The statement "I can't cook"

[plumies]

Wow plumies I thought you were talking about a 16 yr old til the end!!

lol! She does act 16 on many levels. We love her very much but she's been very spoiled by her parents most of her life. She's like the teenage daughter we never had.

plumies, the interest in cooking doesn't seem to be there. 1) thorough reading and understanding of the process 2) attention to detail and the cooking process (walking away!!) So she'll be a crock potter or a heat and server. Not too bad.

Well, the interest in eating is there. We don't call her the Eating Machine for no reason. She's a heat and serve kind of person. We thought perhaps the interest to cook was there because she's mentioned it several times to us that she wished she could learn how to make some of the recipes she sees on television. When she moved into her new condo last year, she hinted that she didn't have any cookwear. I got her a Cuisinart "starter" set but they still look pretty new (aka, unused). So maybe it's just an illusion she has that she wants to cook.

BTW, I had an epiphany yesterday on why my SIL's bolognese sauce was not so good. I reread the recipe and realized that instead of 3 cups of chicken broth, she only put in 1 cup. I didn't put it together before but I made 4 cups of broth for her to use with the recipe. I ended up using 3 cups of that for an orzo dish last week. Which means she only used 1 cup. Well, that would explain the lack of sauce and why it didn't dawn on me earlier that there was no way she could have simmered it for 2 hours without burning everything. Duh!

 

[college_cook]

I have mixed feelings about that statement. I think most people fall into the category of "Can't cook because they're not really interested" or "Can't cook because they aren't interested enough to put in a serious effort". That said, I do know a few people who just don't seem to get it. My fiance, for example, I think falls somewhere in between. When it comes to baking, for example, she can handle pretty much any simple, TnT recipe, and I believe she's the type of person who will always bake better than she cooks because she loves the precision involved.

However, when it comes to actual cooking she has some issues. Here again, she can follow some simple recipes; she does well with baked pasta type dishes. When she tries to strike out on her own though (which is very rare) she doesn't know how to achieve what she wants to and chalks up the experience as a colossal failure. The instance that sticks out the most in my mind: I had a particularly late night at work and hadn't a chance to make myself anything to eat so she pulled out the GF grill, thawed some chicken breasts, sprinkled them with paprika and garlic powder and cooked them. They were only slightly overcooked, which is what impressed me the most since she doesn't really have an idea when meat is done. She was upset that the chicken tasted pretty flavorless, not the spicy garlicky and bold chicken she thought she was making for me. I tried to explain to her that they tasted exactly like what they were: chicken with garlic and paprika (no salt!), but she didn't understand why it didn't turn out delicious.

I think things like that can really discourage a person, and I think Kristina really does wish she could throw on the apron and put together a nice meal now and then. All it takes is a little bit of patience and willingness to learn, and the better your attention to detail, the better off you'll be.

 

[jpmcgrew]

I believe if you want to cook you can. But I also believe some people have what I call a cooking instinct they just seem to know what to do. I had a boyfriend who could cook pretty good but he had to have a recipe and followed it to the tee. I used to tease him when he failed to fill the ice cube trays. I asked him why couldn't refill the trays and if it was because he didn't have a recipe.
I also believe people want to learn to cook but then take on dishes above their cooking abilities only to be disappointed that it came out bad and so they give up. I would tell the cooks that worked with me when they wanted to learn baking to first master cookies etc before you try things much more complicated. I mean if you can't even make cookies don't try to make a wedding cake.

 

[tdiprincess]

well I come from a family that cooks. I learned all my Italian dishes from my mom. I've always experimented with new stuff. I have what people call the "knack" for cooking.
My sister can cook... But she doesn't always think of ways to add new flavors... But she's good. She's the pull chicken out of fridge and add Italian dressing to cook it in.
Then we have my dh's family...
The mil "gave up cooking 10 years ago" she doesn't cook anything unless there is no one else to do. And when she does it entails a jar and some other canned goods. She loves my cooking.... Or taking advantage of it...
The fil is a bit better. But he does the same as my sister.. Just barabcue sauce,everytime.
The sil is good as long as she follows directions. If she has directors she can do it.
Her husband is the same as me. But he doesn't do homemade quite as much. He does take jarred sauces and "fix" them.
So that's my family. I generally cook the most when it comes to inlaws.
Although I did forget about my grandpa. He never knew how to cook until my grandma had a major stroke. When be first started cooking 13 years ago, he started pancakes on fire. Now he's a pretty good cook for 74. He has a batch of dishes he knows how to do. My favorite is his French onion soup. My grandma loved going to one restaurant to eat. He asked why and it was the French onion soup. She said it you can make the soup better, I won't want to go there. So he did.
So that's the people I deal with on a regular basis. I'm still getting us to the hubbys family and their cooking habits...

 

[plumies]

Without completely tearing my SIL apart, I think her "issues" (for lack of a better word) with cooking are multi-leveled. Although my DH believes it's primarily because she just doesn't want to cook. Which reminds me she once said, "if someone is willing to feed me, then that saves me the trouble of cooking."

She has a completely different attitude than my husband. DH likes to cook and so does his mother (the Other Eating Machine, we fondly call her). So we can't say it's family influenced. But then again, my MIL can have a whole box of Wheat Thins with a side of nuts as dinner accompanied by a bottle of wine. But let's not go down that road.

 

[LPBeier]

Our "daughter", a young girl in her twenties who started living with us a few years ago (before she decided to spend a year in Inuvik NWT just to see how much cold she could take) had absolutely NO interest in cooking whatsoever. Or at least she thought. What it really was is her mother never cooked...anything. So she had no roll model. When she stayed with another family and found that the three sons all cooked, she started helping them. Then when she came to stay with us she really got into it. I would make something and she would say "you have to teach me that one". Just before she left in September, I think she was cooking more than I was and was very good at it too.

I think there are many varied circumstances as to why people can, can't, or don't want/need to cook.