Who taught you.........

[HoDeDo]

My Mom kicked off the spark... It was due to Dr. Spock ( the child psychologist, not the Vulcan ). She read the following: If your child does not like a food, have them help you make it. Essentially something to the effect of, the idea that the investment they had in it, would make them want to enjoy the finished product, etc. And it would not be mysterious to them anymore, etc, etc.

I was not a fan of eggs as a small child (4ish, per the story). To this day, I dont eat plain eggs, they need to be part of something, or in something. a plain egg just isnt something I will eat. So my Mom, had me scramble an egg, and then (with her guidance) cook it up! I really enjoyed cooking it, and stirring up the egg with the wisk, so she thought sure I would gobble it up... I promply took the finished product and sprinkled it with some seasoning (probably Cavenders), and then presented to my Mom, with the statement" "Look what I made for you!!". I foiled her plan. but, that is the point at which she portends to have started my love for cooking.

I didnt pay much attention to the BBQ efforts from Dad until I was 10-12. and didnt really dip my toe in the waters of cooking with fire until I was 14-15. Now my Dad, Uncle, and other of their friends will tell you THAT is when I really got a love for cooking rolling.
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Mom wins the argument. I remember going to summer cooking and baking classes as a kid (instead of art/science stuff that the summer programs offered). I also remember just making things from random cookbooks for fun. Cherries Jubilee!, A mushroom chicken roulade, and a white wine vidalia onion risotto was the first dinner I cooked for my parents, if I recall. My sister would set out candles, and make a big "to do" about it (coloring menus too, if I recall)... and I put on the apron and chefs beret, cooked like crazy...

I have loved cooking as long as I can remember. Thanks Mom and Dad for fostering that! But I have to give it to Mom and Dad on all the fronts. They backed anything I wanted to do.... because I tend to be maniacal in my pursuit of things, they put up with alot. I was a musician (even minored in performance @ KU), I was in theatre (think lots of rehersals, as well as learning, lighting, sound, stage mgmt, and ITS troupe), I loved cooking, and I loved science. (had enough hours I Could have also had a minor in organic chemistry - sick huh).

So if I showed interest in something, they let it grow, which likely ate into alot of thier time, and money (among other things). So my parents are fine cooks, but also fine parents. and hats off to them everyday, not just fathers/mothers day. I think that gets us back to the beginning of the thread... father's day.

 

[CarterQ]

Great stuff everyone!

 

[MAK DADDY]

Necessity.

My parents made few meals that I would eat as I grew up, so if I didn't like what they had planned I had to cook my own or go hungry. .

LOL, thats me too! The worst was corn fritters, cant you just make a normal pancake? Probably plenty of folks that like them but YUK

 

[Memphis]

My Mom taught me how to cook. She is a very good cook and makes a couple of specialty dishes that I have not been able to duplicate. I only get these dishes during the holidays and the whole family talks about them. She cooks by taste much of time so the recipes are not written down. You have to take good notes in short hand to have a chance of getting close... I did a fair amount of cooking at the local diners when I was growing up. I tried to pick up a few tips and tricks along the way but cooking for me was fairly straight forward comfort food. I did some grilling but did not get passionate about cooking a wider variety of foods until I started cooking on the pellet grill. Big Poppa poined me in the direction of a couple good cook books and now, I try to cook everyting on the grill.

 

[Elderberry]

I noticed this thread a couple of weeks back and it's caused me to reflect some. Good memories. Great thread....

Both my grandmothers were wonderful cooks. My maternal grandmother was Croation and made the best Povitica I ever had -- even better than her 7 sisters or 3 brothers could make (they were all good cooks). My paternal grandmother was a school cafeteria cook for years so she know how to cook in volume. She also made the world's best homemade egg noodles, bar none. My Dad and both his brothers inherited her cooking skills and could make her noodles. I can't. I also can't make my Dad's hush puppies and none I've ever tasted seem as good. I wish I would have learned how to make my Mom's polenta -- it seemed such a simple dish but apparently it's not.

A lot of what I know about cooking, which isn't much, I learned from watching those folks cook. Unfortunately, they are all long since gone from this world and while I can approximate some of the things they cooked it just never seems to match my memories. Perhaps it never does....

I can follow a cookbook or the chefs on tv. I do a pretty decent job frying fish and my grilling is not too bad either. My wife loves my soups and I know my way around the kitchen well enough to do some decent Italian and Mexican too. I don't cook many fancy dishes, but rather the peasant dishes of my heritage and the good hearty working man's meals. I like The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American and Cooking for Jack Nicholson has some fun low-fat Italian recipes. My autographed copy of Peace, Love and Barbeque has a special place in my collection of BBQ books and having family in southern Illinois gives me an excuse to stop by 17th Street BBQ every summer and have some of Mike's fantastic food. Just writing that sentence makes me salivate....

And while I can bake, it's not nearly as good as my wife's or my mother-in-law's efforts. It's also pretty clear I'll never be a chef. Or even a really good technical cook. But I don't care. I love doing it. It makes me feel good. And the results have slowly improved over the years. I can prepare things that people seem to enjoy and I have a great time doing it. What could be better than that..???

So who taught me..???? Well, everyone. And no one. I've never attended a class but I'm still learning. I learned from those people up above and as soon as my new MAK gets here I look forward to the excitement of trying some of the things I am learning from you folks on here. So to borrow a phrase, for me learning to cook is all about the journey and not the destination. And that's plenty good enough for me.....

JJ...

 

[Big Poppa]

Great Post!!!!

 

[KimG SOW]

I didn't learn a whole lot while I was a small child. Mom worked nights and Dad worked days, both nurses. Then mom died when I was 12. Learned some stuff from Dad, but nothing fancy. Step-Mom came into the picture and learned a little more.

After dating Andy for about a year, I started picking up somethings. Learned more things from his mom. Learned even more stuff over the past 16 years. I can now throw things together pretty well.

Thanks to my Aunts, I have my Grandma Jean's (Mom's mom who died of ALS when I was 20) Cinnamon/Sticky Buns and Tea Ring recipe. We usually get together and make a ton at Thanksgiving and then at Christmas. My girls have helped make them since they were 1.