Of Internet and Guessing

The epic battle of the broken internet is at an end, and I emerge victorious. I hope my mother will not be too offended that I threw her broken modem, which she kindly gave me under the impression it was not possessed be demonic sprites, in the bin. I said a few words for it – you were a good modem, for the first two years of your life. You lived much longer than you should have. Now, you are just ugly and large. Rest In Peace.

I think I have discovered a powerful fact about muffins. There is only one muffin recipe! Why do I own a book with 200 muffin recipes?! They all require some kind of flour, some kind of moisture (usually a combination of oil and milk), baking powder and then whatever ingredients make the flavour. Quantities vary depending on how moist the “flavour” is and how many you want to make.

I remember when I was even shorter than I am now, helping various family members in the kitchen. I remember asking how much of something needed to be added – and the answers were always frustratingly vague: “oh, just about enough” or “roughly this much, we’ll just see” and I’m pretty sure mum has told me on more than one occasion “I just sort of guess”. THIS is cooking?!

This is surely the difference between following a recipe and being a good cook. It is a combination of absorbed knowledge about the minimum required to create, for example, a muffin; and instinct. I like to call it Sense of Guess. Like the other senses, only more useful in the kitchen.

I have a terrible Sense of Guess but I think (or hope) that unlike the other senses it is something you can learn, even if you were not born with it naturally. Yesterday I decided to test my Sense of Guess to get rid of various quickly expiring ingredients.

I had a bowl of almond meal in my fridge – a by product of the almond milk I have been making myself; more on milk some other day – and two very, very ripe bananas.

Go-Go Gadget Guess: I turned the almond meal into flour using a coffee bean grinder. I don’t know how much there was. A lot? I had two bananas. They were smallish, I guess. Or medium? Don’t know, whatever. I added the other “Muffin Minimums” plus some soaked chopped dates and a spoonful of molasses (what sort of spoon?! Who even knows). I mixed and found the consistency wrong, so I added more stuff. I mixed again and was content. I spooned mixture into a muffin tray (I put just enough in each one) and then I baked them at a temperature for some time.

Yay, muffins! They are far sweeter than I expected, I wish I had put less molasses in them. Note to self: use a smaller spoon. Otherwise delicious, and the consistency is perfect.
And the verdict? Sense of Guess improving. Chance of GF trying my cooking: diminishing.