{"id":301,"date":"2008-09-07T12:54:03","date_gmt":"2008-09-07T17:54:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thisfoodthing.wordpress.com\/?p=301"},"modified":"2008-09-07T12:54:03","modified_gmt":"2008-09-07T17:54:03","slug":"the-fun-of-cooking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thisfoodthing.com\/index.php\/2008\/09\/07\/the-fun-of-cooking\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fun Of Cooking"},"content":{"rendered":"

I write another blog — one that Sander and I just started, and our topic this week was about cooking, so I thought I would post my part of it here.\u00a0 To read the full article, and Sanders part of this article, go to Beer or Wine – Two Continents, Two Countries, Two People, Two Opinions – One Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Fun Of\u00a0Cooking, from Beer or Wine
\n<\/a><\/h2>\n

7<\/span> 09<\/span> 2008<\/span><\/p>\n

Michelle:<\/h4>\n

When my mother was around 9, her own mother died.\u00a0Being the girl of the family, with her father and brother as the males (and it being 1957, to boot), she was left to the cooking and cleaning.\u00a0 She learned to cook a few good dishes, and, when she had visits with her Grandmother (rarely, as they lived about 700 miles apart), she was taught a bit more. Instead of being happy about cooking, she learned to hate it.<\/p>\n

So, when I was old enough to have an interest in cooking, she let me make cookies, cakes, pies, breads and such.\u00a0 But she didn\u2019t teach me how to cook meals.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t want me burdened with having to cook.\u00a0 About the only thing I did learn, other than how to bake (because that was a fun thing to do, according to her), was to prep vegetables and\u00a0make popcorn.<\/p>\n

Lets just put it this way\u00a0\u2013 I could peel a potato really well, prep vegetables so that they look amazing, and I was an expert in the art of popcorn making.\u00a0 When I first moved to New York, not knowing how to cook anything, I lived on popcorn and Dr. Pepper for about a year.\u00a0 I still love popcorn, and can\u2019t live without my Dr. Pepper ;)<\/p>\n

I remember very clearly, one of my\u00a0roommates in tears over my preparation of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t realize the water had to be boiling \/before\/ you put the macaroni in the water.\u00a0 I ended up with a gluey mess that really wasn\u2019t edible for most people, but being so hungry that I ate it anyway.\u00a0 Anna,\u00a0the roommate I mentioned above, taught me some of the basics\u00a0\u2013 that\u00a0you need to boil water before the macaroni is put in, that\u00a0letting an\u00a0egg sit in the\u00a0pot full of warm water for about 10 minutes before you actually cook it, bringing the egg and the water to the same temperature, kept the egg\u00a0from splitting\u00a0and cracking when it was boiled.<\/p>\n

Once I got married, I learned a whole new lesson\u00a0\u2013 I knew next to nothing about cooking and my husband expected actual meals, as if by saying \u201cI do\u201d at the alter, it immediately made me a cook.\u00a0 My whole experience of cooking up until then consisted of using a can opener to \u201cmake soup\u201d, pre-packaged \u201cadd milk & butter, mix, heat \u00a0and stir\u201d meals.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know the difference between elbow, lasagna, or ziti pasta.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t realize that sausage for dinner was not the same thing as breakfast sausage.\u00a0 And the only way I knew to cook chicken was to bake it with a can of some condensed cream soup.<\/p>\n

So I got out the cook books I had received as gifts for my\u00a0wedding\u00a0\u2013 The Joy Of Cooking<\/a> \"\"<\/a>(1975 version of the book), and Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook.\u00a0 I began reading The Joy Of Cooking and, though I really wasn\u2019t interested in some of it (Sweetbreads, for example), it did teach me a lot.\u00a0 I followed recipes literally and very exactly, with no deviation whatsoever.\u00a0 I would pick up a cooking magazine, or a new cookbook every once in a while, and make a new recipe, or ask people for theirs.<\/p>\n

Once I got familiar with cooking, I was still afraid of it.\u00a0 It literally made me nervous.\u00a0 I was always afraid what I cooked would come out terrible and I was unsure of techniques that the cookbooks talked about.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t understand even the simplest things\u00a0\u2013 braising vs broiling, boiling vs simmering, saute vs frying.<\/p>\n

I started to watch cooking shows, most notably, Emeril<\/a>.\u00a0 Though I really didn\u2019t care for how he presented his show, I learned so much from him.\u00a0 Namely.. how *not* to be afraid of cooking.\u00a0 He made food seem fun.\u00a0 He, it seemed, would just throw ideas together, and come up with good food.<\/p>\n

But by far, the person who taught me to lose my fear of cooking forever was Alton Brown<\/a>.\u00a0 I\u2019m one of those people who *need* to know What, Where, When, How and Why for everything, and Alton Brown, on his show \u201cGood Eats<\/a>\u201d teaches just that.\u00a0 The show can be silly, is always quirky, but is always full of useful knowledge about the what, where, when, how and why.\u00a0 I\u2019ve watched him since the very first episode 12 years ago, and always have fun\u00a0learning new things.\u00a0 Or just watching his interaction with \u201cThing\u201d ;)<\/p>\n

About the same time I discovered Alton Brown, I also discovered a magazine.\u00a0 I was always buying cooking magazines, which were filled with hundreds of recipes.\u00a0 There was usually some theme to the recipes, but these magazines always made me feel as if I was missing something.\u00a0 One afternoon, I picked up Cooks Illustrated<\/a>, took it home, and read it cover to cover.\u00a0 The magazine contains no advertising at all, and usually contains between 10 and 15 recipes.\u00a0 Not a lot at all.\u00a0 But what the magazine lacks in quantity of recipes is by far made up for with the quality of the recipes themselves.\u00a0 A typical recipe is given after a lengthy discussion about how the recipe goes together, how the author of the article made the recipe, what changes were made to it, and why.\u00a0 And How.<\/p>\n

So, between Alton and CI,\u00a0 I learned cooking terminology, about pots and pans, knives and whisks; how to mix spices and herbs to create amazing flavor, why flavors work, and what flavors don\u2019t, but most importantly I lost my fear of cooking and learned to love it.\u00a0 And to love to experiment.\u00a0 I would challenge myself to create new recipes, trying new things, with old things, and seeing what worked, and what didn\u2019t.\u00a0 I really had a lot of fun, and still do.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve found out, over the years, that cooking is one of the things that makes me who I am.\u00a0 I love to cook.\u00a0 I\u2019ve cooked for crowds of 75+, I\u2019ve cooked 7 course fine dining type of meals; I can make fun and interesting amuse bouche<\/a>; unusual appetizers that people actually beg for more.\u00a0 But for the most part, I\u2019ve learned to love simple foods, good flavors, create interesting ideas, and I\u2019m never afraid to try something new.<\/p>\n

Mexican food has always been a favorite of mine, and I enjoy making that type of food a lot, but I\u2019ve learned to cook everything from Cuban, Brazilian, \u00a0Asian \u2014 Chinese, Korean, Thai, to Italian, Greek, Portuguese, and of course, a lot of regional American.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve taken a couple of cooking classes, too.\u00a0 Intro to Basic Cooking \u2014 where I learned why Kosher Salt is so much better to cook with, in certain dishes, and how to slice a tomato, and Knife Skills, where learned that a sharp knife won\u2019t cut me and leave a bloody trail across the kitchen.\u00a0 And Asian Fusion class \u2014 which wasn\u2019t really my cup of tea, since the \u201cFusion\u201d was French, and I\u2019m pretty much a Non-French Food kinda person.<\/p>\n

Since my divorce, I\u2019ve cooked less \u2014 less people to cook for, but when I do cook, I have a blast doing it.\u00a0 I have been teaching my son to cook over the last 2 or three years, and last year, I was persuaded by Sander to create a blog<\/a> for my recipes.\u00a0 I really enjoy sharing what I have learned, and the recipes I\u2019ve created, or just recipes that I love there.<\/p>\n

Madam Benoit says exactly how I feel about cooking:<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel a recipe is only a theme, which an intelligent cook can play each time with a variation.\u201d<\/p>\n

I guess, in conclusion, cooking, for me, is just a fun expression of myself, in the same way\u00a0art\u00a0is.\u00a0 \u00a0It can be masterful, or just ordinary, but it is always interesting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I write another blog — one that Sander and I just started, and our topic this week was about cooking, so I thought I would post my part of it here.\u00a0 To read the full article, and Sanders part of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[160,174,22],"class_list":["post-301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-food","tag-fun-of-cooking","tag-misc"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thisfoodthing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thisfoodthing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thisfoodthing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thisfoodthing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thisfoodthing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/thisfoodthing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thisfoodthing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thisfoodthing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thisfoodthing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}