Once upon a time…
Everything has to start somewhere, and my love of cooking started when I was four. Mom came into the old farmhouse kitchen and there I was. Standing on a chair, leaning over a combustion stove (wood fired) stirring a little pot with a wooden spoon. All it contained was one carrot. Diced. When I was scolded for being so dangerous, my simple reply. “I don’t like the way you cook my carrots!”
Cooking is like Life, you only learn when you make mistakes…..
Estherism
When I was fifteen, I gave dinner parties as a hobby. Poring for days over cookbooks, spending too much money on ‘must-have’ ingredients and then cooking for hours. Everything just had to be so right. The ironic thing was I didn’t really care about the dinner party. And certainly not what anyone thought of the food. It was down to the love of ‘cooking’ not the eating or ceremony part of the meal process. That’s changed a little by now.
When I was 24, I walked into a restaurant and applied for a job as a cook. When asked my experience, replied “Mamma’s Café” for 10 years. I got the job. Then promptly went to the nearest book store and bought several of the biggest volume cookbook sI could find and bluffed my way through. I still think Aaron Maree is the best dessert chef ever.
I am not a chef, let’s make that clear. I ‘play’ with food and enjoy turning the expected into something totally unexpected. Hence substitution of ingredients is almost a must. Never take a “The oven doesn’t work, haven’t got a…….whatever” Substitute. Whether it be a electric frying pan instead of an oven, a BBQ plate for a deep fryer, or different ingredients for each other. If it works out – Great! If it doesn’t, coat it in chocolate, serve with whipped cream or smother in a brandy sauce and no one is ever the wiser.
I started In Esther’s Kitchen purely so I have somewhere to put all my recipes and photos. I hope you enjoy looking around and perhaps even trying a recipe for yourself. I would love to see the results, so please send the images in or upload to Social.
This is not a polished foodie site, it is simply from my heart and from my Kitchen.
Bon Apetit!
