Cooking 101

I really like to cook.

Oh, I can be lured by convenience food as much as anyone, especially lately. But there is something really satisfying about pulling ingredients out of the cupboard or refrigerator and combining them into a new whole.

I have had 3 primary cooking teachers in my life. First was my mom. From her, I learned how to read recipes and measure ingredients properly. She also taught me how to make a basic cream sauce and some other fundamentals of cooking. Those fundamentals have given me the base to do everything else.

My Grandma Sophie taught me some favorite recipes, including sausage gravy and biscuits. Seriously, I think mine is better than Bob Evan's. I loved to watch her bake. My sister Becky learned her method of making apple pie, and then put her own touches on it to make it her own. Pastry scares me, but I learned how to make her fudge icing and homemade chocolate pudding pie. I just use a store bought or graham cracker crust. ;-)

My dad did most of the daily cooking when I was growing up. Mom did the big holiday meals. From him, I learned how to experiment. He is known for claiming that something is Secret Recipe #7344. Oftentimes, he just made creative use of pantry staples, and some of those recipes are family favorites today.

Mom, Dad, and Grandma allowed us kids to watch and to help. We layered the lasagne and mixed the meatloaf mixture. We stirred the cream sauce so it wouldn't scald while Mom worked on something else. Grandma let us make cinnamon cookies out of the scraps of pastry dough, and we helped slice the apples. Mom and Dad also trusted us in the kitchen fairly early. I know I was making my own grilled cheese and fried eggs on the stove by the time I was 7 or 8, and baking cookies on my own by age 10. The main rule was that we had to clean up our mess, a rule we broke often.

As an adult, I have created some of my own recipes out of my head. Kale with apples and onions and Kris' pasta with fungus sauce are two of them. I also am fond of adapting recipes that I find in cookbooks. Thus, I have my famous black bean soup recipe. Tonight, I adapted a recipe I found on the internet and created a new tasty dish that will provide me lunches for the next week.

I remember teaching my niece Karolyn how to make homemade pancakes when she was 12 and staying overnight at my place. My other nieces and nephews like to help too, so I have had them help me make cookies or candy. I don't have children of my own, but I do my best to help pass on the cooking tradition in our family.