Confession from the Rebellious cook: Defying the Cookbook

"Cooking or cookery is the art, technology, and craft of preparing food for consumption with or without the use of heat." - Wikipedia

As I, myself, consider cooking as an art, I've never considered myself an artist in this field. To clarify, I do know how to cook, some people even praised my cooking skills (my mom, mostly, so I can really rely on it), and, most importantly, no one's been poisoned - they are all alive and breathing.

So, I can call on my cooking skills as a success! :D

I've always's been the one that eats and enjoyes (I'm not picky), washes the dishes after, as long as someone else is cooking.

But, there comes a time in every girl's life when the universe conspires against her...

Today, I had to cook.

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THE PROCESS:

I've been thinking and trying to come up with an idea what to cook today, so I've opened my mom's cookbook and started searching. Century later, I found it... Meatballs with tomato sauce - not too time consuming, easy to make.

The decision was made!

I've bought the ingredients and everything was prepared for my culinary quest.

How wrong was I?

I mean, I've got ingredients, stove, and dishes. The cookbook is right in front of me. What could go wrong?

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INSIGHT:

This is the moment when I should reintroduce myself.

Hello, my name is Jovana. I'm that person who won't even follow the recipe.

Why should I? I love making my life difficult - I wasn't about to let the cookbook tell me what to do!

When it comes to my personality, one of my biggest traits, or flaws, depending on the situation, was and is the need to be rebellious.

"Showing a desire to resist authority, control, or convention."

Even when I was little - still little in height, though, I had a constant urge to defy my parents, and with time, as I grew it grew with me.

It became a part of me... I simply do not like rules.

My sister always said that I would rather run through a wall, than use the door.

She, in time, came up with a, I must admit, genious plan. She would tell me the complete oppostite of what her oppinion was, and I would, 6/10 times do the opposite.

That was clever, wasn't it?

It took some time for me to realise it...

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BACK TO THE STORY:

So, here I am - cooking on my own terms. I'm guiding myself with a feeling (talking about confidence,eh), because I have to be the one who's making the rules.

In normal ocassion, the dish is very simple to make. It takes about an hour to prepare, and simmer for a bit.

Well, nope...

The first hour went on me trying to make a perfect mixture of minced meat, onion and spices. First meat ball fell apart - there was too much onion. I've been meat over elbows kneading, and eventually, I got it right. When I was done frying, I took one to check the the taste.
Then this happened... I forgot about the salt... It was a tasteless. I'll just fix it with the sauce.
The second hour flew by while I tried to accomplish the right density of the sauce. But, this time, I haven't forgot about the salt. First, It was too dense because I added too much tomato sauce and way too sour. To fix it, I added water, but a little too much, and the circle of my failed attempts just couldn't come to an end.

Eventually, with a lot of luck, I've got it, finally.

Oh, the sweet and savory feeling of success!

But then... My plan of making it quick and painless, by choosing the easy way out, was a total failure. It took me three hours to make it.
Should I really call it a success?

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Nevertheless, I really enjoyed it. It felt good, and it tasted good. I've done it - I fought the recipe and won!

Bite me, universe!

But, I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna try it again soon. Why do deliveries and mom's exist?

P.S. Mom part was a joke! :D