Do you cook?

[Tony C.]

There is another thread on this board about screaming kids in restaurants, a rather lively discussion, I think one reason why there are so many screaming kids in restaurants these days is because too many parents either don't know how to or unwilling to cook at home, so ladies and gents, do you cook at home?

I'm no master chef, but I do most of the cooking, since I'm usually home before my wife at the end of work day, I'll get supper going, wife home from work and dinner will be ready shortly, after the meal, we'll clean up together.

I was chatting with the daughter of a close friend awhile back, after college and a couple of yrs in the work force, this young lady's cooking skill consist of:

1. Opening can food and heating up the content.
2. Boil water for instant soup mix.
3. Microwave frozen packaged dinner.

My brother in law, 60s going onto 70s, don't how to cook an egg if his lives depend on it, if for any reason my sister in law isn't around to make supper, his options are: open a box of cornflake, or order takeout.

I hardly ever prepare an elaborate and fancy meal since master chef I'm not, but I do think some basic knowledge of cooking is an important survival skill just like how to maintain ones physical and financial health; staying out of trouble; able to swim; drive; safe handleing of firearms...etc.

On a related note, how often your family have meals together? I was a bit taken aback when one of the guy at work mentioned his family seldom sat down and eat together, seems because of different work schedule, teen age son and daughter's after school activities/part time job and such, its almost impossible to have everyone together to share a meals during weekdays, but even on weekends, his wife usually don't do much cooking, so most of the time is takeout fry chicken; pizza; Chinese food... kids will be busy with video game/cell phone/texting, my guy will watching golf or football, so everyone just fill up a dish and back to their respective task.

The reason there are so many dysfunctional and broken families, not to mention screaming kids in resturants, I think one of the contributing factor is families hardly ever sat down and share meals together because parents can't or too busy to cook, pretty sad, I must say.

 

[captorquewrench]

Yes, I cook.

Not everyday, but I am pretty good at it, and I enjoy it. I do every night that I am home. the kids are bigger, and I have teaching seminars or performances or rehearsals many nights....but we still make time to eat together at the big table on a regular basis.

When I do the canning, or special baking etc, the youngest likes to help. Since she is big into science we have a lot of teachable moments about chemistry, vapor pressures, temp & pressure, chemical vs physical changes, etc She even likes to help make what she doesn't like to eat.

She also likes to help eat a lot of it.

 

[madmikeb]

I do pretty much all the cooking, nothing fancy but it's usually pretty good and I enjoy it!

 

[swDC]

Cooking is one of my favorite things to do that I can share with family and friends... I cook most the meals in my household much to the delight of my wife! My Dad had a rule that no matter what we were doing or how busy our schedules got Sunday dinner was family time... Bad news if we showed up late! I did not appreciate it much then but now I wish I got to sit down with the family every Sunday... We are spread out all over the country... It is a family tradition I miss!

 

[straightshooter1]

I've been pretty much on my own since I was 15. In those days, before I went into the Army, if I wanted to eat, I had to cook it myself. So, I learned and continued to do the cooking even after I was married.

I enjoy it, though the after meal clean up is my wife's job. I prefer things just the way they are.

Bob

 

[GKC]

I do all the cooking. My wife was disabled in 2003, and it's hard for her to stand for any length of time. Fortunately, I learned to cook when I was young...both my parents worked, and I would start supper when I got home from school. I enjoy cooking anyway, so it's not a problem.

Now, cleaning up is something I definitely DO NOT enjoy...but, I have learned to clean while I am cooking, so that all the dishes left to be cleaned when the meals are over are those we are eating from. The pots, pans, and cooking utensils are all done. That makes it a lot easier.

 

[DeathGrip]

^^^^ and I like to eat.Cooking can be fun and the rewards are yummy.I've been baking a little lately and having a good time trying to make the perfect Key Lime cake.They keep on getting better and Key Lime pie is a bit old but I have the best recipe.I have to use my limes up or give them away.
Next...Key Lime cookies.

 

[J. W.]

Yup, sure do.I learned during college when I realized I was going to starve on frozen dinners.

 

[jkc]

I do. As a bachelor living alone, and often unpredictably called away by work, I don't usually fix anything on the order of casseroles or etc. that produce multiple-serving quantities of anything that can't be frozen in single-serving packages, but I like to prepare my own food to the greatest extent practicable. This often means just cooking some meat on the balcony grill, with side dishes purchased at the deli, etc. But, ocassionaly (when it's not so hot that you cringe at using the oven while the AC system is trying to pull the interior temperature down by 35 degrees, and the electric meter is burning out bearings ...) I'll make up a batch of meatloaf in individual-serving size loaf tins, make a big batch of chile, or etc. There's a lot of freedom available with my lifestyle, but elaborate food preparation is constrained ...

People in similar circumstances might well profit from owning a copy of the delightful cookbook, The Pleasures of Cooking for One, by Judith Jones, a protege of Julia Childs (Knopf, 2009, ISBN 978-0-307-27072-6) from which I've learned a lot about equipping a single-person kitchen, and a bunch of great recipes and suggestions...

 

[ancient-one]

We both prepare our meals. Preparation and cleaning up the mess takes us twice as long as it used to. When I had to go on a low sodium diet that made meal selection much harder. Most of the good stuff is off limits.

 

[sheriffoconee]

I have been cooking, or trying to cook almost my whole life..I like to cook...my brothers cook, and my Dad cooks....
Cooking is a survival skill true, but if you want to eat good food, make it yourself....
I spend some time every night trolling the recipe sites, as well as the gunboards...HAHAHAHAH

 

[truckemup97]

Yep, I cook when I'm home, mostly out of self defense.

 

[Eaglestroker]

Good topic OP. I'm still young at the ripe old age of 22, but have cooked most of my meals since I was in my early teens. Learned to cook through necessity continued because I find it a little relaxing after the end of a long day. Where I live I can pretty much grill year round and being in college I can cook a cheap pork loin about 40 different ways now. My favorite meal that brings in lots of 'friends' is a giant pot of gumbo.

My long time girlfriend can clean and cook her own fish/deer. It's a good thing.

 

[Cyrano]

I'm a widower, so if I don't cook, I don't eat. I'm basically lazy so I dont do complicated meals. My thory is that when you cook, cook up a lot, and fill the freezer with it.

 

[yourang?]

i like to cook

the wife and i will go out to eat once in a while, but i would rather prepare
my own food.....actually we fight over who gets to cook....but having worked
in a restaurant kitchen makes me realize that i would rather prepare my own food....dont get me wrong...we do go out to eat, but not as much as we used to...

the amount of money spent in a restaurant put towards food bought in the store goes way lots further anyway

eating together......as a kid, our family always ate together....and i tried as
much as i could to keep that tradition with my family as the kids were in the house and growing up...in spite of crazy schedules and all that...there
is just something good about the whole family sitting down together and
eating and talking about how the day went...

 

[ACP230]

My late mom taught all her kids how to cook. My two brothers are chefs. My wife is a great cook but we split the cooking since her schedule is crazy busy at times.

I bake a lot of the bread we eat but she makes most of the desserts.

 

[Bombsaway]

I cook also, and I actually enjoy it most of the time. Most of mine is limited to quick prep, so I use already prepared ingredients like sauces or sauce mixes to save time, but when I have the time I like to try things from scratch. Most of the time it turns out pretty well, but every once in a while it ends up in the garbage and I learn something from it.

I would really like to take a cooking class someday.

 

[mtgianni]

Yes I do. I cook when I am home and my wife works and she cooks when she is home. I am on the road and eating out 3-4 days a week so it can get crazy but when we are both home we don't open many cans or thaw out anything but meat.

 

[BearBio]

My grandfather was a cook in a lumber camp here in the NW. He'd hunt game and my grandmother would cook it. She taught me to bake (Rules: always use: butter, not margarine; Gold Medal Flour; Crisco=not other brands!). My mom taught us a little. She was a Mrs Cleaver mom. As a bachelor, I'd often cook for dates. That's where I learned about presentation!

I always played in the kitchen. When I went back to school, my wife told me that school WAS my job. When I started grad school, we had an elk and a big Wyoming mule deer in the freezer. That's what we pretty much lived on for two years (with dried beans=lots of chili). While working on my thesis, I'd work until noon or so, then I'd watch the Cooking Channel. Wife would come home to whatever I had learned the day before (Thank You, Emeril!). We actually gained weight while we were "starving students".

First year we were here, two of my biologists and I went off for a week elk hunt. We had beef burgenion (sp?) with wild rice and fresh mushrooms (picked by my botanist); Venison fajitas with home-made frijoles; venison stir fry. Our receptionist referred to it as the "Nancy Boys go Hunting".

When we finally bought our own home, we started growing fresh herbs so I'd have things I couldn't find in stores up here. That morphed into vegetables and fruits.

I enjoy cooking. Tonight will be stir-fried shrimp and Thai basil with a fried rice/almond pilaff. Last night was home-made spaghetti made with our own tomatoes, basil, oregano, fennel & peppers.

Guess you'd say I cook.

 

[DeadAye]

I'm somewhere between not cooking and very little.
When my mom was a pre-school kid she pulled a skillet of cooking bacon off the stove, spilled the grease all over her and then it caught fire. As a result we were not allowed in the kitchen when we were growing up so never learned to cook.
My sister was in the same boat - The only thing that she knew how to make were cinnamon apples and smores that she learned how to cook in the Girl Scouts.
Now she's the head cook and lunch lady at a high school - Go figure.