During summer break I was home alone from morning to dinner time so I pretty much had to cook for lunch. Luckily I also had access to internet back then so I could google plenty of spaghetti recipes to try out.
My mom didn't know how to cook anything but stouffer's and kraft mac.
My grandmother used to make badass meals and gave me her cookbook she compiled. Also my dad taught me how to make some bomb ass chili and shepherds pie.
I love the creativity of cooking when I'm broke as fuck too.
My favorite cuisine to cook is definitely creole/cajun.
being poor and on my own so eating fast food and premade meals all day all the time, realize its actually much cheaper to make your own food. use the internet to learn how to follow recipes, first actual good meal was chicken tiki masala
Worked for a caterer, and previously elusive techniques suddenly made a lot of sense. No better way than more or less being informally trained to cook...?
>>7706085
My wife and son were killed in a car accident. I had never learned how to cook so all I did was eat frozen food for three years. After the depression abated I decided that I needed to take better care of myself and started cooking. It was a disaster at first but I got better.
I live in a rural shithole, no fast food for 35 miles, closest grocery store is 10 miles away. If you wanted to eat, you had to learn how to cook.
>>7706301
Holy shit...
>>7706333
I started by cooking omelettes. I burned the first, had eggshells in the second. The third was overcooked but It looked really appetizing compared to the first two. I ate it by myself at 10 am.
I wasn't working at the time because I had been clinically depressed. I was let go for my absenteeism but my boss and coworkers were heartbroken to have to see me out.
After eating the omelette at my kitchen table I just broke down crying. I think I cried for half an hour. It was something I would never share with my wife or son. I would never be able to learn something and share it with them. I would never be able to see my son one morning and offer to teach him how to do something even as mundane as making an omelette.
>>7706085
I suppose my grandma taught me when i was 5 because i followed her around all day and wanted to do what she did.
I started cooking around 10 because my alcoholic dad used to make me do pretty much everything he could get away with. But at that point i probably knew how to make 10 things.
I actually started experimenting qnd making good food when i was about 21. I had been on my own for 4 years and finally had enough money in the bank to not be scraping by.
>>7706355
VERY cool blog. how do I subscribe for more? do you have an ebook I can buy?
>>7706361
I just felt like sharing this. I'm sorry to bother you.
>>7706365
Don't you have family you can talk to instead of us?
>>7706367
If you have family or friends why are you on 4chan?
>>7706367
It was 12 years ago and I'm remarried and have a second family. It just seemed like something appropriate to the topic that people would be interested in. I was mistaken. I apologize.
>>7706367
They're all dead, I killed them all after my wife died, on the day i lost my job. I was going to go on a workplace rampage but I knew I would face jailtime.
My mom was absolute shit at cooking. Beyond being big into diet fads which meant our cupboards and fridge was stuffed with low-fat, low sodium, sugarfree, and diet everything. She still didn't lose any weight but tried to get us to eat it anyways.
Beyond that, she just doesn't know what she's doing. She eyeballs things without having the experience for it, decides to trust herself instead of using a timer and then falls asleep, uses packaged/bottled/pre-made everything, only eats white meat, thinks salt is going to kill us all.
My Dad wasn't so bad at first, he taught me a pretty great chili recipe, but then he got colon cancer. After his surgery that shortened his colon, he'd get diarrhea from a lot of different foods. This became less and less of a problem as time went on, but he was always moping and making it our problem even though he refused to eat anything different. Eventually, to compensate for the fact that he refused to eat a lot of things, we narrowed down to eating spaghetti, taco meat, fast food burgers, premade lasagna, and taquitos 7 days a week. I literally preferred to just go hungry at a point.
On my own terms I discovered the joys of fats, acids, salt, and MSG, so things are better now.
Because I'm a human being and I need to eat.
I was an orphan
I was 17... my mum died and I had two younger brothers (one 16, one 13) who were literal dumb shits and had no idea about anything
I was the oldest and I had made stuff before with mum and the stuff I had pretty much learned by osmosis by hanging out with her came in handy... I wish I had her recipes though, nothing tastes sweeter than nostalgia
>>7706085
Out of necessity mostly, I was alone most of the time at home and it came natural anyway, I used to see my mom make food all the time and I started making stuff on my own when I was 8. Bless you mom for not cuddling me and letting me learn shit on my own.
>>7706301
Fuuug, sorry anon
i took a trip to chicago and determined to transplant some of the unique stylistic qualities of the city and region back home.
first, i started off with 'za
i baked when i was younger and then moved onto regular cooking
the first thing i baked (other than slice and bake cookies) were gingerbread cookies with my mom and i had never tasted ginger before so when i bit into one i immediately spit it out because i expected them to be sweet
i remember one time shortly after that, someone mentioned a "souffle" on nickelodeon and i went upstairs and told my mom i wanted to bake a souffle and she just put a bunch of ingredients out on the counter and i put a bunch of random shit together (eggs, flour, hot sauce, cheese) and she microwaved it and then i asked if i could eat it and she said no and i cried
After I turned six, we moved into a huge house. Both my parents needed to work, so two of us children took turns. I was the youngest, so I started with simple things like breakfast sandwiches and French toast with simmered berries. My bro who was four years older could bake and would always be in the kitchen with me. He'd watch out for me while prepping his batter for the next day. He had some of the best waffles ever! One year I bought him a Belgian waffle press for his birthday.
When he turned 12 he started working more with our parents, so I took over. Both of my brothers would occasionally give me a break, but my sister never got into cooking much. My mother at some point sent me to learn how to sew and bake at a farm. And when I was finished I worked between cooking and cleaning. There isn't much that I can't cook anymore. They started bringing me on the road for work, and I would bake by a campfire. Two years I had negotiated with some military men for the spring black bear carcasses. I had my brothers set up a tripod in a stream and hung them in there and wrapped it up. The glacier waters kept it cool enough, and I'd rub it down with salt. That was all by 11.
Now I'm in my twenties and cook just about anything. My son is about to turn five, and he eats a good variety. Particularly seafood. I just can't wait for him to start experimenting! He lives to get I his apron and help me cook.
>>7706085
I heated up canned chicken noodle soup and seasoned it with tobasco sauce as a kid, I thought that was really fun. Over time I got more curious, looked things up, did more complex things, etc. It's a fulfilling experience to make your own meal. And when it tastes really good then you have something special that you can share.
If I didn't learn to cook... i'd be stuck with what my parents usually made and cooking is not their strong point.
>>7706355
I appreciated your story anon, it made me feel
Korean girlfriend forced me to learn.
>>7706367
Family wtf? Who are you with this "family" i bet you even have "friends" as well. Fuck off normie!
>>7706373
Don't be mistake. Your input was welcome. It helps us gain perspective on our own problems.
So lurker here, do we have a ck wiki or sticky that shows me where to start learning to cook
>>7706890
>It helps us gain perspective on our own problems.
how?
I always wanted to be where the action was so I was chopping vegetables at age 7 and by the time I turned 16 I was cooking for the family on a regular basis although mom always did the shopping because if I were doing it we would have been 400 pounds from all the ice cream and cheese
Fuck me I love dairy products
>>7706085
went to college and didn't live in the dorms. I didn't want to fall for the ramen every day meme, so i learned to cook.
>>7706889
looks like it really is summer
>>7707096
>le summer meme
sure is eternal september in here
>>7706085
I like to eat good stuff.
PD: pic related?
>>7706909
we don't have a sticky because of our cuck mods
Buy The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science or How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman and get to reading but the first thing you're gonna want to do is learn to make an omelet and scrambled eggs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s10etP1p2bU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUP7U5vTMM0
>>7707102
Why these books? Which one should I start with?
>>7707099
yes that meme would also apply to this situation
To learn how to be more self sufficient.
I learned one fundamental rule: apply heat to food, but don't burn it. If you can't do that, then you are retarded.
>>7707122
so wise:)
>>7707104
They are both full of instructions on how to do basic to semi advanced cookery. I have both and the food lab goes much more into the science behind food and is sort of a quest for how to make "the perfect ____" and Bittman's book is much more about techniques but both are good to have around. If you really are a retard in the kitchen like I was I would get Bittman's book, read all the shit at the beginning about equipment and such, and then just look up what sort of things you would like to cook in the index, read the intro of that particular section (there is a big one at the beginning of each chapter like "everything you need to know about baking" and then usually a smaller one right before a couple of recipes like "what you need to know about making cookies"), and just have at it with the recipe. If you follow his instructions you will get decent results and he offers a lot of alternatives and substitutions and the whole book is massively cross-referenced. Then I would graduate to the Food Lab although a lot of their stuff is readily available online at seriouseats.com so you don't need the book necessarily but it costs like 20 bucks, is huge, and I like having it in front of me while I cook
I mean generally you could learn to cook by watching youtube videos that aren't by this guy or any Filipinos or Finns. foodwishes with chef John on youtube, Ramsay, and Jacques Pepin have a lot of material online and they are great chefs who do a range of material. Chef John is probably the best for a retard in the kitchen though, Pepin likes to do a lot of fancy shit and desserts, Ramsay doesn't always give quantities for ingredients because his videos are shorter
>>7706355
I havent felt any emotions for years. Now I can. Thanks
>>7706355
More blog!! More!
>>7706085
Mom cooked, so I did not grow up eating much fast food. When I got out on my own I figured I had to cook to feed myself. Also ended up in a creative career with an uneven income stream, so when money was great I got to eat at really good restaurants. When money was not as good I wanted to eat just as well, so I put the effort into reverse engineering the kinds of meals I'd eat out. Over the years I got good at it.
>>7707136
Thanks anon, you're a babe
>>7706301
Well damn, here I thought this was gonna be a lighthearted thread. Fuck.
>>7707082
Not the anon you replied to, but personally after reading the loss of that other anon's family I am glad that most of my family is still with me.
>>7707375
how is that a problem?
>>7706085
Mom got the cancer and was given 1-2 years to live. Two younger brothers needed dinner, so I spent that last 1.5 years with her as she taught me how to cook.
Now it's some strange interest that I have a hard time explaining to people. I don't really know why I enjoy cooking and reading about new recipes and whatnot, or why I waste my time posting on a goddamn 4chan cooking board, but here I am.
>>7707398
Cancer sucks man sorry for your loss.
>>7707381
It's not a problem in his case but more of a blessing.
You know what that anon means so don't be obtuse and stop shitposting
>>7707421
no, i don't. anon said it may make us think about our own problems and i was curious what he's referring to. it did make me think about my life and what i have and etc, but not about my problems, so i was curious about his perspective
>>7707398
That's brutal. But mom left you with a gift. You not only have a valuable life skill learned from her, but the chance to cherish her memory every time you reach for a knife or a pan. That's worth a lot, Anon.
Worked in a dining hall in college, one of the top five in the nation. Had a lot of great chefs there, picked up lots of things
then I pretty much wasted it by just throwing eggs veggie meat and different spices in a pan for every meal but y'know
