IDIC

 

IDIC -  Star Trek fans will know this acronym:  Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations.

In our language we have only 26 letters, and look how many words they combine to create.  I've read that the average vocabulary of a grown adult is over 20,000 words, and their passive vocabulary might approach 40,000.  All of that from 26 letters.

In music, there are only 12 different pitches (unless one is using microtonal scales), and there are different octave ranges for those 12 pitches; for instance the piano has 88 keys comprising just over 8 octaves.  All of music combines just a handful of pitches in different octave ranges and different rhythms to create who knows how many musical compositions which have been preserved in writing over the centuries.

The periodic table of elements contains 118 different elements which combine to create everything in the universe.  Just 118!

In cooking, just a handful of ingredients can create something incredibly delicious.  And if you alter those just a bit, then something entirely different results.  Today I'm making some frosted sugar cookies.  The cookie base is made of just butter, flour, eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla and baking powder.  Only 7 ingredients gives us a fantastic cookie.  Yet the same ingredients arranged slightly differently yields something new.  I find this to be incredible.  It's magical.  It's fantastic.

It's cooking.  

Enjoy the autumn day here in Kansas City.  The weather is fantastic and hints of winter will soon start appearing.  I can hardly wait for the first snow.