Cooking Is A Learned Skill
My husband can cook. Sorta. He's generally my prep guy when I need one, and his part of the bargain involves doing the dishes that I've dirtied with my cooking and baking.
One of my favorite stories involves him needing diced tomatoes for a recipe he was determined to cook himself. I had a can of whole tomatoes but none diced. He couldn't use the whole tomatoes (for a recipe that would end up pureed). It made me giggle - cooking is all about the adjustments and the improvisation, but you don't know that if you don't live it.
The other day, he was making pancakes for the wee ones. I happened to come downstairs as he was measuring dry ingredients into a bowl. I watched him carefully dip the measuring spoon into the baking powder and pull out a mounded teaspoon. Gingerly, he tried to use his finger to try to scrape off the excess back into the can. Not surprisingly, he missed with a good portion of the baking powder, and it spilled onto the counter.
I watched in silence, with my jaw hanging open.
Maybe it was because my mom's best and most frequent cooking with my sister and I was chocolate chip cookies. I had that recipe memorized by the time I was four or so. She made it with us all the time, and she taught me everything from how to break an egg to how to mix the dry ingredients.
Apparently she also taught me a skill that I didn't even realize was a skill. She taught me how to properly measure out baking powder (and soda, for that matter). There is a handy straight edge on the top of each container. You simply drag a full teaspoon along the edge, and voila - a perfectly measured teaspoon!
I've now taught my husband this skill, but not before giggling at him a little. It really reinforces how many things are taught when it comes to cooking, so many things that I luckily take for granted.
But that doesn't mean it doesn't make me snicker at my husband anyway. Yep, I'm definitely a bad person.
Can I get you to tweet once a day for me so I can win a Super Bowl Party with Flatout Wraps pretty please? Just tweet this daily: I think @honestandtruly would make a fabulous @FlatoutBread Super Bowl party host! http://bit.ly/f9w6wN #FlatoutSB (And thanks!)
7 comments:
LOL! Men can measure to the mm with power tools but not with measuring cups:-)
I didn't realize all the little thing I just 'do' when cooking, until I tried to teach my kids how to follow a recipe.
A husband who cooks!!! Love that, mess and all.
Sorry but I don't Twitter, but good luck!
jj
I TWEETED FOR YOU. AND COOKING IS DEFINATELY A LEARNED SKILL i HAVE A GREAT MOTHER IN LAW THAT THOUGHT ME ALOT OF MY MEXICAN CUISINE. aND THE PROPER WAY OF DOING THINGS. ALOT OF THE BAKING i HAVE HAD TO TEACH MY SELF MY MOTHER HAD A VERY BUSY SCEDULE GROWING UP SO SHE DID NOT HAVE THE TIME TO TEACH US TO COOK.
Susie - It isn't just men though (admittedly frequently it is!) - there are so many people who just never cooked anything at home. And hey - he doesn't really do power tools that much either!
Tara - Amen! It's part of why figuring out how to teach the wee ones to crack an egg was a challenge. It was just ... done. Except it's not.
Joanna - He does when he needs to... gotta love someone who'll step up and just go! And I won! I actually won, so no worries about no Twitter!
Bani - Thanks so much for the tweets, I appreciate it. Awesome that your MIL taught you. Mine taught me about chicken 'n dumplings - which I'd never had before dating my husband. Pass it on to your kids :)
I tweeted! Good luck :)
Mrs4444 - I appreciate it. And can you believe it, I won? Can't wait to get my wraps for the party this weekend (where the Steelers will annihilate the Packers). ;)
Post a Comment