SusieQOH

We grew up with my Mom in the kitchen all the time. That was her creative place. She baked daily and made wonderful meals. My Dad couldn't boil water.

Well now as grownups here's the deal:
My 2 brothers- marvelous cooks
My sister and me- so-so at best!!!

I actually cooked and baked a lot when my boys weregrowing up. My sis never did much of either.
My husband cooks all the time. He loves it.

I always laugh at how things turned out. Oh- 2 of my sons are wonderful cooks as well, the other not so much!!!!

I love this part of the forum. I love to read about recipes then I tell my husband what I read or have him read it. lol

How about you?

Tartan

I am a good cook, my Mom and Grandma were better. They could put on a spread like no other for a crowd. Boy I miss them!

Jordan

I don't like to cook but do it out of necessity. I did cook when the children were growing up but I wasn't very creative with meals but we all lived thru it. I would give anything if my DH could cook-he couldn't even boil water. I love to clean but at this point in my life I would rather sew than cook or clean LOL!!!

Chasing Hawk

*pats self on the shoulder*

I love to cook. My husband tells me often how amazed he is that I can cook a large family meal in such a small kitchen. The grandkids say G-ma's cooking is the best and the dogs say "don't mess with our chef".

My Dad had more influence over my learning how to cook, since my siblings and I lived with him 75% of the time. He starting teaching me at age 11. The first thing was to make biscuits to go with the white beans and ham he cooked. Iput baking soda instead of baking powder in the mix and those biscuits looked like golden brown hockey pucks. Dad ate 3 of them. After that he labeled the baking soda "NOT for biscuits".....lol

I have quite a few of my Mom's recipes. Things like Macaroni salad, Cole slaw, Scalloped potatoes, the pickled cucumber dish, Mom's chili, oh and a family must have.......Fry Bread.
Mom is a fantastic cook I always look forward to eating at her house. What is funny though my little sister lived with Mom since she was about 10 and never really learned to cook. She would call me up and ask how to make something.

Iceblossom

My mother was a very good cook by 1950s/1960s standards -- if it was in a Betty Crocker Cookbook, she could knock it out of the park. By the 1970s she was working more and cooking less. My mom actually was a home ec teacher, although she majored in the sewing side of things in classwork she learned to cook in self defense. She used to do some great yeast stuff and makes a really good pie crust that I have no skill at.

Her own mother was one of the last 3 in a family of 9 including 6 sisters and she just never learned to cook. She was always rather indifferent to food, if it was in front of you, that is what you ate. My aunt (elder to my mom) was similar, didn't much care and while she could eat tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich every day, seems sort of excessive to make two things. Her Easter Dinner was one of her best meals of the year, ham, Betty Crocker Au Gratin Potatoes, and because she's being fancy the green bean casserole or it's close cousin the Pea Dish. It's funny that my uncle (youngest of the three) married another woman who simply not only didn't like cooking but refused to cook.

My dad was in the Army so mostly we didn't have family near enough to go to, but some years we did. His side of the family is mostly Czech. His mom was an ok cook, but it was his aunt that was the great cook of the family so I got to eat a lot of traditional dishes but I didn't get the chance to help make them.

I'm a pretty darn good cook when I pay attention. Otherwise... oh there are variations on what really is "done". It took my hubby a year or two to notice that "You know, I go into the kitchen and there is nothing there, you go in and half an hour later there is something great ready to eat". I consider that high praise.

I've always been big on growing my own foods, or picking berries or whatever, and then you have to use them or store them. Part of that comes from my mom's side of things. Her family had it pretty good, Washington state wasn't as hard hit by the depression as some areas and her father worked through it, but that sort of thing changes people. My grandma was the type to hide money under the mattress and kids were expected to go out and pick some stuff and that carried through, plus I love the growing part of the equation.

juliasb

I grew up in the kitchen too. By the time I was 9 or 10 I was doing most of the cooking for our family of 7. Mom taught me the basics starting with how to peel potatoes and then the rest came with it. Meat and potatoes for most meals. I was handling a pressure cooker by the time I was 12. Home Ec. was fun in junior high school and then high school it widened my scope of cooking. I was already good a baking too by the age of 12 since my dad was a big canner and so pies it was and biscuits and fruit cobblers. I can make a pineapple upside down cake with out a recipe by doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that.. So as I got older I kept expanding my cooking skills. I can follow a recipe and can cook plain ole regular daily meals. My DH says I am a great cook and he has not a single complaint. I taught my girls to cook. I didn't think they were paying attention but apparently they were because they have both become good cooks. One is better than the other though. I figure there is alway something new to learn.

Iceblossom

My mom and I have never been very close and I have a lot of complaints. I do have a few positives. One was we weren't a house where you had to eat everything on your plate. It was, you don't want it? Good, the adults would like a second helping and whisk! whatever it was went away and you were thinking wait, maybe I want to change my mind but it was too late.

When I was around 4th grade or so I started pestering for a microscope or chemistry set or something like that for my birthday or Christmas, but it was like Ralphie and the bb gun, just wasn't going to happen. But my mom said that I could go into the kitchen and mix things around and then eat the results and it was chemistry too. Which it is!

Because we didn't get along well, I left home right after high school. Because my father had died, I had enough social security to put myself through college with room and board and not much else. After college spent a few years spending more out in the clubs and on my fashion sense than on my food budget. Been through economic ups and downs, and I have learned how to cook from the basic ingredients and using time in my favor because it can be cheaper and if I'm feeling down about the world around me and no money in my pocket, I still want something good to eat!

Onebyone

Both my grandmothers were excellent cooks and bakers. I never saw a recipe book in their homes. They had a few recipes hand written on a Church Bulletin or scrap of paper from church potlucks. Usually cake recipes. Neither one made casseroles or one pan dinners. One was a rural farm cook and one was a city living cook. Both went through the depression and knew how to stretch every cent of the food budget. It was expected that if anyone wanted to cook then cook, not many lessons just ask what do I do now? I remember most of my brother's answer to that question was "start over". LOL

Stitchnripper

My mother was a bad cook. She didn't burn anything, but nothing stood out. I don't make anything she made. My brothers and I don't have anything that stands out from our childhood. Probably because she didn't like to eat what my father did, and she cooked for him. My grandma was a better cook, but, still plain food. I taught myself and am okay at it. My daughter in law is a great cook and baker. I like to go there and eat her food and baked goods.

Cheshirepat

I was very lucky in my house...my maternal grandmother cooked and baked like a master, many from scratch with no recipe, many with. She was Hungarian and so my childhood was filled with amazing food memories from her. She also showed us the way to get every drop of egg out of the shell, and how to use every bit of whatever you were putting together. Not cheap, but very thrifty! She as well lived through great poverty in childhood, and then the Great Depression here. My own mom grew up in New York City, and from there she carried her love of all cuisines into her own kitchen. She always had a recipe on the kitchen table, read cookbooks for fun (which I've somewhat learned to do as well). We never had 'meatloaf night is Tuesday' - you just never knew what was going to inspire her and come out of her kitchen. Not always exotic, but usually very, very good.
In the last few years I've come to realize I may never bake like my grandmother, but I *can* cook well - and even instinctively if I just let go! I don't always want the chore, but I am good at it. Give me a fridge full of odd bits of this and that, and darn if I can't make something happen! My sister doesn't love cooking as much, but she's fine when she does. She loves to make things like turnovers, which I'd never do!