Gastronomy 101

I hate to do this, but I think it's time to talk about a sad truth. These days we SEE so much cooking, but most of it isn't real. That is, we see it on television, or in magazines, or on people's blogs, and mostly what we see is the result, or the idealized version of the process, but we don't really see how it works to develop a dish or make a recipe that first time. I think it's easy to fall into believing that cooking is a talent, which you are either good at, or you aren't. That's totally false. While truly genius and inspired cooking is often a matter of talent, especially the creative part of it, the actual mechanics of cooking can be learned by anyone and any dish can be made with practice. The truth is, that most people don't just pick up a brand new recipe and know immediately how to make it perfectly. The first time you make something new is always a practice and if it comes out well, it's usually luck as much as skill. With any new recipe...

Mark your calendars, foodies! On February 26, Aid for AIDS, in conjunction with local restaurants is having a fundraiser. For the entire day, breakfast through dinner, participating restaurants will give 20% of their earnings or more to help prevent homelessness and hunger for individuals and families impoverished by HIV/AIDS. To see the list of participating restaurants, check the website: www.GoEatLA.org . The list is updating so make sure to check back close to the event if you don't find your favorite places on there. About the organizations: Aid For AIDS , a non-profit organization founded in 1983, is one of the oldest, continuously running AIDS assistance organizations in California. The agency mission is to prevent homelessness and hunger and to encourage independent living for impoverished women, men and children with HIV/AIDS in Los Angeles County. Aid For AIDS helped more than 1,000 last year.

I am a skeptic. Slowly but surely throughout life, I've learned that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is; and if something seems like magic, there's probably a trick to it. As hard as I tried to go to Narnia, Narnia would not come to me. You can't cure cancer with a grass, and you can't move pencils with your mind. No one knows the future and the past wasn't any better than today, really. But there's a different kind of magic that comes when you give up the magic that isn't real, and it's the magic of what's real. The stars are even better when you understand what they are doing, and life is still sparkly when you learn how to enjoy the things that are real as much as the things that are imaginary. One of the closest things to a magic potion I have ever made is liquor 44. It has strict rules for its making. You have to take an orange and puncture it 44 times, then insert a coffee bean into each hole. Then you drop in white rum, and...