Since I slept only 1.5 hours Thursday night. I spent Friday trying to catch up. Of course, I still didn't get much sleep in total.
We only went to Publix to get cooking bags and mushrooms, reduced. I will cook mushrooms and put in the spaghetti I made yesterday.
Tonight, we cooked a pork loin, potatoes, carrots, onions, and Bell pepper in a cooking bag. That was dinner. Tommy spent less than thirty minutes with potatoes and carrots. I trimmed them. Then, it took less than ten minutes to assemble it in the kitchen.
Tommy and I were talking about his earlier life and his cooking. He said he was working sometimes until ten at night and he had the money, so he just ate out. He said he might have cooked more if he had not been so busy. I asked him if I died would he cook more. He said he knew more about cooking from me, so, yes.
His father raised him and younger brother from the time they were 9 and 10. His father tried cooking every night. But, Tommy said he sort of gave that up, and they went out to eat every night at a cafe nearby. Then, Tommy went to Auburn and had a meal plan. He gained 30 pounds. He said he was trying to get his money's worth...lol. His father died his first semester, so he was sort of on his own and both boys were emancipated. His aunts and grandparents living within blocks fed him. So, he never had a need to cook. The orphaned boys were taken care of well. He did graduate from Auburn, so I suppose not learning to cook seems inconsequential.
So, we cooked tonight, everything in one pan! The cost of the cooking bag means nothing compared to what we save cooking at home. Neither of us must scour a pan. The dishwasher is running and the sink is scoured. Best of all, we have leftovers for several days.
See how Tommy has progressed under my tutelage?
Have you ever helped an adult to learn to cook?
My late husband was a great cook. His one pot meals were with a pressure cooker and always wonderful. He just learned on his own. His dad was a good cook as well.
ReplyDeleteCheryl,
DeleteHaving a father who cooked was a good role model. You were lucky. I think most men don't have that and so are afraid or think women are the cooks like they innately knew how to cook.
I've not had to help an adult learn to cook. Bailey doesn't like to cook at all, so I just do it myself, nut then I enjoy it too. It's so nice that you have taught Tommy so many cooking lessons. I like one pan meals since the cleanup is easy.
ReplyDeleteBelinda,
DeleteHe has expressed his like for only only pot or pan to clean. Some nights, he gets right to cleaning. Some days, he leaves the pot or pots for another night. Spaghetti is a two-pot meal. The other night, there was lots of pasta stuck and all the water was gone, but nothing scorched. He regaled me with how the pasta just peeled off in one glob.
I have also taught him not to put a hot pot on cold or wet surface and to not put water cold water into a hot pot or crock. Thankfully, he adheres to that. So, that is why he lets washing a pot or crock to another day.
I gave up trying to teach my husband to cook. You'd think he'd have picked up some tips and techniques from watching me. My kids certainly have. Frankly, his mother was a lousy cook too--pre-packaged, processed garbage. But, I guess that garbage represented freedom to women at the time. At least I get to nip any pissy comments he might make in the bud--for that matter, so do my kids. For instance, the other week I had planned dinner for 5:30, but it was closer to 6:00 for a number of reasons. He said, "I don't know why it was so hard to get dinner read by 5:30. Before I could even respond, eldest son said, "That's because you don't cook, and if you say anything like that again, she won't either!" He apologized, and said words to the effect of "I was only trying to figure out what I could do to help while you're cooking" to which another kid said, "Not make editorial comments." Not that he makes them that frequently, as he learned decades ago that comments would warrant him eating a helping dose of STFU. I have no problems with people who don't know how, or dislike cooking, as long as they are gracious to those who do--or at least only open their mouths to eat, not comment.
ReplyDeleteI have never tried to "teach" Tommy to cook, so maybe that is why he is receptive. But, I do comment about why I am doing something as he watches closely. His idea to watch closely, not mine. No, I don't like editorializing, either. Your kids know the answers to help you, don't they?
DeleteTommy argues about what I told him when he gets it wrong. Like the time I told him to put something I was baking into the oven as soon as the light went off. He switched off the oven and put the pan in! He said he did what I told him to do. No, he never understood that I meant the pre-heat light. AND, I had told him about the oven needing to be heated to the proper temperature before baked goods went into the oven. That kind of arguing really, really annoys me to no end!
As I cook with him watching and waiting for the next help he is going to perform, I just comment about what I am doing and why. It is how I would teach anything to a child. Both my parents talked to us as they worked, whether they expected us to do the same or not.
At least your husband learns not to complain or is schooled by others now when he makes that mistake.
To be fair, my kids were raised with fairly harsh rules of etiquette regarding meals: Eat what you want, leave what you don't want, but unless you are actively helping, stay out of the kitchen while I am cooking, and reserve criticism of the food for after dinner, and then, those had to be constructive, as in, "I prefer my steak cooked rarer," or, "the stuffing seemed salty." Anything taken as a complaint about the food at the table, like a "yuck," "it looks disgusting" resulted in the offender being removed immediately, and sent straight to bed. As they got older, it involved coming in straight after school and preparing the next night's dinner too, regardless of what they had planned. I may have had to enforce those rules about 5 times in over 30 years...and never for some kids. (You see a sibling sent to bed for the night at lunch for saying "ewwwww, gross, tuna fish sandwiches," and you learn pretty darn quickly that behavior will not be tolerated.) My kids can all cook, and understand what a treat it is to have food prepared for them nightly. They had some classmates whose parents were hard pressed to manage to get them bowls of cereals.
DeleteThose rules seem fair, but I could never send a child to bed without a meal. I had it done to me once because I refused to eat a plateful of squirrel and gravy.
DeleteI cannot imagine a parent being so busy, tired or whatever to not be able to properly feed a child.
My mother did sneak me something to eat.
DeleteMy thought is that a kid who went to bed hungry in our house did so by choice. Desserts were served, if you ate your dinner or not. Snacks were allowed (pb&j's, crackers and cheese, etc...and I even offered it to kids who ate sparingly at the table) until the kitchen was "closed." (Though a kid or two may have grabbed a snack after bath before bed.) The criticism? Or, "yucking someone else's yum?" Zero tolerance. The food in our house is there to be eaten, and you are to eat what you want, leave what you don't want. If you go to bed hungry in light of that, it's your own fault...and mind your manners.
DeleteMeg,
DeleteI was the only child who ever defied him and would not eat.
Good for Tommy to learn! I think many find it intimating but enjoy it when they get in the practice.
ReplyDeleteUrspo,
DeleteHe mostly watches at first as I tell him what to do. Sometimes, he does add something to a dish. Then, he has confidence to do what needs to be done. His practice sort of sneaks up on him.