Does anyone here actually know how to cook?

[MJinZ]

And are in your 20s?

I am curious because unless something changes, I don't foresee cooking in my future.

 

[gorcorps]

I wouldn't say I know how to cook, but I know how to make simple things with a stove and few specific ingredients. I can use eggs in a number of ways, and cook meats and pasta, but that's about it.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Not in my 20's lol but, I am a Chef. My mother had a punch list though of all the things you had to know before you moved out and cooking was near the top.

 

[MJinZ]

Not in my 20's lol but, I am a Chef. My mother had a punch list though of all the things you had to know before you moved out and cooking was near the top.

Have you been on Master Chef/ Hell's Kitchen / Top Chef etc?

 

[MarkXIX]

I do virtually all of the cooking in my house. I am pretty good at it, there's not much I can't cook and have people remark how good it is.

Mastery of herbs (preferrably fresh), spices, and other seasonings is probably the area that most people fail the worst at.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Have you been on Master Chef/ Hell's Kitchen / Top Chef etc?

No but, I won the 1986 beef cook off and worked with the Captain of the U.S. Culinary Olympic team. I'm old school and my heyday was long before those shows existed.

 

[zerocool84]

I hate cooking. I get zero enjoyment out of it. I only do it when I have to. I am in my 20's.

 

[Zorkorist]

Your mother will love you more if you can make her favorite dishes,

Yes I can cook.

-John

 

[IronWing]

I knew how to cook when I was in my 20s.

 

[illusion88]

When I moved out of my parents house at 18, I learned how to cook. When money is tight, cooking your own food saves a bundle. It's either eat crappy food, or learn to cook.

I'm 25 now and I can cook just fine, I even have some recipe books that I use.

 

[lxskllr]

I could cook when I was in my 20s. I don't like it, but I can do it. I always preferred baking, but I haven't done that in a long time either.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

I'm 23 and I can cook the hell out of just about anything you can throw at me. Its fun and relaxing to me, girls love it when you can throw out a badass meal by yourself.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

It's all about taking control of your destiny. Do you really want to be eating fast food and hamburger helper twenty years from now?

 

[Jimmah]

I can cook pretty well, I do mini catering jobs here and there for funzees, and I host a large fundraiser each year for the local food bank at my home for friends and strangers (I cook them food, they donate approx how much they feel the meal was worth).

 

[zerocool84]

It's all about taking control of your destiny. Do you really want to be eating fast food and hamburger helper twenty years from now?

I didn't know cooking was a way to control your destiny.

 

[destrekor]

I'm slowly building my cooking repertoire.
Oddly enough, the time I could have used most to build my experience (during college)... I made zero effort to do so - I hated investing the time for the most part.

I've always been the dessert/sweets person of the house, even in my teens - I can make some delicious desserts or sweet pastries. Since I had a massive addiction to sweets growing up (really trying to fight it now, have maintained a slim physique but I know my previous habits will land me into the fatty arena if I keep it up)... that was the realm of cooking I really got sucked into.

Can make some good pasta dishes, but haven't compiled whole dishes on my own yet.
Need to get more grill experience, most definitely, but the first thing I really want to zero in on is working on marinades, rubs, and tackling the job with fresh ingredients.

Too bad it's starting to get cold again, as I still have a desire for some lemon desserts. Made some amazing lemon bars this summer, and really want to make lemon meringue pie... never got around to that one though.
But the next lemon goal, that works all year long imho... is some lemon and herb chicken breasts. Think we are out of lemons though.

On that note:
anyone think lemon and herb chicken would be complemented by apply pie? I really want to try Alton Brown's Super Apple Pie recipe, and I have a desire to have that follow lemon and herb chicken.

 

[KaOTiK]

I knew how to cook in my 20's. My parents taught me when I was young since it is an essential skill and then I had a job at a restaurant where I worked my way up from dishwasher too head chef of the place. Did that for a couple of years before going to school for what I really wanted to do.

 

[herm0016]

we cook when time permits. we have made some good stuff. our squid ink pasta with seafood and coconut alfrado was amazing. we do pasta sauces, slow cooker stuff like briskets. game hens are a favorite too. great to use the left over to make a chicken stock and a soup too.

 

[mizzou]

when your parents leave you home alone, you figure it out pretty quick

 

[TecHNooB]

I don't know any elaborate recipes off the top of my head, but whenever I feel like having something elaborate, I just google it and buy the ingredients. Putting them together usually doesn't require much effort or skill.

 

[Kreon]

I'm quite good at cooking. Everyone tells me I am, and I like the food I cook.
I think most of it is due to the fact I can use spices effectively.

I suck at baking though.

I learned some of it from my mom, some from my grandmother, some from my g/f's mom, but most I picked up from trial an error using cook books. Mostly a Better Homes and Gardens one from the 80s and a book on Chinese cooking.

 

[UglyCasanova]

26 and I can cook. My wife is 26 and she can cook as well.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I didn't know cooking was a way to control your destiny.

Now you do and the more you know...

Seriously, living well is not something you do in between all the other demands on your time, it's how you approach life.

Reacting to insufferable bosses, 'temporary' living conditions and, finishing that BS, MS or PHD so you can begin living is bullshit. You have to decide up front what the course of your life will be and food, relationships and, self enlightenment are a few of the things you have direct control over. So, my approach is to maximize enjoyment of those things to give control of my happiness back to me. In that sense, cooking does control my destiny.

 

[zerocool84]

Now you do and the more you know...

Seriously, living well is not something you do in between all the other demands on your time, it's how you approach life.

Reacting to insufferable bosses, 'temporary' living conditions and, finishing that BS, MS or PHD so you can begin living is bullshit. You have to decide up front what the course of your life will be and food, relationships and, self enlightenment are a few of the things you have direct control over. So, my approach is to maximize enjoyment of those things to give control of my happiness back to me. In that sense, cooking does control my destiny.

So if someone DECIDES to get fast-food or take-out they're not controlling their destiny??? I guess something made them decide to do that.

 

[UglyCasanova]

So if someone DECIDES to get fast-food or take-out they're not controlling their destiny??? I guess something made them decide to do that.

Convenience & money. Both of which play a crucial role in deciding to eat a McDonald's burger compared to something different. Removing those two factors and McDonald's soon goes out of business.