It All Starts With Buttered Carrots

[ The Granny Plan was originally inspired by a weekly series I wrote back in 2013. I thought I’d share some of the original for new readers … just click thru the links to get a little taste of the book from the linked post excerpts. ]

Today is the day …

Today we start practicing step #1 of “The Granny Plan”! We’re all ready to dive in but before we do let’s take a moment to consider what we’re working to achieve with this plan. I think there is a little confusion about what we’re working for … some think we’ll be learning the fundamental dishes of real food cookery, or that the plan will be so very detailed that it won’t be a good fit your specific situation. Nope, not the case. Let’s consider what “The Granny Plan” is and isn’t about.

What “The Granny Plan” isn’t

Just to be really clear about what we’re working on here, we are working on habits. Routines. Making the whole thing as mindless as driving is to you today. Remember when you were learning to drive? How complicated the whole thing was! How could anyone do this everyday? Without wrecks? It took sooooo much concentration. But before you knew it you were whipping in and out of traffic, talking with friends, listening to music, all without a hitch. “The Granny Plan” isn’t about specific recipes, or must-make-dishes and exactly how to do them. Sure we’ll cover a few basics here, but for the most part I’ll be directing you to try some of the recipes you have stashed away that your family will like, or to make something you already make more often. We’ll be working on the routines that keep you ready to cook mostly. And routines that make the family happier with that cooking.

“The Granny Plan” is about getting the basics down

I’m a amateur hobbyist guitar player. And I love to read . Something that James Taylor’s brother Livingston Taylor wrote in his book Stage Performance comes to mind here. He urged all performers to stick with the level of playing they were VERY comfortable with on stage. Most beginning performers do the opposite, trot out the hardest thing they know in an effort to impress the audience. Then they’re nervous, mess up, act embarrassed and alienate the audience. When a performer sticks with the basics things are easy and the performance is smooth, the audience loves you for your easy confidence and familiarity. Same thing when learning to cook regularly. Sticking with the basics first, then slowly venturing out into new territory brings your audience on board with this whole real food cooking eat at home thing. Often we think we need to replicate restaurant meals or make something so good they’ll just have to rave about it to get them with the program. But we have no practice at it, it gets messed up, they pick at the meal or worse complain, dinner is exhausting and stressful, then we don’t feel like cooking and they don’t feel like eating . Next dinner everyone wants to order pizza and we give in exhausted from the struggle of it all.

Truth is Granny didn’t make elaborate meals everyday. She made basic fare everyday with a few special dishes thrown in from time to time to spice things up. We need to learn to mindlessly make the basics. When we can do that, we’re ready to add the spice.

On that note lets get started with this week’s lesson!