Once upon a time there was a little girl who took wistful walks through the fields in her neighborhood. She used to dream about getting married and having babies and living out her days with her Prince Charming.
Over the years, she started thinking of other things and she ignored when her mother tried to teach her how to make chicken noodle soup for when she had a cold. She grew up into a fine young lady and moved away to the city for college. She ate in the cafeteria some days, microwaved dinner on other days and sometimes she even treated herself to take out.
In the end, the little girl became a journalist. She filled her days with her work; her passion. She traveled a lot. She had the privilege of eating the best food from the best chefs. She had a wonderful life. Except, sometimes when she came home, she realized it did not feel much like a home. When she had friends over, she called the caterer. When she went on a date and brought him home, she ordered breakfast from the brunch place down the street.
One day, the little girl realized, that even though the food she bought was delicious, she wanted to cook some of her own food in her own home that she had worked so hard for. She decided to learn how to cook.
Day One: The pasta tasted like mush.
Day Two: The steak tasted like sneaker.
Day Three: She ordered Chinese food.
Day Four: Chicken was only a little dry but had no flavor.
Day Five: The house still smells like burnt steak.
Day Six: Pizza it is.
Day Seven: She hopes he likes it. He laughs because the salmon looks more like tuna fish. He thinks it is cute.
Day Eight: Its time to kick it up a notch.
Disclaimer: I do not advocate changing yourself for a man. I do not advocate becoming someone who you are not to impress a man or "trap" him. I do believe that everyone likes coming home to a home though. I do believe everyone loves the smell on Thanksgiving morning after the turkey has been put in the oven. The goal is not for women to give up their careers to go back to some "1950s esque" state of being. Instead, the idea is to do all of the things that you love doing and to add cooking to that list because everyone deserves a warm home in the winter that smells like warm oatmeal cookies.
The Theory: I frequently hear people say things like "I didn't know you could cook", "you cook?", "how did you learn how to cook?", "you need to give me this recipe," "mine would never turn out like this." Whenever I hear a person claim that they don't know how to cook, I question how it is that I "do." My mom didn't teach me. My dad didn't teach me. My grandma tried to talk to me about cooking and I didn't really care about that sort of thing while she was still alive. It was always a non-issue because whenever I had the opportunity to cook, I just did it. Now, as an adult, when I entertain, I will sometimes look at recipes to get ideas, but I rarely follow them exactly. In fact, that bores me. I wouldn't want to cook if I felt like I had to follow recipes all of the time either. I'm not here to sell recipes, I'm here to help you figure out how to plan and make meals that make people say "can you give me the recipe for this?"
By planning, pairing naturally complimentary ingredients, you can make any meal a success. Just watch and see.
By the way, that little girl is not me. It is the stereotype I imagine when I think of a grown up who does not know how to cook. I think most people think this stereotype applies to most professional women, based upon their comments to me. I am no exceptional cook, that is the point. My meals aren't exceptional, but if I can trick people into believing that they are, you should too.
