A: I went into the assignment thinking I had to learn to make tofu taste good, to make nondairy cheese taste good. I was dehydrating things, I was sprouting seeds. For a year, I was foundering, and my house was completely filled with vegan products and ingredients. It was when my husband said, "I wouldn't mind never tasting this again" after I tried to make my own seitan that I realized I was going about it the wrong way. I realized, "I'm thinking of this as chemistry, so no wonder I'm tense. This isn't the way Ann Hodgman cooks." When I decided to make only things I knew I wanted to eat, it got much easier. But I had acquired a certain amount of biochemical knowledge, which I needed.