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featured blog: misadventures in cooking

Me: 33 year old cooking novice. Self diagnosed with Mageirocophobia (fear of cooking). Working on it one small dish at a time.

I’m just learning to cook. From scratch. That means learning to chop, measure, mix, and actually read recipes (I’m kinda a skimmer, which I’ve realized does not lead to success in the kitchen). All my life I’ve had people around me who love to cook. So I didn’t have to (smart, aren’t I?). My mom, my roommates in college, and now my husband adore working in the kitchen. I don’t get it, but I’ve never had to. In case of emergency, I make a mean toasty cheese sandwich and have conquered the art of cooking boxed foods – but normally, if someone doesn’t cook for me, I just have a bowl of cereal.

Well, now I have two kids for whom I’d like to be able to feed some sort of healthy food, and I just became a stay-at-home mom. I have the time (well, kind of, didn’t I just mention I have two kids?) and motivation to give this whole cooking thing a try. (again)
I have tried cooking in the past. It has not been successful. Let me share a few reasons why cooking hasn’t worked for me:
  • My husband — He is the quintessential talented, perfectionist cook. (He would own a restaurant and be a chef if I let him.) My problem is that whenever I try to cook when he’s around, he tries to help me. I call it back-seat cooking, he calls it minor assistance and suggestions for improvement. Usually I just quit and tell him if he knows how to do it better, he should just do it on his own. Hopefully being at home and cooking while he’s at work will eliminate this issue.
  • Reading — As I mentioned before, I am a skimmer. Works great when reading textbooks or novels quickly, but kinda messes you up when cooking from a recipe. Example: When the recipe reads Add chicken broth. Cover and let cook for twenty minutes. I read Cover with chicken broth and cook for twenty minutes. Not a huge change, but when you’re making a chicken dish that is not supposed to be a soup, this can cause a problem. I’m working on this.
  • Raw Meat — I’m terrified of it. Especially chicken (texture, color, contamination, etc.). Is there an actual phobia for this?
  • Knives — Also terrifying. I once worked at a bagel shop, sliced my palm open and had to go to the emergency room. This leads to chopping issues as I cut really big pieces, just to keep me safe. Not the best for most recipes.
So now here’s my challenge. I’ve decided to just try cooking once a week. That’s all – I can do that. Even better, I’m starting with crock pot cooking. No worries there with burning food or scorching pans (of which I have done both – more than once).

And I’ll write about it in this blog. Hopefully you will enjoy my ups and downs as I try to figure this out.
Wish me luck!

Comments

Patty said…
Definitely going to be looking-in on your blog..love this post!

You're in some great company here on FTLOB where there are wonderful bloggers ready to help whenever you need advice! We'll make you the next Food Network Star!

Congrats on being featured!

Patty
~ Mona said…
Love this post! You won me over. I'll be following your blog.

~ Mona : )
http://moremilestones.blogspot.com
Megan said…
Hahaha, you made me laugh :). I myself hate raw meat and especially chicken! There is just something about it..ewww. I Can't cook very well, but I love to bake. I will follow this to see of I can learn from you. :)
Alessandra said…
That's kind of what I want to do this summer, cook a little more. I do like to cook, but I'm a skimmer too and even worse, I try to cook stuff from memory and apparently I don't have a very good memory....
I'm looking forward to read more of your adventures in the kitchen soon :)
Becky McNeer said…
I look forward to reading more! Good luck. Stop by my blog for some recipes to try:
http://homesandbabies.blogspot.com
Unknown said…
Sounds like a fun blog!!! I can relate to a girl that never really had to cook until recently... I can do it. I just prefer not to most of the time... haha.

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