(raising hand)
Ma taught me how to cook from a young age. While I can't say I approach her abilities in the kitchen, I must say that at least I can cook, unlike like many of my freinds, who either microwave or go out to eat, the latter of which is bad for the wallet.
I baked my first pie, lemon merengue, at age 7. My dad was a fantastic cook, and from what people tell me, I'm not too bad myself. I tried to get my oldest kids in the kitchen to learn the basics, but they couldn't be bothered.
I can't cook. I can make toast and cereal, and that's about it.
(raising hand)
And home economics classes have disappeared from the public schools.
I collected some great (and simple) recipes in home ec class that I use 25 years later.
I don't think it's always about family training though. My grandmother was a fantastic cook, my own mother, a stay at home mom could burn water, she was that bad and she tortured us with truly bad daily meals until I learned to cook to protect us all.
It is embarrassing and sad that people these days can't cook.
I cook for myself on a regular basis, and when I'm with family - I'm usually in charge of some part of the dinner table. And I'm a guy.
There are girls who don't know how to cook, and they consider it "liberating" to not have this knowledge, and therefore they must depend on restaurants and fast food to provide them with cooked meals.
It doesn't stop with cooking! The knowledge of basic living skills is lower than ever before.
I first learned to cook at about 13. I had an early morning paper route and Mom didn’t feel like getting up 4:00 AM. I didn’t feel like walking the route and delivering over a hundred papers in driving Yankee snowstorms without breakfast.
After the paper gig I still preferred fixing my own breakfast. After graduation I had to be at work by 5:00 AM – so knowing how to fix breakfast was again a handy skill. After my return from my second tour in Vietnam I lived off post. Unlike many I did not pick up the first available woman just to have someone to cook for me. I learned how to follow a recipe – it isn’t hard. I began to cook near gourmet meals as a way to impress women I was interested in. It works. By the time I married my late wife I was pretty good in the kitchen. When she was working and I was back in school I did the cooking. After she stopped working I did the cooking if she needed a break or we had company coming to dinner.
"Food Network's" Alton Brown RULES! My wife and I have learned ALOT frm him in the kitchen!