Now I grew up in a family where Dad was the cook and Mom was the baker. Mom could make some crazy good cakes, pies, and cookies. But Dad was the main cook. In part he was the oldest and started around the age of 9 cooking at my Grandmother’s direction when she was sick. Made my Grandfather very upset to come home and see food on the table thinking Grandma did it. Once Grandpa found out it was his oldest he kept him in the kitchen to learn to cook more and more. When Dad got into the military and before WWII started he complained of the chow hall food. So the Cook Sgt was brought out and said if you think you can do better go show us. And Dad did. Within 2 weeks of Dad cooking that one chow hall was the only one people went to and there were 3 on the base.
So when I came of age late pre-teens say 11 or 12 it was my turn. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen when Dad was cooking, watching, learning and usually the dishes. Oh well it is part of the job. Anyway I learned and now my son followed suit and also learned to cook but over a much larger variety as he can do a lot of the Japanese cooking I have never learned.
Anyway an old forum friend from another end times forum posted this as she is getting back into cooking nearly everything from scratch again. This is my copy so the answers are mine but, how many of these can people answer yes too. I suspect there may be more that can answer yes to at least half or more and some that can say yes to all. Enjoy!
HAVE YOU EVER?
Made biscuits from scratch? Yes
Fried fresh okra or squash? Yes
Made Homemade vegetable soup? Yes
Fried chicken? Yes
Made spaghetti sauce from scratch? Yes
Made Homemade yeast rolls or cinnamon rolls? Yes
Baked a cake from scratch? Yes
Made icing from scratch? Yes
Cooked a pot roast with all the veggies? Yes
Made chili from scratch? Yes
Made a meatloaf? Yes
Made scalloped potatoes? Yes
Made mac/cheese from scratch? Yes
Made a jello salad? No, never had it.
Made Chicken pot pie?Yes, slippery and pie
Made fudge? Yes
Made cookies from scratch? Yes
Cooked a pot of beans from dried beans? Yes
Cooked a pot of greens? Yes
Made cornbread from scratch? Yes
Make a pie dough from scratch? Yes
Cooked a whole turkey? Yes
Snapped green beans and cooked them? Yes
Made mashed potatoes from scratch? Yes
Prepared a meal for 15+? I’ve cooked enough for 15, does that count?
Made homemade dumplings? Yes
Made pancakes from scratch?Yes
Roasted vegetables in the oven instead of boiling them? Yes
Made Homemade baked apple pies?
Made Banana pudding from scratch? Not yet
Made tuna or chicken salad? Yes
Fried fish? Yes
Made baked beans? No
Made ice cream from scratch? Yes
Made jam or jelly? Yes
Zested an orange or lemon? Yes
Made grits from scratch? Not yet
Made an omelet? Yes
Made homemade pizza? Yes
Lived in a house without a dishwasher? Yes (pretty sure we aren’t putting one in our new house)
I guess you’d have to make the hominy first. I was involved with that once but it’s been so long ago that I don’t remember the process. But never ground up hominy into grits. Makes more sense to just buy it ready to cook…
Yes to most, a sort of “qualified” yes to the rest.
For instance, #25, “prepared a meal for 15+”, sort of. We’ve had many dinners of that size (usually over the holidays) and several of us usually do the cooking and baking and I can’t say much of it is done exclusively by one person, it’s more of a team effort. I’ve been involved in feeding groups of nearly 1,000, and that’s definitely a team effort. (You know it’s a big pot when it gets stirred with a canoe paddle. LOL!)
Love to cook and bake. Had I served in the military, I suspect it’s one area I would have liked and might have pursued. I’ve occasionally remarked that if I had a dozen lives to live, at least one of 'em would be as a chef.
I cook, daily, but I don’t always want to nor put my best effort into it each meal, so not sure I’d call myself a cook.
Made biscuits from scratch? Yes
Fried fresh okra or squash? Yes, pan fried
Made Homemade vegetable soup? No, but only because I don’t think I’ve ever made a soup without some kind of meat in it. lol…
Fried chicken? Yes
Made spaghetti sauce from scratch? Yes
Made Homemade yeast rolls or cinnamon rolls? Yes
Baked a cake from scratch? Yes
Made icing from scratch? Yes
Cooked a pot roast with all the veggies? Yes
Made chili from scratch? Yes
Made a meatloaf? Yes
Made scalloped potatoes? Yes
Made mac/cheese from scratch? Yes
Made a jello salad? Yes
Made Chicken pot pie? Yes
Made fudge? Yes
Made cookies from scratch? Yes
Cooked a pot of beans from dried beans? Yes
Cooked a pot of greens? …I’m assuming these are collard greens? Not much of that here, made chard or spinach tho.
Made cornbread from scratch? Yes
Make a pie dough from scratch? Yes
Cooked a whole turkey? Yes
Snapped green beans and cooked them? Yes
Made mashed potatoes from scratch? Yes (powdered potato scares me lol)
Prepared a meal for 15+? Yes
Made homemade dumplings? Yes
Made pancakes from scratch? Yes
Roasted vegetables in the oven instead of boiling them? Yes (I don’t think I’ve ever just boiled vegetables unless it was potatoes… steam, fry, or roast)
Made Homemade baked apple pies? Yes, even picked the apples
Made Banana pudding from scratch? No, but when my daughter was 3 she added mashed banana into vanilla yogurt and thought she had made a new gourmet dessert. haha…
Made tuna or chicken salad? Yes
Fried fish? Yes (pan fried… I don’t deep fry much)
Made baked beans? Yes
Made ice cream from scratch? Yes
Made jam or jelly? Yes
Zested an orange or lemon? Yes
Made grits from scratch? No… and I’ve only eaten them once or twice
Made an omelet? Yes
Made homemade pizza? Yes
Lived in a house without a dishwasher? Yes
And I feel like adding a few more I’ve done, I hope others will add some more too
Now I did not make the list up but on the greens I am thinking also collard as well. I said yes because I make a collar, mustard, and turnip green dish with turnips and ham.
Since you answered most of these yes, then you are like me a cook. Now if you do like my wife and look in the fridge without any presupposed menu in mind and whip up a delicious meal from what ever is there then you are a chef. I am the house cook, she is the house chef. Also I took over the baking chores from my Mom when her hands got so bad with the arthritis so I also do the baking. With that in mind I will add one more.
…and I have a wonderful recipe for bread pudding. Oh, my it is delicious. That is why I am a “pudgy” old lady. I seem to have nothing better to do than bake. My bros. were darn good cooks also. My middle brother was a pasty fanatic, and my oldest brother had a restaurant in upstate New York in Harriman. I sure miss cooking with them. They would spend all their days off trying new things and baking the house down.
Never made sweet & sour. Love it and don’t know why I don’t.
No to sushi. Never met one I liked.
Yes, made doughnuts. Duh…pudgy old lady here!
No, to cooking over a wood fire. Love the idea! Have a cookbook for that. Does that count?
Yes, pickled cucumbers; sweet and dill.
Let’s see, you are on eastern standard time? Well that would be 4pm PST. We eat only 2 meals a day and call the later, lunner (lunch/dinner) or lupper (lunch/supper) in your neck of the woods.
Well excuse me. Your bio say you are from the Bayou so there I go assuming again. We will see you at 4pm. I am making a Jewish chicken dish called Sumac Roast Chicken. You bring the dessert.
Honestly, that’s how I make most meals, but it’s because I can’t be bothered to fuss around with looking up and matching exact recipes. I buy the groceries knowing that my family likes this and that, but how it’s combined and put on the plate later on is on a whim. haha… everyone eats it with minimal whimpers and that’s all I ask for.
@BrianT I’m doing more and more asian cooking, but with a western pallet and access to ingredients it’s not always “accurate”. I have fish cake in the freezer right now that is a new ingredient for me. It’ll go into a soup …fingers crossed it turns out! I’m too far from the ocean to get much good fresh seafood, but I do love it.
@Flamingogirl49563 Oooo a pro pie’er! Honestly, it’s probably a blessing in disguise that I’m not patient enough for much baking. Pastry and breads are such a weakness for me
Made Bread Pudding. Yes - and I have some overly crusty bread that should get that treatment tonight actually. I’m usually more likely to do rice pudding as my husband doesn’t eat gluten.
Growing up there were 8 in our family and often we’d have visitors as well. I learned to cook from my mom and often did the cooking also.
In our first year of marriage, I didn’t know how to make small portions. No matter what I made, we would have enough for a week. My husband hated left overs.
Thus I gained a LOT of weight in our first years of marriage as I couldn’t bear to have any food go to waste. Instead it went to my waist.
P.S. We made everything from scratch. Never heard of instant till later in life.
I agree that cooking for one is very hard. On the other hand I love left overs which is why even when cooking for the whole family of 4 I made enough for at least 15. That way I could put the excess away in the fridge till another day. It did two things. One was make for an easy quick meal on a busy night and two it always tasted so much better after a couple of days. I used to go so far as cooking food not to eat but to break up into portions and freeze for later then cook the evening meal. Back in the day when they first came out with TV dinners, we called the left over food we took for lunches or later in the week dinners radio dinners.
Then you are not a cook. You are a chef. I don’t dig up recipes, I just have bunch rolling around in my head from years of cooking. The closest thing I do to being a chef is modifying existing recipes for a change of pace.
