I'm not much of a cook either but I'm also a picky eater, so those two go hand in hand. I really enjoy reading books where food plays a central role. A book gets bonus points for a have a recipe or two thrown in. Food brings up memories for so many people. Thanks for the recommendations.
I loved this post and I'm really enjoying your newsletter. I love to cook, but only if I have the time to devote. Nothing worse than cooking just to eat. I had a dear friend and mentor Julie who basically taught me to cook over many years. She was fifteen years my senior and probably the best cook I've ever met. Every once in a while she'd call me at about 3:00 and say, "wanna learn how to make xxx?" I'd drop whatever I was doing to race across the street to spend the next few hours cooking with Julie. We'd laugh and cook and share whatever was on our minds. She sadly passed some years back. But I definitely dedicate days in my kitchen to this day "cooking with Julie" if only in spirit. I actually will be posting about this in my newsletter likely next week if you wanna drop in. Thanks again for this lovely post. 💟
Thanks, Sue. I would love to read more about cooking with Julie! There’s nothing like learning from an enthusiastic cook. My mom taught me the basics before I left home, so I’m not completely unskilled, but I’ll admit, I did not pursue lessons in any of complicated dishes/desserts that she could have taught me. As a kid, I would just swoop in when I would hear the oven door opening, whenever there was a tray of cookies or a turkey in there -- and I still do this, at 42. Maybe one of these days I’ll turn up and actually pay attention before this moment!
Ha, I can relate completely, Rosalynn. I had no interest in cooking when I was young. I just wanted to sew. I'm sure my mother tried. I didn't know how to turn on an oven when I moved out on my own. And like you, I was very content watching someone else cooking. It was my love for Julie that brought me to the kitchen. If I had to cook to spend time with her, then by God I'd learn to cook. She likely was taking pity on me and my lack of cooking skills, helping me learn a few culinary tricks. She changed my life in many ways, the least of which was learning how to cook. 💟
This was a beautiful post. I fondly remember my mother's homemade carrot cake as well as the frozen fish sticks and peas we had for dinner several nights a week. I loved it all, because I knew she made it for me.
And you are exactly the kind of person I love to cook/bake for—I truly despise dishes and absolutely love making something for someone that will truly be excited to eat it and know how much went into it. I am always amazed when I find dishes-lovers IRL!
Thank you :) I totally understand why so many people hate dishes. Maybe I’m in the minority on this but I love them because, unlike cooking, the results are entirely predictable and satisfying. I don’t have to think about the task itself, so I can just let my mind wander or wear my headphones and listen to a podcast. If I’m washing and someone else is drying, that’s great too - many good conversations happen over dishes, I find.
Love to bake, hate to cook. It's compounded by the fact that my husband has disliked home cooking since he was a child. Many nights the kids and I eat what I cooked and my husband will eat a bowl of cereal, or go to McDonalds. In nearly thirty years together, I've probably made five meals that he's actually enjoyed eating. It used to hit me hard in the self-esteem but I let it go. And he'll always eat what I bake. :)
My husband was also fond of both McDonald’s and cereal when we met - and I don’t think my cooking did much to diminish that. Maybe it even had the opposite effect, over time 😂
Last question first: yes. Also yes to oatmeal on more than one occasion as we edged towards the end of the month when my son was young. I love to eat and I love to make certain kinds of meals. I specialized for years in the "30-minutes or less" to prepare variety and I make a really amazing salad or soup with whatever is in the fridge. Oddly, meals these days have taken on more importance and preparing them has too. I have more time to do it and someone to eat the food with.
Oh, thank you for saying that. I have never done oatmeal at dinner time but only because I hadn’t thought of it!
You know, I think there is a world of difference in cooking for a fellow adult versus cooking for kids. My partner would appreciate and like (or at least convincingly pretend to like) the food. I suspect this is a major factor in my current attitude toward cooking - in which case, maybe it will change as my fellow diners and circumstances do. Maybe there’s hope for me yet!
I love food as a central character, too. I read cookbooks and food-related magazines the way a little kid reads picture books. Sometimes I do read the text and imagine myself in the story, but I know I’m not really going to try it at home, 99% of the time. And I really like the pictures 😂.
I'm not much of a cook either but I'm also a picky eater, so those two go hand in hand. I really enjoy reading books where food plays a central role. A book gets bonus points for a have a recipe or two thrown in. Food brings up memories for so many people. Thanks for the recommendations.
I loved this post and I'm really enjoying your newsletter. I love to cook, but only if I have the time to devote. Nothing worse than cooking just to eat. I had a dear friend and mentor Julie who basically taught me to cook over many years. She was fifteen years my senior and probably the best cook I've ever met. Every once in a while she'd call me at about 3:00 and say, "wanna learn how to make xxx?" I'd drop whatever I was doing to race across the street to spend the next few hours cooking with Julie. We'd laugh and cook and share whatever was on our minds. She sadly passed some years back. But I definitely dedicate days in my kitchen to this day "cooking with Julie" if only in spirit. I actually will be posting about this in my newsletter likely next week if you wanna drop in. Thanks again for this lovely post. 💟
Thanks, Sue. I would love to read more about cooking with Julie! There’s nothing like learning from an enthusiastic cook. My mom taught me the basics before I left home, so I’m not completely unskilled, but I’ll admit, I did not pursue lessons in any of complicated dishes/desserts that she could have taught me. As a kid, I would just swoop in when I would hear the oven door opening, whenever there was a tray of cookies or a turkey in there -- and I still do this, at 42. Maybe one of these days I’ll turn up and actually pay attention before this moment!
Ha, I can relate completely, Rosalynn. I had no interest in cooking when I was young. I just wanted to sew. I'm sure my mother tried. I didn't know how to turn on an oven when I moved out on my own. And like you, I was very content watching someone else cooking. It was my love for Julie that brought me to the kitchen. If I had to cook to spend time with her, then by God I'd learn to cook. She likely was taking pity on me and my lack of cooking skills, helping me learn a few culinary tricks. She changed my life in many ways, the least of which was learning how to cook. 💟
This was a beautiful post. I fondly remember my mother's homemade carrot cake as well as the frozen fish sticks and peas we had for dinner several nights a week. I loved it all, because I knew she made it for me.
And you are exactly the kind of person I love to cook/bake for—I truly despise dishes and absolutely love making something for someone that will truly be excited to eat it and know how much went into it. I am always amazed when I find dishes-lovers IRL!
Thank you :) I totally understand why so many people hate dishes. Maybe I’m in the minority on this but I love them because, unlike cooking, the results are entirely predictable and satisfying. I don’t have to think about the task itself, so I can just let my mind wander or wear my headphones and listen to a podcast. If I’m washing and someone else is drying, that’s great too - many good conversations happen over dishes, I find.
Love to bake, hate to cook. It's compounded by the fact that my husband has disliked home cooking since he was a child. Many nights the kids and I eat what I cooked and my husband will eat a bowl of cereal, or go to McDonalds. In nearly thirty years together, I've probably made five meals that he's actually enjoyed eating. It used to hit me hard in the self-esteem but I let it go. And he'll always eat what I bake. :)
My husband was also fond of both McDonald’s and cereal when we met - and I don’t think my cooking did much to diminish that. Maybe it even had the opposite effect, over time 😂
Last question first: yes. Also yes to oatmeal on more than one occasion as we edged towards the end of the month when my son was young. I love to eat and I love to make certain kinds of meals. I specialized for years in the "30-minutes or less" to prepare variety and I make a really amazing salad or soup with whatever is in the fridge. Oddly, meals these days have taken on more importance and preparing them has too. I have more time to do it and someone to eat the food with.
Oh, thank you for saying that. I have never done oatmeal at dinner time but only because I hadn’t thought of it!
You know, I think there is a world of difference in cooking for a fellow adult versus cooking for kids. My partner would appreciate and like (or at least convincingly pretend to like) the food. I suspect this is a major factor in my current attitude toward cooking - in which case, maybe it will change as my fellow diners and circumstances do. Maybe there’s hope for me yet!
I love food as a central character, too. I read cookbooks and food-related magazines the way a little kid reads picture books. Sometimes I do read the text and imagine myself in the story, but I know I’m not really going to try it at home, 99% of the time. And I really like the pictures 😂.