Learning how to cook is great, but teaching how to cook is a valuable life lesson.
Jeanne Faulkner is a freelance writer and registered nurse in Portland, Ore. Her work appears regularly in Pregnancy and Fit Pregnancy, and she has contributed articles to the Oregonian, Better Homes & Gardens, Shape and other publications.
We've always been a bunch of foodies. My mom was big on nutrition and loaded our table with bowls of vegetables, whole grains and all the stuff we're supposed to eat. I turned vegetarian in my adolescence and learned to cook for myself. As I started collecting a large family of my own, cooking was like breathing--second nature and vital for survival.
My kids are comfortable in the kitchen and learned to cook as soon as it was safe for them to handle a wooden spoon. When I got fed up with them hounding me with "What's for dinner? That again?" I decided it was time to hand the keys to the kitchen to them. I taught them to plan menus, grocery shop, cook dinner and accommodate everyone's culinary quirks. This was just common sense. Everybody's got to eat, right? Turns out, not everyone has to cook.
A good friend I'll call Lisa recently contacted me to answer a really hard question: "How do you cook dinner?" Uh, with food, sharp knives and a stove. "No, I mean, how do you know what to cook, how to put it all together, what people will eat, what time to start cooking?" Huh? I couldn't quite comprehend what Lisa was really asking until I realized she simply didn't know how to cook. She could follow recipes and turn out a dinner party if she had days to plan, shop and prepare; she just couldn't cook dinner. As in, the meal we eat every night.
This woman is no dope. She's educated, professional and a good mother. She has plenty of fine qualities and talents. Cooking dinner, however, is not one of them. And, she tells me, she's not alone: She has a bunch of friends and peers who are just as baffled as she is. They're all part of that "too busy to cook" demographic we read so much about. I'm busier than almost anyone I know but I'm not that busy. I cook every single day.
Lisa figured if all my kids could cook, I might have a clue how she could learn. We decided to farm out this job to my 19-year-old, Camille--home from college and looking for a job. Camille's always had a gift in the kitchen. She loves experimenting and putting things together in unusual combinations. They always turn out great. She's a natural.
Camille sat down with Lisa and made a list of her family's likes and dislikes. She asked questions like, "What are your favorite restaurants? What do you order when you go out? What protein sources do you prefer? Are there any food allergies or strong dislikes in your family?" From there, she made a menu that included dozens of Italian, Mexican, Asian, Indian and American choices. She included basic pastas but also more sophisticated (though surprisingly simple) foods like empanadas, and Cuban beans and rice. There were chicken pot pies and lasagnas, chilis and soups. She listed side dishes, salads, breads and desserts. Then she and Lisa sat down again and picked out a week's worth of dinners and broke them down into shopping lists. Camille made sure that at least one dinner menu included "easy night"--stuff you could pull out of the freezer or put together in no time at all.
Lisa did the shopping but kept her cell phone on speed dial to Camille for questions like, "What brand of feta? How much zucchini?" Then they met again and cooked. Lisa learned to fast-chop and multi-task. Camille taught her that the same basic white sauce can be doubled and used for macaroni and cheese one night and pot pies the next. The peppers you chop for salad on Monday can also go into stir-fry on Wednesday. More importantly, if you're out of one ingredient, you can substitute something else and it'll still turn out great. They used some recipes, but Camille wanted Lisa to know how to wing it; to get comfortable cooking outside the box. They spent a few hours together chatting, chopping. They had fun. And in the end, Lisa's fridge and freezer were packed with dinners.
Since then, Camille has picked up a few more clients who need the same class: Dinner 101. She's got a hot little business going. It's been enlightening for her students as well as for Camille. She'd taken it for granted that people learned to cook sometime after they learned to tie their shoes but before they went to college. She's discovered that not everybody had the warmth and camaraderie of hanging out in the kitchen with friends and family. Not everybody knows how to play with their food. She's also learned she's got a lot to offer the world, and can make a buck off her talents--a good lesson when you're 19.
For those of you who need Dinner 101--follow my daughter's lesson plan: Figure out what you like, make a menu, research recipes, make a grocery list, get into the kitchen and have fun. Not only will you save money and improve your nutrition, you'll also connect with something that should be second nature. Your food.
Now, what's for dinner?
>>
Comments