Home Sweet Homemaker

I recently read an article about recipe deal breakers for cooks. It reminded me of my first attempt at Peanut Brittle which was a complete disaster. Here is an excerpt from the article by Kim Severson.

I was reading a recipe for apple strudel when I came to a sentence that stopped me cold: “If you don’t have a helper,” it began.

If a dish needs a helper, I need to move on.

Although I didn’t end up with a strudel, I did end up on a quest. I began asking good cooks I know about recipe deal breakers — those ingredients or instructions that make them throw down the whisk and walk away.

This article made me ponder my own recipe deal breakers. I don’t mind giving a recipe a chance, maybe even two or three. But my one deal breaker is this: I will not, under any circumstances, doctor up Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. I guess you could say I’m a macaroni purist. Kraft Food & Family is probably my most frequently used source for recipes. I understand that they are a fan of their own product, but they have dozens upon dozens of recipes that use “The Cheesiest” as a main ingredient. Recipes like Cheesy Mac with Snow Peas & Tomatoes, Mac-a-Taco and Tasty Tuna Casserole. No thanks.

Other things that cause me to reconsider a recipe are those that involve an excessive amount of time with the food processor, ingredients I can’t pronounce and having to manage several pots on the stove at once. Read the New York Times article in its entirety and share your own recipe deal breakers.