About Me:
Well, my name's John, that's a good place to start; from what I've heard, my aunt told my parents to give me a simple name since I'd already be weird enough (isn't that comforting). I started this blog as a constructive alternative to TV and other such activities. I mainly plan to post about life and any recipes I'm working on. If you want to contact me feel free to send an email to From.Skratch.Blog@gmail.com.
Asia for my early life and Upstate NY and Maine for my late teens. My family still works in Asia, so I go back every now and then. Moving so much was a great experience to have, although when I visited my cousins in the States, I often didn't know things like who Chelsea Clinton or Nsync were (what a loss). I just graduated from a college in the Boston area and now I am trying to plan the next step (not sure where that will be).
About the Blog:
Well, here's my pitch,Trying to find a good recipe on the internet can be rough; first, there are about a thousand versions to choose from—half of which, are bad recipes anyway—and even after choosing, you find yourself stuck with a recipe that has confusing directions and a single photo of the finished dish as your guiding star. To save you this hassle, I've tried to keep my posts organized and include photos of the steps to guide you through the process.
I've learned a lot about cooking from my mom and also through research and imitation. If I like a dish at a restaurant, I will spend the meal trying to crack the recipe. When I get home, I'll start researching techniques and variations of the dish until I feel I can match it. I'm not easily satisfied with my cooking and even when the dishes are quite good, I keep trying to find ways to take them another step up.
I'll apologize for it now, I usually don't measure, so I will give general directions and measurement estimates, but for a lot of my recipes a little more or less doesn't matter greatly and it will come down to personal preference. I'd suggest that you start learning how to cook without measurements; it makes cooking and clean-up faster. Also, it is better to understand the purpose of each ingredient and what flavor it brings to the dish; that way, you can begin to understand the mechanics of cooking and personalize the dishes with your own style.
Don't feel bound to my directions, I don't know everything (if I did, I'd let you know); if you want to alter steps and measurements, you should, because there are many ways to do things; and rather than mimic me, you should develop your own personal style of cooking. Think of the recipes "more as guidelines than actual rules."
Last, I named this blog From Skratch for a couple of reasons:
1. I try not to buy processed things; I never use anything pre-made such as lemon juice from a bottle (I see this as almost being heretical); and as much as possible, I try to use the most basic form of an ingredient. It usually ends up being cheaper, healthier and tastier when you go back to the basics.
2. The name From Scratch was already taken, hence the k in the name.
