The cooking thread got me thinking

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It seems like a lot of people here can't cook. I wonder how common it is. I am an excellent cook myself. I like to cook. I'm good at it (well, as long as I don't wander off and let it burn. )

So who here can or can't cook?

Oh, it's missing an option! Maybe I tried to make too many? Anyway, the last option I had was "No, I would starve if no one fed me." So I guess if that applies to you (although I doubt there is anyone here who can't use a microwave. ) just post and don't vote in the poll.

I was a cook, a chef, a baker and even owned 1/3 of a Vegitarian restaurant all in the space of 22 years. You name it, I can whip it up for you, with or without meat!
I got so bored of it, I went to college so I could sit down and work. Now I sit and work, and just ask my ass how THAT is working out!
Living is fattening, I have found.

Merle

Just the basics for me. But I tend to eat the same thing or similar most days when I have to cook for myself. And often when I'm on my own I'm not that hungry in the evening so I just do toast or have cereal again.

I'm a used to be very good, but probably have a hard time scrambling an omlet now. So where do I put that vote?

Since I do better when things have rules, I almost always need a recipe. I'm not one to put a little dash of this and a little dash of that. Can you be called a good cook if you always need a recipe? I've never quite understood what people mean when they say they can't cook. I understand that many don't like to cook or aren't natural cooks, but how can someone not follow a recipe? Without that guideline, I would definitely be able to say, "I can't cook." With it, though, I feel like I can cook just about anything, as long as I can find a recipe.

The funny thing about it is that my mind refuses to hold onto the recipe, once I have used it. You would think that I could make something once or twice and then be able to use my memory, but it doesn't work that way for me. I still have to double check, just to make sure I'm boiling an egg the proper amount of time. It's the same way with driving directions. I have to, actually, drive the same route upwards of 20 times before it's committed to my memory.

I have a very hard time following recipes.I cook by remembering watching my mom do stuff in the kitchen as a kid.I basically cook what I grew up eating but dont bother cooking for myself if alone.....more likely to make ramon noddles and add broc and eggs or a bagel with tomato,spices and swiss cheese.

I did have a job recently that I taught myself how to cook for.It was much easier because they had all kinds of food and I would just figure out what I thought would taste good together.It was kind of fun and the guys really liked it.

For me the worst part of cooking is grocery shopping and planning what I need....If I have lots of ingredients I can whip something up that's eatable.

That being said...I can think of many better ways to spend my time and dont often enjoy cooking.

My mom made me cook for the family starting when I was 15, been doing it on a daily basis since then, including cooking for my kids/husbands for decades, so if I couldn't do it well by now, there'd be something wrong.

I like to cook for others, make a nice meal and get compliments. Like to have a drink and listen to music while I whip around the kitchen making several dishes, being creative with what I've got in the kitchen. some of my best meals have been improvisations because of things I had around.

Started writing a cookbook for my kids for when they fledge, but got distracted.

I've got lots of time-saving tips:
If you're marinating something, throw everything into a ziploc baggy. Saves cleanup, also allows the ingredients to intermingle better.
Keep a knob of fresh ginger in your freezer, don't bother peeling and slicing - just use a grater and the skin will fall away. Ginger keeps forever in the freezer.
Use clothespins to close everything.
Keep frozen peas and corn in freezer - they can be added to many dishes (including ramen )
Buy a breadmaker ($40 at walmart) to save money and have better bread
To avoid onion tears, cut onion as quickly as possible. In fact, learning to cut veggies and meat is an essential skill.
As Bazza said, smash the garlic rather than cutting/peeling.
Epicurious.com is a great recipe site. You type in whatever ingredients you have and it'll find recipes for you. I use it constantly.
Remember that veggies like carrots, onions and parsnips get sweeter the longer you cook them.
Garlic burns very easily - it should go in last and at low heat. If it burns it'll ruin your dish.

Now if somebody could teach me how to make homemade wine out of fruit, I'd be truly stoked.

I hardly ever follow a recipe. Usually, for something I haven't made before, I'll look at a few recipes for the same thing, take what I like and change what I don't. I'm like Merle in that you can tell me what you want and I'll figure it out, and it will be good. And I can make it vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, free of any ingredient you need it to be. My youngest has a lot of food allergies and I've gotten good at it. The hardest really is cooking gluten-free things without eggs. They just don't turn out right a lot of times w/ the egg replacer in place of eggs. I'll eventually figure it out.

I can cook very well actually, I rarely follow recepies I just need to watch how its done and I guess from there, almost always comes out perfectly.

Okay, now you're all totally depressing me! I was hoping it was another Aspie thing that makes me feel totally lost without a recipe. On the other hand, my mom never cooked, so I didn't exactly have anyone to teach me, since I was married at nineteen. I had no choice, but to use recipes.

Actually you should be proud that you CAN use recipes.I cant follow them(unless very simple.)I do better watching cooking shows and taking a few notes then apply the principles in the things I cook.The picture direction help,that are in some cook books,but they leave out simple things that I may not know...so,is better to watch step by step...I use to love watching these shows even when I didnt cook...I thought they were interesting,some of the info must have "stuck".

Whilst i feel I am an OK cook, my organisational skills are my problem. I often improvise jambalaya/kedgeree/risotto kind of meals (but they are all vitrually the same...), but have to go shopping before hand to hunt out the ingredients. I have a horrible knack of forgetting about things I have bought or over buying them and finding a gooey mess a few weeks later.

Hopefully it will get alot better next year when I am living with a group of vegetarians who actually care about food, rather than a group of gamers who get takeaway all the time.

With regards to books, I like them for inspiration, but I often deviate from them slightly. I am also, always calling my dada for advice on how to cook one thing or another.

Pretty descent, but I can't be bothered,
now that it's just for me.

yes i am a masterchef

You're not the only one! My boyfriend actually thinks I'm weird because I use recipes for just about everything. I didn't have much of a chance to learn my mom's tricks in the kitchen--while I lived with her, most of my cooking involved her handing me a cookbook and having me pick a recipe to make.

In spite of my limitations (thankfully mostly just the recipe thing and being afraid of greasy things spitting), I'd like to think I'm a decent cook. Sometimes supper is a complete disaster, but I try to do something I know we like the next night.