# It's easier than you think! What should we try that assume is too hard? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 8, 2018, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-easier-than-you-think-what-should-we-try-that-assume-is-too-hard/824205 "2018-11-08T18:28:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-easier-than-you-think-what-should-we-try-that-assume-is-too-hard/824205/61 "2018-11-10T02:16:53Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > . . . > As I’ve had it explained to me, on several occasions – cooking is art, baking is science. In cooking, you can play with proportions, change ingredients, etc., and while you may wind up with something unpalatable, it’s harder to flat-out ruin something. > . . . > [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](#): > > . . . > And that cooking = art/baking = science thing? Don’t buy it. I’ve read that in bread books which then go on to say “but if the dough’s too dry - flours vary - add more water until it feels softer” or similar. > . . . I’m with the Pud on this one. The best cookbook ever written is “[Ratio](https://www.amazon.com/Ratio-Simple-Behind-Everyday-Cooking/dp/1416571728/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1541815170&sr=1-1&keywords=ratio&dpID=51JIkVVObaL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch).” Now, I’ll grant you, that if you want Grandma’s cookies exactly the way Grandma made them, then yes, you need her recipe. But for me, following a recipe to the letter takes all the joy out of cooking. And Grandma didn’t use enough vanilla. Yorkshire pudding is actually a great example. Equal parts milk and flour, 1/4 cup per egg. It really is that simple. And I’m sure that the first time I made it I used that ratio exactly. I haven’t done it since, at least not without some creative topping I dreamed up. Recipes are great for getting ideas, and for seeing how new cuisines are put together. The most important part of recipes are the techniques, which half the recipe websites just leave out. When in doubt, ask youtube! All in all though, baking is just about making and keeping bubbles. Once you learn the few simple ways it’s done: cream the butter, or whip the eggs/whites, or mix the baking soda with acid, or trap the yeast in strands of gluten, or whatever. Each creates it’s own size and type of bubble. Each texture of batter/dough holds different bubbles well. Use a recipe the first time, but just on keep doing it, and learn how you like things to be. Then do it your way. And don’t let anyone make you be afraid to mess about. One friend called me a “jazz cook.” And I think that’s the best way of putting it. The bad side is, when something amazing happens, I can’t always repeat it. :o ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-easier-than-you-think-what-should-we-try-that-assume-is-too-hard/824205/62 "2018-11-10T15:46:58Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Start with very light chiffon scarfs. > > Once you’ve mastered catching, use hacky-sacks or bean-bags (stuff that doesn’t roll when it hits the floor). > > Once you’ve mastered throwing, move in front of the wall to master throwing vertically. > > If you’re poorly co-ordinated and have no experience with ball sports, it may take 20 minutes or an hour to handle three balls. (And, as mentioned above, a lifetime to get good at it.) > > If you aren’t young, you may have difficulty sustaining 20 minutes of exercise, but it would probably be good for you. Like every other form of exercise, it takes less physical effort once your body learns what to do. But more so: most of the effort is bending over to pick up the bean-bags/scarfs off the floor. If your knees are better than your back, you can start learning on your knees. I learned by standing at the foot of my bed (no footboard) - that way there is less bending down to pick things up, and you can use tennis balls - bedspread will prevent them bouncing or rolling. There is a lot less bending this way and I found it as a time saver between drops (wanting to correct mistakes/apply learning immediately). ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-easier-than-you-think-what-should-we-try-that-assume-is-too-hard/824205/63 "2018-11-10T16:52:36Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > My example is cooking a turkey. … This is a good one. I remember the first time I cooked a turkey. When it was done I thought: “Hold on, I thought this was an ordeal or something!” ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-easier-than-you-think-what-should-we-try-that-assume-is-too-hard/824205/64 "2018-11-10T17:05:12Z")
> [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](#): > > I make my own bread. Lots of people think it’s too much hassle, takes too long, takes more practice than they can be bothered with. Well, OK, from beginning to end, yes, it takes hours, but your own involvement is simple and minimal. It’s almost all just waiting. I can walk you through it, if you like. to a lot of people, being that time-consuming is one of the ways they define “hard.” one of the pitfalls of baking is that the ingredients can be “fluffy” like flour which can “pack” inconsistently in a measuring cup. Or can vary in density like salt; a teaspoon of table salt is going to have a lot more salt in it than a tsp. of Diamond Crystal kosher salt, which itself is going to have more salt than a tsp. of large-flake Morton’s kosher salt. 's why a number of people e.g. Alton Brown, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt recommend measuring baking ingredients by _weight._ ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-easier-than-you-think-what-should-we-try-that-assume-is-too-hard/824205/65 "2018-11-10T17:54:55Z")
Walking a long distance. I see people’s jaws drop when I tell them I walk the five miles from my job to my house. Seriously, people. It’s just putting one foot in front of the other. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-easier-than-you-think-what-should-we-try-that-assume-is-too-hard/824205/66 "2018-11-10T22:35:09Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Assuming Yorkshire Pudding comes from Yorkshire, and therefore enjoys all the benefits of Yorkshire weather, there are going to be quite a few days when he/she is going to be stuck indoors for half a day. … > j You mean it’s not made from those little fluffy dogs? Gosh. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-easier-than-you-think-what-should-we-try-that-assume-is-too-hard/824205/67 "2018-11-12T13:20:48Z")
Even simpler recipe for Yorkshire pudding is equal parts of all three ingredients. I was using eggs from my mom’s chickens, which are unusually large. So I started by cracking the eggs into a measuring cup, and then putting in the same amount of milk and flour. And all of the traditional Thanksgiving dishes are easy. That’s how they became traditional: When you’re feeding twenty people at a time, you need something that’s cheap and easy to feed to 20 people. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-easier-than-you-think-what-should-we-try-that-assume-is-too-hard/824205/68 "2018-11-16T21:32:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Even simpler recipe for Yorkshire pudding is equal parts of all three ingredients. I was using eggs from my mom’s chickens, which are unusually large. So I started by cracking the eggs into a measuring cup, and then putting in the same amount of milk and flour. > . . . Do you mean equal by weight? I’ve heard that works well in wet/humid weather. I’ve never heard equal by volume before. But that just illustrates the point: It’s really not as fussy as people make it out to be. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-easier-than-you-think-what-should-we-try-that-assume-is-too-hard/824205/69 "2018-11-16T21:44:58Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > YOU ARE ME, GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! > > but yes, as far as pizza goes the quality of the bread is the thing, simple toppings should enhance the bread not overwhelm it (and fresh yeast is best ) > > One thing I always recommend people to try is hiring a car on holiday. Swapping to the other side of the road is far, far easier than people assume. If you can drive on the crowded, narrow, fast roads of the UK you can drive anywhere. > > The other thing that amazes me is that, though I live right down in the south-east of England about 15 minutes from the channel crossings, very few of our friends or acquaintances actually take their car to the continent. They worry about the “other side of the road” thing. It honestly takes about 5 minutes to get used to it, maybe less. While it’s not that difficult to get used to driving on the other side of the road, there are plenty of reasons not to deal with a hire car on holiday. I hate the hassle of dealing with a car, parking, petrol, and getting scammed for the most minor of cosmetic damage. Plus, I like to drink. So, I’ll stick to trains unless I absolutely have to use a car to get to a place. ---
**Author:** ![sunstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunstone/32/3372_2.png) [@sunstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstone)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-easier-than-you-think-what-should-we-try-that-assume-is-too-hard/824205/70 "2018-11-17T01:57:29Z")
Grafting plants (apples, pears, cacti and whatever) is viewed as a mysterious and arcane skill. I teach as many young folks as I can, and they are amazed when they actually produce nicely grafted plants. It is really inexpensive, and greatly rewarding to produce your own tree from a bit of twig grafted to a bit of rootstock. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-easier-than-you-think-what-should-we-try-that-assume-is-too-hard/824205.md?page=3)