When I walk into a market I may see a different cut of meat or an unusual vegetable and think, โI wonder how it would be if I took the recipe for that sauce I had in Provence and put the two together?โ So I go home and try it out. Sometimes my idea is a success and sometimes it is a flop, but that is how recipes are born. There really are not recipes, only millions of variations sparked by someoneโs imagination and desire to be a little creative and different. American cooking is built, after all, on variations of old recipes from around the world.
James BeardI am still convinced that a good, simple, homemade cookie is preferable to all the store-bought cookies one can find.
James BeardLike the theater, offering food and hospitality to people is a matter of showmanship, and no matter how simple the performance, unless you do it well, with love and originality, you have a flop on your hands.
James BeardIโve long said that if I were about to be executed and were given a choice of my last meal, it would be bacon and eggs.
James Beard