Do you follow recipes or make it up as you go along?

[nkf]

Me. I rarely use a recipe but things rarely go wrong. I think it's because my mother cooked a lot and I kind of learned the principles without realising it. I'd need to check for something like pastry or sponge but I rarely make those sort of things.

same as you nkf - I seem to have an inbuilt knowledge but do use recipes from time to time for new things, once I've made it once I will adjust things according to preference.

I read recipes (magazines and books) for ideas and for a feeling of techiniques and how things fit/go together, but tbh I would rarely follow a recipe unless it was for something I had no idea or feeling for (usually cakes - am no good at cakes without a recipe. I really just don't 'get' them).

I find cakes and bread need exact measurements, whereas pasta sauces and suchlike don't.

I do the same as you Armadillo. Read all the magazines and cook books I can get my hands on, and then adapt as I see fit. I also learnt loads from my mum, just watching her and helping her.

It's a good skill to have, and one I hope to pass on to any kids I have. [hopeful emoticon]

I think once you've maastered the basics - stew, white sauce, marinades etc etc it's easy to chop and change to an extent.

Find it really strange when some people refuse to deviate from the instructions on the side of the pasta sauce jar. Seems very boring.

Some people can't though. If my husband wants to cook something he has the recipe book open in front of him. And he can't look in the cupboard or fridge and see a meal ready to be cooked.