Who taught you or how did you learn how to cook?

Mom made sure that I could fry a hamburger, wash my clothes and hem a pair of pants before I left the house.

I learned to Cook myself. I did it in self defense my GF and now my DW are not so inclined.
 
Yupp, my mom knew I would be single for a while. She also taught me to iron, dishes, laundry and sewing.
 
Eighth grade, and boy was I embarassed when Mom called
the school and made them let me take Home Economics.
At this school, the girls learned to cook and hem and such,
the boys took Shop class.
Although I soon decided that being the only boy in a class of
girls wasn't bad, and what I learned has come in handy!

Mom taught me most of my cooking basics, though.

One thing I never forgot was the Home Ec teacher imploring us
to use just a little bit of dish soap, because that was alll you needed.
I know realize it was also because she was probably suppling it with her own money!
 
it was my Mom.

not so altogether sure she "taught" me to cook - but she did "demonstrate" that cooking could be done by non-TV personalities. we didn't do "fast food" we didn't do "prepared (TV) dinners" - my parents concepts of "fresh beef" involved a cow with it's hoofs still attached.

the "freezer" was a different matter. don't wanna' go there . . .

so, I "knew" stuff could be cooked, but the fine points I learned by the "epic fail" method.....
 
ChowderMan said:
it was my Mom.

not so altogether sure she "taught" me to cook - but she did "demonstrate" that cooking could be done by non-TV personalities. we didn't do "fast food" we didn't do "prepared (TV) dinners" - my parents concepts of "fresh beef" involved a cow with it's hoofs still attached.

the "freezer" was a different matter. don't wanna' go there . . .

so, I "knew" stuff could be cooked, but the fine points I learned by the "epic fail" method.....
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About the same with me, also. Grandmother made everything from scratch be it bread to pasta. I don't think I ever ate anything that ever resembled fast foods. :wink:

She taught my father then my brother and me. When I got married she taught my wife also. The first 5 years of my marriage I ate a lot of my grandmother's dishes slightly different to say the least. Learn though she did. :good:
 
Basics taught by mum & dad - my dad had to teach my mum to cook when they got married. Then developed my own cooking through experiment, TV shows and a couple of cookery courses.
 
i watched my Dad, my Pap, Grandma, & Mom from before i was allowed to cook on my own. as a pre-tween, i read cookbooks as much as i could. went from there. began w/ my Pap showing me to how to cook fudge when i'd visit there in 5th, 6th grade, & making dippy-eggs fer my maternal Grandma, poached eggs for myself. making lunch for my Mom on her lunch hour, trimming/browning beef for soups & chilis, cooking for my maternal Grandmother when i'd stay over there for a nite or 2. my Pap- he knew to keep a cupboard stocked w/ ingredients for me. ('Pap~ can we make candy~') (get the ingredients together & i'll get the double boiler on.')
then i took on cooking on my own near 12 when he would leave fer ballroom dancing or bowling w/ his ladyfriend, or get to the senior center. contributed to cooking w/ my Parents from very early on. learning to harvest nature's gifts- getting walnuts, lake fish, berries, gardening.
& of course cooking shows. the 'medicine' of gettin' ill in elementary school.
 
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My Mom started me when I was a teen, easy stuff, like scrambled eggs, French Toast, Hamburger Helper, etc.

When I was about 19, I realized that I would shortly be out on my own, and that I couldn't afford to eat out all the time, so I would have to learn to cook. I bought a couple cookbooks, started reading, and started cooking.

When I did move out, I was lucky enough to have one of my g'mothers as a room-mate. She would tell me how to do things, but.......you didn't want her to actually cook. My Mom told me that she only knew how to cook three things, coffee, beans, and toast, and she burned all three because that's how she liked them.

I quickly took off cooking. 8 months after leaving the nest, I made Thanksgiving dinner, and invited my parents over to my humble apartment.

As the years passed, I got different cookbooks, and studied. After several years, I realized I had a talent for it, so.....

Off to culinary school I went. I've been working in "real" restaurants for about 15 years now.
 
I never cooked anything other than a boxed cake mix until I moved away from home. My mother was a sahm with a house full of kids and a picky husband. She never asked for help in the kitchen, and I guess I just wasn't interested at the time. Looking back now I feel kind of guilty. She never got a break. She cooked something every day. Kids did help with the dishes....sometimes :whistle:.

So I guess I'm pretty much self-taught although I did learn a lot from my mother later in life when I would come home for visits and for holidays.
 
my grandmother taught me to like the kitchen, but not really any techniques. My mother really did not cooking, she had a few dishes that she did, otherwise it was hamburger helper type stuff. I learned from watching Julia Child in the early years. Now i simply concentrate on buying quality ingredients and having a garden
 
Belaine, do you ever listen to Melinda Lee? I've learned a lot from her. You are in her listening area.
 
Leni
Have listened to Melinda for years. Followed her from station to station. Learned lots from her. She is hardly on now. Looking forward to her magazine. Have heard her mention you on her show.
 
This is really cool to be talking cooking on a food site. Your stories are amazing. I would love to have a pot luck with you guys/gals I bet we would be dining on some incredible food at some off the map cabin\beach.
 
Lefty said:
This is really cool to be talking cooking on a food site. Your stories are amazing. I would love to have a pot luck with you guys/gals I bet we would be dining on some incredible food at some off the map cabin\beach.
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I'll bring the basket of bread, just let me know where and when.:mrgreen: I agree, it would be a culinary delight to be sampling all the fantastic foods I have seen over the years on this site.

Back on topic, I learned a little from Mom, but mostly from watching, not so much cooking. When I moved into my first place in New Mexico back in '72 while in the Air Force, I took to the kitchen with a vengeance (mainly out of hunger). Before I married I was making dinners for the neighbors and the other bachelor GI's in exchange for them bringing beer and desserts. Once married the cooking duties were taken over by DW except for the holidays we hosted in our home. Then is when I would make the Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners for up to 25 people. It was only when we became empty nesters a few years ago that I got back into the kitchen, and into the bread baking 4 years ago when my MIL passed away. NCT and other foodie forums have helped increase my cooking skills, and given inspiration to try new and different things.
 
She really wanted to retire but the station talked her out of it. They literaly bent over backward for her. Every thing that she wanted they gave her. How could she say no? So glad that they did. This magazine project of hers is really keeping her much busier that she thought. I don't think that she realized how much time it would take. We'll see how long it takes before she says OH MY God!
 
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I once asked my grandmother who taught her to cook. She learned from her mother which was mostly Hungarian dishes. When she married my grandfather their first place was an apartment over an Italian restaurant in Hell's Kitchen in New York. In those days few woman worked and being a small 1 bedroom apartment house work didn't take much. So she went down stairs and struck up a friendship with the owners wife. Well she mentioned to her that she didn't know much about Italian foods at that time. Well next thing she knows is she is in the kitchen learning how. To this day I remember how good she cooked. The woman could cook anything by the time I was born.
 
Leni,
Yes, I figured she wanted to retire. I started listening less when her hours got later in the morning. I used to love to cook and listen to her on Saturday mornings. I also miss her quick dinner ideas she used to do on a daily basis.

I also miss Elmer Dils :) I know I am aging myself.
 
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