I enjoy good food, and I have been on a journey to learn to cook for most of my life.
I learned to cook over a campfire when I was a Boy Scout. It's hard to call that cooking though. One night we made baloney stew out of the left over cold cuts, and it was so bad the dog wouldn't even eat it. All the adults tried to tell us how good it was, but the kid on KP realized why it was so bad -- we had burned a hole through the pot!
My Mom gave me a cookbook and a few lessons before I went to college. On the second date with the hottest girl I met in college, I made her turkey chili and (instant) "cheesecake." During dinner she told me she didn't like turkey or cheesecake. I didn't tell her what was in the chili and I took the "cheesecake" home. I finally fessed up after we were married, and now she makes the real cheesecake.
For years after we were married, I'd watch cooking shows on PBS on Saturdays then go to the grocery store and buy the things to make what I had just seen. Sometimes dishes would turn out, but once I made a low-fat quiche and we invited the neighbors over to taste the results -- we took one bite and ordered a pizza. I've learned the most about cooking from Jacques Pepin back in the days before celebrity chefs were a thing that he helped create. In more recent years, Good Eats, No Reservations, Top Chef and Master Chef have inspired me to continue the journey.
I learned to cook over a campfire when I was a Boy Scout. It's hard to call that cooking though. One night we made baloney stew out of the left over cold cuts, and it was so bad the dog wouldn't even eat it. All the adults tried to tell us how good it was, but the kid on KP realized why it was so bad -- we had burned a hole through the pot!
My Mom gave me a cookbook and a few lessons before I went to college. On the second date with the hottest girl I met in college, I made her turkey chili and (instant) "cheesecake." During dinner she told me she didn't like turkey or cheesecake. I didn't tell her what was in the chili and I took the "cheesecake" home. I finally fessed up after we were married, and now she makes the real cheesecake.
For years after we were married, I'd watch cooking shows on PBS on Saturdays then go to the grocery store and buy the things to make what I had just seen. Sometimes dishes would turn out, but once I made a low-fat quiche and we invited the neighbors over to taste the results -- we took one bite and ordered a pizza. I've learned the most about cooking from Jacques Pepin back in the days before celebrity chefs were a thing that he helped create. In more recent years, Good Eats, No Reservations, Top Chef and Master Chef have inspired me to continue the journey.