Use the Recipe on the Package

In addition to wishing all of my friends and family here at DIITH a Happy Thanksgiving (even if you are not in the United States, because, hey, you should have a happy day too,) I would like to put in a plug for cooking by using the recipe on the package.

I got to thinking about this because I typically use the recipe on the Ocean Spray bag when I make cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving dinner. (I don’t have to cook the meal this year but I am bringing cranberry sauce and an apple crumble.) There are lots of things I make just by using the recipe on the package.

Now, I am no foodie, but I can cook. Why then do I choose to do something so ordinary as using the package instructions? Well:

• Being lazy, I always have the package to look at. I have a computer in my kitchen so all my recipes are at my fingertips, but I still prefer to grab the thing at hand. In a similar way, I have organized all my measuring spoons, but usually just use a normal teaspoon.
• I can assume that the people who produce the product have, or have had a tradition of using their product. I can assume they have test kitchens or can at least pay a consultant. I don’t have all these things you see, so I give them the benefit of the doubt.
• Most recipes are 99% the same. You can go to great trouble to do the fancy recipe you find in Good Housekeeping, but on examination, you find that it’s the same as the recipe on the box. For reals! Kind of deflating…
• I have found that they are a good basis for experimenting on. For example, the cranberry sauce. I’m going to put apples, nuts and orange zest in there. This is not on the package, but I have used the package to get the basic information. That leaves me free to pursue my Ina Garten-like ambitions.

Another recipe I’ve found to be the best is the peanut butter cookie recipe off the Jif Peanut Butter jar. Because choosy Dads choose Jif.