YES!
I was once told that anyone who could read, could cook!
OK, if they follow the steps in the recipe they should be able to produce a decent meal, but it takes time and experience to learn about texture, taste, aroma and presentation!
I have male friends who confide that their wives will not allow them in their kitchens!
My late father was a typical Irish husband of his time, he never set foot in the kitchen. His head might appear round the door to enquire “What time will the dinner be ready?”, but he never offered to help.
When I got married, it was rather a shock to find Jack at my elbow when I was preparing a meal. Did he not trust my cooking skills? Did he think that I would kill him off? No!
One day while preparing a chicken for roasting, he stood silent, intently watching my every move. I asked if he was worried that I might poison him, but he assured me that he was there to learn. In his time as a widower, he had a limited number of dishes in his repertoire, but never bought a chicken. It was thirty six years ago, long before chicken portions or goujons, and he did not know what needed to be removed or left in the chicken cavity before cooking.
As I put a prepared meal in the oven one day, Jack turned and said to me, “I think I now know how to do that recipe, so next time we are having that dish, I’ll make it!”
He did. With time his culinary skills increased and he often offered to make our meals!
He had one rule: If I prepared and cooked the meal, he cleared up after it! In fact on most days he had the preparation dishes washed and away before we sat to the table! He was my dishwasher – fast, portable, no need for electricity, and his whistling was tuneful!
Some of the best cooks I know ARE MEN.
Padmini from This and That, There and Here, asked the question: Can men cook daily meals? I know all the male members of the Loose Bloggers Consortium can cook, but have yet to enjoy a meal at their tables. Now there is an idea… A tour of all the LBCer’s kitchens…. While I dream about that, why not join me on my weekly jaunt to see what delicious tidbits they have on offer for us to share this week.
I have done what Jack did. Stand around and help Urmeela and in the process learnt how to cook some of her great dishes. She used to be delighted when I cooked them for her after she was barred from kitchen work.
I think that it is a brilliant idea to do a LBC tour just to enjoy the cooking of all the members. And some other visitors too like Mayo who readily comes to mind.
LBC Tour 2014 Sounds good.The only problem is where to begin?
Peter was a good cook when I met him… Often made me lovely meals 🙂 Now he has turned into Dan, ‘what time is dinner ready?’ Luckily my girls have inherited their dads enjoyment of cooking so we don’t starve :).
Nana told me ‘if you can read you can cook’ it’s a bit true, but you need to be able to improvise too! I couldn’t have managed if my whole day was all about feeding everybody… I really do not enjoy cooking that much!
Some of the best meals are the improvised ones…. especially on ‘clear out’ days, the days to clear out the fridge of all the bits and pieces. before shopping to refill it again!
Definitely…. even the freezer clear out days can yield some interesting dinners!
Good idea – an LBC tour. I like it.
We might pick up a few sleeping members on the way!
I get home from work before my wife, and so I try to have the meal ready for her when she arrives home. If I have the recipe and the ingredients, I can usually make the meal. If I don’t have the ingredients I get very frustrated, but am getting better at substituting. I love to sample my wine as I cook, so am often feeling quite good by the time my wife gets home.
I have stopped Skyping you at this time, because I’m not quite sure what I would say , do , or show you during this time.
I would love to cook a meal in my home for you and Rummy, so get your butts over here.
I know you cook on a regular basis, I could almost smell the food when we Skyped, I miss the fun we had on those calls. Maybe when my ankle swelling goes down and I can get my shoe on long enough to drive home, we can chat some more.
All my brothers cook, my husband did, my male friends did and do. H’m. Maybe I’m meeting different types of guys? Having said that I do love to cook and entertain.
XO
WWW
My brothers can cook these days, two of them being on their own, do so every day, the others do so when asked! I love the way Elly & George do it: Everyone is involved in some way with the meal – chopping veg, grating cheese, slicing bread, pouring the wine or setting the places at table. By the time we sit down to eat we are like old friends. Quite a few young male friends have discovered and interest in food and now experiment with their growing cooking skills, thanks to E&G!
My Dad cooked, he taught my mother who had never cooked when he and she married. She became a fine cook. Dad also taught his four daughters to cook also. My youngest sister married a good cook also.
I think my father missed out by not cooking. Besides all the hard work in the days before modern appliance, we had great banter and fun as we worked to prepare a feast, Yes, Every day we had a feast.
I probably should never have assumed the cooking duties after a few months of Lynn’s efforts – There might not be as many Xs in front of the L on my frame 🙂
shackman, I think a lot has to do with metabolism.We were a family of stick insects, yet we had two dinners a day and dessert to follow each one with warm cake from the oven to go with the tea or coffee after that! Maybe we had hollow legs!
My husband can prepare and cook his breakfast and lunch, but he depends on me to cook dinner.
Sounds like David will not go hungry. Why not ask him to cook along with you, it is the best way to learn.
I like the idea of a tour. I’ll have to think about how I could do that. 🙂
A tour, ending with a banquet where we all share in the cooking! How about that for an idea?
BFF and I swap off kitchen duties on a regular basis . . . depending upon who is inspired to be in the kitchen chopping and dropping.
Jack and I had no set roles, If he felt like doing the cooking or household chores, I might work outside in the garden or wash the car. That worked for us, it may not work for everyone.
David can’t cook, but while I am in the hospital, the local women will make sure he eats well. Dianne
How is it that men always find a woman to cook for them?
Shared cooking was the norm in our house. Always a time to chat, laugh and connect. I’m not a good cook, but it was never about the food for me.
Shared cooking is such a social event even on a week night. It is something I miss at home.
My ex-DH could cook in a semi-restricted fashion, i.e. he was set in his ways on how one accomplished things…especially roasted meats!
When he was a teenager, his parents had a business that meant he often did not see them until the next morning, so he soon learnt how to rustle up a few things including being a dab hand at bacon/eggs…but not great for the body, greasy-as!
He adored deep fried chips! I don’t know how many pans I went through in my life with him, everything had chips or the occasional mashed spud. He hated green vegetables, along with any other sort of vegetable and as for salad, only weird people ate that. But he loved steak and chops and of course his roasts!
I knew a young man who never touched vegetables. Give him meat, potatoes and brown gravy and he was happy. Wheaten bread with butter and sugar, he would eat until it came out his ears. Now in his sixties he is still going strong!