This week, after a recommendation from my classmate Shana, I decided to use Pinterest for my learning project. I had never used Pinterest before, so it was a new experience for me. I started off by simply searching “cooking.” A ton of recipes came up, and I just kept scrolling until I found something that looked appealing. I stumbled upon a recipe titled “Oven Roasted Chicken Thighs: crispy, tender, and juicy,” and I love chicken thighs, so I decided to give it a shot.
The first step of the process was to create the seasoning. I mixed 2 tsp garlic powder, 2 tsp onion powder, 2 tsp, paprika, 1 tsp pepper, and 1 1/2 tsp of salt into a bowl. The second step was to prepare the chicken. The author of this recipe emphasized drying the chicken with a paper towel before continuing, so I made sure to do that. After drying the chicken, I poured 1/4 cup of olive oil into a large bowl and threw the chicken in with it. After getting the chicken all olive oiled up, I put them onto a cookie sheet bottom side up. I sprinkled 1/3 of the seasoning I had made onto the bottom of the chicken and then flipped them over and used the rest of the seasoning on the top. I then baked the chicken at 425°F for 17 minutes.
I needed something to go with this chicken, so I went back to Pinterest to see what I could find. I stumbled upon a sautéed green beans and mushrooms recipe, and I already had all the ingredients, so I went for it. For this, all you need is mushrooms and green beans (obviously), some salt and pepper, garlic, and some olive oil. The recipe never specified how much of each ingredient to use, so I basically just eyeballed everything, and it turned out fine.
Overall, I found Pinterest to be an okay resource to use, but not if you are a beginner cook. It is a great resource to try and find new recipes, but it is not really a site that teaches you how to cook, unless I am just looking in the wrong places. I did not find any detailed instruction; it was more just here is the recipe, here are the basic instructions. But like I mentioned previously, I am pretty new to Pinterest, so it is possible I am just missing this aspect of the site. The resource that I used for last week’s learning project post, Kitchen Stories, is a much better resource, in my opinion, for learner cooks, and I would recommend that resource over Pinterest. I also did not like how you were required to make an account to view anything on the site. Knowing that it was unlikely that I would use the site again, I used my girlfriend’s account to bypass this.
But overall, it all turned out fine, and I got to enjoy a pretty delicious meal!
Thanks for reading and remember to tune in next week!
2 Comments
Courtney Roppel
Hey Branden,
It looks like your meal turned out great! I love using pinterest to get ideas for my meals. I find each webiste or post will be different. Sometimes the recipes I find are linked to good cooking websites that give you lots of directions and tips and then there are others that might just give you the ingredients needed, so they vary greatly depending on what you find. I usually look at 2 or 3 differnt similar recipes to get a better understanding of what to do if it is something new. But you are right, I wouldn’t recommend it for people who are just learning how to cook, it is more for getting ideas in my opinion.
Hopefully, that helps!
Alexandra Crammond
Hi Branden,
This meal looks so delicious! I’m glad it turned out for you. I completely understand your view point on Pinterest. I find that it is hit or miss when using it to find recipes. I hate having to scroll through the massive blog post with the author talking about their plans for their fourth of July party, like I just want the recipe lol. I agree that Pinterest is a better resource for people who already have a good grasp at cooking, maybe you will have better luck with it later down the road. I wrote down the Kitchen Stories resource you shared, I will have to check it out for myself! If you are into shrimp tacos, here is my favourite recipe ever: https://girlwiththeironcast.com/spicy-shrimp-tacos-avocado-crema/?pp=1. I requested this as my Birthday meal yesterday! I hope you try it out!