My mom told me not to bother learning to cook until after I was married. She said I'd be doing it for the rest of my life, so like it or not, I'd learn to love it.
It was probably one of her best pieces of advice. .. .. ... . ever!
Before I was married... I knew how to make a killer smoothie, a notoriously delicious salad, and an incredible sandwich. Oh, and I knew how to cut some fruit. That's all a single lady really needs to know. That, and where the frozen food section in your local Trader Joe's is. I also knew the best places for breakfast, dessert, dinner and happy hour all over LA.
Now that I've been married for a little over a year and acquired $100K in student debt, eating out is not an option. So I have dived headfirst into the world of cooking. I have slowly learned English names of vegetables (even though I'm American Born Chinese, it's surprising how little I know in a grocery store besides the basic vegetables), acquired a few new cooking tools along the way, and I am slowly making my way into hoity toity cooking (last night, I made a butternut squash with carmelized onions, gorgonzala, cheddar, and spinach pizza!... I made the dough myself, and this morning, I made us omelettes, an egg white one for me, with bacon, cheddar, red bell peppers, onions and squeezed some fresh OJ!.. welcome to Dining with Daisy!).
No, I never took home-ec in school though I wish I did. Instead, my marriage is homemaking 101.
In just a year and a half of marriage, I have learned:
1) what pork roast looks like
2) where everything is in a grocery store
3) what simmer means
4) how to pronounce colander INcorrectly (some things won't change)
5) how to cook butternut squash
6) how to cut a pineapple
7) how to chop an onion
8) how to sugar my nuts
9) how to make bread from scratch
And most importantly...
10) that my guinea pig husband loves me as he eats everything I make with a smile and tells me it's good (he doesn't lie, but I notice when his mom or sister cooks, he says how good it is with real zest, the same zest I have only been lucky to hear from my own creations on a few occasions).
But I won't lie.. cooking almost everyday can become tiring... so I'm grateful my husband is so encouraging. Thanks soy sauce! You're the best and I'm glad I get to cook for you almost every night!
Oh... and... that bacon makes anything delicious. Even whipped cream from a can. Yes... try it, then knock it.
"How to sugar my nuts"???
ReplyDeleteLOL. I need an explanation, or else I might not be able to stop the wild jokes in my mind!
Wow for just learning to cook sounds like you are making some fancy things! I don't make half of the things I used to make when we were first married-,my taste and skill has greatly changed.
ReplyDeleteI love your blog, and read it religiously, but never comment (tempted a few times, but...).
ReplyDeleteBut this time I have to comment. My wife is Chinese, from Taiwan. When we got married, she couldn't cook very well, her mother told her "if you can't cook, just use extra oil". Our beginning experiences were interesting and good, but man she used a lot of oil. Today she is the best cook I know (married 27 years) but even then, I thought she was a good cook. Last week we went down to Utah to celebrate the marriage of our youngest daughter in the Bountiful Temple. She is actually a good cook (as are all of her sisters) and while that is a blessing, I can't help think of what their husbands are missing out on, all that extra oil in their food...:-)
Reading this blog post today brought back so many wonderful memories ;-)