Slice of Life 2023: 30 of 31- A time for precision!

  It's March, and March is for slicing.  Anyone is welcome to join us through Two Writing Teachers, slicing, sharing, and commenting on other slices! 

  

ATTENTION VISITORS: 

If you leave a comment, please include your name in it! So often all I see is "anonymous", and I REALLY want to know who is commenting! Thank you!

I was about to start a ride when Julia's text came through. 

While I love that my daughters ask for recipes and have good memories and associations with meals I've made them, Julia and I are very different cooks. She's a scientist. She likes measurements. Like my friend Jen who is a doctor, Julia who is headed for medical school doesn't want to hear "add some". The both want to hear 1.75 teaspoons or 2 1/4 cups or 341.78 grams. If I provided measurements like those, they'd be in chef heaven. (These sorts of measurements are impossibilities for me!)

Knowing Julia's tendency toward precision, I googled a recipe for Penne Buttero. If I didn't know the exact ratios of sausage to crushed tomatoes, someone on the internet must be able to provide it. Even if it's not with the exact ingredients I use. Maybe Julia and I could come to a stylistic compromise. 

I imagined her questioning the rigatoni since I use penne, but it was worth a try. She was more concerned with how many it would feed, and I wasn't sure since I managed to find the one recipe on the internet that gave no indication for how many it serves. Looking at the recipe, I could give a decent estimate of about 4 people, but that always depends on who you're serving. 

Julia's next response was not what I was expecting! 

What? As post-graduate students taking all their pre-med courses at once and studying for the MCATS, those two girls' biggest breaks from studying involve workouts and an occasional game night. They're going to host a dinner party?!?! How great is that?!?!?

I made sure Julia wasn't standing in a Philadelphia grocery store aisle, and then assured her I'd write out the recipe when I got off the bike. I gave her precise measurements and directions-- she doesn't need to know they're my best estimates, although she probably does. 

Precisely, Julia! And once I hear how it comes out, maybe I'll share the recipe far and wide! 

All good things-- especially your doubled recipes!