mirror ball 75: learning to cook

Whether or not you feel proficient at it now, there was a time when you really didn't know how to cook a thing. Maybe you were a child when you first started to learn, or maybe it was a lot more recently. 

Do you remember an early cooking or baking experience? Did you have a childhood culinary specialty? Did you enjoy or dread your time at the stove? What comes to mind when you think back on learning to cook?

Whether or not you feel proficient at it now, there was a time when you really didn't know how to cook a thing. Maybe you were a child when you first started to learn, or maybe it was a lot more recently. 

Do you remember an early cooking or baking experience? Did you have a childhood culinary specialty? Did you enjoy or dread your time at the stove? What comes to mind when you think back on learning to cook?

John S:
When I was very young and my siblings were already in grade school one of them brought home a simple white bread recipe that they had made in class. We kids subsequently made it a lot at home, and in a way it still defines what I think bread "should" taste like. The dough was just given a single rise (perfect for impatient kids), so even after baking the dough had a VERY yeasty flavor. My mom later told me she thought it was pretty awful, but man, I loved that smell. And I would squeeze big handfuls of the (probably slightly underbaked) white bread in my hands to make instant chewy, VERY yeasty "dumplings" with my fingerprints all over them. I want some right now!

Steve:
I remember the very distinctively designed Peanuts Cookbook (small square format and pink/dark green colors) that I had as a child and from which I made the Lucy's Lemon Squares recipe many, many times. This book must have been published in the early '70's.

I also remember cutting a chart out of a magazine like McCall's, probably around the same time. It was a "make your own casserole recipe" chart; the idea was to choose one item from each column (one starch, one variety of cream soup, one canned vegetable, one canned meat) and, cleverly, whatever combination you chose you'd produce a delicious, original casserole. I think it didn't take me too long to realize that they all tasted alike, but I was got a kick out of the concept and felt like a creative cook.

Lori:

I have a distinct memory of being 7 or 8 years-old and helping my mother make a salad for dinner. She was baking a chicken and making rice, I think. And I remember breaking down in tears because I thought I would never be able to learn how to cook. Baking chicken seemed like an unattainable task. And I had visions of being an adult and not knowing how to make food for myself when my mom wasn't around anymore. I think she was slightly amused by my childhood anxiety attack and told me not to worry, that I would learn things slowly. I think about that sometimes when I make my "easy" meal: baked chicken, rice, and salad.

Laura Liz:

Two things come to mind:

1) I remember that, when my stepmom taught me to cook as a child, she made sure that I understood the power of showing someone love through food. To this day, cooking for others is a spiritual experience, a really neat kind of meditation on the love I have for my recipient. Plating a meal to be visually appealing, using a special kind of salt for a special person, and garnishes (hell yeah, garnishes!). It's all important. She never said it out loud, but she *showed* me by the way she cooked. She made me a little recipe book where I'd write down the things we made together, which I still have. And she didn't just have me make simple things. From a young age, she had me help with the fancy stuff (eggs benedict, for example). When my dad couldn't work and we were struggling, she taught me that the garnishes and fancy names for things were all the more important. It helped us believe that we were doing fine, and were going to make things work. "You don't have to be a rich kid to be able to try those things at a restaurant, just learn to make them yourself," was what she would tell me. We found ways to eat like royalty on a pauper's budget, and that's a skill I'm proud to say I still have.

2) In college I dated a man who came from a family of chefs from Mexico. I had been having a bit of a strange time earlier that year, and been neglecting to do that oft-forgotten self love stuff, including cooking with love. He woke that up in me again, in a new way. I made my first creme brulee with that man. We closed our eyes as we simultaneously took those first bites. We had a table and a bit of physical distance between us but it felt like the best makeout session ever, just eating slowly, in silence, gazing at each other between bites. He couldn't believe it was my first time making creme brulee because of how good they turned out. Or at least he said that to get me into bed, which totally worked.

Phoebe:

When I was a child my favorite food was scrambled eggs. I couldn't get enough of them. So when I was about 5 years old my parents taught me how to scramble one egg in our small one egg sized cast iron pan. 

Add pasta and and hamburger meat to the mix and you have the extent of my cooking until a couple years ago. I was the first to say "I don't cook," so most of my meals were bought at restaurants and delis.

After becoming a vegetarian and then vegan, I slowly learned that I can cook at home in the kitchen with my boyfriend. I can eat the same thing every night and be happy as can be. My boyfriend, on the other hand, likes variety. So I started trying new things. Rather than one "favorite meal" I added a few new dishes to the mix. 

In the last couple of years I watched all the affordable (cheap) lunch options close in the area where I work. I decided it was time to bring my lunch. Last winter I began making big pots of soup or chili on Sundays. I realized, to my surprise, that I like to cook, and that it is a great way to let the ideas flow. Now I look forward to cooking! Who would have thought!

Heather:
I’m a work in progress…the kitchen has been intimidating to me since my mom kicked me out of the kitchen growing up. Now, I enjoy trying new things & experimenting in the kitchen. My husband’s a chef so I watch & learn, then take my turn making new delights (usually).

Carolina:
Eggs!

Thinking on my experiences of middle childhood and the element of cooking, one task comes to mind, learning to cook eggs. Eggs are quite versatile in the culinary world and for good reason: protein and healthy cholesterol.   Benefits aside I remember being mesmerized by the transformative process the egg goes through as it’s cooking.

Tactile, visual, audio, and olfactory senses all engaged for the reward of a delicious breakfast treat. I saw cooking as something safe ( I wouldn’t get in trouble or have the fear of doing it wrong) that would have an immediate reward for me and my family members. My parents worked 2-3 jobs each when my brother was very young. I was the default babysitter. I also became the default babysitter for my mother’s friend (three kids the eldest just 3 yrs younger than me) who worked with her during those long after school hrs. So there I was, 12 yrs old and 4 little ones under my care for hours on end.

Eggs were my go to in my non-existent cooking repertoire.  I would make cooking silly and fun, involving the kiddos when I could, pretending to be the hen laying the eggs for a laugh, speaking in a made up totally inaccurate French accent or whatever silliness inspired me at the time. Cooking simple eggs helped me enjoy their company more. I was never too thrilled about babysitting all the kids virtually for free but I knew it wasn’t their fault. The eggies made it okay.

John M:

Cooking is one of the more joyous experiences that I took away from our local 4-H Club, "The Learn and Do Club."  Boys were generally tracked toward the Future Farmers of America (the FFA, the initials for which we were constantly finding new x-rated meanings), but I preferred the cooking and crafts classes, and I think all of the leaders recognized that I was not going to be much of a farmer (unlike my older sister who was great at dealing with the cattle and driving the tractor!)

The ladies who were the leaders loved me because I was a "nice boy," usually the only one in a  group of catty girls.  I learned to bake things, make a crudete with shaved carrots and french dressing, spaghetti sauce from scratch, burgers, other simple stuff.

I knew the basics when I left home, but it's only the last decade that I have really started to experiment and take great joy in it.

Charles:

I used to love to cook. It was how I connected with my mom, who was a phenomenal cook and baker. I was the only one who was allowed to assist her in the kitchen. My brother and father didn't cut the mustard...made me feel special, of course.

My fondest memory is from when I was in Junior High School. I'd been sick for a week and was finally feeling better and looking for something to do. "What about baking some bread", my mom asked. "You've always wanted to learn."..."Sounds great", I reply. She gives me a book and says to pick something.

Croissant. I pick croissant.

"Are you fucking kidding me?! Do you know how many pounds of butter I've thrown out trying to make croissant?!". I smile and say, "So?".

After the 6 or 7 hour process we bake the little buggers and they are perfect. We have a good laugh and enjoy the hell out of them. We laugh about it to this day. Even in her sometime confusion. I love those fucking croissant.