My wife's instinctive in the kitchen. She opens up the fridge and pantry and goes at it. She just knows what will taste good together and she's always spot on. I think she inherited it from her parents. It's a great talent to have or have through marriage. Over the past couple of years I've discovered that I enjoy cooking as well, but I'm a recipes guy. Maybe someday I'll graduate to the level of "instinct", but I'm not there yet.
My inspirations are almost always a couple of cooking shows on Food Network. I dig Jamie Oliver's shows, as well as Nigella Lawson, and occasionally a guy that cooks out of a modded Airstream. I have a thing for Airstreams. One day... Anyway, Jamie turned me on a great squash soup that I tried tonight. It called for fresh sage, which I didn't have and I used bacon instead of pancetta, but still a fantastic creation. I loved it...the "instinctive one" loved it...the kids sometimes get scared of Dad's creations. Bribes worked tonight with one of them.
Link: Butternut Squash Soup [via Food Network : Oliver's Twist]
