Friday

more on cooking

As I've noted, I am trying really hard to cook more actual, sit down meals for the fam. I cannot cook because my mother never taught me. So I am trying to teach myself and soon, I will try harder to better involve kids in cooking.

I thought I had the worst cooking skills on the planet until I married J.H. I now know that my beloved, who has MANY other wonderful and important skills, is, in fact, the least skilled cook on the planet ;-)

The very act of being asked to turn on the oven appears to frighten him. But he is very sweet about trying.

COOKING TRIUMPH OF THE WEEK: I made a sausage and potato casserole that was pretty tasty.

Tonight I am attempting a simple, roasted pork tenderloin with some grilled pearl onions and asparagus. DRAT - just realized I have no lemon juice at home...

9 comments:

Cary said...

Check out Leanne Ely's books, if you have not. Her "Saving Dinner" series is excellent for self-teaching. You'll learn what makes a good casserole, for instance, and what ingredients to always keep around. It will also change the way you make a grocery list. Do the system for a few weeks to figure out what you like.

Anonymous said...

Hey - I'm not afraid to turn on the oven!

I just wanted to take my work clothes off before getting into the raw meat....

Sharon Collie said...

Don't be intimidated by cooking because you haven't learned before. The Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook is a good place to start and the Southern Living Cookbook is another great one. Both cookbooks mark what's easy, quick, etc.

There are things you learn trial and error as you go. All of the Food Network people have great little tips. Keep at it and have fun while you do it.

Anonymous said...

The Express Lane Cookbook & The Vegetarian Express Lane Cookbook by Sarah Fritschner are amazing. Few ingredients per recipe, all take around 10 minutes to make, cheap, but delicious, fresh & varied (including Greek, Italian, etc.) & better than what you would get at most restaurants. I wouldn't be half as good a cook as I am if I hadn't learned from her.

karrie said...

Recipes are helpful,but don't stress too much if you're missing an ingredient or two. I'm more of an experiemtal cook, and it usually works. If not, there's always takeout.

Most ingredients can be easily substituted. No lemons on hand, maybe a little orange juice or other citrus fruit? Especially if it was for the marinade. It might even be ok on asparagus.

a chart like this might help you for future reference

Anonymous said...

Have you and jon considerd taking a cooking class.

Anonymous said...

I thought Jon was master o' wings?

Ms. Booty Homemaker said...

katie, you can SO do this. my blog's got some good simple recipes on it. arm yourself w/ a copy of fannie farmer and enjoy! joyful cooking is the right spirit.

and happy belated birthday! i'd forgotten that you & my precious Ziggy (along w/ my aunt and best friend)share a birthday.


xx
MBH

Anonymous said...

"I cannot cook because my mother never taught me."

Okay, my Mom was not the culinary queen either. Having said that, I was prone to make this same remark (above) to people until someone helped draw the absurdity of my thinking sharply into focus by saying: "If you can read, you can cook." As it turns out, they were right. Shame on me.