Do we really have to follow what's on the recipe?

i hate following recipe to the letter specially it is hard to do. i just do get some ideas and try to do it on my own style. to save money and to save time and sometimes i feel that it is not good if i follow it or i feel that i have some ideas to make the recipe taste better.

Hi Ced I don't follow the recipe all the time I add my own touch to it from time to time but it does depend on what I'm cooking actually I rarely use a recipe book sometimes I think you can get away with either adding or omiting an ingredient in a recipe as long as its not something major that would alter the taste to much

It depends on the recipe. I don't always follow them exactly, and I have been cooking and realized that I was missing an ingredient. I think the easiest ingredients to replace or leave out are spices. You can find a similar spice to the one called for and usually the food turns out fine, sometimes it's even better then what the original recipe called for.