Cooking, are you good or do you suck at it?

[watersprite]

@Gerald Wilgus you had a stroke while your pie was in the oven? Are you alright??

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

@Gerald Wilgus you had a stroke while your pie was in the oven? Are you alright??

@watersprite Yes, I am Ok. Last Thursday I had an angiography and since then the artery still had a stenosis (narrowing) but was opening up so a stent placement was not necessary and an angioplasty was done which opened it up entirely. I was very anxious about the procedure. Had to remain conscious throughout and it was odd, feeling some of the sensations in my head.

 

[watersprite]

@watersprite Yes, I am Ok. Last Thursday I had an angiography and since then the artery still had a stenosis (narrowing) but was opening up so a stent placement was not necessary and an angioplasty was done which opened it up entirely. I was very anxious about the procedure. Had to remain conscious throughout and it was odd, feeling some of the sensations in my head.

Wow. Glad your health is now okay. Who cares about the pie!

Health is more important than anything else.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

@watersprite Yes, I am Ok. Last Thursday I had an angiography and since then the artery still had a stenosis (narrowing) but was opening up so a stent placement was not necessary and an angioplasty was done which opened it up entirely. I was very anxious about the procedure. Had to remain conscious throughout and it was odd, feeling some of the sensations in my head.

God bless you, I'm so sorry you have to go through this!

 

[watersprite]

It’s hot here so for lunch I made an icy-cold blueberry-buttermilk smoothy. I keep the berries in the freezer so they provide the icyness and blueberry-ness.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

It’s hot here so for lunch I made an icy-cold blueberry-buttermilk smoothy. I keep the berries in the freezer so they provide the icyness and blueberry-ness.

Yum. I just can't wait until the blueberries are ready for picking. Near me a new park along the Platte River in Honor, MI will be going in, and it was decided to retain about 10 acres of blueberries for anybody to pick and enjoy. A local foodie group that also has a test kitchen will be tending the bushes.

Today for supper my spouse is preparing tempura beer battered fresh lake perch for dinner and spinach with garlic and Maytag bleu cheese. Simple, but satisfying.

 

[balsabonbon]

I’m mostly okay at cooking, but it took making a lot of mistakes to learn how to cook.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

My mother tried, teaching me a bit when I was younger. Biggest issue was the cook books, some of the cooking terms in English & French, I did not know what they meant. English was a foreign language to my mother. My first language was Dutch, English I learned in school, my mother's language was Dutch to this day I still do not know what some cooking terms mean. Ever see a Dutch teaspoon, much smaller than a regular teaspoon which did not exist in our house. Being European metric measurements, mixing with English very confusing. Example cup of flour meant regular cup fill with flour, teaspoon of salt, see where I am going, mix this with being an Aspie what a mess.

 

[Nitro]

My mother tried, teaching me a bit when I was younger. Biggest issue was the cook books, some of the cooking terms in English & French, I did not know what they meant. English was a foreign language to my mother. My first language was Dutch, English I learned in school, my mother's language was Dutch to this day I still do not know what some cooking terms mean. Ever see a Dutch teaspoon, much smaller than a regular teaspoon which did not exist in our house. Being European metric measurements, mixing with English very confusing. Example cup of flour meant regular cup fill with flour, teaspoon of salt, see where I am going, mix this with being an Aspie what a mess.

 

[watersprite]

Am experimenting with a new - for me - food. Farro. It is a primitive kind of wheat, which is grown organically and locally. Hoping it makes a good carb to add to summer salads.

 

[CrazyInTrains]

In theory am I quite good, but it rarely works in practise, especially not if i have to do several things at the same time. I usually mess it up even if I just try to boil füsilli and microwave meatballs ... I have however done a few successful soups, interestingly enough. But I didn't like them of course.

 

[Nick12]

i never realy try cooking before i live with my mom so she do the cooking my mom is a verry verry good cook

 

[Judge]

LOL....laughing at myself. I finally took the plunge and made my first grilled cheese sandwich.

Naturally I went to YouTube just to determine the basics, and I was shocked at how simple it was. MY mother always made superb grilled cheese sandwiches, so I just assumed it had to involve a greater degree of difficulty. Clearly I was wrong.

It was very fast, and tasted quite good. Almost was ready to go out an have a cigarette afterwards, but then recalled that I don't smoke!

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

LOL....laughing at myself. I finally took the plunge and made my first grilled cheese sandwich.

Naturally I went to YouTube just to determine the basics, and I was shocked at how simple it was. MY mother always made superb grilled cheese sandwiches, so I just assumed it had to involve a greater degree of difficulty. Clearly I was wrong.

It was very fast, and tasted quite good. Almost was ready to go out an have a cigarette afterwards, but then recalled that I don't smoke!

My favorite is grilled cheese made with Texas toast, with smoked Gouda and Raclette with a couple of strips of bacon (precooked and drained). mmmmmmmmmmmm.

Next you can try Mexican grilled cheese and make yourself some quesadillas with tortillas.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

Even though it's been warm out, I've been canning food. I don't like the prices of gas and groceries, and I'd like to have something laid by in case of emergency.

I've canned chicken thighs, stew beef, pinto beans, and today is applesauce day.

I think after applesauce, will be corn.

I haven't even bought these groceries to eat. We've been eating simply, so I can afford good, nutritious foods to can, in case there comes a time where I can not afford food, or there's a power outage.

 

[AprilR]

I am average i hope

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

Even though it's been warm out, I've been canning food. I don't like the prices of gas and groceries, and I'd like to have something laid by in case of emergency.

I've canned chicken thighs, stew beef, pinto beans, and today is applesauce day.

I think after applesauce, will be corn.

I haven't even bought these groceries to eat. We've been eating simply, so I can afford good, nutritious foods to can, in case there comes a time where I can not afford food, or there's a power outage.

This week I will be harvesting the garlic. I will be attempting a garlic jelly this year.

 

[Mary Terry]

I like to cook. And eat. I also like to experiment a/k/a play with my food. So, today I'm going to make beef tallow.

A cattle rancher friend gave me a big chunk of beef fat (suet) from a steer (British White cattle) they had butchered earlier this summer and told me how to make beef leaf lard. So, today, I will cut up the frozen fat, put it in a slow cooker on low setting, occasionally stir it till it melts (4-6 hours, I think), then strain it through a fine mesh strainer and strain it again through cheesecloth. The hard bits left behind are called cracklings and can be added to cornbread or other things. I'll put the pure, melted, strained liquid fat in a sterilized canning jar to store in the refrigerator, and freeze some of it in an ice cube tray so I can use just a small amount to fry potatoes, add to pie dough or whatever.

I told my husband about this project, and he looked nauseated. He's a retired doctor and lectured me on the fat being mostly pure triglycerides, terrible for my health. I told him about my research into nasty stuff like canola oil and other vegetable oils that were never intended for human consumption, and that pure animal fat may actually be healthier than some vegetable oils. He looked dubious but said he would taste some potatoes if I fried them in the rendered beef tallow, but he thought I should just cut the frozen fat into chunks of suet and feed it to the birds this winter.

Should I eat it or just feed it to the birds?

 

[Magna]

I started cooking when I was around 10 years old. I really liked checking out children's cookbooks at that age and my mom was tolerant enough to let me try recipes. I still remember my very first dish I cooked which was sautéed mushrooms in a sour cream dill sauce.

I've valued my ability of cooking from scratch as a life skill.

That being said, if my wife were to take over most of the cooking in our household (I've always done most of it), I would gladly cede the kitchen over to her. I cook not only because I like it and I've done it most of my life, but also because I have to cook. We have to eat. In retrospect if I could go back in time I would change this aspect of our relationship. How? I would have had more discussions in the beginning of our relationship about the necessity of cooking and I would have placed a greater emphasis on us either sharing the cooking responsibility equally or if she would have been willing, I would have asked her to take on the cooking duty primarily. I do wish my wife would cook for us more often. In her defense at this point and as a criticism of myself, she doesn't cook as often because she feels intimidated doing so because her cooking skills are not developed. I do have an issue with "staying out of the kitchen" on the few occasions she does cook and refraining from giving feedback or direction.

 

[Ella Spell]

I used to be quite a good cook before my stroke. Now I have difficulty using my left hand or coordinating both hands. Examples: I can't hold a pan in one hand and scoop with the other. When I chop veg it's hard for me to hold the item steady with my left and cut with my right, and then use my left to transfer from the cutting board into a salad bowl. I'm always having to set things down and pick up with my right hand which is very frustrating and slow. It changes the whole thinking process so that nothing feels intuitive.

My daughter went to chef school so she really enjoys cooking, but unfortunately we seldom like any of the same foods because of sensory issues and "same foods", so we end up cooking separate meals for ourselves. That's an issue too because of sensory, and clean up.

It would be much easier if more food was sold in individual portions instead of giant family sized packaging. It's very expensive to get single-serve anything, plus we pay a special luxury tax on any food that isn't family-sized, which I think is highly discriminatory against single people.