Are you a good cook?

[momee]

I'm just curious what you would say about yourself.  Not necessarily what others would say about you.

 

If you say yes - why?  What makes you a good cook?  What has helped you to get there?  When did it change for you from managing to get food into people's mouths because it's a necessity and your becoming a good cook?

 

 

 

And if no - 

do others say you are but you don't think so? 

What defines a "good cook" in your mind?

 

 

I ask

1) I lack confidence in cooking but my family/friends think I'm good at it.  I wonder when this will change for me.  I think there are so many things to learn - I just learned the premise of hot pan/cold fat for goodness sake!  I couldn't fry an egg without it sticking five months ago.

 

2) I am ready to get seriously into cooking (whatever that means).  Maybe professional classes, school, making it more of apart of my life than it already is.(Most days I'm cooking for 7-10 people).  I'm not sure what that means or where it will take me but I'm excited to get better and want it to mean more - impact more than just our own bellies?idk - than just for my peeps and the crew of guests we host after church and for dinners.

Edited January 30, 2016 by momee

[Guest]

I'm a very good cook thanks to practice and learning how food quality, cooking methods, and flavor profiles interact (thank you Alton Brown and Mark Bittman). These things are what make a good cook - and open up a world of stress free cooking where you have knowledge and skill to work with food and recipes freely instead of blindly trusting the rating and content and hoping for the best.

 

I don't like cooking much these days, but I am very skilled at it. I knew nothing until about 17 years old :)

Edited January 30, 2016 by Arctic Mama

[momee]

This.

 

"practice"

is definitely being experienced lately.

 

The other things, I don't think I know much about at all.  Not officially anyway.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I went to culinary school so I did learn a lot about cooking there.  But that aside I cook a lot.  It's a hobby on top of a necessity.

 

I do think I'm a decent cook.

 

I'll just say it's really not rocket science.  Pretty much anyone can learn to cook.  You shouldn't be afraid to try stuff.  So what if it flops sometimes.  You learn from that too.

 

 

[Melissa B]

No, I am not a good cook.

Everyone knows I am not a good cook.

I have little to no interest in food or cooking.

I cook because it is necessary.

[Ali in OR]

I'm good at cooking what I like to eat (so I'm an excellent baker). Probably can't claim the all-encompassing "good cook" label because there are too many things I don't do so well because I don't like them (eg fish and veggies).

Edited January 31, 2016 by Ali in OR

[Pawz4me]

I've been told fairly often that I'm a good cook.  I feel that I'm an adequate but unimaginative one.  If I am good, it's strictly due to experience.  It's not something I particularly enjoy.

[Chris in VA]

Nope.

But we aren't starving.

 

I think of a good cook as someone who knows a lot about foods and flavors and cooking methods, has decent knife skills, can work without a recipe, and has a good culinary vocabulary. I think the kids on Master Chef, for example, are really good cooks.

[Desert Strawberry]

I am a good cook. 

I love to cook. I have been cooking for a very long time. I started cooking on my own (not just helping my mom) at 10. At 12, I cooked every day. At 13, I did all of the cooking, meal planning and shopping for my family ( my father helped with the shopping). 

I collect cookbooks and enjoy learning different cuisines. I am currently learning Indian food, but I don't always feel in the mood, so it's slow going. 

At this point in our lives, cooking is more of a chore than a hobby. I can cook lavish, beautiful, delicious food. But tonight we are roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over a fire. Because we have kids. 

Most of the people I cook for like my cooking. I have a blog, and I have sold my wares at a farmer's market with reasonable success. I cook vegan food for the most part these days, which not everyone cares for-though it's much more in vogue than it was a few years back. I'm more adventurous in the kitchen than some people are comfortable with. But for the most part, my guests enjoy my cooking, my friends ask for recipes and when I share on facebook, I get a lot of likes :) 

I guess I think I'm a good cook because I have put a lot of time, effort, work, and study into it. I know I have a good palate. I can deconstruct and imitate a dish from taste fairly well. But if you ask my in-laws, they would probably tell you that I make weird food.  :laugh: But they usually like it and are surprised when I cook for them. 

Edited January 31, 2016 by Desert Strawberry

[Junie]

One of my dc once told me that I "make the best Froot Loops ever" !!!  Does that count?

 

My cooking is a work in progress.  When I got married I knew how to make macaroni and fish sticks and not much else.  I am a much better cook now, but I don't know if I would call myself a "good" cook.  I would give myself a C+.

[MrsMommy]

I'm a good cook. Having the right equipment is a huge part of it. A good knife and cutting board are essential, as is good cookware. Being able to buy good ingredients helps, too. I think watching cooking shows helped me figure out proper technique, and having a variety of cookbooks (or places online I trust for recipes) is also a bonus. No one taught me how to do it...I figured it out on my own. It's not hard to do, just takes time and money.

[Guest]

You know how they say you can taste the difference when food is lovingly prepared? I think you can taste the hate in my cooking :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

 

I know how to make a few things very well, and I hate cooking even those things.

 

I'm in the wrong business.

[SemiSweet]

I'm a pretty good cook, I like to try new things a lot, so a weeks menu for us may have 4-7 new dishes in it. However, I almost always follow recipes, very rarely just throw things together of my own accord. Dh does almost all of the chopping for me too, which I absolutely hate doing so it really makes me more inclined to cook nicer meals. I enjoy cooking and baking and being in my kitchen.

[Carol in Cal.]

I'm a good cook.

I started out being careful to follow recipes exactly, and willing to try ambitious ones.

That worked out well.

I added recipes for things that I enjoyed at other people's homes.

Now I have cooked enough so that I can improvise with confidence.  I know how to 'fix' a salad dressing, or a stir fry sauce, or a gravy.  I know what kneaded bread dough is supposed to be like.  Ditto pie crust.  I know how to tell when things are baked just right.  Yup, I'm a good cook,

[creekland]

No, because I'm not very creative and I detest cooking in general.  I could never make it as an "On TV" cook nor could I handle restaurant cooking.

 

That said, everyone likes what I make.  I learned what I know from my grandmothers (since my dad wasn't a good cook) and a little bit from my mom.  I'm creative enough to tweak a couple of those recipes and intelligent enough not to adjust others at all.  I'm also fairly decent at gauging how much of something I need (like corn starch and potato water to add to drippings to make gravy).  Most of what I make at home will beat a restaurant for taste every single time.  It also beats most of what I eat anywhere else (pot lucks or whatever).

 

But without the traits in the first couple of lines, I will never say I'm a good cook.

 

I have absolutely no desire to ever take a cooking class of any sort.  I can't stand watching cooking shows on TV.  Even my grandmothers had to snag me away from other things to teach me what I know now.

 

I also don't bake sweets of any sort except occasionally a couple varieties of cookies (from scratch, of course - I detest any of the pre-made doughs, etc).  My grandmothers taught me how to bake as much as cook, but I don't have a sweet tooth, so have no desire to make cakes, pies, or cookies on a regular basis.

 

Middle son has been very interested in learning everything I know about cooking.  He often cooks for his friends at college and he enjoys it.  Oldest requested recipes for his wife and himself too, and has decided he enjoys cooking.  Therefore, family recipes won't be lost.  

[TravelingChris]

Yes, I am a good cook.  I have been cooking and baking for a long time and so have lots of experience.  I also like learning new techniques and recipes.  One aspect I regret not learning earlier is sauces.  I now make very good sauces and they so enhance many meals. I started cooking as a kid and was doing most of the cooking in my family when I was a teenager.  I have had help from many good chefs from whom I got pointers while watching their shows or reading cook books.  I view cooking as both a necessity and as a hobby.  My more memorable meals come as I treat it as a hobby.

[Raifta]

I've been told I'm a good cook but I personally have my doubts.  

 

I mean, I can read and follow a recipe, so things are usually a disaster but I certainly don't know any of the science behind cooking and lack a whole lot of technical skills.  So I'm not very creative.

 

Also, I'm scared of meat with bones.  There.  I've said it.

[Lady Florida.]

Yes, I'm a good cook. How do I know? My food tastes delicious to me and to others. How did I get there? I don't know. I've been cooking next to my mother since I was a little girl and I'm 60 now. My mother worked, sometimes 2 jobs, and I was often a better cook than many of the babysitters we had. I suppose part of my ability to cook is merely a matter of years of practice, and part is because I learned next to a good cook (my mother), Besides being a good old Italian-American mom she was a waitress for many years in several high class establishments and country clubs in Northern NJ. She never turned down an opportunity to learn from the chefs there. Even when they were just talking to hear themselves talk, she took mental notes and used what she learned when cooking at home.

 

I don't use recipes often (except for baked goods). I know what flavors taste good together, and just as importantly what doesn't.

 

ETA: I love to cook. I love to feed people.

Edited January 30, 2016 by Lady Florida

[whitestavern]

Most people say I am a good cook, and I think so too, though I know there is a lot of room for improvement :)

 

I love to cook (baking, not so much) and I do it often. I cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner pretty much every day. I devour cookbooks and cooking magazines as well. I read everything I can about food and health. I think I"m good at picking out good recipes.

 

I am finally getting to the point where I am bringing my own "thing" to recipes. So I'm comfortable adding an ingredient to an existing recipe or making up my own recipes even.

 

I would love to start a prepared healthy meal service. Finding a commercial kitchen (it's illegal in my state to do it out of my home) has not been easy. The ones I have found are so expensive I don't know how I could make a living. I also don't know if I have the confidence. I've been looking at culinary schools and contemplating that.

[momee]

whitestavern, we would have fun cooking together~

 

Are you on plantoeat?

 

I tried an experiment of cooking through a cookbook yesterday.  Was in the kitchen,idk, 5 hours making the first 5/6 recipes in the Oh She Glows cookbook.

 

The kids' and in-laws' comments were hysterical.  Especially when it came to trying the chia seed pudding.  Funniest one - my mother in-law asks me wearily - how many recipes are in this cookbook?

 

I did make the best granola I've ever had though so the day was not a loss.  I just don't think we are cut out to be vegans.  I have 5 vegan cookbooks but...well..it's more of something I make people eat around here, not anyone's top choice.

[FaithManor]

Yes, I cook from scratch with a lot of fresh ingredients and home preserved garden produce. My items are usually pretty healthy, and according to the family, tasty. I have recently felt like I was in a rut, so for fun I started watching "Worst Cooks in America" on Netflix. I've picked up some new flavor combinations and ideas which have been well received.

 

But, and this is a biggie, I absolutely do not enjoy cooking. I hate meal planning, hate executing it. The kitchen is my least favorite room in the house, and no part of me takes any natural joy from it. I do it because my family needs me to do it, and for no other reason. When the last child leaves home, I told dh that he either has to start helping with it, or it will be sandwich and salad for the rest of our days, LOL.

[Pink and Green Mom]

I can follow a recipe and have the food taste and look good.  I can cook from scratch.  I can look at a recipe and say "yes, my family will probably like that" or "no, the kids will run away from the table screaming". 

 

But there is nothing beyond that.  I am not sure I could (or would want to) concoct my own creation in the kitchen.

 

I am not sure if that makes me a good cook or not.

[Storygirl]

I can prepare delicious food. But I follow recipes religiously. Am I a good cook? For my family, in my home, and for entertaining, yes. But I'm not a creative or original cook. So it depends on your definition.

[FaithManor]

I will say this though. While I may be a good cook for my family out of necessity, I don't consider baking desserts to be a requirement, and I hate it worse than cooking. So I only bake on their birthdays or if I'm assigned a dessert at Christmas to take to a family celebration. Dh makes desserts when he needs them for work.

[freeindeed]

Yes, but it's something I learned on the job when I left home in my early 20's.

[J-rap]

I'm just a very average cook.  I always cook from scratch, and I've gotten good at making some soups from anything I have on hand.  I can make one kind of bread that always turns out.  But other than that, I'm just not very good.  If I follow a recipe exactly, it most likely will turn out although there's still a chance the meat will be overcooked.  Just recently, I've become much more interested in getting better at it.  We'll see.

 

 

[kewb]

Yes, I am a good cook. Over the years my skills and confidence increased.

However, I am an unappreciated cook in my own family. Picky eaters, not in the mood for eaters, etc. My kids are teens and capable of preparing their own meals so most of the time I just don't bother. Forage night went from once a week to many nights a week.

Edited January 30, 2016 by kewb

[purplejackmama]

Yes, I'm a good cook. I love it. Cooking is my only creative outlet. I would say I'm a good cook because I've mastered a half dozen techniques. I read good cookbooks (pics, please!!) and watch a few great cooks.

 

I have validation in my cooking skills because my family cleans their plates and friends request my dishes.

[LucyStoner]

I'm just curious what you would say about yourself. Not necessarily what others would say about you.

 

If you say yes - why? What makes you a good cook? What has helped you to get there? When did it change for you from managing to get food into people's mouths because it's a necessity and your becoming a good cook?

 

 

I grew up watching my dad cook. I learned a lot watching him. I'm a good cook. Not a chef but a very good home cook.

 

I think it is, like most things, a mix of skill/experience and intuition/talent.

 

Since I've always known how to cook and enjoyed it for the most part, your last question there doesn't apply. If anything it went in reverse for me. I liked to cook and was good at it. Now, it's a daily chore of getting food into the mouths of 3-5 other people with some fairly annoying food quirks. I could happily pass that onto someone else some days!

 

I ask

1) I lack confidence in cooking but my family/friends think I'm good at it. I wonder when this will change for me. I think there are so many things to learn - I just learned the premise of hot pan/cold fat for goodness sake! I couldn't fry an egg without it sticking five months ago.

 

2) I am ready to get seriously into cooking (whatever that means). Maybe professional classes, school, making it more of apart of my life than it already is.(Most days I'm cooking for 7-10 people). I'm not sure what that means or where it will take me but I'm excited to get better and want it to mean more - impact more than just our own bellies?idk - than just for my peeps and the crew of guests we host after church and for dinners.

When I moved out, I realized that I knew a lot of about how to cook but didn't necessarily know what I was doing. As in the vocabulary and food science. So I read a lot. The best books were Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. I also geeked out with America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Illustrated. I've never taken a class. I did spend a lot of time volunteering to cook for Food Not Bombs and such and that helped. Nowadays, there's sooo many great videos online that you can pretty much get a great, free, tutorial in anything you might dream of finding to cook.

Edited January 31, 2016 by LucyStoner

[Laura Corin]

Funny you should ask: my mother's staying with us and she said this evening that my cooking was delicious and she didn't say that enough.  I thanked her and said that she was kind.  

 

I think of myself as a competent cook who can follow a recipe.  More to the point, I can judge in advance if a recipe is going to come out well and can alter it on the way through.  I grew up with decent cooking, so I have a feel for what might turn out interestingly.

 

I'm not actually very interested in cooking, but I don't want to punish my family with bad food.

Edited January 31, 2016 by Laura Corin

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

I can follow a recipe and have the food taste and look good.  I can cook from scratch.  I can look at a recipe and say "yes, my family will probably like that" or "no, the kids will run away from the table screaming". 

 

But there is nothing beyond that.  I am not sure I could (or would want to) concoct my own creation in the kitchen.

 

I am not sure if that makes me a good cook or not.

 

This is something like what I was going to say. Maybe I'm a good cook with a terrible memory? :lol: I can never remember times, temperatures, amounts etc., so I need recipes to work from, but I'm a good enough cook that I can substitute on the fly, don't generally need to read the directions after the first time (or can easily save a recipe if I've done something in the wrong order), I know which herbs and spices to add or hold back or which are skippable, etc. I very rarely turn out something that isn't very good (unless my crazy oven is involved), and people always eat what I bring to pot lucks with gusto. So I think of myself as a good cook because people enjoy eating what I cook, I enjoy cooking it, I can cook a wide variety of things, I can implement new recipes easily, etc.

 

All that said, I do always need the recipe to work from, and I'm not good at mixing flavors and textures and coming up with something good on my own. That's my DH's arena. He's a very creative cook within the parameters of the food he grew up with. I don't think he could branch out into food outside of that culture very easily, and oddly, he's likely to mess up something he's making from a recipe because he gets confused and doesn't look at the instructions and then finds out later that he did something wrong because he was operating from his own personal cooking "vocabulary," and it didn't mesh with what he was cooking. 

 

So I don't know, does that make me a good cook, or just a good mimic?!

Edited January 31, 2016 by ILiveInFlipFlops

[Rachel]

I've always thought of myself as a good cook, however until the past few years I think I was just good at choosing and following recipes.

 

My husband has always been great at pulling foods together and seasoning foods without a recipe. In the last couple years I've gotten less worried about messing foods up and become a much better cook. Last weekend we were helping my in-laws on their farm due to the snowstorm. I was able to throw together several meals for 9 people using random ingredients in a not very well stocked kitchen. My MIL was very impressed (of course she was putting in 14+ hour days outside). I feel like pulling that off was a sign of a good cook.

 

There is a book titled something along the lines of Kitchen Counter Cooking school that helped me overcome my fear of roasting a whole chicken and also experimenting with spices.

[creekland]

When the last child leaves home, I told dh that he either has to start helping with it, or it will be sandwich and salad for the rest of our days, LOL.

 

:lol:  Now that we're empty nesting you should see some of what we eat!  Tonight was frozen pizza - hubby fixed it.  Lunch was steamed shrimp fresh from the grocery store (steamed/seasoned there).  All we had to do was add mushrooms to the pizza and cocktail sauce to the shrimp.

 

I'll admit I made some hot chocolate earlier... and we each fixed our own breakfast of fried eggs.  Mine just had a slice of toast with it.  I think hubby added veggies to his.

 

Tomorrow we have salmon to eat as our main meal, but hubby cooks it!  He makes a delicious salmon dinner.  Breakfast is on our own again and the non-main meal will be leftover turkey (real, roasted turkey) sandwiches.

 

Granted, we don't always eat frozen pizza (health reasons), but we do tend to eat "simple" most of the time - until the boys come home...  It's not all that uncommon that I will just eat an apple or an apple and some nuts or chips.

 

I sort of look at it as early stages of retirement. ;)

[elegantlion]

No, I am not a good cook.

Everyone knows I am not a good cook.

I have little to no interest in food or cooking.

I cook because it is necessary.

This. I can cook a few things well. I despise cooking. Ds is picky, I am picky. We're still working on food for school, meals to do when exhausted, and we are both spontaneous eaters. I don't want to meal plan for more than one day.biggest hit this week is the giant box of Clif bars we take to school.

[creekland]

Ooh - as I type hubby is making up for the frozen pizza!  He's washing blueberries for dessert.  It is a healthy meal, after all!   :lol:   (Or maybe it's just easy, esp since the blueberries will have whipped cream on top of them.)

[Barb_]

I love to cook, but I HATE HAVING TO COOK! I'm good at it and I enjoy it, but only when I'm feeling inspired and don't have children underfoot and in my way. I think I'll enjoy it even more as my younger kids continue to age out of their mosquito-like ways.

[Wheres Toto]

No, I am not a good cook.

Everyone knows I am not a good cook.

I have little to no interest in food or cooking.

I cook because it is necessary.

 

This except I don't cook because it's necessary.  I rarely cook at all because dh does all the cooking here.

 

I can cook enough basics that we don't starve when dh isn't here (he -very rarely- travels for work).   I just like to keep it simple.  I can make eggs a variety of ways (omelets, over easy, scrambled), pasta, chicken and dumplings (using bisquick), corned beef and cabbage.  I usually stick with frozen and/or microwavable stuff.

[Wheres Toto]

One of my dc once told me that I "make the best Froot Loops ever" !!!  Does that count?

 

My cooking is a work in progress.  When I got married I knew how to make macaroni and fish sticks and not much else.  I am a much better cook now, but I don't know if I would call myself a "good" cook.  I would give myself a C+.

 

LOL. My kids tell me I make the best boxed macaroni and cheese.  I don't follow the measurements, I usually make it with more butter and milk so it's slightly saucier than usual.

[regentrude]

Yes, I think I am a good cook. My friends share that opinion.

 

I cook from scratch daily and can prepare tasty meals from the ingredients in my kitchen without needing a recipe. I feel comfortable inventing or tweaking recipes and substituting ingredients, coming up with my own flavor combinations, etc.

I have reasonably good technique and can follow recipes. I feel confident trying out new recipes using unfamiliar ingredients.

I love cooking for company. I am not quite as excited about cooking daily meals my picky eater will enjoy - but I do it anyway.

Edited January 31, 2016 by regentrude

[KungFuPanda]

I'm good. I'd say very good. I'm not Super Chef good. I like to cook when I FEEL like it. I believe that anyone with interest, persistence, AND decent taste buds can cook.

 

Some people seem unable to taste things. It's like tone deafness for the tongue. Those people shouldn't cook or should have someone with a less impaired tongue reality-check their recipes. Some people just don't care, and they just need to get a collection of easy recipes. There are also people who got discouraged after a fail and labeled themselves Bad cooks. They should keep trying because most decent cooks who venture past simple recipes have produced a flop or two.

 

Food is a bit of a hobby to me, so I'm constantly learning. 95% of my Pinterest activity is food related. I LOVE those little videos that just show the recipe quickly while playing background music and printing the amounts on the screen. I'm visual, so this is a dream for me. I have the ingredients in the house for the next one I'm going to try.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I can be.  If I'm harried or in pain, then not really, because I'm just focused on getting something edible out there for people to eat.  In fact it doesn't even have to be that edible!  But days like today when I have time and I'm having a low pain day, I've gone over numerous recipes and blogs and have taken a bit of this and a bit of that and have tweaked it a bit here and there and have a new recipe in the oven that I think will be great.  I would even feel comfortable serving it to guests without having tasted it first because I know what goes together and have confidence in the cooking processes. 

[Barb_]

I'm good. I'd say very good. I'm not Super Chef good. I like to cook when I FEEL like it. I believe that anyone with interest, persistence, AND decent taste buds can cook.

 

Some people seem unable to taste things. It's like tone deafness for the tongue. Those people shouldn't cook or should have someone with a less impaired tongue reality-check their recipes. Some people just don't care, and they just need to get a collection of easy recipes. There are also people who got discouraged after a fail and labeled themselves Bad cooks. They should keep trying because most decent cooks who venture past simple recipes have produced a flop or two.

 

Food is a bit of a hobby to me, so I'm constantly learning. 95% of my Pinterest activity is food related. I LOVE those little videos that just show the recipe quickly while playing background music and printing the amounts on the screen. I'm visual, so this is a dream for me. I have the ingredients in the house for the next one I'm going to try.

I love and agree with everything about this post. I produced a lot of flops in the early days. The Internet has been incredibly helpful and I can't imagine trying to tackle something new without YouTube or foodnetwork or King Arthur flour or epicuriuous. The Internet has taken the place of the education other generations got from their female relatives. My mom was a better than average cook, but she produced food by magic. I can't recall any time I ever helped her in the kitchen. I was a mess when I first got out on my own! I remember being so confused the first time chicken breast went bad in the fridge. I didn't realize it would go bad as long as it stayed cold :D

[solascriptura]

Yes, I am. 😉 I started cooking dinner for my family at 11 or so because we were latch key kids. I enjoy cooking and baking and watching others enjoy my food too.

[KungFuPanda]

I will say this though. While I may be a good cook for my family out of necessity, I don't consider baking desserts to be a requirement, and I hate it worse than cooking. So I only bake on their birthdays or if I'm assigned a dessert at Christmas to take to a family celebration. Dh makes desserts when he needs them for work.

I'm sooooo not interested in deserts beyond birthday cakes and Christmas cookies. I make decent bread, and have an amazing sourdough starter. However, I don't count pastry chef skills among those necessary to call yourself a good cook. If I'm putting in the effort I want to produce a meal. I also don't like that you can't taste/adjust along the way. Dd is much more interested in baking, so it evens out.

[PrairieSong]

Yes, I'm a good cook. I started out knowing only a few basics. My mom gave me a cookbook from the 50's which I used until it fell apart. I love trying new recipes, but I also love making foods that are a tradition in our family. Most of the time I cook without a recipe. My mom was a fantastic cook. She read Gourmet and Bon Appetit magazines for fun and watched old cooking shows like Julia Child and the Galloping Gourmet, if anyone remembers him. It's funny that she didn't teach me how. My kids have been my helpers since they could reach the counter. They can all cook. One is a fantastic cook.

[Laurel]

I'm a good cook. I enjoy cooking, and I love to cook for other people. At work, I love opening up the fridge, seeing what's available for ingredients, and coming up with a delicious well-balanced meal.

 

I grew up baking and cooking. I started baking pretty young, as I've always loved sweets, but we never had any at home unless I made them. My mother insisted that everyone help make dinner every night, which I think is one of the most important things she did. It was great family time, and everyone was invested in the meal, and it ensured that we all grew up learning basic kitchen skills.

[wintermom]

Nope. I`m not good, but I`m adequate. I make most things from scratch to keep it healthy, and I`ve learned how to make enough meals to get the family fed and satisfied. I rarely bake - other than pizza - as I`ve got a sweet tooth and would eat far too much.

 

I`d probably try to be a little more creative if my dc and dh were more adventurous eaters. They are broadening their tastes, though.  There are too many other fun things I`d rather be doing than cooking. Right now cooking is a pinch more than an endless chore and a huge act of love for the family. It`s also a struggle to feed everyone healthy food within a budget and with limited time.

[SKL]

No, that isn't a skill I ever cared to hone.  :)

 

I don't cook for other people unless it's a very tried and true recipe.

[Guest]

I'm just curious what you would say about yourself. Not necessarily what others would say about you.

 

If you say yes - why? What makes you a good cook? What has helped you to get there? When did it change for you from managing to get food into people's mouths because it's a necessity and your becoming a good cook?

 

 

 

And if no -

do others say you are but you don't think so?

What defines a "good cook" in your mind?

 

 

I ask

1) I lack confidence in cooking but my family/friends think I'm good at it. I wonder when this will change for me. I think there are so many things to learn - I just learned the premise of hot pan/cold fat for goodness sake! I couldn't fry an egg without it sticking five months ago.

 

2) I am ready to get seriously into cooking (whatever that means). Maybe professional classes, school, making it more of apart of my life than it already is.(Most days I'm cooking for 7-10 people). I'm not sure what that means or where it will take me but I'm excited to get better and want it to mean more - impact more than just our own bellies?idk - than just for my peeps and the crew of guests we host after church and for dinners.

I say I am a good cook and a good baker. I think others say this about me, too. (Although today is not a good example, because my GF cobbler muffins were kinda fail!)

 

I think the #1 thing that makes someone a good cook and/or baker is effort. (Closely followed by good ingredients. Not necessarily expensive ingredients, but ripe/fresh/local and good quality.) The people I know who have a bad rep for being a poor cook do not put in adequate effort. They look for the quickest and easiest way to have the goal food. So, I have known a poor cook who doesn't know why I would make a pot of chili, when there is such a thing as Hormel canned chili; or why I would make a loaf of artisan bread when you can buy one at Safeway. This same person said to me once that she never made homemade mashed potatoes because it takes too long to get dinner ready that way. That sorta dumbfounds me.

 

Now - I do think the Next Level of being a good cook (or especially baking) is when you understand food science well enough to Iron Chef your own recipe and have it come out delicious. I don't think every person can necessarily get to that point, just as not everybody who can play "Hot Crossed Buns" on the piano can improv out a beautiful classical piano piece. BUT, I do think following beginner and intermediate recipes is well within the grasp of every literate person and think every person can be at least a decent cook after a few years of doing so.

 

I credit my own cooking skills to this method. First, I followed a lot of recipes that were fairly fool proof. I watched a lot of cooking shows (still do), which is where I learned many more nuanced things like making a roux or how to make a pan sauce.

 

It is always mystifying to me with shows like the Worst Cooks show, or even some things people have told me IRL. I don't understand how you can burn a roast black, say, or undercook your cake so badly it is goo inside. I DO understand how you can make more garden-variety mistakes, like burning a milk-based sauce or forgetting you were doubling the recipe and so you under-use some ingredient. But totally ruined food on a regular basis? I don't get that.

[matrips]

I make good food and kids think I'm the best. :)

 

I make a variety of meals and go through several phases a year of trying lots of new things to see what we might like. most items are from scratch. I think my husband's lucky. :)

 

But a good cook to me can look in any fridge and whip something delicious up. No recipes. And makes something that's not typical fare (Unlike the burgers and homemade Mac and cheese we had tonight.). But that and pasta are my specialties on kid sleepover nights.

And a good cook has the confidence to cook for anyone.

I'm not even fit to be in the same kitchen as the master chef kids! I don't know where people come up with stuff like the meals I see. But we are not fancy people, and my mom is Irish. So considering what I started with, I've come far!