"Because We Can"

Here's what I don't get ...

I consistently cook a damn good risotto in 24 minutes.

Contrary to what some authors and chefs would have you believe, you do not need a specific pot to cook risotto in ('tho I have one, which hangs on my wall in the kitchen, 'cause it's pretty and shiny), you do not need a specific spoon with which to stir the risotto, you do not need to stir the risotto un-endingly, *and* I don't think I could make it a longer process than the aforementioned 24 minutes. Honest - that 24 minutes is really as long as I could stretch things out - and that includes preheating the broth prior to adding it into the aborio rice. (The only hard and fast rule that the cookbooks and I agree on is that risotto is made with aborio rice. I've even cheated before and not preheated the broth and the results were still a very lovely risotto - creamy and tasty.)

So I guess when I read about the various cheats available that remove the unending stirring, the 45 minute cooking time, etc - I wonder - why? Why would I change to a process that takes "only" 30 minutes when that would ADD time to my current process? Isn't that the same as someone advising me to an "easier" commute that adds 12 minutes to my current time? Is it that far off to changing to a newer, revised product simply because such an item is available, even if the now older product worked just fine? Am I cheating myself out of a "better experience" if I continue to use a cell phone that is more than a decade old? One of my cars was made more than 10 years ago ... as long as the safety measures and the ecology still measures up against today's standards, am I being somehow untrue by not rushing out to upgrade immediately?

"New and improved" can make a person wonder if what they have is now somehow "old and inferior" simply by the label. And, while our economy could use the boost of thousands of Americans rushing out to buy the latest model vehicle (with "new and improved" cup holders), I guess I'm of the mindset that the value is in the eye of the beholder.

As an example, I present the following:




Oh and PS ... Johnny Galecki is a hottie.