Cooking!

[VelvetDivan 96]

Thanks, Feather Spiral. 

 

Another kind of duh-tip is that it really can be worth it to print out your recipes rather than just keeping them bookmarked and hauling your laptop into the kitchen when you're cooking.  For one, it keeps your laptop/tablet out of splatter-range.  Secondly, having physical copies of the recipes means you can organize them in a 3-ring binder or at least a folder, but perhaps most importantly you can write notes on the recipes so you remember what to change or what you wanted to try next time you prepare the dish.

 

It was too salty?  Write that down.  It took longer than the recipe indicated to bake?  Write it down.  Your oven is different than the recipe author's.  Your water is probably different.  Your elevation may even be different, and these are all factors that will mean some adjustment may be necessary.

 

For those of you who have well water like I do, or just less-than-great tap water, consider buying a filtering pitcher if you don't have one already, to purify water for use in cooking.  You're probably used to the taste of your water, but trust me, it can make a big difference.  I wouldn't bother if you're just using it to boil pasta, though.  Just remember to salt the water,

 

When you're cooking a lot of things at once, for Thanksgiving for instance, you'll save yourself a lot of hair-pulling if you plan ahead.  You need to figure out what dishes will require oven space, stove space, etc. and if you don't have room to pull it off within a reasonable time-frame you'll either have to make some things ahead of time and reheat them (a good idea with some dishes anyways) or even ask a neighbor who isn't cooking up a storm to use their oven on the big day.  I don't know about you, but my oven isn't big enough to accommodate *anything* else when a turkey is in there, but there is a cooling period the bird should endure after leaving the oven, giving you time to pop a couple casseroles in the oven behind it.  (Don't carve into meat as soon as you finish cooking it.  Meat requires time for its juices to redistribute after the abuse of all that heat it's been through.  The bigger the piece of meat, the more time it requires to recover.  Don't just let it sit naked on the counter though; shield it with some foil to keep it from catching a cold.)

[Dewdlz 938]

I like to cook hot pockets and toaster stroodles. Making bacon, eggs, and grilled cheese are the only things I can make from scratch. Sometimes soup from a can cooked on the stove, but mostly I'm lazy to wait for it to warm up, so I zap it with the microwave. Bon Appétit.

Edited March 1, 2015 by Agent Luna

[Venomous 18,813]

I don't cook often because i'm not too good at it.

I guess i'm so afraid of undercooking the food that I avoid cooking all together.

[Rebel the Wolfgirl 5,585]

I don't cook often because i'm not too good at it.

I guess i'm so afraid of undercooking the food that I avoid cooking all together.

Same. I can cook, but only basic stuff like mini pizzas and cookies.

[Cosmik Vek 764]

I can cook, but only some kinds of food, I can cook:

 

• Grilled cheese
• Canned Beans
• Soup
• Fries
• Sandwich
• And some others

[CheeryFox 23,811]

I cook all the time. My burgers and fries are slammin'! 

[cuteycindyhoney 13,282]

When buying things for your kitchen, beware of what Alton scorns as 'uni-taskers.'  That is, devices that do only one thing.  Olive pitters and strawberry-corers are good examples.  They take up room in your drawers, almost never get used, and save you very little time compared to just doing the task without a highly specialized tool.  A few uni-taskers are necessities of course, like can-openers, so be sensible.  

You just made me think of this classic moment in TV history.

[Pastel 7,627]

I was a bit into cooking when I was younger, but now the only thing I cook (of course except meat, rice, sandwiches etc.) is scrambled eggs, my family loves them.

[VitalSpark 1,830]

I do basically all the cooking in our house. Some of the meals that seem to be most popular with the kids are:

• Roast dinner
• Chilli con carne
• Spaghetti (or other pasta) Bolognese
• Spaghetti (or other pasta) all'Arrabbiata
• Spaghetti carbonara
• Macaroni Cheese
• Sausage & bean casserole
• Fish & chips
• Pizza
• Nachos
• Chicken or beef fajitas
• Chicken & sweetcorn enchiladas
• Hamburgers & chips
• Turkey burgers & chips
• Lamb or chicken curry

From time to time I also bake bread.

Edited March 1, 2015 by Vital Periwinkle