Photo Credit: Whirling Phoenix on Flickr

My friend Ronni is one smart cookie. She says that the world really isn't all that complicated when you consider that there are essentially only two kinds of people in it: Those who absolutely have to follow a recipe to the letter, and those who cannot follow a recipe as written to save their lives.

I hope I never have to bake cookies for my survival, because I'm the type who'd have to add a little cayenne to the batter just to see what would happen. To me, the kitchen is a laboratory for trying a little of this with a little of that.

I love to cook, but I'm lazy about it though. I'd just as soon order a pizza than follow instructions on the side of a box — just making something to eat is a boring chore. I don't even want to dirty dishes if I'm not feeling curious about what would go well with pineapple and curry powder, but I feel like a real artist when I'm in the mood to make something. The up side of this approach is that every meal is like a surprise. The down side, of course, is that it may not be such a pleasant one.

It's like performance art. Most of the time, I couldn't possibly recreate something that would command wall space if it were a painting. The most delish dish could be the soup that evolved from the leftover pasta sauce that evolved from the leftover peppers stuffed with whatever happened to be in the fridge.

The fact that these little accidents of timing couldn't possibly be whipped up again makes the meal that much more pleasurable. This sounds overly-dramatic, but it gets to the heart of why I like to cook: I love the satisfaction of creating something special that can't be taken for granted. It's unique and perishable. It makes me appreciate life in the moment to realize that something so tasty is limited to that particular dining experience. It's like being in the right place at the right time. That, to me, is as satisfying as the dish itself. I love knowing that there will be other great meals, but whatever I just served was once in a lifetime.

I'm contemplating this today because I volunteered to make lunch for my Mother and her friend. I have leftover pork loin, radishes, olives, spinach and a pantry of spices. OK TheWordWire... Go!