I get a lot of comments from people saying that they can’t cook or can’t make the dishes they find online or just afraid to try them out because everything looks so complicated.

Well, sometimes it’s a bit more complicated but it’s all a matter of how you process the recipe, how you plan for it and what your expectations are.

Here are 7 useful tips I wrote down for the novice cooks or for every person who is afraid to start a new recipe. The bottom line is that it’s food; it’ll make you happy whether with its taste or with its preparation if you only let it J be calm, sip a glass of wine, make the process fun and along with the tips below, you’ll have a smooth sail:

1. First off, you need to know that there’s a chance your food will not look like it does on the website you got the recipe from. Bloggers and people who work with food, have different methods and tools to help make their food look better, no not better, best! And in real life, we don’t serve food in vintage looking plates in the midst of the forest, right next to a cozy campfire, and even if you do…your eyes have much less editing capabilities than the Photoshop used to document the dish, so set your expectations high (just to have a goal to achieve, you know) but be realistic.
2. When trying a new recipe, review all the ingredients first to make sure you have them all handy and more importantly, look through the cooking instructions and any additional tips that might help you as you cook your way to the perfect dish. You want this to go smooth.
3. The secret to better food is fresh ingredients obviously, which takes me back to tip #2 – make sure you have them handy.
4. The 2^nd secret is good spices. You can have an ugly eggplant but if you add the right spices it’ll smell and taste like heaven. Some spices I always have on hand are cumin, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, turmeric, oregano, basil, cinnamon, bay leaves and of course salt 🙂
5. You found a recipe you like? That’s great! Before diving in make sure you try to find a few more recipes for the same dish online. Reading though a few recipes will give you a better understanding of the recipe itself, the cooking instructions and might give you a few ideas of how to “fine tune” the recipe to your liking.
6. Some recipes have a really fancy shmancy name, but if you read through the recipe you’ll find out that it’s not as complicated. Believe in yourself and don’t let long fancy words to intimidate you.
7. Lastly, take your time, plan ahead and ask questions! If you have a recipe in mind and you’re not sure about something, ask questions through the recipe’s comments section or alternatively, look through the reviews, they might have the answers.

But the most important thing with food is to have fun and enjoy to road to yumminess! Just relax, keep calm and cook your heart out 🙂