Learn to cook

I just have sandwiches… I need to work on this goal.

I know nothing about food. I can currently make toast and microwave left overs. I haven’t tried cooking since I placed myself way out of my element about 2 years ago and made a Valentine’s Day dinner for my ex-boyfriend and he dumped me two days later. I know the two aren’t related… right?

that the other night i absolutely sauteed some spinach to perfection.

add pasta, chicken, and pesto, and holy christ was it a good meal.

Take a basic cooking class

I wonder what exactly Kosher is. I know some of the rules don’t cook meat in milk and don’t mix meat with cheese. Only some ocean creatures can be eatten; no squid, crab, lobster, clams, or shrimp. And no pork. Some parts of an animal are not allowed for food. An animal must be raised(I think) and killed in a kosher way. No dogs, cats, horses…
No blood.

The hard part is knowing when you’ve messed up in the preparation and made it non kosher. How do you properly store things so they don’t get to be non kosher? And I realize a lot of my favorite foods are non-kosher…which makes you wonder what will I eat now?

In all honesty I’m not going to practice kosher just yet as it’s too difficult but if I change my mind someday in the future (I’m young, I’ve got time) how difficult of a transition is it?

The best way to learn is to get ahold of some recipes and follow the directions. After a while, you’ll develop a taste for different ingredients, then you can start adjusting the recipes to suit your tastes. It’s experimental. It might even be art.

PS. Hamburger Helper doesn’t count! You won’t learn anything from pre-fab meals. Get some recipes that require cooking “from scratch.” My first cookbook was Better Homes and Gardens. :)

Dear Ahmed,

I am just reminding you about your goal to learn how to cook. I hope and pray you can keep it up.

Love,

Ahmed

So I made a nice autumn feast. Here in South America, we have this wonderful variety of pumpkin called “zapallo”, and I’ve been craving it like mad, so I made some. I wanted to make a soup with it, but I couldn’t find any broth that wasn’t dehydrated tablets, so I gave up on the soup. I steamed it with some cinnamon and sugar. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s not possible to steam pumpkin in the microwave! I also made some corn, chicken, and zucchini. Sauteed zucchini, for some reason, is something I always seem to do perfectly. It’s simple – some oil, a minced garlic clove, and a little salt and pepper – but if you cook it just right it tastes great. About 2-3 minutes, until it’s tender and just a little crisp.
The chicken I improved on, but I still need work. I made it in a much better pan, and selected thinner pieces. However, it still threw my timing WAY off, since it had to cook a lot longer than expected. I should probably just start cooking it in the oven, but I really like it stovetop, and it’s easier for my neurotic self to check. Anyway, there was nothing exciting spice-wise about this meal, but it still tasted great and homemade. Just a little salt, pepper, and paprika on the chicken; salt, pepper, and garlic on the zucchini; and sugar and cinnamon on the pumpkin (and of course butter and salt on the corn). But it looked very pretty, and it was very nutritious. I’m not a low-carb eater – quite the opposite, actually – but I found this meal stood just fine for me without bread, rice, potatoes, etc., although they could all be used just fine too.
Next time I cook chicken I need a better plan. But other than that, yay to a yummy meal! :)

It’s easy and fun.
I’ve always had to take care of myself and feed me and my younger brother so learning was kind of a necessity.
It gets tuaght at school and I’ve always been top of the class with cooking. I tend to need everything to be perfect and apparently I have a natrual talent :)

Okay so I know the basics of cooking pasta and scrambled eggs and well soup. But a person needs to know how to cook more than three things.