How did you learn to cook?

[lightningandsnow]

Seriously, a lot of my learning to cook came from watching the food network. Especially "Chef at Home" with Michael Smith. You know, where he cooks without a recipie, just based on what he thinks will taste good together.

So here's the thing. I now have a rather large aversion to using recipies - well, especially for things like pasta and salads and stuff. Which is kind of weird - but it ends up tasting good most of the time.

[flvegan]

1. Kind of came naturally.

Not like my mom took me under her wing and gave me good vegan cooking instruction.

And I am, all things considered, a pretty darn good cook.

[AlCzervik]

2. My Mom was a cook and a waitress for 20 years so i learned from her and from

my Nana.

[LeftyMom]

3. Cookbooks and trial and error.

It helps that:

1. I like to eat. A lot.

2. For the longest I had NO MONEY so I had to learn to make pretty much everything from scratch.

[lost-in-nj]

4. hmmmm

watching mom,
recipes,
and a lot of experimentation.....


have fun with it....
add, delete ingrediants..... lots of things you can do
I have recipes decades old and passed down that I use..
and I have recipes I got off the internet just a week ago.....

let us know what you cook/bake!!!!


lost

:hi:

I have a recipe for stuffed Rock Cornish Game hens that is time intensive....

but WOW

worth every minute of prep

and my famous Chicken Kiev......

[grannylib]

5. That's one of the beauties of cooking vs. baking - you can pretty

much do as you like, once you understand some of the basics

I learned mostly by experimenting once I had tried this recipe or that, and gained some confidence about what I could throw together that would turn out well; there's very little that I cook anymore that requires a recipe, unless it's something new I'm trying.

I did watch my mom and my grandmas cook a lot, and my dad was pretty good in the kitchen too; mostly I learned by doing. It's how my youngest has learned too - hanging out in the kitchen with me and then trying things on her own. I half dread her coming home for the weekend from school, since her idea of a good time is to dirty every dish in the house, baking, cooking, and generally experimenting away *lol*

It's not weird at all to have the aversion to recipes - it can be very satisfying to create your own dishes. Have fun with it!

[Rosemary2205]

10. LOL - Oh granny, I thank you.

My grandma told me when I was 7 yrs old - recipes for cooking are suggestions - recipes for baking are formulas that must not be tinkered with until one fully understands how ingredients work together.

Then, over the next 10 years she taught me how the ingredients work together -- in cooking AND baking. :)

I miss her terrible.

[grannylib]

14. Your gran was a smart cookie! And I'm glad she told you that you

CAN tinker a bit even in baking, once you understand the principles of how those ingredients work together...
But cooking has always seemed to me to be much more wide open with possibilities! The only thing that bums me out is when I make something that my family really likes, and they want it again, but it was cobbled together from various leftovers, and unless I happen to have THOSE SAME LEFTOVERS at some other point, I really can't re-create the dish in quite the same way! Everybody's favorite was one night when I had a couple of leftover burgers from the grill the night before, some leftover baked beans, and some cooked spuds and carrots...so I chopped up the cooked burger and threw it all together with some beef stock I thawed quick (I freeze it in small quantities when I have extra) and some 'shrooms and onions and made some kind of stewy-casserole-thingy...and it was GREAT and I've never been able to make it again!

[Rosemary2205]

16. YEP!! -- enjoy it now - you'll never eat this again.

The mantra at our house. :)

We once fed 12 people with 4 weiners, a can of green beans, rice, what was left of the ketchup, a couple spices and a smidgin of what was left of sour cream. One of the best meals we ever ate. :)

[grannylib]

17. *lol* I like that mantra!

[SOteric]

6. My mother was a classically trained professional chef, my dad

is a very successful importer/exporter of gourmet and fine food items who sells directly to the restaurant industry and one of my 4 older brothers is also a professional chef who trained at the CIA.

We're Italians. All family life revolves around food and the kitchen. And yes, as soon as I was old enough to hold a spoon, my mother began imparting her culinary knowledge. I can really tear it up in the kitchen.

[Guava Jelly]

7. TV and Books

And I do the same thing.
recipe's are more like suggestions to me.

[Rosemary2205]

8. Osmosis from Grandma and Dad.

I'm a hell of a cook too, if I do say so myself. :)

[Swede]

9. All my family are pretty good cooks.

I just watched and learned.

[matcom]

11. Mrs Matcom had cancer

it was the only way I could get her to eat during Chemo.

"cook or die" took on a new meaning.

fell in love with it and have been doing it every day since.

[GigiMommy]

12. Various sources...

First, My Mom.
Then, My Home Economics class in Jr. High.
Then, later in life, Martha Stewart and Food Network.

Known for my Chocolate Chip Cookies and Pineapple Gooey Butter Cakes

[DarkTirade]

13. My parents got sick of us doing nothing over the summer

so they split us up into groups and gave us lessons in various things that would be useful life skills later. A couple of those lessons involved cooking.

The rest came from going off to college without enough money for fast food every day. :P

[mopinko]

15. cooks didn't do dishes in my house.

i followed her directions to get dinner started while she played bridge on sunday. also followed the directions on the box of cake mix, jello, tollhouse cookies.
sr may alberta nearly killed the urge to cook, but we learned to follow the betty crocker lesson plans that were pretty basic. julia child was a big help, as was james beard's theory and practice of good cooking.

[harmonicon]

18. dropped in the deep end

When I moved into my own apartment, for what I could afford it was either cooking for myself, or burger king. Like you, I'm not recipe fan, and I think I do a good job. One thing I would always say is that you should follow the recipe to a T the first time before you try to make an substitutions or changes. If the recipe looks like it won't be very good, it likely won't be very good when you alter just one little bit. If you make a recipe and it's good, then you can tweak some things to your tastes.... says I.

[qb]

19. I was my mom's constant companion in the kitchen.

Her mom drank too much to teach her how to cook, so we both learned to follow recipes to the letter. Strike off that flour with a straight edge!

[NNadir]

20. I left home.

[huskerlaw]

21. If I ever learn

I'll let you know. x(

[GOPisEvil]

22. Watching the Food Network and trial and error.

[Ava]

23. i live in the south.. i couldn't not learn to cook!

:rofl:

i watched my mom and have always helped out so naturally i have picked it up. people seem to like my cooking so i guess it's pretty good :hi:

[kwassa]

24. Trial, and a great deal of error

and a girlfriend who kicked my ass to learn. I learned the hard way not to fry burgers while not wearing a shirt.

Recipes are a great starting place, themes that later variations can take off from. I like to cook, wish I had the time. It is all about the time.

There was no Food Network when I learned. I don't think I've ever watched a food show on TV.

SNL joked recently that the Food Network was porn for fat people. True of my father-in-law. He'll watch all day.

[qwertyMike]

25. My Mother died

When I was 16

I had a 5 yr old sister and a grieving Dad

N0 SYMPATHY PLEASE

That was 41 years ago

I'm a helluva cook now

Drop over

Mike

N0 SYMPATHY PLEASE

[unsavedtrash]

26. My grandma, mom, and aunts

Some of my first memories are of standing on an old wooden kitchen chair "helping" cook.
I could make entire meals by age 6 or so.
Just get in the kitchen and mess around. I still can't follow recipes- I treat them more like suggestions.

[NMDemDist2]

27. I learned the basics from my gran as a young girl

gave it up for years until 2004 when Kerry lost.

I was so depressed I hung in the Cooking and Baking group and took up cooking as a hobby

I'm pretty good most days and since in our little town the best restaurant is a Chili's if I don't cook it, we're not gonna get it

[Rabrrrrrr]

28. I learned watching TV as well. My mother gave me some basics,

but she was not a creative cook - she was a recipe cook. She really taught me much more about baking, at which she was excellent.

But cooking, I'm pretty much self-taught watching cooking shows and reading high quality cook books - and just like learning an instrument, it comes through practice, practice, practice.

[FloridaJudy]

29. Mom and Grandma

By High School I was regularly cooking everyone's dinner. I didn't mind, since it got me out of other types of housework that I hated. I also learned a thing or two from Julia Child, since that was the only cooking show on television then. My mom was a much better cook than I, but since she worked ten hours a day, I was responsible for week night dinners.

She also taught my nephew to cook, but everything he made was distinctly odd - involving unpalatable quantities of tofu, sprouts and brown rice. Fortunately he married a woman who knew that healthy vegetarian food didn't necessarily have to taste awful.

[laconicsax]

30. Mostly from following recipes.

My mom supervised a bit when I was younger.

[JVS]

31. I grew up liking hot food. When I moved out at 18, the idea of cooking seemed obvious.

[liberaltrucker]

32. My grandmother, rest her soul

I could cook up any of her "Sunday best", but not her biscuits.

She tried and tried to teach, but I never got it quite right.

Until...On a lark, I tried lard instead of shortening.

Holy crap, grandma's biscuits! :woohoo:

To the food nazis: Grandma lived to 93, Grandpa lived to 92. They ate
food that would give a cardiologist a heart attack. Go figure.

[China_cat]

33. My sister's and I learned to cook in self-defense.

Our mother was one of the world's worst. And then I later learned that you can break the rules of recipes easier if you know how to follow them in the first place. It's following recipes that teaches you what goes good together and what doesn't, what techniques work with what foods and what fail miserably.

[spinbaby]

55. Sounds like our house

Our mother was a terrible cook and our father didn't cook.

My mother's entire theory of cooking went like this:

1. Put food in a pot.

2. Don't season--salt and seasonings of any kind are bad for you.

3. Put a lid on the pot so the food doesn't escape.

4. Heat on low. High heat is dangerous.

5. Leftovers can be heated an indefinite number of times.

It was years before I learned that fried potatoes should be browned. My siblings and I all learned how to cook out of the Joy of Cooking.

[quakerboy]

34. 100% trial and error

I love my mom, but she can (has) burn jello. So I learned to cook out of pure self defense.

[madrchsod]

35. my grandmothers

one lived with us and the other next door. my sisters told me that they were not going to cook for me so i better learn how to..been cooking since i was 12. there was something good about the 50`s...most stuff was still made by hand!

[zingaro]

36. my mom started working when I was in grade school so

it was my job to cook dinner and do the dishes for me and my dad.

I have no idea how I learned. I don't remember. I just know that the fuckups were a bitch to clean so I learned early on to be a very careful cook. I am an excellent cook now, after a long life-stine where I just refused to cook anything because I was burnt out.

[Throd]

37. Getting sick of Top Ramen

I moved out at 18 and survived the first few months on ramen noodles. I realized that a good spice rack and willingness to try new things was the ticket to good eating. I had many spectacular failures that ended up in the trash can, but all these years later, I am pretty mean(and adaptive)in the kitchen.

[Duer 157099]

38. The Galloping Gourmet

Really. Well, not so sure that's where I learned to cook, but it's what introduced me to the subject. To this day, it bugs me beyond end when cooking shows spend the whole time preparing the food, but then cut it off right after the food is plated. :wtf: Haven't they ever seen the Galloping Gourmet, where the best part of the show was when he got to EAT the food???

At minimum, I want to see the food cut open, if not actually tasted.

I remember me and my friend pretending to be chefs when we were kids, and inspired by Graham Kerr (it was a boring summer) and the gawdawful concoctions we came up with, ugh!

After Kerr, then there was the Frugal Gourmet, and then Martin Yan. Finally the Food Network arrived.

[Connonym]

40. me too!

I remember watching it in the afternoons when I came home from kindergarten. For some reason I found him to be the most fascinating thing and I was addicted. My dad was a good cook and my mom baked well (but her cooking would choke a billygoat). I think I got the interest from The Galloping Gourmet but learned through my folks and with 4H. I was the primary cook for the family when I was 14. Seven of us including some hollow-legged teenagers. I still have a hard time not making enough food to feed an army.

[graywarrior]

39. My dad was a cook in the army during WWII

He did all the cooking when I was growing up. He taught me to go light on using salt and never put a salt shaker on the table.

[AllegroRondo]

51. Did he make HUGE batches of everything?

I grew up with a friend who's dad had been a Coast Guard cook. Excellent food, but he always made enough to feed the entire fleet.

[graywarrior]

56. Hell yeah, which is why we all got so fat.

A loaf of bread, a dozen eggs, a pound of bacon, tons of oj for breakfast for 3 little kids. Thanksgiving dinner leftovers lasted a week.

[KitchenWitch]

41. Watching and helping my mom

Reading cookbooks.

Improvising.

[Mezzo]

42. Grandmom Millie taught me everything

she needs some vibes, actually, she is in the hospital, and I've been dealing with a death from the other side of the family, so I haven't had time to visit.

[cbayer]

43. It was easy before they took ephedrine off the market

Oh,,,,, are we talking about food?

[Critters2]

44. My mom, my grandma, and this invaluable tool:

I still make a mean pear bunny salad!

I now use vegan marshmallows for the tails.

[Godhumor]

45. I once Shaked & Baked a banana. I also set an oven on fire

My cooking tends to be "experimental" and "dangerous" and "possibly life threatening".

[fizzgig]

46. my mom taught me a lot

and i learned a lot watching cooking shows, but, in all reality, it was a lot of trial and error

[Lydia Leftcoast]

47. There was no Food Network back in my day

We heated rocks to make mammoth soup.

No, seriously, with both my mother and grandmother in the house, they had no interest in putting yet another person in the kitchen, so all I knew was a little that I had learned in seventh and eighth grade home ec. class.

I didn't have to cook till graduate school, when I lived in a suite that had enough room for a refrigerator, a toaster oven, and a hot plate. During the school year, I made my own breakfast, and during the summers, I did all my own cooking, mostly improvising and getting help from roommates.

[av8rdave]

48. By being a single dad

[MissMillie]

49. Cooking is an art, and you get extra points for creativity

don't be afraid to look at recipes though, because it make give you the basis on which to start something and then you can add your own twist to it.

Like finding a basic recipe for quiche, but then you can decide what you want to put in those eggs!

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

50. I was working in a Country Club as a dishwasher...

I was the new guy - sixteen years old and had just been hired.

The Chef's Assistant walked out in a huff (the Chef was a serious asswipe) and so they needed somebody NOW. They looked around the kitchen, first at the stoner/slacker bus boys and waiters, and decided since I was the one with the least number of black marks on my record (did I mention I was the new guy?) they tapped me as the Chef's Assistant -- just through the weekend.

Lasted all summer. The Chef was a jerk, but he was a pretty darned talented jerk. I learned a lot from him.

[sarge43]

52. Grabbed a cookbook and followed directions.

Now I can wing it with most dishes.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

53. from a book called "idiots guide to cooking" at the age of 25

:)

[RebelOne]

54. Home Economics class in junior high school.

That was a long time ago. I don't think home economics is taught anymore.

[DS1]

57. watching, experimenting, practicing

[malta blue]

58. watching my grandmothers cook Dominican and Puertorican

foods inspired me.

I do watch Food Network for ideas, but I always put my own touch on recipes too.

That is why I am a good cook and a lousy baker :P

Have fun!

[azmouse]

59. It's just something I've always enjoyed doing so

I'd say it came naturally.
We didn't have too many cooking shows when I was growing up.

And recipes are just someone else's idea of how a dish should taste. A good cook only uses them as a loose guideline and then adds their own preferences.