Home Cooking

Home cooking is becoming very popular nowadays, what with so many cooking programs going on tv all day and all night? And not only that, isn't it handy that there is always google to consult? Besides, we are becoming more and more health conscious that we make sure the food we eat is healthy, devoid of so many calories. 

Even on special events we often choose to stay home and cook instead of eating out. Some dates are taking place in someone else's home instead of at a bar or a restaurant where dating partners prepare the food themselves, thus making it an activity in itself. Even buying the fresh ingredients from a local mom and pop is something to do together, like playing house. 

To those who are reluctant to cook or afraid that the food won't turn out great, I suggest they heed the following advice of a famous American chef who introduced French cuisine to the American public:

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude.” 

― Julia Child

“This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook- try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!” 

― Julia Child, My Life in France

I would say that it is best to start early. When my granddaughter was a little over three years old,  I made sure that we had an activity whenever she spent the day with us. She would cut veggie trimmings with a plastic knife; we would bake cookies or make cup cakes. She would break the eggs, cut the butter and measure the dry ingredients. 

Oh, she loves our chocolate cup cake recipe so much, she would lick not only what was left on the spatula but scoops some of the mixture to eat. She always say: "my Nana's cup cake is the best ever!", believe me, for her, there is no match to it, even at  parties, "the cup cakes are not as yummy as my Nana makes them".

Now that she is 8 years old, she loves to cook. On the way home from the grocery with her mom one afternoon, she wanted to make banana loaf so she googled a recipe: "this one must be good, mama, it earned 5 stars", she said. 

Here she is making her banana loaf

Just last week, she borrowed a cookbook from her school library and wanted to prepare a soup for next day's lunch.  She went to the grocery with her mom so she could get the ingredients herself. Look at her soup. 

Upper photo is her finished product, lower one is the cookbook page.

Speaking of home cooking, I couldn't be more proud of my two married daughters who are very enthusiastic cooks even with their demanding careers. Do you know that they cook everything from scratch, no mixes or pre-made sauces for them, no sir!  Not even salad dressings; making Caesar salad dressing is something they learned early on from their summer cooking class.  I guess they too, were very observant as teens, I know they often watch me cook, but they seldom did it themselves. Oh, they would whip up a pastry whenever they felt like eating or made cookies, but that was all. They never attempted to cook a meat or fish dish. 

When we had guests, their role was preparing the china, the silver, the napkins and the bowls for nuts or chips. They saw that the ice bucket is always filled and glasses and drinks are within the reach of everyone. Oh, sometimes, they cut veggies but no serious cooking for them. 

Nowadays, the three of us, including my sister in the US, share recipes of new dishes we prepare. I am often amazed how they make traditional recipes their own, they are so imaginative and creative.  They are also sticklers for healthy food, they often bake or grill using only a few drops of EVOO, (as Rachel Ray refers to extra virgin olive oil), to avoid too much cholesterol. When it is necessary to fry, they use canola oil. They find baking the dish more practical though, just pop the dish in the oven and wait for the timer to ring. Besides, there are less dishes to wash, they say. 

I'm sure that their husbands are happy that they can always look forward to a healthy and delicious home-cooked meal at the end of a stressful day at work. Isn't it true that:

 "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach"? 

Well, Stephen Colbert had something to add to this famous quote: .

."... Just make sure you thrust upward through his ribcage.”

Haha! Isn't that bringing it too far?