The chemistry of cooking and baking eludes many but over time and continual exposure to the results when mingling, mixing and pairing ingredients, one becomes accustomed to the outcome. Not that an anticipated, successful outcome is always guaranteed, but the tried-and-true does, over time, tend to prove itself. To the point where the seasoned cook can fairly well be reliant on his/her background experience to predict how a dish will turn out.

I love some dishes which my husband does not particularly appreciate. And the reverse is also true. I tend, for the most part, to cook those dishes which find favour with him, and far less often those that he will plunge his fork into and valiantly attempt to devour, but the spirit just isn't in him, on these occasions. Pasta-type dishes that rely on macaroni and cheese, rather than the more traditional linguini and tomato-based, meat-filled dishes he prefers, are attractive to me, not to him.

And although he's a lover of eggs and eats them as often as he can for breakfast, he is not particularly fond of quiche, though I most certainly am. And this week, for a change, I decided to make a quiche, a crab quiche; even worse, since he doesn't care for crab. I used two types of cheese and finely chopped green onions for additional flavour. I began salivating at dinnertime, smelling the quiche in the oven. And surprisingly, he really enjoyed it, this time. Complimented me as usual, on the quality of the flaky crust. For some odd reason I did not enjoy that quiche; is there some psychology involved in this?

This morning, I baked carrot cupcakes. Put in two large, grated carrots, some raisins, quite a bit of shredded coconut, and cut up tiny strips of hot-candied ginger into the mixture. Beside the egg for moisture content, I added some sour cream. I used whole-wheat flour and brown sugar. With the spices, the flavour will be interesting, to say the least.

I trust, you see, they will be moist, light, flavourful. Having used my memory and the impulse to improvise, on this occasion.