What is the first thing you learned to cook

[Anonymous]

Looking for some basic ideas to teach the kids tomorrow. I’m looking for something that doesn’t involve the microwave or keurig. They are teenagers, and I feel they are old enough to start using the oven/stove alone.

I’ve thought about pizza bagels (not the frozen kind) , macaroni and cheese or pasta, and cupcakes.

[Anonymous]

Teenagers?!
My 8 year old can make scrambled eggs, pancakes, grilled cheese, quesadillas, fruit salad. I supervise closely of course.

As a teenager I remember making spaghetti, meatballs, lasagna, tuna sandwiches, popping corn in the stove, all kinds of stuff.

[Anonymous]

Probably scrambled eggs. By the time I was a teenager I was making full meals and had been using the stove alone for quite some time. I would suggest starting with something that they like to eat. Breakfast is pretty easy: French toast, sausage, scrambled eggs. Lunch could be cheeseburgers, tater tots and salad. Dinner could be roasted vegetables, seasoned baked chicken or salmon and baked sweet potatoes, or do a stir fry with rice.

I would save fried foods for later. If you have a rice cooker or an instant pot, that could make things easier since the level of attention needed is much less than many recipes using the stove. Really, though, unless they like really complicated meals, start with things they like to eat — which will then reward their efforts. Also, some kids like cookbooks and recipes, others don’t. If they would prefer the structure of having recipes, I’m sure that people will chime in with suggestions here.

[Anonymous]

I was raised in India, 50 yrs ago. The first thing I learned to cook was how to use the electric toaster to make toasts.
Next I was taught how to light a matchstick safely and turn on the gas stove top which looked like the stove below.
On the gas stove top, I learned to boil milk, boil eggs, boil potatoes and make tea.
Next I learned how to make cake from scratch. We used to bake it in a table top plug in cake oven like below.

After that, I learned how to make scrambled eggs, omlettes, stuffed sandwiches etc. My mom taught me how to make lemonade, lassi etc. Anything to do with lifting a heavy pot, using a pressure cooker to make rice or daal or any sort of frying...probably in my late teens. Though I do remember making chicken curry once when my dad forced me to cook when I was 8. I was so mad at him. Mom had gone for a day somewhere. Such a clueless man. Of course I had no clue and whatever I made was inedible. My elder brothers used to cook quite well and thanks to them I could cruise by for a long time.

[Anonymous]

Under 10 I learned to make scrambled eggs, pancakes, muffins, chocolate chip cookies, and applesauce. Those were my first foods.

If you have teens go loftier with your goals: pizza is so easy, and then teach them basics like grilled cheese sandwiches, quesadillas, BLTs, and continue to something more complicated where they need to follow directions, like homemade meatballs and pasta and homemade macaroni and cheese.

Teen years are also a great time to teach some basics like simple cutting techniques, how to peel things like mangoes, how to cut up a watermelon or pineapple, how to clean and marinate chicken etc. You can teach good kitchen skills like cleaning as you go, proper leveling when baking, avoiding cross-contamination etc.

[Anonymous]

A simple Bolognese with jarred sauce.

[Anonymous]

Macaroni and cheese when I was 6.

[Anonymous]

Probably grilled cheese. I was a latchkey kid, so it was microwave first, then oven for things like pizza bites, and then the stove.

[Anonymous]

Scrambled eggs, Kraft Mac & cheese.

[Anonymous]

What do they like to eat?

[Anonymous]

Scrambled eggs and/or omelet are easiest and most practical. Even if you screw it up they're still pretty good. Also fast and requires you to pay attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A simple Bolognese with jarred sauce.

Why?

If you’re ok with jarred, fine/no judgment. It’s not a learning-to-cook experience, but it could be learning to feed yourself (a worthy goal).
If you want Bolognese, do it right (it’s not tomato-heavy and you presumably don’t want jarred meat, so what’s the jar doing in there?)
If you want a simple/easy-to-make pasta sauce with meat, try Amatriciana (tomato/pancetta/onion/red wine) or Orecchiette with sausage and broccoli or James Beard’s Pleasant Pasta (peas, cheese, proscuitto). Veggie alternatives — arrabbiata or Cacio e Pepe

[Anonymous]

Pancakes, age 5.

Getting up early to make my parents breakfast was how I learned basic fractions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A simple Bolognese with jarred sauce.

Why?

If you’re ok with jarred, fine/no judgment. It’s not a learning-to-cook experience, but it could be learning to feed yourself (a worthy goal).
If you want Bolognese, do it right (it’s not tomato-heavy and you presumably don’t want jarred meat, so what’s the jar doing in there?)
If you want a simple/easy-to-make pasta sauce with meat, try Amatriciana (tomato/pancetta/onion/red wine) or Orecchiette with sausage and broccoli or James Beard’s Pleasant Pasta (peas, cheese, proscuitto). Veggie alternatives — arrabbiata or Cacio e Pepe

Oh, sorry. I forgot that the question was biographical!! (Vs where should I start?)

[Anonymous]

I literally have no idea. I’ve cooked as long as I can remember.