My Sons, the Sous-Chefs

[elleng]

De Gustibus

I cannot remember exactly when it occurred to me that my children should be cooking dinner for me instead of the other way around. . .

Though my sons learned some basics while cooking with me previously, their time in charge has showed how many subtleties they missed. I am still surprised by the questions I get:

Q. How do you mash garlic?

A. Use the side of a knife.

Q. Can I use the hand blender to chop onions?

A. No, don’t be lazy.

Q. If I make a chocolate parfait for dessert, do I still have to make a vegetable?

A. Are you kidding?

Q. What about flambé? (My older son thought it sounded “cool.”)

A. That one answers itself, don’t you think?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/dining/a-mother-lets-her-sons-do-the-cooking.html?_r=1&hp

[HopeHoops]

1. I taught my three daughters to cook. They're all quite accomplished now.

That's handy when my wife and I are just too tired to do anything and ask one of them to take over the task. They always come up with something creative and generally more nutritional than what we would do at the time. Other than baking (which is science), they basically know to just look around, get a visual in your head, and make that. That's how I cook.

[Warpy]

2. My mother never taught me how to cook, something I was grateful for

because she hated cooking and it showed. She did pass along a few recipes for the things she did well and I'm grateful for those, my comfort foods.

I learned how to cook from Julia Child and out of books. I like to cook and it shows.

[Lugnut]

4. My mother was a terrible cook.

In all fairness, she excelled in making the ethnic dishes her mother prepared. Beyond that she got a lot of her recipes from Good Housekeeping magazine. She made some wild substitutions if she didn't have the ingredients on hand for a recipe she wanted to try so it made for some "what the heck is that" moments at suppertime. I learned the basics from her along with the ethnic dishes and that was it.

After 45 years of being married and having to cook our meals I think I've done pretty well. Nobody starved and my son and daughter both love to cook.

[kestrel91316]

3. My mom only taught me and my sister how to bake cookies.

The rest of the time we were told to keep out of HER kitchen. She, of course, was the Convenience Food Queen, and obviously wanted to save us girls from a life of drudgery in the kitchen, so she encouraged us in our careers.

My sister and I both became foodies. She married a great cook, and I think I became a pretty good one. We don't consider it drudgery.