When did you learn how to cook?

[snarlingcoyote]

Inspired by the thread about chopping with knives and by the experience of preparing my family's thanksgiving feast with the assistance of my dear neice and nephew.

When did you learn how to cook? When were you first trusted to mix ingredients? To bake? To use the stove? To follow a recipe?

I was 3 when I was allowed to help mix ingredients. I know I was reading when I was allowed to make malt-o-meal on my own, dragging a chair up to stand on while I boiled my salted water and poured the cereal in, so I guess I was 4 then. (Not in school, but reading, and I learned to read at 4 or so.) I knew how to bake but was scared of the heat of the oven until I was in the 4th grade. I don't remember actually learning about fractions - they were something I ingested with the ability to follow and modify recipes. (I do remember thinking the other kids were complete idiots because they didn't understand fractions and couldn't add, subtract, multiply fractions or even change denominators on fractions in their heads, though.)

I know that I was in junior high the first time I attempted a souffle (and it didn't fall!) I was v. proud the first time I made croissants from scratch in high school.

As I tell people all the time - I CAN cook, and, in fact, I'm quite accomplished at it. I just don't CHOOSE to cook very often.

But watching my teenage niece and nephew, who obviously haven't been taught much about cooking, although they WANT to learn - when did other people learn how to cook? I can't imagine letting a not-quite 4 year old alone with a pot of boiling water, a spoon and a measuring cup of malt-o-meal, but I distinctly remember my mother doing just that, and it working out quite well for me. (If I made it without her watching I could dose it up exactly the way I wanted too. . .with tons of brown sugar and butter!)

 

[PixieDust32]

When I was about 6 years old, I remember cooking, well, helping my grandmother,I also learned to sew,knit,crochet,bake. Also to wash my school uniform (hand wash) polish my shoes among other things.

 

[Disneycrazy!!]

taught myself...trial and error.........LOTS of errors!!

 

[PlainJane]

Still hasn't happened yet.

 

[FireDancer]

I love to cook but I am still not a recipe person. I may use one as a guide but I like to tweek it to what I like. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

My mom is Sicilian and that is the only side of the family we had for most of my life so cooking was a big part of life. I can't remember exactly when I started helping my grandma and great-grandma but it was pretty young. By 6th grade I would make meals after work that we would have for dinner. Those were mostly done off of recipes but it wasn't long until I started to try to substitute one thing for another.

I don't bake, other than fish and vegetables, so nothing I make really requires exact ingredients. I have found that trial and error is a much better way to learn how to make some great dishes then just regurgitating someone else's recipe. I am also pretty picky health wise so I often substitute less healthy ingredients for healthier ones.

Being able to cook has gotten me a few dates, apparently it is looked on as a good skill to have by the ladies.

 

[powellrj]

Growing up my mom never really let us in the kitchen, so I really learned to cook from the PBS TV shows like Frugal Gourmet, Heartland Cooking with Marcia Adams and the Nathalie Durpee shows. I was a SAHM for my oldest and they were on at lunch time between all the kids shows. I would put him down for a nap and then watch and learn. I have all of their books and really credit them for teaching me how to really cook, not just open a can and heat it up like I learned in home ec in school.

I was almost a Marcia Adams stalker! Anytime she had a cooking demonstration or a book signing, I was there! The first time I met her, I was so overwhelmed, I almost cried.

I once came across a Nathalie Durpee website and sent her an email. She actually took the time to answer me and went on the ask if I knew a local judge, it was someone she knew as a child and wondered if he was still a judge! I was such a fan I had planned to name my DD Nathalie after her!

I am such a geek!!

 

[NMAmy]

Both of my parents were incredible cooks but I never really learned to cook more than simple dishes until I moved out of the country at age 22. Part of it was that my dad was incredibly picky in the kitchen. We called him the anal retentive chef. My dad was a very nice man but watching Gordon Ramsay teach regular women to cook on The F Word reminds me of Dad. He was insistent that every onion should be perfectly sliced, every meatball should be exactly the same. It wasn't very conducive to learning to cook. My mom was totally the opposite but she was more interested in getting dinner on the table than teaching us how to do it.

And, since my dad would drop everything to make us a snack or a full blown meal, there was really no need for us to learn to cook anything! But since I do like to eat, I learned how to cook when I got married and moved to Germany and couldn't run over to Mom & Dad's for dinner. Now I'm pretty good.

 

[golfgal]

We just grew up helping. I remember being under 4 and making my own toast, helping mix cookie batter, etc. We pretty much made our own breakfast (cereal mostly) and lunches (warming up soup, etc.) from 2nd grade or so on. I know we made really bad scrambled eggs for Mothers Day and Fathers day when I was younger then 3rd grade because that is when my parents divorced.

Our kids have been helping in the kitchen since they were toddlers. Our oldest could crack eggs one handed at age 3--he LOVED to do that. They all can cook and have for quite a while. DD14 and her friends can often be found with Grandma's cookbook baking something.

 

[lspst8]

I grew up helping my mom in the kitchen, so I never really had to learn how to cook. I don't think I was allowed to use the stove and oven until I was 10. I can remember making cookies, cutting them out, and putting them on cookie sheets without my mom knowing. She'd get home and have all this baking and cleaning up to do.

 

[Judy from Boise]

I grew up cooking, started helping make salads (cutting celery etc) by 4. I could cook a steak dinner by 3 rd grade, including a home made apple betty etc.
BUT, I think that is the problem, all of my knife skills revolve around a paring knife because I learned so young. I just never stopped doing what I learned as a child.I am good and quick, but I don't cook like an adult LOL!

 

[cntrygal]

I dont really remeber a time when i wasnt in the kitchen. I was always helping my mother or grandmother. But by around 8 the helping turned to taking over as i was getting more accomplished then my mother. But most of my skills i learned from my grandmother, she was a great cook. I actually learned to cook on a woodstove. We had a great big, woodstove with 8 "burners" and 2 ovens. I miss that thing. When i went to college, in ski country of NH, i had a condo with a small woodstove, i would leave soups and stews cooking all day, didnt use a crockpot till my late 20's.

 

[Silent1CB]

Can't remember exactly, but by the time I was in elementary school & girl scouts, I do know I already knew somethings on my own.

We had cooking classes in girl scouts, but I already knew a lot of it. I also had a girl scout cook book that I used a lot as a kid. It had a recipe to make a bunny shaped cake for Easter & how to decorate it with coconut and candies. I still remember making that cake.

By junior high in girl scouts, our cooking badge included planning a meal, shopping for it, cooking it & serving it. I remember doing this one with my friend. Her mom was our troop leader.

I also remember taking cake decorating classes with G.S. That may have been junior high or high school. Can't remember.

My mom wasn't a great cook, but I was still always in the kitchen with her put to work doing something to help. When I started doing my own cooking, it was usually a dessert.

 

[wendy46001]

Still hasn't happened yet.

Exactly, DH and i are takeout people

My little brother taught himself in high school...so now he's the cook in the family ...i just clean up after him at holiday meals

 

[MIGrandma]

Not until I was 18 and had gotten married.

My Mom didn't want me in the kitchen because I would "make a mess", so she never let me learn anything.

I did know how to "make" spaghetti when I got married.

And once, when Mom was next door giving the neighbor a home perm, I did make a macaroni salad (making sure I cleaned up!).

My poor husband was my guinea pig, but thankfully I did have some of both my Grandma's "natural talent" and cooking and following recipes and having things turn out decent came pretty easy. The only thing I made during our first year of marriage that he didn't like was my stuffed peppers. He wasn't fond of peppers, but didn't tell me. He ate them with a smile, but then got sick later. Poor guy! I've never made them again. He's glad.

 

[tzolkin]

I learned to cook a bit when I was in high school.

I know my mom let us help with cookies and stuff when we were little, but that was about it. I remember when I got into high school my family would do work outside and my mom would expect me to clean/do laundry and make dinner occasionally. Except she wouldn't give me a recipe or tell me how to make it... She just expected that since I'd had chili I should just "know" how it's made. I would keep going out to ask her questions, like "how much cumin?" and she would just get annoyed with me.

I really learned how to cook by reading recipies and then just doing it. After the first few months of being married I haven't used a recipe (except for baking).

My kids have helped me in the kitchen since they were toddlers. My little ones love to mix and measure things and ask lots of questions. My oldest didn't have much interest in cooking until recently (she's almost 11), so usually the little ones would help while she was off doing something else. She's been showing some interest in making some things now and she'll even bring little notebooks into the kitchen so she can write down the recipe. I'm too paranoid to really let her use the stove, so she couldn't cook anything herself. (My grandmother used a stool and cooked dinner for the family at 5.) I've been teaching her how to turn it on (the first few times she jumped and screamed at the gas) and letting her stir things or brown meat on the stove top while I'm cutting veggies next to her. I don't let her reach into the oven.

 

[MerMom60_94]

I baked from a fairly young age, but cooking not so much. Then, around 8th or 9th grade my mother broke her leg and was in a full cast and my sister and I were suddenly expected to cook dinner. It was interesting to say the least. Lots and lots of takeout for a while there. My oldest sister was married at that point so she came over and showed us how to make a few basic recipes to get us started. I do remember, though, broiling a steak on high for 20 minutes and when I opened the oven it was black and curled up and like shoe leather.

My DD, on the other hand, has watched Food Network from a very young age and is awesome in the kitchen when the mood strikes her. Probably around fifth or sixth grade she started cooking full meals for our anniversary and they were better than some of the restaurants we've been to. Not only has she learned how to cook courtesy of Emeril and Rachel Ray, but Alton Brown has taught her how to choose cuts of meat. Now if somebody would just produce a show about cleaning up afterwards.....

 

[DMickey28]

I don't remember when I learned to cook. I suppose fairly young as well because my mom has always been a great cook and I just grew up knowing how to make things!!

I learned recently in my mid 20's how to cook from scratch ... how to pull recipes from the ingredients I had on hand and how to make mix spices and flavors without a recipe. That was basically just experience, recipe reading and watching food network.

I learned the "correct" way to cooks things in my late teens and early 20's in culinary school.

My DS is 2.5 and he LOVES to help me cook. He helps me make his dinner every night and any time I am making something I find something to let him help me with. Usually it's stirring something but occassionally he will help me "cut" up cheese or something with his toddler knife. Really should get him a kitchen for Christmas.

 

[C.Ann]

Basic stuff, very young - an entire big meal, 10 or 11..

I cooked my first Thanksgiving dinner - from start to finish - when I was 12..

 

[dislaney]

My mom never really let me help so I learned to cook as an adult. I still watch lots of cooking shows and read lots of magazines for help. I've made sure to let my kiddo help since she was a toddler. As a result she is already better at making somethings then I am.

 

[bookgirl]

As young kids (I was 4 or 5) my brother and I fixed our own breakfast and lunch on school vacations (mostly sandwich/cereal types of things), my brother (3 years older) was allowed to make cinnamon toast under the broiler, and to heat up boil in bag lunches or warm up canned pasta.

I was probably using the stove by 6 or 7, and helping with real food prep by 10 or 11.