At a local supermarket, two women push half-filled grocery carts. The ladies are good friends, but they couldn't be more different. One is a stay-at-home housewife who loves to create culinary masterpieces from scratch. The other is a training supervisor at a prestigious advertising agency. Household chores, particularly those in the kitchen, are not her idea of fun. The two ladies stop for a moment in the frozen foods section. "I'm so tired," sighs the professional woman. "I don't know what to do about supper." Her friend suggests, "What about a microwave dinner?" The weary professional sighs, "No, I don't feel like cooking tonight."

 

If you think American cooking means opening a package and tossing the contents into the microwave, think again. On the one hand, it's true that Americans thrive on cold cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and instant dinners.On the other hand, many Americans recognize the value of cooking skills. Most Americans will admit that there's nothing better than a good home-cooked meal. But with cooking, as with any other skill, good results don't happen by accident.

 

For those who need guidance in their cooking, or for those who have just run out of ideas, recipes are lifesavers. Recipes list all the ingredients for a dish (generally in the order used), the amount of each to use, and a description of how to put them together. Finding recipes in America is as easy as pie.Friends often augment their recipe collection by passing around their favorites written on cards.

 

For experienced cooks, true artists that they are, recipes are merely reference points. They often make adjustments as they go along, depending on the quantity of people they need to serve, the ingredients they have available and their personal taste. Some cooks use recipes very little, preferring instead to depend on their intuition as they add a pinch of this and a dash of that to create just the right flavors.

 

Of course, Americans don't have a corner on the market when it comes to good cooking. Wherever you go in the world, people love to eat. As a result, every culture and nationality has its own share of mouth-watering delicacies.But whatever the dialect, cooking is a language everyone understands.