Coming home from college for the summer gives a new sense of culinary freedom to those students who resided in dorms for the past year. The most culinary creativity many students have in dorms is deciding which ramen flavor to make or how to spice up their Easy Mac. Take this summer to pick up some new skills in the kitchen this summer from your parents very own kitchen hacks.
1. The importance of utilizing leftovers
The constant nagging of my parents to “eat whats in the fridge” has inspired a newfound creativity of using leftovers in every possible way. One chicken dinner can go on to become a cheesy chicken quesadilla or as protein in a leafy green salad; the opportunities are endless and will save you money.
2. Having your very own herb garden
In my backyard, my mom plants her very own herb garden each summer and utilizes the different herbs to add a kick to each of her recipes. Whether it’s throwing mint into your cocktails or chives into your scrambled eggs, it’s an easy little kitchen hack that kicks the recipe up a notch to appear just a bit more “adult.”
3. Putting a fresh new twist on old recipes
My mom’s recipe books are heavily worn in with stains from past attempts of recipes and markings of how to improve them in the future. It’s all about trial and error in cooking, and parents can show us how to hack traditional recipes with a fresh twist.
4. It’s not about trusting a recipe but trusting your tastebuds
No matter what a recipe says, or how respected the cookbook is, what matters most is how it tastes to you. My parents taste and spice along the way as they cook to hack some of their most trusted recipes.
5. Food is about who you share it with
At the end of the day, being home for the summer is a reminder of what truly matters, it’s about who is sitting at the kitchen table. No matter how good the food is, the best kitchen hack is being surrounded by those you love while trying out new foods and recipes.