Cooking from the hip, versus following recipes

[SobaAddict70]

Doesn't this change depend on how you define "following recipes"? Use exact ratios? Do every step exactly as written? I'd venture to guess that no one here follows any recipe to a T all the time. So perhaps the question is, where do you veer off when, inevitably, you do?

If it's something I've never made before, I will follow a recipe a couple of times. To (1) get the technique down pat and assuming things turn out wrong (2) correct any mistakes.

After that, it's open season.

Most of what I cook is "from the hip". Sometimes you just know.

[nakji]

I generally cook straight from the hip depending on my mood and what ingredients catch my eye at the market and also what I have on hand at home.

I do use recipes when cooking "classic" dishes. Recipes are also particularly useful when confronted with an unfamiliar ingredient in my CSA box.

Yes! My CSA is a real driver of recipe usage for me. I find EatYourBooks.com particularly useful in this regard.