Women Who Can't Cook

Daily Nation (Nairobi) ^ | June 29, 2002 | Oyunga Pala

[Publius6961]

I am talking about a wholesome meal of chicken-in-coconut with rice or marinated beef that will have your mouth percolating with the complexity of half a dozen tastes and spices - a little mint here, a little ginger there, cardamom, garlic and spring onion somewhere -

Hell... I feel suicidal today...
I will add the observation that all of the historical great chefs, and the overwhelming majority of world-class current ones are male.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

I appreciate the tips and recipe. They sound great and I'm going to give them a try!

[Lurker]

Use cornstarch instead of flour in your gravy.

Regards,

L

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

that my pie crusts are also made from scratch

This is my next thing to conquer, making a flaky pie crust. I haven't made a lot of pies but we're getting a lot of peaches now so I might try again. I'm best with brownies and cookies.

How hard is it to peel, boil and mash some potatoes, cook a pork chop, cook some broccoli and throw together a salad

This is true. I've noticed it takes about the same effort to prepare real food as it does to follow directions on a box. I guess it's just intimidating to some.

You could even use salad in a bag if you're desperate for time

This makes me laugh. My aunt told me this story about one of her daughter's friends (who didn't cook). She opened up a bag of salad, poured it in the bowl, and was so excited because 'she was cooking'!

I'm convinced that some of the behavior problems we see with children come from not eating right.

I would absolutely agree. I'm an adult, and I feel sick if I eat out too much.

[SauronOfMordor]

But that is one rich little girl, mom is almost always there. They do beach days and picnics and after dark walks..no cable TV but lots of books and library trips...they are VERY rich little girls!

That's my attitude. Is the new Lexus in the driveway worth finding out your kids are doing drugs, or your eldest daughter was "entertaining" her boyfriend upstairs while both of you were at work?

BTW, we also homeschool

[RnMomof7]

I have a "funny" (read that sad) story

My daughters sister in law wanted to have a baby for a VERY long time... finally she got pregnant there was much celebration ..then she lost the baby

A few months later she became pregnant with twins..again much celebration..

Dad has a VERY good job and makes alot of money to most of us (6 figure neighborhood) Mom also had an excellent job..that paid around 50K

Dad decided that mom should not give up her job..(they needed the money)...he flies for a hobby and wanted to keep his plane... they bought a house in a up scale development with all the surgeons and lawyers..new car etc..

So at a cost of 400 per week the girls were "raised " in day care..they are now in kindergarden and go to an after school program.

Dad has said that he would like to get a dog.. but he will not get one till one of them is home full time as it would not be fair to the dog

Does that say something to you of the value we place on our kids in this culture

"train up a child in the way it should go, and when it is old it will not depart from it"

[Dianna]

Thank you, I'll try it!

Now if I can just keep my husband from peering over my shoulder the whole time :)

[Mulder]

"Ability to cook" doesn't even make my top 50 list of desirable attributes in a woman.

With restaurants all over the place, it is inefficient to spend the time and money to make fancy meals.

Anyway, I can think of better places for a woman to spend her energy :-)

[Dianna]

Dad has said that he would like to get a dog.. but he will not get one till one of them is home full time as it would not be fair to the dog

Ohmigosh!!! I'm a stay at home mom. It's been easier for us, I think. We started out poor and our income is growing as the kids are.

[CDHart]

"When women ask for that "sensitive" guy and get him, they find he's not what they wanted in the first place."

LOL! You're right!

Carolyn

[Dinsdale]

I'm a good cook.

What I'm looking for is a woman who is'nt 'to good' to mow the lawn.

[Rebelbase]

Hey hey hey, I just learned how to make honest to God Italian NY Italian spagetti sauce. Whoa, oregano and basil are overated now that I know the truth.

[Shermy]

And thank you. Please tell me how the recipe goes.

Glad this thread took off too.

[Shermy]

Thanks for the recipe and your advice at post # 40.

[AnAmericanMother]

No problem. Been cooking for 37 years. I'm teaching my son and daughter, but the more people that learn the stuff it takes 37 years to figure out on your own, the better! :-)

BTW, homemade chili tonight based on the Joy's recipe but "vergrossert und verbessert" (enlarged and improved, as the old East Side Yiddish theater proclaimed of their version of King Lear). It's a snap, and it sure tastes better than those "kits" they sell in the supermarket. Cheaper, too.

[DBtoo]

Men seem to like foods that are heavy, starchy, spicy, greasy, and salty, the kinds of foods that make me feel like I'm going to blow up!!

[Lorianne]

This article is unfair. As a woman who is not good at cooking I take offense. First of all, not everyone can be good. It's unrealistic to expect any group of 3.1 billion (half of humanity) people to be good cooks. This just doesn't make sense.

Believe me I've tried cooking classes, I have a shelf full of cookbooks but I just have no innate talent at cooking. I can follow a recipe but have ZERO talent for being creative in the kitchen. I just don't "get it". My two sisters are both excellent cooks as are both my parents.

I think cooking is a real art form. People I know who are good cooks can "compose" food in their heads (like Mozart could compose music) and make the most astounding things, usually with no recipe, they just seem to "know" things. My mom never uses a recipe, she just cooks and its always delicious.

However, on the domestic I do sew sew a lot of my own clothes, make toys, etc. I'm also a pretty good gardener and can fix most things around the house. But cooking is just not my strong suit.

Fortunately my husband is a good cook and he enjoys cooking on the weekend.

[sunshine state]

I second the recommendation for "Joy of Cooking". I still have the beat-up old paperback my Mom gave me when I went to college. I also have a nicer hardback edition that I recently acquired when the library discarded it in favor of the newer edition (FYI: check out your library's bookstore - you can sometimes get real deals on used and new books). "Joy of Cooking" will tell you how to do everything - from plucking a chicken to making chocolate mousse.

[sunshine state]

I'll tell you the dirty secret of a good pie crust, IMHO, although others may disagree. My Oma used 100% pure leaf lard and her pies were out of this world. Good lard is hard to find, but I find that if I use 1/2 butter and 1/2 lard, I get good results. Keep in mind, I don't eat pie (or other desserts) every day, otherwise I'd be big as a house and my arteries would be screaming (although, I must say, both my Omas lived to be 93).

I'm also a big believer in butter for baking. If you're going to bake something, use butter; don't waste all your time and other good ingredients by using margarine. It's an inferior product and you can tell when you eat it. Again, I don't eat cookies every day, but when I bake, I want it to taste good.

[sunshine state]

I agree, some people have no talent for cooking, but I think the thrust of the article is more towards women who think it's more liberating to not be able to cook; real feminists don't cook, in other words. I think, as some other posters have said, that cooking is just one more life skill that people should attempt to cultivate.

On the other hand, I have no real talent for sewing despite my Mom's best efforts, although I can sew on a button and hem a pair of pants (I can also darn a mean sock, but there's no call for that skill anymore LOL).