Coffee Table Declarations
Friday, August 22, 2003
So I decided to try my hand at cooking. Just a couple easy recipes. First I needed to make a trip to the grocery store. Unfortunately for me, being of the don't-buy-more-than-you-can-carry-into-the-house-in-one-trip philosophy, I had to make several trips. And this is no easy task. I have to park down the street from my building and then walk up three flights of stairs.
So my first culinary delight was a seven layer salad and it called for some onions. Why do onions make your eyes water and sting painfully? Really, I'd like to know. Is it the onion's defense mechanism to ward off predators or something? It was awful. I had to stop several times and step away from the onion just to regain the ability to open my eyes without searing pain.
My next question is, what is baking powder? Likewise, what is baking soda? They are obviously extremely important because they are called for in many many recipes. But does anyone actually know what they are? Or are they just thrown into recipes at random so chefs sound like they know what they are doing? "You will need a cup of sugar, a cup and a half of flour, 3 eggs, a half cup of shredded cheese, and a tablespoon of baking powder." What would happen if you left these enigmatic ingredients out? How do we know they are actually healthy for us and not some kind of chemical compound that in fact should never be ingested by anyone? Just something to think about.
So my first culinary delight was a seven layer salad and it called for some onions. Why do onions make your eyes water and sting painfully? Really, I'd like to know. Is it the onion's defense mechanism to ward off predators or something? It was awful. I had to stop several times and step away from the onion just to regain the ability to open my eyes without searing pain.
My next question is, what is baking powder? Likewise, what is baking soda? They are obviously extremely important because they are called for in many many recipes. But does anyone actually know what they are? Or are they just thrown into recipes at random so chefs sound like they know what they are doing? "You will need a cup of sugar, a cup and a half of flour, 3 eggs, a half cup of shredded cheese, and a tablespoon of baking powder." What would happen if you left these enigmatic ingredients out? How do we know they are actually healthy for us and not some kind of chemical compound that in fact should never be ingested by anyone? Just something to think about.
