Blog

Notes on cooking, memory, and building MealEncore.

September 30, 2026

How to Keep a Cooking Journal

What to write in a cooking journal, when to write it, and how to keep the entries findable, so the next time you cook a dish you know how it went last time.

September 26, 2026

The Dinner Rut Is a Memory Problem

Cooking the same few dinners? Sometimes you need new recipes. Sometimes you've already cooked good dinners you just can't recall at 5pm. How to tell which.

September 22, 2026

How to Keep Track of Recipes You've Tried

Saved, tried, and worth making again are three different lists. How to record what happened with each recipe you try, without moving the recipes anywhere.

September 17, 2026

What to Write on a Recipe After You've Made It

The notes worth writing on a recipe after you cook it: timing, texture, seasoning, swaps, quantities, reactions, and whether to make it again. With examples.

September 11, 2026

How to Build a Cooking Repertoire You Actually Use

A cooking repertoire is built from dishes that survive real use, not from saved recipes. Where to find candidates, what repetition teaches, and when to let go.

September 5, 2026

Recipe Variations: How to Keep Track of the Versions You Actually Make

When is a change a note, a version, or a new dish? How to name recipe variations, write down only the differences, and record which version you made.

August 26, 2026

Taste Memories: Why Food Anchors Memory

A taste can return you to a kitchen you haven't stood in for thirty years. The strange part is what it can't do: bring back last Tuesday.

July 14, 2026

Why We Forget What We Cooked

Families cook dozens of different meals a year, but rarely remember which ones actually worked. Here's why — and what to do about it.