Why I stopped following recipes exactly, and started reading them like a suggestion

Recipes used to feel like instructions I had to follow precisely, and any deviation felt like a mistake waiting to happen. Somewhere in the last few years that flipped — I started reading recipes as a starting proportion and a rough method, adjusting for what I actually had and what I actually liked.

The dishes got better once I stopped treating recipes as law. Partly because I know my own taste better than a recipe writer does, and partly because ingredients vary — a "medium onion" is not a fixed unit, and cooking as if it were produces inconsistent results no matter how carefully you follow the steps.

Recipes are still useful. They're just useful as a map, not as a contract.

Related reading: The Home Cook's Guide to Fixing the Small Mistakes That Ruin Good Meals.