Did you parents or grandparents teach you to cook and were they good or bad cooks?

[Anonymous]

I grew up in the eastern part of Germany and we had a vegetable/fruit garden, just for context.

My maternal grandmother and mom were great cooks and bakers. I learned mostly from my grandma because my mom was impatient and hated it when I made a mess.
My paternal grandmother cooked a lot of Polish-influenced dishes (she came from an area that had been occupied by Germany). As a kid I didn't like her food except for the pirogies, she made her own dough and filled them with fresh strawberries. Sadly, I didn't get the recipe. I still cook sauerkraut her way (thickened with roux and bacon).

I then came to the US and learned more cooking skills from watching Martha Stewart's show and the Food Channel. I am a pretty good cook and enjoy cooking when I have time and motivation. My kids all like to cook to varying degrees.
Oh, the men in my family don't really cook but my brother became a professional chef!

[Anonymous]

Grandma and mom were not good cooks. My mom can bake. Step dad loved cooking and I would always help him. He loved making Chinese and it was so good. I love cooking and learned a lot watching pbs cooking shows as a kid.

[Anonymous]

I've learned from my father to cook a few dishes. My mother did not cook and I didn't see my grandparents often enough to learn anything from them (only one of the four cooked at all, anyway).

99% of what I cook I learned on my own.

[Anonymous]

I'm from France and my mom is a fantastic cook. She can make anything. She never formally taught us how to cook, but we watched her do it and learned to really love food, good ingredients. We had a lot of farms around where we'd get milk, meat. We had chickens and a big garden. We'd pick blackberries and she'd make jams. My brother and I are both great cooks and bakers now though we don't necessarily make her recipes/the same type of food as each other.

[Anonymous]

One grandmother died when my mom was little and the other lived 1000 miles away - so neither taught me to cook, although I do have a vivid memory of my one living gma trying to teach me to cook popovers once.

My mom was a home ec major in the 50's, so by the time she had me and my siblings she'd been working in operations in large kitchens - so we had a strict schedule of menus prepared with the utmost of efficiency. It wasn't until I was an adult that I realized not everyone had standing lists and didn't always go to the grocery store with that list in hand. That said - her food was good, if repetitive. I have zero recipes for anything and she had zero patience for anyone in her kitchen.

My dad had grown up on a farm in the midwest and would try to have a garden. Life got to busy and there were too many trees in our yard for that to last. He could cook a couple of odd meals - tuna noodle casserole and sauerkraut and sausage, but for the most part he stayed out my mom's kitchen. Except for clean up - he always did the dishes (or supervised my sibs and me doing them.)

[Anonymous]

My mom was an awful cook. It's actually how I got to be a good cook, because I started cooking for myself from a very young age lol.

My grandpa was a so-so cook. I have fond memories of his special pancakes (with brown sugar and cinnamon), and he would have a wonderful garden with fresh tomatoes, potatoes, peas, raspberries. He'd freeze them and make trifle with the raspberries and it was delicious! But then he'd make turkey for xmas, preslice it and microwave the F out of it before everyone got there so it was dry and rubbery. His mashed potatoes were always good.

My ILs think they are good cooks but are not lol. My FIL said he used to be a chef and is always so proud to cook, but it's not good. They cook meat until there's "no juice running" out. Not until it's clear, until there is NO JUICE. So dry. My DH is a pretty good cook as well. Definitely something that bonded us.

[Anonymous]

My mom and grandma were good enough when they had to but we had family cooks growing up and I was always shooed away from the kitchen when I was young. They said I’d have plenty of time to cook later on. I learned after coming to the US for college, kinda like Madhur Jaffrey’s mom sending her handwritten recipes on the blue airmail letters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mom was a terrible cook. She taught me in the sense that if I wanted good food, I had to make it myself… i learned to cook as a teen from recipes.

Same here.
Looks like in my family, it always skips a generation; my grandmother was a wonderful cook; I am pretty good; DD is a great hostess but not such a great cook.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Grandmother was wonderful. Had a genuine passion for making terrific meals.

Mother sucked donkey balls. Does a decent Thanksgiving and Christmas because of necessity. That's it.

But otherwise really doesn't care.

Father was pretty good.

Particularly six whiskies in. And then the martinis.

So many issues.

A drunk cooking history.

The grandmother had the best technical skills. The father had the best instincts.

The quality of the food was even.

But everything always went to hell by the time the grappa or brandy went around

Perhaps one day I'll find a therapist.

Aren't you lovely

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grandmother was wonderful. Had a genuine passion for making terrific meals.

Mother sucked donkey balls. Does a decent Thanksgiving and Christmas because of necessity. That's it.

But otherwise really doesn't care.

Father was pretty good.

Particularly six whiskies in. And then the martinis.

So many issues.

A drunk cooking history.

The grandmother had the best technical skills. The father had the best instincts.

The quality of the food was even.

But everything always went to hell by the time the grappa or brandy went around

Perhaps one day I'll find a therapist.

Aren't you lovely

She is perfectly witty and has a sense of humor. You, on the other hand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mom was a terrible cook. She taught me in the sense that if I wanted good food, I had to make it myself… i learned to cook as a teen from recipes.

Same here.
Looks like in my family, it always skips a generation; my grandmother was a wonderful cook; I am pretty good; DD is a great hostess but not such a great cook.

It seems that also that one sibling can't cook, and the other sibling loves cooking in many examples we got here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mom and grandma were good enough when they had to but we had family cooks growing up and I was always shooed away from the kitchen when I was young. They said I’d have plenty of time to cook later on. I learned after coming to the US for college, kinda like Madhur Jaffrey’s mom sending her handwritten recipes on the blue airmail letters.

When I married and moved away, my mom wrote me many recipes in a notebook. She also wrote a note on the cover saying never to live with your and his parents. Then she forgot that part and was so injured that we didn't want her living with us!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mom was an awful cook. It's actually how I got to be a good cook, because I started cooking for myself from a very young age lol.

My grandpa was a so-so cook. I have fond memories of his special pancakes (with brown sugar and cinnamon), and he would have a wonderful garden with fresh tomatoes, potatoes, peas, raspberries. He'd freeze them and make trifle with the raspberries and it was delicious! But then he'd make turkey for xmas, preslice it and microwave the F out of it before everyone got there so it was dry and rubbery. His mashed potatoes were always good.

My ILs think they are good cooks but are not lol. My FIL said he used to be a chef and is always so proud to cook, but it's not good. They cook meat until there's "no juice running" out. Not until it's clear, until there is NO JUICE. So dry. My DH is a pretty good cook as well. Definitely something that bonded us.

DH's grandparents were farmers in the 40s, but then grandma got a degree and became a librarian, and once in town, they had the most beautiful strawberry patch! One Fourth of July, that was all I ate. I was so happy with the strawberries! DH's aunt would bring an ice cream churner, and we would all have that ice cream. All cousins brought food; it was your typical potato salad, burgers, hotdogs, and corn on the cob fare. We all watched the parade in front of their house. Once DH's mom passed away, we did it for a couple of years and went overseas to work. It was really fun, there would be more than 20 of us there. Even my parents came one year. I wish such traditions were still a part of my life, but alas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in the eastern part of Germany and we had a vegetable/fruit garden, just for context.

My maternal grandmother and mom were great cooks and bakers. I learned mostly from my grandma because my mom was impatient and hated it when I made a mess.
My paternal grandmother cooked a lot of Polish-influenced dishes (she came from an area that had been occupied by Germany). As a kid I didn't like her food except for the pirogies, she made her own dough and filled them with fresh strawberries. Sadly, I didn't get the recipe. I still cook sauerkraut her way (thickened with roux and bacon).

I then came to the US and learned more cooking skills from watching Martha Stewart's show and the Food Channel. I am a pretty good cook and enjoy cooking when I have time and motivation. My kids all like to cook to varying degrees.
Oh, the men in my family don't really cook but my brother became a professional chef!

Wow for your brother! Anyone we might have heard of?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Grandma and mom were not good cooks. My mom can bake. Step dad loved cooking and I would always help him. He loved making Chinese and it was so good. I love cooking and learned a lot watching pbs cooking shows as a kid.

How did he learn to make Chinese dishes? Unless he was of Chinese origin?