Do you follow directions when you cook something?

[Dynamite2013]

I always follow directions because then it turns out good and everyone always enjoy whatever I make. Especially on the holidays they always request certain dishes like sweet potato casserole, lasagna, and of course pumpkin pie,   apple crumb pie, bread pudding, and I could go on forever. So now let me know what you do follow directions or not.

[ushaann]

most of the timei  follow

[BATISTAGIRL663]

i follow the directions most of the time --but sometimes i had a pinch of this or that to add a lil more favor or zing --i love to try new things !!

[teenangel]

I follow directions even when cooking.

[tkfarris]

I always follow directions because then it turns out good and everyone always enjoy whatever I make. Especially on the holidays they always request certain dishes like sweet potato casserole, lasagna, and of course pumpkin pie,   apple crumb pie, bread pudding, and I could go on forever. So now let me know what you do follow directions or not.

  if i have never made it then i do go by the directions

[12amos]

On most recipes I follow directions but it all depends on what I'm making.  Sometimes I add different seasonings to give what I'm preparing more flavor.      

[dreamyxo]

If it's something I'm making for the first time yes then after that depending on how it turns out I might tweak it to suit my tastes.  If it was good then I'll keep following it until I can make it without the directions.

[sharonpatri55]

I follow the recipe directions, otherwise it never seems to turn out too well.

[Timberlan127]

I always follow the directions since I'm not a talented cook I need to stay as close as possible to the directions so that my results will be eatable.

[lvstephanie]

For the most part I try to follow the directions, esp. if it's the first time trying to make it. That being said, last Monday I was trying to make a potato chowder recipe that I found on the Food Network's site, and realized that I didn't have some of the ingredients, so I used what substitutes I could, guessed on what other flavors I wanted, and ended up creating a chowder that tasted very good. My friend was over at the time and she agreed that it was pretty good, esp. for trying to make it for the first time without having all of the requested ingredients. And I value her opinion a lot when it comes to cooking... She is by far more of a chef in that she rarely uses recipes; she just knows what flavors work well together, has an excellent pallet, and is technically very good when preparing food. She also isn't afraid to ask the head chef how they prepared a dish that she found delicious, and trying to repeat the dish on her own. We once were in a fairly upscale restaurant out-of-state, and they had this awesome butternut squash soup that had a much more savory flavor than what you'd expect. She asked the waiter what all was in the soup and the waiter went into the back to ask the chef. But instead the chef came out himself and explained everything he had done. Not a true recipe with actual amounts of each ingredient or procedural directions to follow, but he was able to explain enough of how he got the different flavors that when she got home, she was able to nearly mimic the taste.

[Nancy5]

If it's something I never made before, then I usually follow the directions.  If it's something I made before I normally try different things (spices, etc), and usually it comes out good!  I love to experiment, but of course with baking you can't do that.

[bremer51]

For baking, I usually follow the instructions.  For cooking, not so much.

[nguzman1]

if it is a receipe that is not mine I like to follow it or modify it if I can.

[bhiett]

Not always; I don't cook a lot, but when I do I tend to substitute and experiment a little.  A few types of meal items do not lend themselves to changing the recipe at all.

[heypeg]

I always follow directions, I'm not that good a cook.