I own over 500 cookbooks, but I usually don't cook directly from a recipe unless I’m baking.  Baking is a science.  The balance of chemicals to make that cake rise is important, so I tend to follow the recipe with only minor changes.  When it comes to food in general, though, I love to look for recipes for inspiration and then strike out on my own. 

For instance, this weekend my husband and I went over to a friend’s house for dinner.  My friend and I both decided to make appetizers, and I was to bring a salad and my friend would cook some soup.  I dug out a cookbook—Martha Stewart’s Hors d’Oeurves Handbook—to figure out what to make.  This cookbook was the perfect inspiration—the first half of the book is filled with color photographs of every recipe in the book; you figure out what you want and like and THEN you go and find the recipe that suits your tastes and degree of difficulty. 

I wanted my dishes to be uncomplicated but delicious, so I settled on crostini and some simple toppings—caprese and some hummus.  While there were recipes in the cookbook for all of this, I was looking for ideas rather than recipes, and once I decided on my menu, I didn’t look back. 

These items aren’t difficult in the first place, but I went to the store to try to make it something a little special.  I found a rustic kalamata olive bread and decided to make it into the crostini instead of the plain baguette.  I found some marinated mozzarella and some Splendido tomatoes from Mexico.  Yum. 

For my salad, I wanted something with substance, so I decided to make a roast chicken salad.  I picked up a couple of roasted chickens at Costco to make my salad construction easy (if you haven’t tried these, you should—they’re fat, tasty and very juicy).  I also found some really beautiful blackberries, some candied walnuts and some blue cheese.  Along with my own citrus balsamic vinegarette, I was all set.

The nice part about these dishes was the prep work ahead of time.   I wanted to spend time with our friends socializing—not cooking.  I grilled the olive bread with a bit of olive oil and prepared all the ingredients for the crostini and the salad hours before the party.  I assembled and broiled the caprese (mozzarella, tomatoes and a chiffonade of basil after broiling) within five minutes of arrival.  I gently heated the chicken breasts in the oven while we were enjoying the appetizers, and when I was ready to plate, I just tossed the salad greens with the vinegarette I had made earlier and assembled the salad.  Easy.

We had a great time munching on our goodies and sipping on Mumm’s Napa Blanc de Noirs sparkling wine.  I had tasted this at the Mumm Napa cellar some years ago, but had forgotten how pleasant and fruity it can be.  The blush pink color was pretty in the glass, and the hint of cherry and the slight sweetness of the wine gave it a softness that you don’t often find in sparkling wines.  It went well with the crostini—enhanced by the sweetness of the tomatoes—and was gone very quickly.

I have noticed that many people cook directly from recipes, while I tend to improvise with what’s on hand, what’s fresh, what can provide a little personal touch.  Recipes are chefs’ personal interpretations of a particular dish or flavor…don’t be afraid to put your personal touch in everything you make.