Just Curious Who Taught You How to Cook?

Well, I was an only child raised by a single mom in the 70's. So I was raised on TV dinners and boxed mac and cheese and spaghetti. So I'm not a good cook, nor do I like to cook. However, just today, a sweet mama on here shared makedinnereasy.com. It lists 5 dinners with recipes, and shopping lists. AND it even has the sides!!! I LOVE THIS!!! I think I can even do this and I'm going to try, I'm so exicted (can you tell??!!). So at 44, maybe there is hope for me after all!!! And hubby was home and I told him about it and he wants me to print it off and go shopping right now...lol! =)

5 moms found this helpful

From my hubby. =) My mom always cooked casserole stuff and my hubby hated that. When we got married, he taught me and my mom is impressed with my cooking...LOL

4 moms found this helpful

I learned the basics from my mother, but her cooking was really basic mostly because my father ate like a picky child... Since I became an adult I've been slowly teaching myself new types of cooking from cookbooks and by experimenting. It's been a slow process! but I think I'm a pretty good cook now.

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Me, myself, and I. My mom was not exactly the mentoring type, but I'm a fast learner. I just figured it out myself, and I must have a natural knack at it because I am pretty darn good at it too ;) YEAH I'm tooting my own horn! I never follow recipes, but read recipe books to get ideas on oven temperatures and cook times.

I can count on 1 hand the number of times my husband, in 5 years, has cooked for the family. He's no longer allowed in the kitchen, LOL!!

My 6 year old (the middle child) REALLY loves being in the kitchen with me, and not just to bug me, she is really good at baking and cooking and reading directions!! She's going to be great :)

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Paula Deen
Rachel Ray
Emerill Legasse
Sandra Lee
Bobby Flay
My Mom, MIL,
and myself.

My mom showed me how to cook certain dishes - lasagna, spaghetti, turkey. My MIL taught me how to cook country food - fried potoaoes, pinto beans, chicken fried steak. My friends gramma taught me cajun cooking, jambalya, gumbo, ettouffee.
The rest is watching food network, experimenting, trying things from allrecipies. I also always breakdown what I order at restaraunts and try to figure out how they are made and then go home and make my own version. I decide to learn something new and I set out to learn the most authentic, best version of it I can find.

3 moms found this helpful

My dad taught me how to make pancakes. Everything else just kind of came naturally (which annoys others because my instructions are things like 'cook it until it is done' or 'add some pepper'). When my grandmother was living, I used to help her in the kitchen so she probably helped to refine my cooking.

3 moms found this helpful

I learned a little of things from my mom but truth be told I've far surpassed her abilities years ago. No worries, she's expressed as much so I'm not being cocky. I've more or less taught myself. I've read numerous recipes and have adapted various cooking styles and techniques to my own tastes and abilities. I was not raised with a huge style of cooking techniques or even recipes for that matter. I say you can teach yourself and even enjoy taking a cooking class. :)

3 moms found this helpful

My mum and grandmother cooked every day. My dad cooked a couple times a week. I grew up with the kitchen being a hotbed of activity, but children were shoed out from underfoot.

One of my first jobs was in michelin star restaurant. I learned on the line.

I've been continuing to learn the rest of my life. From everyone around me. From pros, amateurs, books, tv, websites.

I've been teaching my son since he was a toddler. He stirred his first pan of eggs at around age 1 (and tore bread, lettuce, poured and stirred dry ingredients, etc.) between 1 & 2. It took longer when he was little, but the older he got, the more he could do, and over the years he's become QUITE a good 'prep cook'. At age 9 he plans and cooks at least one meal a week (with some help, still!), and suggests about half of our meals.

I don't "love" cooking... but I love food and companionship. One of the best things in life is a good glass of wine, sautee pans and knives going, and laughter in the kitchen. LOVE it. Whether it's just my son and I, or whether it's 8 of us 'cook-lucking' (like potlucking, but we just bring ingredients and cook at that person's house... everyone doing different dishes and helping out with everyone else).

I get burned out on cooking from time to time... in fact... I go on "strike" a couple times a year and kiddo and I eat out of the freezer & sandwhich drawer & cereal cupboard... but the rest of the year... I just love laughter in the kitchen. :) That's how I was taught (music going, people laughing and shouting, and ducking under... what crappy kitchens with hellish sous chefs and chefs are on TV just make me roll my eyes... LOVE the vivacity of a well working kitchen!), if not how I was raised. How I was raised it's 1 stressed out person pulling feasts out shouting "Out of my kitchen!".

3 moms found this helpful

I grew up cooking.
My Mom and Grandma were great cooks.
Then, I also taught myself.
It is sort of second nature.
And the men in my family, were/are also great cooks.
So we all cook and can and learn from each other.

3 moms found this helpful

My mom, but mainly it was just being in the kitchen with her (even now as an adult) to help out and learn from her.

Cookbooks, I go through copy down what I want to try, keepy the ones that we like toss the others and just keep on trying different things.

Lastly Food Network has really gotten me to be able to "fly by the seat of my pants" in using what I have to make something great, but also have some basics always around so I can just whip something up.

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I didn't watch my mom, but unfortunately for her, I call often with questions. :)LOL I watch the food network and public broadcasting sometimes and have learned a lot over the years that way.

2 moms found this helpful

Regardless so many attempts from my wonderful mom, when I really learn to cook was on my own when I left home.
I wish I had put more attention to my mom because I had to either eat very gross food I cook or spend money on fast cheap food.
Later on I in life (and tired to eat junk or/and burn) I ask my mommy, I learn from experience and lately from books and Foodnetwork.

2 moms found this helpful

My mom is not a good cook so I didn't really learn much from her in that area. I am not really a good cook either!! Not that I am bad, but I just don't seem to have the time and it scares me a bit. Stupid, right? I make some really good meals that I have learned over the years from various people, but Paula Dean I am not.
I have yet to figure out how to have time to do things with a cook book and a 12 month old crying at my feet while my 6 and 9 year old need me for homework and sorting out their sibling drama.
Laura

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My parents taught me a lot. They were in the restaurant business for many years.
My dad still impresses me with his knowledge.The way he can cook stuff with no recipe whatsoever. Like, "Let's just whip up some shrimp scampi!"
My mom passed her trusty old cookbook to me, I believe it's from Random House or Woman's World or something. From the 1960's. It has all these old-school recipes from back before the focus was on saving calories and/or time. Makes all the difference.

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My mom taught me a lot of stuff, but once I got some confidence I really went wild. Trial & error is the name of the game at my house. At the end of the day, I'm a way better cook than she is.

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I'm still learning, mostly from cookbooks. My mom was a very basic, plain cook which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. She basically just grilled or baked everything with a little butter/seasoning and served it with a starch and a vegetable. You don't need a cookbook to eat this way. We ate pretty low fat well-balanced meals growing up and to this day I eat and cook the same. It's the hardest for me when we have company however, because I want to make things a bit fancier and don't have many tried and true recipes. Many are hit or miss for me.

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No one which is why we eat lots of frozen pizza and pasta - but I'm hoping to learn!

2 moms found this helpful

My mom, my grandmother......observation mostly--no formal "teaching/learning."

Once you move out of your parents home, you learn pretty quickly what you need to do. Recipes, cookbooks, take out....

Necessity IS the mother of invention.

2 moms found this helpful

The foundations are from my mother and my grandmother. On my own in college I just started making it up. Over the years I have acquired cookbooks and issues of 'Cooking Light' for inspiration and tips/hints/suggestions. For me nothing beats poisoning your whole family to figure out something does or doesn't work. Trial by fire you might say. :)

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My mom taught me a lot; unfortunately, my dad has really bland Irish tastes so she really dulled down her cooking for him (and us). Her father was Albanian and worked in Greek restaurants so I'm sure she learned some delicious recipes that we all probably turned our noses up at when we were kids, so she didn't cook them. So while I learned the basic at home (by age 11 or 12 we were expected to be able to cook dinner for a family of 7 because my mom often worked the 3-11 shift) they weren't particularly savory dishes, and she's a big fan of things like frozen veggies, which I can't stand. She doesn't have a big sweet tooth and didn't bake a lot so I taught myself how to bake as a kid because I love it.

I worked at fast food restaurants and a pizza parlor in high school and worked in campus dining and college and that's when my tastes broadened and I really learned to pay attention to ingredients, seasonings, etc. Even in college I used to make elaborate desserts when home on break for holidays and after college, I learned through cookbooks.

Now that everything we need is on the internet, I usually get new recipes from my favorite food blogs or from magazines. I'm glad my mom taught me the basics (and I still can't pull off a holiday meal like she can, with everything being hot and ready to serve at the same time) but I don't think I cook anything the way she did because I've managed to find other versions that I like a little better.

My younger kids have been cooking with me since they could stand on a chair. The older ones resist, but I am slowly making them learn how to cook because it's a life skill that we should all have.

1 mom found this helpful

I started learning from my hubby. Then his mom bought me some cookbooks (because I asked). From there I started looking for recipes on the internet. I started playing with recipes and realized how much I love cooking.

I wish I would have learned from my parents, but they never had time to cook.

I loved to cook so much that I started culinary school on Tuesday AND I'm starting a bakery called Sweet Treats by Jenni.

1 mom found this helpful

Definitely not my mom...I'm a better cook than her and I can only make five or so things...

Like you my husband is the cook and after 10 years of trying to teach me I think he's given up!

1 mom found this helpful

My mom taught me to cook (soups, pasta, potatoes, casseroles...) when I was in 3rd & 4th grade. My younger brother and I would fight over who got to cook because that meant we could choose what the meal was. :)

As I got older I learned the German foods from my Oma (grandma), and now when I want to make something I look through recipes and if I can find a youtube video - then I'm set. These days I'm learning lots of ethnic foods since we eat a plant based diet, those foods usually are low in eggs and dairy. My nemesis is bread, I need some hands on help there. :)

1 mom found this helpful

My mom would cook but for whatever reason didn't have the patience to teach anything to me - it was like she just wanted to have the kitchen to herself and have me out of the way. So I learned more on my own, just following recipes and directions. I usually keep things really simple though - lots of slow-cooker meals and other short-cuts.

1 mom found this helpful

My Mom taught me. I learned to bake first , a " Bisquit Boden " ( I am German )or Sponge as it is called here. I moved on to Potatoe soup and then to other dishes. By the time I had Home Economics in 7th grade I was able to cook and bake, I also realized that others in my class could not. Made me wonder what their Mothers were teaching them. I also leaned from my Grandmothers, one of Polish decent ( polish Marie Barone lol) and the other of Frensh extraction. I leaned to preserve food and not to waste it.

1 mom found this helpful

long line of polish women who are excellent cooks in my family....so the traditional comfort foods I make were taught by them.
but I've been teaching myself alot of recipes and techniques, simply by trying things out. I google recipes, combine them, listen to tips from reviewers of recipes on sites like allrecipes.com. I've become quite comfortable in the kitchen now, knowing that things like homemade pastas and sauces are not something that is an exact science and really quite easy!
The only issue we've found is that on a few occasions...i've ruined eating out for us.....my spinach and artichoke dip, prime rib, ravioli with meat sauce, and baked potato soup have become better than some of our favorites eating out! haha

1 mom found this helpful

self taught.....although i don't enjoy cooking, i am not too bad at it

1 mom found this helpful

A book!!!!!! Certainly not from my mother. She was not a good cook. I am
not the greatest cook but have my specialties. I make Greek food and must admit I am damn good at it LOL. I wish I was more creative on an
everyday basis.

1 mom found this helpful

My mom taught me, my brother and sister to cook. DH taught me how to grill (I grew up with a gas one, not real fire). My MIL taught my husband to cook. We both cook with my six year old - he can crack eggs, turn pancakes, handle phyllo and pour crepe batter into a crepe pan.

1 mom found this helpful

Mostly from watching Food Network for the past 10 years.

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Both my parents (now 81 & 75) are good cooks. I learned from watching them cook. Neither one has ever used a recipe that I know of - other than maybe my mother when she baked years ago. I have tons of cookbooks - none of which I actually use. I get inspiration from them, but I don't ever actually use a recipe for anything I cook. Cooking isn't complicated, although I believe some people like to do it (the good cooks) and others really don't have an interest in it (the not so good cooks).

It's a matter of learning the METHODS of cooking - like heating up your pan until it screaming hot, then adding the oil, then the food, etc. Putting a raw piece of chicken in a cold pan and then turning on the heat doesn't produce the same end result.

My husband CAN cook to feed himself & others in a pinch. He doesn't enjoy it, but he certainly wouldn't starve. He learned mostly by watching me.

1 mom found this helpful

cook books and pinterest - my mom was a good cook, but when she became a single mom, she opted for the path of least resistance - takeout!

1 mom found this helpful

My mom and Grandma tought me the basis...

with trial and error I have figured the rest out.

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From Mamma e Nonna (momma and grandma), as in the best Italian tradition...it's been more than passing on recipes and tricks, it's been more like teaching how to live well and enjoy life. I have great memories and I will never thank them enough.

1 mom found this helpful

I taught myself. I have used blogs and books to help. My mother didn't like cooking, so she never showed any interest in teaching me. She did have me make one thing about once a month or so from a cookbook, but it was always the same recipe from the same cookbook. It did help me get more comfortable in the kitchen. I love cooking and making food for my family now.

1 mom found this helpful

When I was little I used to love to bake cookies with my grandma but she didn't really teach me any recipes or anything. My mom didn't really "teach" me anything either. I guess I learned from reading some cookbooks and experimenting a little. These days I love watching Food Network, reading food blogs and searching recipes online. I'm definitely not a gourmet cook but my husband likes my cooking and even says that several of the things that I make are better than his mom's - which is a huge compliment because his mom is a pretty good cook.

1 mom found this helpful

My mom taught me:

Burritos
Spaghetti & Meatsauce
Spanish Rice
Pork Chops w/ Sauerkraut

Pretty much everything else I learned on my own, or from watching my MIL and FIL cook Middle Eastern foods

1 mom found this helpful

My mom taught me how to make from scratch brownies and.....that't it. The rest I learned on my own. My husband is a far better cook, but I am a superb baker.

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I'm really lucky because my mom is a great cook and she had me "helping" her from super, super young. What really got me started, though, was the day when I was 13, when I told my mom I wanted to be a vegetarian. "Terrific," she told me. "It's about time you learned how to cook for yourself." She got me a cookbook and talked me through a few culinary terms, but she made it very clear that she wasn't going to be my personal vegetarian chef. So, thanks to that, I really can cook, and if I can't be in a bookstore, a library, a hot bubble bath, or a cold, windy day in a small seaside town, I'd rather be in a kitchen than just about anywhere else.

My mom never really cooked a lot, and much less since she got divorced in 94, lol. When I was in school my roommates, friends, and I did not know how to cook. I was 21 or 22 when I called my mom to ask how to scramble an egg, lol. Pathetic, I know! We decided to have a once a month cooking theme night (Mexican night with tejano music, several simple Tex-Mex foods to cook together, and one of my latina friends' mom came over to keep us on the right path.) It was fun! After that we did Chinese, Greek, Indian, etc, etc. So yeah---I could whip up some pretty exotic dishes after a few months, but don't ask me how to make something simple except spaghetti with sauce out of a jar. (ha) At some point (about 2003-ish?) I got the South Beach Diet book and started trying some of those recipes. That got my confidence up a bit because really, even if you don't want to do the diet, some of the foods in there are really tasty, and I cook some of them even now. Once I realized I could follow a recipe, that opened doors. I love Chef John Folse (very good, but simple, Louisiana food) so I basically got all his books and would look up on his website stuff. Then once I got married, my husband taught me a lot. Now since I've been a sahm, I've learned quite a bit from a few of my favorites on food network.

My mom, my grand mothers and some old recipes and good cook books.

My mom and dad would give my brother and I an iron skillet, some bacon, a potato cubed, and some matches and would tell us to go out in the dry irrigation ditch, make a fire and cook breakfest.

My grand mother was the head chef at San Bernardino Valley college until the college decided it had to have a chef with a nutritional degree. My Great grand dad told my grand mother (mom's side) that 6th grade was all the education a girl needed to be a good wife and mother so that's as far as she went before he took her out of school.

I have some wonderful recipes from her. My grand ma on my dad's side did wonderful fried chicken and brownies, but unfortuately the recipes never got passed down.

I learned how to BBQ by talking to entrants in a BBQ cooking contest and reading the book they suggested (BBQ Greats, Memphis Style). I taught my daughters and sons to cook BBQ and my daughters came to me to learn how to do their high school Home Economics cooking homework.

I have taught my kids how to smoke a turkey and hopefully they will pass it on.

I am a better cook because I am a more precise cook. I measure everything exactly and follow the recipes in the cook books. I seldom have something turn out wrong. If you like carmel, the Lion House Desserts Cookbook has an absolutley wonderful Caramel Dumplings recipe, and I don't usually care for caramel. My grandma (chef) had a perfectly delightful Chocolate Upsidedown Cake recipe that is perfect for chocoholics.

Good luck and good cooking.

self, mom, grandmas, and school home ec class :)

My Mom did, but when I was home, she did most of the cooking.
So I didn't get a lot of practice/experience till I was living in an apartment on my own.
I follow recipes and once I've made something a few times I'm comfortable with making some changes/substitutions.
My Mom says I'm a better cook than she ever was and my Husband and son like everything I make (except for liver and onions - I'm the only one who likes that in our house).

I learned from watching my mom, calling her for advice and trial and error.

Although, my hubby seems to think that I was born knowing how to cook, do laundry and fold. So I tell him that I simply don't know how to take the garbage to the curb or rake leaves! :)

Try a crock pot - you can't screw up too much.

My step-mom taught me how to cook my mom taught me how "not" to cook. My S-mom had a catering company and was a chef so she taught me a lot some of the stuff is a little complicated for every day but I love to dig in to the pages of recipes she has given me over the years on weekends. My mom cant cook her way out of a paper bag it is terrible she hates to cook so it always kinda tastes like Jerky.