That is (to me) the real difference between "baking" and "cooking", Nilly--how important the chemistry is to the final result.

muffins...

I just realized I had a dream last night about baking brownies (I think, something chocolate-y) from scratch, and making a lot of last minute changes, because when I got the batter in the pan, it didn't look right.

It's all about knowing what for what--how much whole wheat flour you can put in, how much you can add before what leavening, what liquids are substitutable.

Maybe you don't know it consciously, but if you bake enough, you get a feedback loop that corrects itself.

There's also a vast difference between different kinds of baking -- pies are infinitely jazz-able, yeast breads nearly as much so, cakes (and chemically leavened eggy things in general) are fussier (but, as noted, can and should be played with within limits).

I was doing a test recipe for CI last week and it was *so hard* to keep reminding myself that I was supposed to, you know, follow the recipe as written. Well, mostly, anyway. Of course, now I'm in a spot because one of the aspects of the final product may have been due to a minor substitution, or it may have been intentional to the recipe.

With regular cooking, I go nuts - if it's not something I've made before, I'll start with a recipe as a guideline, more often two or three, and go from there. If it's something I'm more comfortable with, I'll sometimes flip through some cookbooks for ideas, but that's about it. What I should do better is take notes. That was my mom's biggest complaint about my cooking - always good, but rarely replicable.

Same with my daughter, brenda. She'll ask me for a recipe for something and I can only say is "stand and watch me the next time I make it and write it down. And be prepared for it to be different than the time before." She gets very frustrated with me.

pies are infinitely jazz-able

Pie fillings are infinitely jazz-able. Pastry is considerably less so. I mean, you may go by feel, but it's not so much improvisation as environmental corrections.

Maybe you don't know it consciously, but if you bake enough, you get a feedback loop that corrects itself.

Well, some people need to know that they know the things they know, you know?

always good, but rarely replicable

My mom is always like that, she likes to play in the kitchen so much. Whenever she prepares something we really like, it's along the lines of "well, enjoy it now, because you'll never get another like this!".

Pie fillings are infinitely jazz-able. Pastry is considerably less so. I mean, you may go by feel, but it's not so much improvisation as environmental corrections.

Yes, this.

My mom is always like that, she likes to play in the kitchen so much. Whenever she prepares something we really like, it's along the lines of "well, enjoy it now, because you'll never get another like this!".

This is very much my regular cooking, even staple sorts of meals that we have regularly. I just don't pay enough attention to what I do.

I find it hilarious that after the best efforts of the chef at my local tapas bar to introduce me to fine foreign cheeses, I'm utterly content to eat a cheapo port wine & cheddar spread that's one step up from Cheez Whiz.

Mmm... I love both fine foreign cheeses and that port wine spread. Also Cheez Whiz, really.

I don't bake enough to have internalized the chemistry. Although the thing I make the most is banana bread, and I only follow the basic chemical recipe mostly. The flavorings and whatnot I do myself. It's funny, because I would swear up and down I make Joy of Cooking banana bread. Except theirs has lemon and mine has vanilla and cinnamon and no nuts and etc etc.