How old were you when you learned to cook? I’m not talking about anything insane like roasting a turkey or making a mousse. I mean actually learned the basics of cooking?
Can’t quite pinpoint a specific age? Sadly, neither can most of the people I’ve asked. It’s just not something that many people take the time to actually teach, and it isn’t taught in most schools either. One of the many reasons I homeschool my children is so that I can teach them not only about their faith, but also because it affords me the opportunity to teach them about life in general and about the way we live as a family. In my opinion, it’s a little hard to do that when my children are out of the house for eight hours out of every day, just as it would be if I were out of the house for that long. So, we all stay home, and we learn how to live.
That being said, I’ve decided it’s time for me to start teaching the kidlets the basics of cooking. And when I say basics, I do mean the basics. I will in fact be teaching them how to boil water and butter toast. These are not things that one simply knows. They are things that must be taught, however simply or easily, but taught nonetheless. Seriously, have you ever seen a six year old try to spread peanut butter onto white bread for the first time before? I have. It’s a real nail-biter.
I’m still working on a “curriculum” if you will, but I’ll be posting it all on here as I go. I’ve actually already started, with teaching the Scientist how to make French toast (in addition to spreading “stuff” on bread). That’ll be a future installment. For now, I’d like to poll the audience (but, you know, without a poll because I’m always afraid I’ll post one and then nobody will respond and then I’ll be all embarrassed and stuff):
What was the first thing you remember learning to cook all by yourself? Was it hard? Easy?
If you never learned the basics as a kid, do you feel inadequate in the kitchen as an adult?
What is the first thing you think anyone needs to learn when learning to cook? It could be anything from safety rules to techniques.
Life at Le. Rheims 
What was the first thing you remember learning to cook all by yourself? Was it hard? Easy?
First thing I made was boxed macaroni and cheese. I followed the directions specifically and then realized that dyslexia and cooking at a young age didn’t mix well…. Drain, THEN add cheese….
If you never learned the basics as a kid, do you feel inadequate in the kitchen as an adult?
I know this may be a surprise but as a male I am rather thick headed. As such I felt awkward in a kitchen and strived to resolve that. It worked out for a time and then I happen to marry a woman whom I can only guess is some distant relative of Martha Stewart, Betty Crocker, and Julia Child… Don’t ask how it works. I haven’t figured it out either, but she is that good of a cook. 🙂
What is the first thing you think anyone needs to learn when learning to cook? It could be anything from safety rules to techniques.
There is a rule in my house. “All knives are sharp, and all pots are hot.” If you go into cooking assuming that, it works out best in the end.
I consider it an unfair advantage that my dad is a chef and I learned a lot about cooking just through observation. My children are learning the same way. My first dish I cooked solo was scrambled eggs, but that was thanks to a kid-friendly cookbook, not personal instruction.
When I was a child, my mom impressed me with all the soups and salads she made. Main dishes were also a hit, especially with all the limited choice of ingredients we had during the Soviet Union. So, she passed this onto me one summer, right after I finished the school and was getting ready to leave for college in a different city. All summer we cooked side by side, with me taking notes of the ingredients and the process while we were cooking. And when I got to college, I made my own borshch for the first time, which turned out to be absolutely scrumptious.
My cooking has changed a lot since college days (and my kids find grandma’s cooking very bland!), but I am grateful that my mom instilled in me interest to cooking as well flexibility in experimenting.
I think the first thing I cooked on my own was boxed mac and cheese, too. I remember it going fine but I would not say that I felt I knew the “basics” of cooking. In college I was definitely seen as someone who “could cook” but, really, I had just had a couple of recipes. Once I was cooking regularly for someone who really COULD cook (my future husband) my total lack of skills became pretty apparent. But I just set out to learn. I got a vegetarian cookbook with “30-minute” recipes in it and cooked through the entire thing. The vegetarian aspect meant that 1) the recipes were cheaper so if I ruined one it was less of a loss and 2) there tended to be more adventurous “ethnic”-style recipes so I learned a lot about a wide variety of ingredients. The “30-minute” thing meant that I could take three times as long to pull off something new and we’d still eat at a mostly okay time. And it meant nothing was super ambitious.
I think the first two things when learning to cook are 1) this can be creative and fun–i.e. don’t be a recipe slave but learn principles and go from there and 2) respect the tool–kind of like your friend’s “the knife is always sharp, the pot is always hot”
I think I got involved first during breakfast being responsible for toast and buttering it. Idk around age 9?
Cooking isnt my comfort place. I can make breakfast items but beyond that its an experiment I need my wives directions on.
I admire people who can cook and devise dishes. This is a great skill for the kids. Feel free to teach them a budget later on in buying the ingredients.
Beyond buttering bread etc I started cooking full English breakfasts for my full family of six most weekends by around the age of 7 or 8.
By 10/11 I was cooking most family dinners as my mother was a nurse on night-shift and I was the eldest child.
My mother certainly laid the foundations, particularly the idea of cleaning as you go, but after I became confident as a cook, I enjoyed experimenting with what I cooked and often tried to duplicate something I had eaten at a restaurant by just playing around, which occasionally involved the family having ‘interesting’ meal experiences.
That early experience gave me a life-long confidence in my ability to not just cook, but to cook multi-course meals for large groups of people with no problem or stress. I love cooking thanks to my mother’s patience in teaching me when I was young.
I completely agree re the knives and pots and I think learning how to cut safely and getting over the fear of dealing with hot pans, boiling water and spitting oil is crucial to kitchen-confidence. I also think that learning to clean as you cook is hugely helpful in giving you confidence in preparing more complex dishes or meals with multiple courses, as you (at least I) so often need to reuse bowls, knives, boards etc as you go.
Seriously I’m not stalking you today. I have been a little lax on reading your posts this week. I love how you are raising your children and you know I love them too. They are all great kids. It’s so nice to see a parent care and take time to be an active part in their lives. But also share that. Have a great weekend.