Can We Talk 2

Recipes For Comfort Foods

         Like a lot of people I have turned to the Internet for my recipes. If I want to make something, I look it up there. It's easier than going through a lot of old cookbooks, some faded from so much use. I've been surprised how outdated some old cookbooks have become. Products and utensils have changed. The Internet has made the transition to newer methods and products.

         However, lately I've had trouble with finding recipes on the Web. You have to download certain programs in order to read the ones you want. I don't want all those downloads that I might not ever use again. I may not want that recipe once I look at it. Or you get some kind of warning about Security. The warning has some number and some name I've never seen before and that in itself looks suspicious. "Don't turn off your computer, or attempt to solve by yourself." It dares me to resolve it, but I don't want to call some potential con-artist and let him have my phone and computer address. I pay for a firewall, which I know can't catch every thing. But now I'm afraid to search for recipes.

         The other problem is that most recipes now have too many shortcuts. They contain ingredients I'm trying to avoid. For instance, I wanted old-fashioned baked macaroni and cheese. You start with a white sauce, but I couldn't remember whether or not I needed eggs (it is a custard type dish and custards use eggs). One recipe called for processed cheese product. Yuck. Another called for quick cooking cheese and mac products to start. Again, yuck. I want real food, real ingredients, not artificial anything. So out came the old cookbooks. The most weathered ones I figured would be the likeliest to have what I wanted. Yes, the very first dog-eared book had a good one.

         Well, some things the Net can't replace. And the cook books you hold in your hands have no security risks. I've thought about going through them and logging the ones I have found useful, or even copying them into a more useful, newer book. Maybe some day. I'll add it to my list of things to do in my retirement; it's a very long list.