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The Copywriter has flown the Kitchen for a few weeks’ travel and work in India. This post is by guest blogger Cathryn Johnson. Thanks Cathryn!

With microwave dinners, fast-food joints and busy lifestyles, cooking has almost become an ancient art.  Many of us fondly remember Mom’s cooking, but secretly fear that our children will not have such memories.  Cooking seems like such a daunting task.  And many, who did not learn as they were growing up, fear that they are too old to learn now.  But, Julia Child once admitted, “I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate.”
 
Thus, it is never too late to begin cooking.  And, honestly, it is healthier for you and your family, and it isn’t too time consuming or difficult either.  An old Estonian Proverb says, “An empty belly is the best cook.”  Thus, if you love to eat, you can become a great cook!
 
There are some great fast and easy recipes on this website to get you started.  Simply find one that interests you, make a list of ingredients, run to the grocery store, and start cooking.  You’ll find that, with a good recipe in hand, you are a better cook than you had thought. 
 

7 inspirational tips from famous foodies

Here are seven simple tips on cooking from famous foodies to inspire, motivate and challenge you as you begin your new adventure in cooking:
 

  1. Put your heart and soul into what you cook
    Cooking is like love.  It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.
    ~ Harriet van Horne – an American newspaper columnist and film/television critic
  2.  

  3. Put time and care into your cooking
    Enchant, stay beautiful and graceful, but do this, eat well. Bring the same consideration to the preparation of your food as you devote to your appearance. Let your dinner be a poem, like your dress.
    ~ Charles Pierre Monselet – a 19th century French author
  4.  

  5. Don’t try to make it too fancy
    Make [food] simple and let things taste of what they are.
    ~ Curnonsky – dubbed the Prince of Gastronomy, was the most celebrated writer on gastronomy in France in the 20th century
  6.  

  7. Keep in mind why you are cooking
    Food is not about impressing people. It’s about making them feel comfortable.
    ~ Ina Garten – an American author, host of the Food Network program Barefoot Contessa, and former White House nuclear policy analyst
  8.  

  9. Ask experts for advice
    If God had intended us to follow recipes,
    He wouldn’t have given us grandmothers.
    ~ Linda Henley-Smith – author, educator, speaker and opera singer
  10.  

  11. Be patient
    Cooking is an art and patience a virtue… Careful shopping, fresh ingredients and an unhurried approach are nearly all you need. There is one more thing - love. Love for food and love for those you invite to your table. With a combination of these things you can be an artist - not perhaps in the representational style of a Dutch master, but rather more like Gauguin, the naïve, or Van Gogh, the impressionist. Plates or pictures of sunshine taste of happiness and love.
    ~ Keith Floyd – a British chef and television personality who hosted numerous cooking shows for the BBC
  12.  

  13. Start with the basics and the rest will come
    Once you understand the foundations of cooking - whatever kind you like, whether it’s French or Italian or Japanese - you really don’t need a cookbook anymore.
    ~ Thomas Keller – an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook writer

 

And a bonus tip

 Boil your onions!
This is every cook’s opinion -
no savory dish without an onion,
but lest your kissing should be spoiled
your onions must be fully boiled.
~ Jonathan Swift – an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, poet and cleric who became Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin
 
 
Cathryn Johnson is a self-proclaimed health-nut and a content writer for Online  MBA who gives advice on education, pursuing an online  mba ranking and living a healthy life. In her free time she enjoys travel, theater and having fun in the sun.

Photo of Thomas Keller courtesy of ASmythie

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Copywriter’s Kitchen in India

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As you can see, this is not my typical Monday weekly menu post. That’s because I won’t be cooking this week—or for the next two weeks.
I will, however, be eating plenty of delicious food—on the west coast where I will settle my daughter in at her college this week.
And I’ll enjoy even more delightful dishes [...]

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Slow Cooker Corn and Green Bean Succotash Recipe

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I know. A slow cooker recipe? In August?
But think about it: What better way to cook dinner without heating up the kitchen? A slow cooker provides a delicious hands-off meal that lets you more fully enjoy these last fleeting days of summer.
The word succotash comes from a Narragansett word that means boiled corn. The dish [...]

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Copywriters’ Kitchen Weekly Menu August 15, 2010

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Need dinner ideas?
Here’s what we’re cooking this week at Copywriters’ Kitchen:
Monday
From-Scratch Caesar Salad with Crunchy Oven-Toasted Croutons
Tuesday
Cabo San Lucas Lime and Cilantro Grilled Pastured Chicken, Lemony White Bean and Flat Bean Salad
Wednesday
Anything Goes Gazpacho, Italian bread, assorted cheeses, black oil-cured olives
Thursday
Grilled pastured beef hamburgers and veggie burgers, Upstate New York Fingerling Salt Potatoes, Summer [...]

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Classic Mojito with Mint Simple Syrup Recipe

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When I think about my summer romance with this tall Cuban cocktail, I hear the Black Eyed Peas’ lyrics, “… you’re so 2000 and late…”
As the mother of two teens and a young adult, I’m resigned to retrograde status. So, yes, I admit I came late to mojitos. The cocktail’s popularity peaked several years ago. [...]

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Panzanella: Italian Bread Salad with Bocconcini and Local Tomatoes Recipe

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They’re finally here. Ripe, luscious, locally-grown tomatoes. All year long I dream about these juicy fruit/vegetables. And now that they’ve arrived, we’re eating them every single day. For lunch and dinner.

You don’t need to do much to dress up a perfect, sun-ripened tomato. A little salt, pepper and maybe a dab of mayonnaise is enough [...]

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Copywriters’ Kitchen Weekly Menu August 8, 2010

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Need dinner ideas? The following menu provides a week’s suggestions.
You’ll notice tomatoes appear at each meal. That’s because—hallelujah!—local tomatoes have finally ripened and I plan to binge on the bounty as long as possible…
Monday
No-Cook Summer Tomato Pasta, Italian bread, romaine salad with Toss-in-the-Bowl Lemon Garlic Dressing
Tuesday
Cold Mom’s Meatloaf with Creamy Onion Gravy, Old Fashioned Cold [...]

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Lemony White Bean and Flat Bean Salad Recipe

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At my local farm stand the fresh beans, heaped in bushel baskets, always call to me. Especially the flat Italian green beans.

Since they’re grown locally, these large, luscious beans aren’t always available. So when they’re in season, I tend to overbuy and hoard them.

I’m ashamed to say I’ve let a few pounds of lovely, pale [...]

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Copywriters’ Kitchen Weekly Menu August 1, 2010

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Need dinner ideas? Here’s what we’re cooking this week at Copywriters’ Kitchen:
Monday
Roasted Red Pepper and Potato Frittata, sliced seasonal tomatoes with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, Italian bread
Tuesday
Lemon Herb Pastured Grilled Chicken, Curried Coconut Rice Salad, mesclun salad with Lime and Chutney Salad Dressing
Wednesday
Pinto bean, rice and Monterey Jack burritos on whole wheat [...]

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Apricot Galette with Buttery Ground Almond Crust Recipe

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“Ah, if I can’t eat some of the rampion, which is in the garden behind our house, I shall die,” moans Rapunzel’s mother.
An expectant woman and her food cravings are the catalysts for the story of Rapunzel. In the fairy tale, the soon-to-be mother fixates on luscious leafy greens growing next door. Pained to see [...]

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