I certainly didn't know how to cook till I went and lived on my own .. that was when I couldn't afford to eat out everyday and the only option was learn how to cook. I remember standing at the kitchen range with raw material and a frying pan, and wondering, what do I do now!
I think a lot of people in that situation these days simply peel back the foil and add boilding water to the noodles in the plastic pot, though I guess even that is too complicated for some.
I can't cook. We had cookery lessons in school, but not many. If you give me a large, clear work surface and a well-written recipe that does not assume any familiarity with basic terms, then I can produce a pretty good dish. But I don't know how to cook. If you presented me with a handful of ingredients and the utensils necessary to prepare them, I'd probably cry, panic and go hungry. Unlike Garner, who owns cookery books, but rarely uses them, and actually [i:e851bfb500]makes up his own recipes[/i:e851bfb500]. When I do have to cook, I do better without an experienced cook telling me what to do differently. Also, skills atrophy without use; I had got quite competent when I lived on my own, but moving back in with my mother caused the abilities I had developed to evaporate. I now panic when faced with the notion of having to cook for myself.
I love to cook and I'm pretty much OK at it. My mum (now retired) was a home economics teacher- I don’t think you can actually be trained as a home economics teacher anymore in the UK- it’s food science and from what I gather from my mum it’s all to do with weights and measures how to measure fat content as opposed to the actual cookery bit. As the joint eldest (I have a twin sister) I somehow, over the years gained all responsibility for cooking when my mum was working late or whatever- casseroles, stews, curries and soups mainly. My younger brother and sister aren’t bad cooks and as the saying goes over here ‘they wouldn’t starve’ unfortunately my sister (twin) who lives with mum can’t even boil potatoes. I have seen them boiled without being washed! She is an expert at the undercooked and overcooked all on one plate. She’s pretty much a ‘home bird’ and in all her years’ (28) she lived away from home for one year and managed to loose about 21lb in weight and was slightly anaemic! I remember visiting her and finding lots of food containers in her freezer, which mum and myself had made up for her. When I quizzed her about it she said she just couldn’t be bothered cooking and had been mainly living on buttered toast!
I can cook, I've even been paid to cook. I started when I was about four so it's been over 40 years since I first made my own "recipe", it was one of those home alone deals that could have been the end of my cooking career but Mom suggested actually baking the "no-bake cake"( I put oatmeal in it just like the no-bake cookies Mom made) and we tried to eat the silly thing. She hadn't cooked much at home so she was learning when I first noticed cooking, by the time I was nine I was baking bread and chiffon cake from scratch. We had cooking lessons in middle school(5th through 8th grade), but I didn't take any home ec classes in highschool, I did belong to the FHA(Future Homemakers of America). I figured that between the cooking I did at home and the cooking projects I did for 4-H, I'd be okay. The problen I have with cooking now is living alone so much of the time, it is hard to work up any enthusiasm when I will be the only one eating. Not having the time is also a problem, I probably should do a little cooking tonight so I can survive the rest of the week. Next weekend I have an appointment to do some cooking for the roofing crew at my Dad's house, I'm really looking forward to that.
I love to cook...back in the day I was considering becoming a chef until I realised that you don't sleep. But I did do Food Technology as part of my HSC (A Levels I think is the equivalent?)... I learnt all sorts of things that turns me off take away all the time ie never get a seafood salad thats been sitting in a salad bar for more than 3 hours... My favourite thing at the moment is lamb rack, spread with mustard, with a sprig of rosemary and wrapped in bacon or procciutto. I pan sear it and then stick it in the oven for 20-30min (depending on size)... it tastes so good...
I’ve been cooking since I was a tike. I mostly worked with baked goods until I was about 12…then I started making my own pasta and such. I’m quiet fond of salads as well, though I won’t eat cabbage or lettuce. I’ve never really enjoy cooking meat, so I don’t often. I do fashion many of my own recipes, and I really enjoy making icecream.
I can not cook unfortunatly. The only thing I can make is a good pasta in tomato and basil sauce, with anything else thats in the vegetable drawer thrown in. I also make a nice pizza but thats not too hard really when the base is already made for you. I would recommend Clay's seasoned mashed potato and steak, if you can get there before Rinso that is. :roll:
I live alone. I love cooking but unfortunately I have nobody to cook for but myself. Tonite I'm doing ostrich stirfry. I'll see how it goes. Other night I cooked for a friend. Did chicken breasts marinated in lemon juice and small amount of olive oil with garlic, black pepper, coriander and chilli. I love doing "potjie kos" This is a local dish of ours. It's like a stew. you have a big black pot with three legs (potjie) that you put on the fire. You can put any thing in it. Usually meat(game/beef/sheep) and then it cooks slowly on the fire and you spice and garnish like you feel
I used to cook for the short period in my life when I was too ill to work full time or go to school full time. It was a little something to keep my busy, like needlework. It's just not on my list of priorities now. I would rather do other things with my time. When I went to junior high school, we were randomly assigned two shop classes. One of the classes was home economics. I got electricity shop (building electrical stuff) one time and home economics the next. So some kids got home ec, and some didn't, based on luck. Although in home economics, our "cooking" consisted of making candy, which isn't really cooking. I learned to cook by reading cookbooks and just experimenting.
due to our schooling system I've had a lot of classes in cooking. they did not help, I'm a miserable cook. When I had to live by myself for a year I lost 5 kilos, that's about 10% of my total weight so it wasn't that successfull. I can perpare the items but I can't do anything when heat gets involved and I'm very good at peeling carrots.
If you want bacon and eggs, I'M YOUR MAN!!! Otherwise i try not to go too near to any food which hasnt been prepared allready. I can also make decent garlic chips (you slice potato into thin slices and fry it in garlic butter).
I'm quite alright at cooking deserts, I make a mean tiramasu. But as soon as chocolate/cream/cake is not involved, I get bored and wander off. My high school does the cooking bit of Design and Technology classes the same way that Marcia's did, its random and some people miss out. I missed out. But my mother has attempted to make me cook non-desert related food and it doesn't work.
