Re:By becoming a cook, you can leave processed foods behind
by HeyLaughingBoy on Saturday January 01, 2011 @08:27PM
(#2059066)
As an only child of a single parent, the responsibility for the evening meal fell to me
Same here. Mom couldn't afford much convenience food, so I learned to go to the butcher down the street -- 25 years ago in Brooklyn, NY there were still neighborhood butchers. Wonder if they're still there -- and get chicken/ground beef/etc, season it and either cook it following her instructions or wait until she came home to finish the meal. Learning basic cooking techniques from an early age (I started baking around age 9 and I'm bringing my son up the same way) means they became second nature without me even realizing it. I think it's that automatic response that is most important to learn; "I'm hungry" means I start thinking about what ingredients are on hand that I can cook quickly, not what boxed meal I can microwave.
I still remember being amazed post-college at how helpless my roommate was (Burger King every night or detailed instructions from his gf on how to make cinnamon sugar toast!).
Same here. Mom couldn't afford much convenience food, so I learned to go to the butcher down the street -- 25 years ago in Brooklyn, NY there were still neighborhood butchers. Wonder if they're still there -- and get chicken/ground beef/etc, season it and either cook it following her instructions or wait until she came home to finish the meal. Learning basic cooking techniques from an early age (I started baking around age 9 and I'm bringing my son up the same way) means they became second nature without me even realizing it. I think it's that automatic response that is most important to learn; "I'm hungry" means I start thinking about what ingredients are on hand that I can cook quickly, not what boxed meal I can microwave.
I still remember being amazed post-college at how helpless my roommate was (Burger King every night or detailed instructions from his gf on how to make cinnamon sugar toast!).