As we approach the summer cookout season . . .

How many chefs do we have amongst this august group? Do you like to cook for your family or guests?

As I threw a casserole together on the fly (so to speak…) the other day, it occurred to me that cheffing styles are somewhat akin to writing styles. What in the wide world am I talking about?

Just this.

I am a Pantser Chef. Most of the time, I have no recipe, no plan, just the glimmer of an idea. Like my casserole.

This is me…sigh…

As I wondered what to fix for dinner that night, I thought of the boneless chicken thighs I had packaged in the freezer. I got them out, put them on the counter to thaw, then went about my day.

As dinner time approached, I looked at those thighs and wondered what to do with them. I decided to brown them. When they were done, I thought, “Now what?”. I opened the refrigerator and spied some carrots. Ah! Diced carrots!

Before you get bored with my culinary adventure, I’ll just say that when the casserole was released from the oven, it was a divine combination of pasta, chicken, Alfredo sauce, carrots, and Parmesan. As there are only two of us, it fed us for about 3-4 days…the perfect food creation in my book.

So, TKZers, the question for you today is: 

Are you a Pantser Chef like me? Or are you a Plotter Chef—do you always start with a detailed recipe and plan your whole day around that recipe?

Or, you might be a Plantser Chef—you have a recipe, but as you go, you substitute this for that and that for this until it’s your recipe, not someone else’s.

What say you?

Bonus Question: Does your cheffing style match your writing style, as mine does?