I think one of the things that Rachel Ray does (for all of the non-cooking aficionados like me) is she makes cooking FUN.

Not only does she use fun & catchy phrases to describe everyday cooking terms, but she really doesn't give a hoot about being precisely accurate or doing things "by the book" when she's cooking. For me, that takes a lot of the stuffiness associated with the act of cooking like a pro.

For me, what it all comes down to is this:
Recipes are meant to be tried, experimented with, and enjoyed... the way you like 'em!

While performing a deep-clean on our kitchen this week, I found an old list of "all the best cooking tips" I compiled some time ago.

This list has followed me from kitchen to kitchen with every move we've made through the years.

...just don't ask him for the recipe for anything he's created -- because he doesn't know.

Oh he'll start with a recipe in hand. Or rather, a HANDFUL of recipes -- all for similar (but not identical) dishes.

Then he picks the best of what he likes from each of them, and he creates his "masterpiece".

I figure I haven't died yet, so I'm content to let him keep experimenting on me.

He definitely likes to "mix it up a bit".

Decided to make some homemade chicken soup... for the first time ever.

It turned out REALLY good. And it was REALLY easy!

Here's how I did it: