Last week, I was listening to the Bon Appétit podcast — the one and only podcast I listen to, lest I should become one of those people who begins every sentence with “I was listening to this podcast and…” — and they got to talking about cooking without a recipe.  Though I know there are plenty of people who have the skills/confidence to cook without directions, every time I come in contact with these people, my head kind of explodes.  I always always always cook with a recipe, whether it’s the first or the 100th time I’ve made a dish.

For some reason, it wasn’t until I listened to this podcast that I realized I’m probably a far better cook than I give myself credit for and I probably have enough experience that I don’t need to abide by the rules of the recipe, down to the exact teaspoon.  So Monday night, I quickly glanced over the recipe we’d picked for Taco Tuesday (something we don’t always celebrate, but we should always celebrate), and decided that was the only time I needed to look at that recipe.  I know how to make guacamole.  I know how to sauté veggies.  I know how to season by taste and hell yeah, I know how to assemble a taco.

Outcome: TACO SUCCESS!

I’m so over corn tortillas, but that aside, these turned out so good!  I think Joey’s immediate response after the first bite was “UMMM YUM!” and it takes a lot to get that kind of comment from him — not that he’s hard to please, but quite the opposite and thinks everything is good, so it goes without saying — so I was really really excited.  This isn’t to say I’m going to start guessing how to roast large cuts of meat or attempt to bake cakes without knowing the specifics, but I think this dinner was a huge confidence booster and extra encouragement to trust myself in the kitchen more.  I got this 🙂