what I thought, you don't need to remember what to add in which recipe and in what order if you know some basic hacks. Yes, I am a Software Analyst by profession, and a wannabe chef in my mind. With this blog, I want to bridge the distance between my alter egos. And, unlike George from Seinfeld, I want my worlds to collide.

I will be attempting to hack recipes that, to me, are more complicated than writing a linked list program in C++ and try to make them as simple and enticing as checking your facebook profile.

We will keep it simple and real, folks. No fancy words, no fancy cuisines ( sorry France), no fancy kitchen gadgets ( sorry Billy Mayes, bless his soul). Just plain simple no-frills fare.

In my attempt to be a better cook, I have read a lot of recipe books, watched a lot of food channel, read far too many blogs by excellent cooks, have tried a lot of things in my own kitchen, but more often than not, the meal is a train wreck. Ok, maybe not that bad, but its not as great as the fare they show on TV either.

Cook books, blogs and shows are always visual. Still after still of fantastic mouth watering dishes that make us, lesser cooks very conscious of the sad state of our own creations. Their perfect pictures create a lot of pressure when I try to replicate what I read or see.

So, I have decided not to put up pictures of the finished product when I share a recipe here. ( I told you I am a terrible cook, half the time the finished product is too embarrassing to share, anyway).

I am a coaster. I find it hard sticking to a hobby. I need public accountability.Whenever I try to stick to something, I need to tell a lot of people about it jut to keep myself from giving it up. That's another reason behind this attempt. Having said that, I would be too embarrassed to tell my family about this blog(what with my history of bing a picky eater and a kitchen avoider all my life and all) but, here I am sharing my culinary adventures with the world at large, you see, I am weird like that.

All I needed to do was to tell my mom and she would call me up every now and then to ask how things were in the kitchen, but, no, I had to start a blog.

Well, I am here now, deal with it.