How To Cook

One thing that my mom said I had a problem with was learning how to cook. Though I thought she was just being mean, I can see what she was talking about back then. I do okay, and I did learn to do many things well, but cooking is something that is beyond me for the most part. I am okay with all of the things that we like to eat, but that is because they are all rather simple. I make a great lasagna, but if I had to make my own sauce from scratch I think I would have a hard time with it. I guess some just have that special touch and others do not.

I do know how to cook, but I guess I am not interested in it enough to give it my full attention, and I tend to make mistakes. For the longest time I would cook everything on high just to get it cooked faster. I didn’t realize that if I had turned down the heat a little and had some more patience that many of the things that I think I know how to cook would have come out a lot better. That’s one thing I have changed today, but I still am not what one would call a really great cook.

I grandmother spent a lot of time showing me how to cook, and the things she taught me have stayed with me. Those things I can do well. However, anything else seems to be a problem. My husband is a better cook than I am, and he even worked as a cook for a while when he was in high school. He knows that even though I technically know how to cook, I don’t always enjoy it. At least a few nights a week he will make dinner to give me a break.

I wish anyone learning how to cook better luck than I had. It’s not really something that is that hard to master, but it is something that takes time. Perhaps some day I will be a better cook. Maybe all I need is a little more time to get interested in it. I don’t know though, because if I am not interested by now I can’t imagine I will be in a few years. Whatever the case, I know I can cook some things well, and I know my family is happy with what I can do, and I guess that is all that matters.

How To Cook

Have you ever stopped to think about how fast time passes? As a child time seems to crawl by, especially when you are looking forward to something like the holidays or your birthday. As an adult it seems like birthdays come way to fast and no matter how early you start preparations the holidays catch you unprepared. The years in which my children grew up seemed to fly by. I was always so busy working and keeping up with their busy schedule that they were in high school before I knew it. The opportunities to do so many things with them that I had planned seemed to slip away.

About a year ago the realization of time passing hit me hard. My daughter was beginning her senior year of high school. We were visiting with my mother and she was talking about all the meals I prepared for the family when I was growing up. My daughter made the statement that she did not know how to cook. I looked at her and realized that this was true. Our family meals were so often rushed it was easier for me to make them quickly rather than take the time to make sure that my children knew how to cook. On the way home from my mother’s house I told my daughter that I was going to teach her how to cook so that she would be able to prepare meals for herself when she left home.

From that time on I included my children in the meal preparations. I strongly feel that knowing how to cook is a skill that everyone should have. Both of my children were interested in learning so the task was not difficult. I had them help prepare dinner by washing the vegetables that we were going to east with our meal. Soon they were peeling potatoes and carrots as well as learning how to cook various meats. My daughter started looking through my cookbooks to find recipes that she wanted to try. She found out that she really enjoys baking, especially different cookies and bars. She would invite her friends over to make a batch of cookies and then eat them as they watched a movie. We found we had many great talks as we were making meals together.

On Saturday mornings my son and daughter started making different brunches for the family. We made a deal that they would cook the brunch and my husband and I would do the clean up after. This was a great routine. My husband and I got to spend time together going for a walk or reading the paper while the meal was prepared and then we would visit during the clean up time. We both agreed that we should have taught the children how to cook much earlier so we would have had more years to enjoy this routine.