Cooking: an Art or a Science?

So I realized I haven't blogged in a week, and thought I should think of something to write about. But I wonder if the fact that I haven't blogged is a good thing because it means that:

A) I have nothing to complain about.
B) There's nothing outrageous going on in my life right now.
C) I'm not reading the NYTimes as much because I actually have things to do at the lab.
D) I actually managed to get a life.

Well, while those are all perfectly plausible reasons, the reason why I've been MIA is that I've been terribly occupied with iTunes (which I grudgingly believe gave me a virus on my computer), organizing my music into it (which took three painstaking days, plus another to finally set the damn iPod up), and - can you believe it? I've actually been cooking.

I can't remember the last time I cooked a real meal, and by that I mean multiple servings of a an actual dish (not just a block of ramen). But luckily, cooking wasn't really a learned process for me so there wasn't really anything I had to remember that I could have forgotten in my year or so of dormancy.

Don't worry though. Everything turned out exceptionally well. In fact, I was considering actually organizing my recipes into a little box thing. I was considering it, but then again, I never really do the things I say I'm going to.

Here's what I cooked though, since I know you're just so interested:

Steak (Monday) - This is probably one of the most normal things I can cook.

Om-rice (A Unique, Original Blend of Omelettes and Fried Rice) (Monday) - Okay, I'm not going to lie. I just got really indecisive. I was going to make omelettes (and already started making them), but there was some leftover rice so I basically said "What the hell," and threw it in. Don't get me wrong though. It was thoroughly enjoyed by my patrons and was quite delicious if I do say so myself. In fact, I think I should market it. I'd make billions.

Mini Stuffed Peppers (Tuesday) - This was actually quite interesting since I managed to make them despite lacking nearly all the normal ingredients. Indeed, I ended up filling the mini peppers up with pork, rice, various spices not specified by the recipe, and hearty tomato pasta sauce, improvising as I usually do due to the lack of specific spices, sauces, beef, and large bell peppers. But it tasted great, so who cares?

In fact, when it comes to cooking, I think I'm a great improviser. Can't really say that applies to my baking skills though.

Apple Upside-Down Cake (Monday) - Haha... this reminded me of past situations where I tried to bake something of Martha Stewart's, and alas, the conclusion is always the same:

I DON'T HAVE EVERY APPLIANCE OR INGREDIENT ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH LIKE YOU DO, MARTHA.

So yeah, the whole cake ended up being improvised since the pan I used was too big for the batter (which then caused me to add more of certain ingredients with no regard towards maintaining the correct proportions, not that they were right to begin with), and I was missing a lot of things. In fact, the recipe was for a Pear Upside-Down Cake. I just had a lot of apples in my fridge.

Well, anyway, I guess I must have diluted the batter too much as the apples floated to the top (which really became the bottom), among other things. As you can probably guess by now, it didn't turn out too well, and let's just say I managed to make it edible, and end it there.

My mother can eat it though, despite being allergic to apples, so at least that's good... I guess.