Do you cook?

[labworm]

I actually enjoy cooking my own meals, and must say I am rather good at it.

I like food a certain way and honestly cannot buy it anywhere that meets my approval. Nothing fancy, just basic things like pork chops, steak, meat loaf, spaghetti sauce (Recipe obtained from a fine woman who lived in the North End in Boston), and of course my world famous stuffed cabbage (Polish people are great at making them).

Most of my meals are prepared using cast iron (that should tell you something) nothing beats it, nothing.

I do go out to restaurants now and then but basically enjoy my own prepared meals much more.

I tried the frozen food and micro wave approach years ago and realized that a good meal takes time. I'm sure there are a few here which would agree.

So that is it, I'm in the kitchen feeding myself and I am one happy camper.

Hope I made some of you hungry.

 

[BarbC]

Yes. Here's my latest meal. Don't be scared. It's tastier than it looks.

 

[labworm]

Yes. Here's my latest meal. Don't be scared. It's tastier than it looks.

Ya got some great looking stuff there Barb

Only kidding with you

 

[pinduck]

I cook most all our meals since I retired 22 years ago.

 

[Fishslayer]

I cook. Nothin' fancy. The usual male stuff involving meat and some sort of cheese or tomato sauce.

My favorite thing to do is use some sort of boxed or canned prepared mix and add a whole lot of my stuff to it.

Here's my Zatairan's Dirty Rice. I start with one large box of Dirty Rice, one small box of Black Beans & Rice then add onions, mushrooms and a couple pounds of sweet Italian sausage. And some extra spices, of course. I would use hot Italian sausage but my sissy wife can't handle that.

It's good food, so it MUST be protected.

 

[Bullet Bob]

I like to cook. Have a fresh world's best chocolate pie ready right now, come on over.

 

[gunlovingirl]

........ so ladies and gents, do you cook at home?

Only when I want to eat.

I'm actually a pretty good cook if I do say so myself. I don't cook as much as I used to, but I can whip up a pretty tasty meal if I want to!

 

[pineappleshooter]

I do all the cooking up to, and including, thanksgiving and Easter dinners. I am teaching my daughters to cook - my 8 year old makes waffles from scratch and my nine year old's specialty is creamed chicken over puff pastry shells. I do all the knife work and removing pans from hot ovens - they do all the rest.

As soon as I get my J. C. Higgins model 41 I paid $50 for restored they will start shooting their first single shot 22 rifle.

Good cooks and good shots - what more can you ask for!

 

[1blindref]

I love to cook. I learned how to cook when I was young since my mom and dad both worked.
Here are a few pictures - all with protection.

and of course bacon

I've got lots more, but I didn't want to get carried away

 

[cmort666]

I hate cooking. I'm lousy at it and am smart and honest enough to admit it.

I especially hate cooking here, in my pest hole apartment. I've got one sink and no dishwasher, so "clean as you go" is pretty much out of the question.

In the past, the vent coming from the stove hood hasn't been properly screened, so on multiple occasions, I've had dead birds in the stove hood, along with blood, feathers and bird dung on my stove top. It doesn't exactly inspire confidence in one's cooking environment.

Everything I "cook" either goes in the microwave or on the George Foreman grill. In the past, I've made a tolerable steak in the microwave. My mother expressed distaste over this because the steak wouldn't be "browned". I told her I couldn't care less if it were green, since I was planning on eating rather than looking at it.

My cousin in Chicago on the other hand, loves to cook and is a good cook. She's taken over family Christmas cooking duties from her mother who's in a nursing home now with Alzheimer's. She's often dissatisfied with her cooking, but I tell her, "You're asking the wrong person. Compared to my cooking it's fantastic."

If you gave Taliban prisoners my cooking it would be considered a human rights violation.

 

[JCS&W]

I guess I will have to be the one to buck the trend. I do not cook and I do not grill. I do not enjoy cooking, do not want to learn to do something I do not enjoy, and I just stay away from the stove, oven and grill. Now, I also need to say that I do expect my wife to cook for me. I can get by on sandwiches with chips, pickles etc. My wife is a great cook, and luckily passed her ability on to our son. My son is a chef, degree, experience the works. He chooses now to be a banker and use the other degrees he earned. So, I am one lucky guy. My wife is a great cook, my son is a great cook, my daughter in law is a great cook,and I LOVE to eat. It just doen't get any better than that.

 

[brucev]

"There is another thread on this board ..." etc. Times change. People change. Sometimes that change is not for the better. Sometimes it is. The rise of the two worker family as normative reflecting economic realities and prizing individual over family interest/needs will not go away. The meals I grew up enjoying as a child were cooked by my mother who was a full-time homemaker. My wife leaves the house at 5 a.m. and gets home about 5:30 p.m. I get up at 6:30 a.m. and after coffee leave for the office not later than 8:15 a.m. Last night I got home right at 9 p.m. Today I started with a Bible study at 9 a.m. and will this evening after Wednesday night Bible study and choir practice return home about 8:15 p.m. Many men and women have similar schedules. The time does not exist for the traditional slow-cooked meals of my childhood.

But, we cook! Specifically my wife is an accomplished master of cooking. She has been baking bread and biscuits since the first Sunday evening of our marriage when we were spending our first night in our first apartment. Upon returning home, she can usually have an excellent meal on the table not later than 6 p.m., sometimes a minute or two later. As for me, I am an accomplished grill master! And I have been known to produce some remarkable culinary works of art commonly known as stews, chili, various types of vegetables, etc. I do not help clean up the kitchen as my wife is never satisfied with the way I put things into the dishwasher. But, I do take care of cleaning the bathroom.

I would make one suggestion. Do not listen to the t.v. or radio during a meal. Sit in the dinning area and listen to one another. One of the most enjoyable memories I have of my daughters is the sound of their voices and the wonderful stories and odd bits of information they would share during dinner. In their younger years there were a few times when things were tight. A meal might consist of stewed potatoes and thin cornbread and iced tea. But our daughters never knew what was going on. Around the table we talked and laughed. Today they know what was going on. But they have often said they "never knew what we didn't have." We focused on what we did have. A simple good meal shared around the table in the evening made a big difference in our family. I would encourage everyone to make a point of focusing on what matters. Family time spent around the dinner table pays dividends every evening and on through life. JMHO. Sincerely. brucev.

 

[ASA335]

I cook and enjoy it very much. My wife and I share household cooking responsibilities.

My paternal Great-Grandfather required that all the boys learn at least basic cooking skills, and this became the tradition in my family – my Dad and I just carried it well beyond "basic cooking skills".

 

[mg357]

give me a recipe, the ingredients, and the necessary cooking tools and i can cook up the dish on the recipe card. But unfortunately do to my very overprotective mother i am not allowed to cook. she's afraid i will destroy her kitchen.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

I learned to cook in the Boy Scouts. Also like to bake. Nothing fancy, but since for me food is as much a matter of quantity as quality, I have found being able to prepare basics well is more fun than constantly experimenting with exotica.

 

[Bicky Robby]

Why cook when there is Lean Cuisine? Seriously, I have one specialty dish - its a killer Mac & Cheese using a white sauce and 3 three cheeses, with a dash of fresh Rosemary and fresh cooked/crumbled bacon. I do enjoy grilling as long as a "quality" adult beverage is close by. That is about involved as I get.

 

[gunlovingirl]

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.

I know exactly what you mean about the low sodium diet. I'm also on a sodium restricted diet. I always knew certain foods were high in sodium, but was amazed when I had to start checking labels. Practically everything is loaded with sodium. Even the "low sodium" foods, like soup, is still very high in sodium. No wonder Americans have high blood pressure!

 

[DeadAye]

....
If you gave Taliban prisoners my cooking it would be considered a human rights violation.

Then I say - Crank up that bird infested stove and start cooking for them --- They deserve nothing better.

 

[mkk41]

I love to cook. I like to get very creative , especially with the spice cabinet. I hate to clean up though. There's a great little butcher shoppe on the way home from work , and I probably use my grill probably 300 days a year. Got a pork tenderloin today , and will mix up a batch of my special spice rub and marinade. It'll get grilled Friday nite.

 

[truckemup97]

I know exactly what you mean about the low sodium diet. I'm also on a sodium restricted diet. I always knew certain foods were high in sodium, but was amazed when I had to start checking labels. Practically everything is loaded with sodium. Even the "low sodium" foods, like soup, is still very high in sodium. No wonder Americans have high blood pressure!

My daughter is gluten intolerant, so I would imagine I cook much like you and ancient-one do. No mixes, no boxes, no packets, everything from scratch. Sodium is probably harder to avoid, but you can't imagine how many things have wheat, wheat flour, gluten, barley, rye, or modified food starches in them.