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View Poll Results: Do you cook?
I do! Quite a bit. Lots of different kinds of food and types of cooking. 8 36.36%
I do, sometimes. Basic stuff. 5 22.73%
The very basics. 3 13.64%
I cook, like, eggs and that's about it. 1 4.55%
I like to grill. That's all. 2 9.09%
No, I don't. 2 9.09%
I help out in the kitchen but don't cook myself, per se. 0 0%
The wife does that. 1 4.55%
Voters: 22. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 03-30-2023, 12:57 PM   #1
Andrew NDB
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Do you cook?

Do you cook?



Also, side topic but related... I'm in the process of moving and seem to have lost my nice little chef's knife somewhere. Your typical chef's knife that was small, sharp, and could cut quickly through just about anything. Does anyone have any recommendations about a good, durable chef's knife?
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Old 03-30-2023, 01:44 PM   #2
Cowabung-Gal
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The closest thing to cooking that I do is putting some Easy Mac in the microwave.
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Old 03-30-2023, 01:50 PM   #3
IndigoErth
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Not much, I don't really have the patience or knack for it. I'll occasionally (and by that I mean rarely) make lasagna, and might drown some chicken in BBQ sauce in the oven this weekend and make some pasta to go with it, but that's more typical of me... (Still rarely though.) If I'm going to put in the effort it's going to be something that has good leftovers for a few days. More often this is not the case and I dislike putting effort in a whole meal that is gone in one sitting. Whoever invented steamer bag veggies (etc) is a saint. I tend to live on whatever the microwave or oven can do most of the work for. (No husband does it option? lol Some lucky women do have a guy who loves to cook.)

Last edited by IndigoErth; 03-30-2023 at 02:53 PM.
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Old 03-30-2023, 01:54 PM   #4
Andrew NDB
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I do everything but bake. Baking seems too temperamental, plus I don't really eat bread anymore or just super rarely.

I love getting creative with omelets in the mornings (tomatoes, jalapenos, cilantro, onion, mushroom, cheddar, yummm) and stuff like chicken piccata and pesto salmon for dinner. And meat loaf! Lots of grilling, to be sure.
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Old 03-30-2023, 02:27 PM   #5
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6 eggs and bacon daily. Usually steak or ground cow too with different seasoning on the daily. Eat twice a day within 6 hours, fast the rest of the day. Down 115lbs since I started Jan 1st last year. Its awesome. No sugar, no carbs, no garbage "food", no junk & no rabbit food. Healthiest I've ever been.
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Old 03-30-2023, 03:12 PM   #6
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I'm pretty good with what I believe to be authentic Italian cuisine, different pasta dishes, sometimes with homemade pasta as well as homemade pizza. I can do several traditional German dishes, mostly roasts (some of them better than my mother-in-law who will gladly admit defeat) or basic Japanese and Korean stuff. During the pandemic I also taught myself how to bake bread (like millions of other people, lol) and that's really fun, too.

Despite being a child of Indian immigrants, I cannot cook anything Indian. I do enjoy eating it but it's not something I would want every day anymore.

My biggest problem? The wife likes to be the only one in the kitchen. So I just try to nag her out of it.
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Old 03-30-2023, 03:27 PM   #7
CyberCubed
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I've never really learned how to cook. Heating things up and making simple meals, sure, but these huge dinners or "real" cooking? Of course not.

Also in the modern world do the females of the household still cook dinner every night? I forget we're not in the 80's or 90's anymore, so I don't know what the modern protocol is these days. Usually the man would come home from a hard day of work and the woman would have a hot meal waiting on the table the moment he walks in the door.
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Old 03-30-2023, 03:34 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CyberCubed View Post
I've never really learned how to cook. Heating things up and making simple meals, sure, but these huge dinners or "real" cooking? Of course not.

Also in the modern world do the females of the household still cook dinner every night? I forget we're not in the 80's or 90's anymore, so I don't know what the modern protocol is these days. Usually the man would come home from a hard day of work and the woman would have a hot meal waiting on the table the moment he walks in the door.
This is a serious question, I'm not trying to troll you or anything: What is your life like? You obviously live alone but do you have any real-life social friends or contacts? Because your posts often make you seem really isolated.

To answer your question, in this household there's a hot meal when I come home every day but that's not necessarily common. Also, I prepare lunch and dinner whenever I can.
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Old 03-30-2023, 05:04 PM   #9
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I do sometimes. I can cook simple meals (potatoes, sausages, veggie burgers, chicken goujons, etc.).
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Old 03-30-2023, 05:08 PM   #10
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Sooo, speaking of cooking... Thanks for the thread being a reminder to take that chicken out of the freezer. I'd had a hard time trying to find a smaller-ish bag of chicken breasts, most of what I saw at the store was larger bags that were more than I cared to spend, nor need. So, expecting small ones, I just found out that what I'd grabbed was a bag with just two rather LARGE ones and was a bit baffled for a sec. Erm, guess I'll just cut them up later and glad I took one out now since I assume it will probably take longer for it to thaw?? lol
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Old 03-30-2023, 08:33 PM   #11
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I do the majority of cooking for my family. We get meal boxes almost every week, which covers 3 days (they send the ingredients w/instructions, but I still prep and cook everything). We like this because we will often get meals we wouldn't make otherwise. On other days I make things like quesadillas, Indian dishes, breakfast for dinner, etc.
Sometimes we'll have "easy" days, like pasta or a frozen pizza. We usually get takeout once a week.
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Old 03-31-2023, 10:53 AM   #12
CyberCubed
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When I was younger women were always the cooks and the men waited to be served. In big family gatherings like Thanksgiving or the holidays the women like the mothers and grandmother's would all be in the kitchen making a feast while the men sat in the living room smoking cigars and talking about what they did in life.

Men who cooked back then were considered "gay" which is why you would rarely see male cooks unless they worked in a restaurant or something. That's why I wonder for those of you with wives or live with someone if the female still does all the cooking or if this is an outdated stereotype. I never learned how to cook and it's too late to pick up those skills now as an adult.
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Old 03-31-2023, 11:06 AM   #13
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Depends on the family, I guess. I enjoy cooking and preparing food, whereas for my wife, it’s a chore. Also, she works full time hours whereas I work part time and double as a stay at home dad. We kinda handle what we can and help each other out, and have pretty much thrown traditional gender roles out the window.
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Old 03-31-2023, 11:07 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CyberCubed View Post
Men who cooked back then were considered "gay" which is why you would rarely see male cooks unless they worked in a restaurant or something. That's why I wonder for those of you with wives or live with someone if the female still does all the cooking or if this is an outdated stereotype.
My late boomer Dad cooked regularly at home, and he was the Alpha Male type who would punch you for even thinking that he was gay. (of course that violent side of him left after he gave himself to God)

He’d always put pepper in his dishes though. Yuck.
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Old 03-31-2023, 11:33 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cowabung-Gal View Post
My late boomer Dad cooked regularly at home, and he was the Alpha Male type who would punch you for even thinking that he was gay.
I don't know why this popped into mind, but I remember a guy named "Ed Kobeski" in middle school. A bunch of guys would call him "Queerbeski" and he'd immediately turn red and start punching people out but it never deterred them. We're talking like 1993. And it would happen over and over again.
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Old 03-31-2023, 11:57 AM   #16
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I microwave, does that count?
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Old 03-31-2023, 12:30 PM   #17
IndigoErth
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If the frozen shrimp I just threw in the toaster oven counts. lol (I vote for counting.)

Quote:
Originally Posted by CyberCubed View Post
When I was younger...
Fellas, is it gay to not starve to death and eat more than just takeout?


Sure, it was more common 30+ years ago for women to do much of the cooking. Doesn't mean there weren't men who enjoyed it more and were better at it than their wives and if that's the case... then do you want good meals you like or hate? If both people don't enjoy it, then I guess make do and take turns or at least share the burden a little.

It's kinda stupid to judge cooking as a "woman thing" or "gay" unless it's professional.... then and only then did some men suddenly respect it, but women still had a hard to being respected for it if done professionally. Glad those attitudes have changed a bit with time.

Honestly Cubed, it's never too late or some of us to improve our cooking skills if we wanted to, it's prob more truthful that we simply don't have enough interest... And who wants to improve on something that feels like a chore.


I do attempt to contribute something to our small holiday meals, even if it means just something frozen. Last spring I discovered Birds Eye has cauliflower that's dyed a mix of colors befitting for Easter and just hunted it down again for this year. That and maybe frozen candied carrots if we still have any. That'll do.

I suppose if I had the job of doing the ham I probably could, since really it just sits there in the oven and doesn't need much prep or babysitting, but there's a risk of me over cooking it because I worry about meat being underdone.

Why I've discovered I don't mind doing chicken in the oven now and then if it's swimming in BBQ sauce since it's pretty hard to overcook that.
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Old 03-31-2023, 08:56 PM   #18
CyberCubed
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Cooking basic meals is one thing, but in order cook "real" food or gourmet meals you either have to have patience to learn or a natural talent for it. It's in the same way not everyone can draw or create art, and not everyone can play a musical instrument or sing. You have to born with some inner talent for that. Not everyone can be a sports athlete, not everyone can be a mathematician.

And also since most us are old adults now, if you didn't pick up those skills when you were younger it's too late now.
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Old 03-31-2023, 09:17 PM   #19
IndigoErth
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I feel like there are probably also just people with a talent for it who can mentally "taste" what flavors may work together? The way others can easily visualize the look of something (that's more my department) or know what musical cords will work, etc. If that's true, well... def can't just learn that bit anyhow no matter the age.
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Old 03-31-2023, 11:08 PM   #20
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It's basically repetition. Look at recipes. Follow them. Do it again. And again. Add in what might be neat add ins. Make it your own, yadda yadda.
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