Home Economics 101

I did not really want to learn how to cook until I lived on my own for the first time. College really did not count at all because I was able to get on cafeteria meal plan. I moved back in with my parents like most people do fresh out of college and my extent of working in the kitchen then typically involved making sandwiches and frying egg or making a simple side dish for a holiday meal. It was not until I moved in with a woman I knew from church that I found myself interested in the art of cooking.

My high school did offer various home economics courses but college bound students did not take those courses. My first attempts of cooking on my own involved The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook that my late grandmother put in my hands while she said "Start a hope chest."  I had phone conversations with my mom and my parent's secretary about questions that I had about what things meant. The internet existed but things like Google and Youtube were not considered every day tools the same way they are today.  Fast forward into graduate school where cooking became like a hobby to me. Living on a fixed income and being very studious taking time to cook a meal was a study break for me. This time in school I had a kitchen that I could work in and living in Berkeley CA there were numerous grocery stores I could choose to shop at. At that point in my life I was obsessed with The South Beach Diet but I would get a subscription to Cooking Light to bring a little variety into my life. Then when I finished school and did not have a job offer and moved in with my parents in St Paul, MN we made a deal where I made the family meals for room and board.  This was a creative solution to two adults who worked regular overtime and one adult who needed to find work. But then when I started to work full time while I strove to eat healthy cooking became less of a priority to me. Very likely it was because I still lived with my parents out of economic necessity and I desperately needed some place to just be able to relax and going out to a happy hour or a cheap meal out was my true break from everything. Then I moved in with a man who would become my husband who was an excellent cook. I totally deviated away from cooking at that point in time and my extent to contributing to our meals together consisted of rotisserie chicken from the deli and take out food.

However after we came back from our honeymoon in Italy I became interested in cooking again for myself. I had fallen into making the same meals for lunches and working in downtown Minneapolis it was very easy to fall in the trap of constantly going out for lunch when I was bored. I had to do what a lot of people do when they are trying to have a healthier balance on this: giving myself a day where I allowed myself to go out to lunch and bring my lunch for other days. So I tried numerous meal home delivery services and found I was thrilled with using Home Chef and used it for a long time. My two cents on those services are that they are great if you do not have a lot of time to go the grocery store or are faced with feeling indecisive about choosing meals. However when I knew that I would be leaving my job I knew that I would not have the extra money for those services. I also knew that I would have more time to spend on grocery shopping and cooking meals.

Now with the internet there are SO many choices on finding recipes. But I got a subscription to Real Simple and Cooking Light because there is something about having a few set places to obtain recipes. I have obtained a copy of Thug Kitchen with my Kindle Unlimited subscription which I really enjoy using for my lunches. I do have to say that even though I could never convert to a vegan diet there is something about minimizing my use of meat and dairy while trying to be healthy and budget friendly.

For more in depth discussion on cooking techniques I recently enjoyed reading Kitchen Counter Cooking School as an account of a chef teaching basic cooking techniques to everyday people. Once I got past how judgmental she seemed of encountering a woman who had a lot of processed foods in her shopping cart and how she convinced her to buy fresh and learn a few basic cooking techniques I found it to be a great read. I do have to confess that this was my second attempt at reading this book and that story initially caused me to put the book aside. I understand that her point was that many Americans could stand to learn more basic cooking skills and that it is not that hard to make a simple meal at home. However its pretty easy for the author to judge in that capacity when she makes a living cooking. The rest of us need short cuts from time to time because our jobs do not involve cooking.  Once I saw past that story I found her accounts of teaching this class to be informative. I learned things like how to properly use a knife and what to do with a chicken. I did not try the recipes I was reading more to learn about the techniques. While trying things is the best teacher I was reading more for the basic tips and to understand more of the terminology that is listed in cookbooks and the grocery store.

Another book that I recently enjoyed is The Art of Flavor where it discussed different techniques for things like cutting and heating and how it does effect the flavor of what we eat. While I took a lot of notes for this book it is a book that I own and can refer back to.  Whereas the Kitchen Counter Cooking School was a book I downloaded through the library this is one that I own my own copy of. As a result I can go back and try the recipes listed whenever I want to.

I'd highly recommend both of these books for people who want to have a firmer grasp on some basic cooking terminology and techniques. Good Eats is also a great Food Network TV show that I have watched a few episodes of and really enjoy. While a lot of other Food Network shows don't keep my attention this one covers things like chemistry and history when relevant and is quite comical at times.

Reading about food can delve into many other aspects of life as well. There are some great memoirs, history, sociology, political and business books that cover various aspects on the basic items that we use to daily sustain ourselves. I still really want to read Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America, Omnivore's Dilemma and Butter: A Rich History. These are just a few of the food related books on my To Be Read List. But I think that it is good to start out with the basics and think about some of the things essential for being a good cook first when I consider diving into different aspects of food writing. After all, when food writing is involved what our tastes in what we eat effect our tastes in what we will read quite a bit.