Teaching Cooking

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Claire

Master Chef
Joined
Sep 4, 2004
Messages
7,967
Location
Galena, IL
One of my great joys in life is that I'm the "go-to" person in my family for food. Last weekend, husband and I were sitting on the porch, sipping, and the phone rang. Nephew wanted to know what ghee was and something about spaghetti squash. I'm familiar with the stores in his area, and told him how to make ghee from scratch, but also that you can buy it canned in Asian grocery stores. The spaghetti squash he should be able to find in his local Publix, and I told him what to look for and how to prepare it.

I often find myself in my local grocer (you have to understand that over the years it's been a heck of a lot of stores in almost every state in the union), advising people on what to buy and why. This particular nephew calls me at least a couple times a year. Sometimes he's actually calling my husband about army stuff. But often it is that he likes to cook, in a family where men don't cook, and wants my advice. "Call Auntie Claire" is the answer.

Do you teach your family and friends, and in some cases (as in grocery stores) total strangers how to cook?
 
Oh, yeah. I don't know how many cashiers I have taught over the years!! The other day, I actually had to tell a young man that what I was buying was CABBAGE, not LETTUCE!!
 
I get calls and emails all the time from my sister and two daughters. SO calls me from work when she gets stuck preparing a meal. I sometimes provide recipes for her to cook at work.
 
I held a class at a family dinner on how to make pie crust...I was tired of only bakling pies for our get togethers. I was 14 or so.
 
I get calls not only calls from my friends and family but my wife's friends too. Most of the time it just someone wants to know what I'd do with with something or they want to ask how to do something.
I'm honored they ask me.
 
I get that too, I often find myself discussing recipes or giving cooking hints. I've been cooking since I could stand on a chair at the sink peeling potatoes. Large family lol. I love cooking tho - all things food really. I most often would rather cook something than to eat out as that is often disappointing. My family and friends and Facebook often ask how to cook. I sometimes wonder when invited for dinner how I get cold potatoes and veges with my just out if the oven roast. Timing is a major issue, and gravies and white or cheese sauce out of a $3.50 packet, omg add some four and water or milk and make it taste better and cost less.
 
Even before I went to school I was the "go to" person for advice, recipes, lessons, etc. for family and friends, not to mention friends and family of family and friends! :)

In Home Ec in grade 8 I helped the teacher show the other students how to do things because I was bored with lessons of things I was doing for years.

I have a group of young ladies from our youth group who I am teaching cake decorating to but have Moms call me or get me through FB asking questions about birthday cakes, etc.

I feel really honoured when people ask me for advice. And usually I come out learning or relearning something myself!
 
Me, too. I've been cooking, out of necessity, since I was 8. Fortunately, the early requirement to cook didn't spoil my enjoyment and love of it. I could just as easily wound up hating it.

At any rate, my children call often, as do my siblings. It's fun helping them and they are all accomplished in the kitchen, which makes me happy that I've been able to assist them in their success.

For nearly a dozen years I wrote a syndicated food/home/lifestyle column for a number of newspapers across the U.S. and I had so much fun when someone wrote to me with a question or comment. I made so many wonderful friends during those years and I learned as much from them as I hope I taught.

Also, for many years I was asked to teach two types of food classes for the area extension service. One was international foods and the other a general cooking class, sort of an intro or beginner class. The thing I enjoyed most about both of those classes was introducing new foods to the class participants. One young man had never had olives. He couldn't get enough of them. I looked at food through new eyes teaching those classes.

Food and cooking, for me, is fun and I use it as a relaxation tool. I can get lost in preparing something and the end result is my reward for whatever I did and however long it took.

Having said all that, there's still so much for me to learn and I'll try anything once. I know for dead certain that if I don't try, I'll never find out whether I would be successful or not.
 
I too started cooking at a very young age, I am the only one of 4 children who enjoy cooking for the pleasure of it. Even Mom cooks only because she has to eat. Dad and I share the joy of discovery and experimentation.

I've been watching PowerPlantOp's videos and he does a fantastic job teaching and Dad is learning to make his own soy sauce (at the age of 69) from the videos.

I love teaching, learning and eating...
 
I get a lot of requests for recipes from friends and family on facebook. More than one recipe has become their go-to recipe. I really enjoy being there to help.

I also have a bunch of friends who enjoy cooking and we all share tips and tricks.
 
i don't find it surprising that people who like to "discuss cooking" online are a source of cooking knowledge to their families and friends in real life.

as we were watching "master chef" tonight, i noticed that someone had made a type of scotch egg, another made a ceviche, and yet a third made a green curry over rice and i had commented on it shortly before they showed the contestants plates, with eventual lower third graphics describing each dish.

my wife and son both asked how i knew what they were just from a quick "tv" peek at them. it was obvious to me.

the best part was when my boy asked me to teach him how to make scotch eggs this weekend. this is gonna be fun. i also need to pick up some crabs to make ceviche and curry.
 
I usually answer questions at work from my co- workers about ingredients. There was one recipe here that taxlady had done a very good demonstration on, I shared it. So technically, she taught me and then I taught a co- worker! :)
 
I, too, take pride in the fact that I'm the one everyone in my family calls, and I too, was doing it from a very early age. All my sibs are younger than I, and Mom got sick several times (not to mention the 3 days in hospital that having a baby used to entail). Mom started me off in an electric skillet (so I wouldn't have to deal with flame) and with stuff like spaghetti sauce and chili, fried pork chops and gravy, at a very young age.

I think the most interesting call was when nephew came back from an Afghanistan deployment and wanted to know what to buy to make an Afghan meal for a friend. Huh? I had no idea, but he went through the grocery store describing the dishes (for example, it was already afternoon and he was going to buy dry chick-peas! No! Canned!). One time I was with a friend and she commented on my choice of lettuce. (not criticism, she was just curious about why one was so much more expensive than another). I explained that the lettuce I wasn't buying this time, I have bought before because it is alive and will last for a very long time if you keep the root reservoir wet; it's perfect if you only eat a little bit at a time and wind up throwing away part of a head anyway. So in the long run can be a bargain. The guy stocking the produce department tapped me on the shoulder and said, they should hire you here.
 
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