Save me from the Force

[cosmolinguist]

For such a long time I did what my parents expected of me or what someone else wanted of me, that it's left me bewildered and worried just trying to find out what I want, much less actually doing it. Nothing new. So I'm going to start writing things down here, in hopes that I stop forgetting these things and get a little closer to actually doing them.

So, here's an easy one.

I want to be a better cook.

I'm not too stupid and I don't like ready meals but I did have about a week recently where I don't think I ate much other than grilled cheese. I'm not just lazy, I'm also uninspired. Or clueless.

I grew up with hamburger as a main ingredient and cream of mushroom as the Force, which runs through everything and binds it all together and I'm trying to avoid that.

When I got to college I made a lot of friends who could cook. Especially the veg(etari)an ones: I tink once you get rid of the pound-of-hamburger crutch you are more likely to know about the sorts of things that my mom would consider dangerously exotic. I envied them a lot and learned a little but forgot most of it.

I know I can google for recipes as easily as I can ask this, but I'd like to know what actually works for you, and anyway now that I have explained my latest Thing I Wanna Do I figure it won't hurt to ask: what's good for someone who might go so far as to eat poultry on special occasions and doesn't like mushrooms or tofu and doesn't know what she's doing? You can be as vague ("try risotto!") or specific ("look at this website!") as you like.

C'mon, I want my mom to think I'm dangerously exotic!

Comments

[dermfitz.livejournal.com]

My idea of cooking as a student - a student who put tomatoes and lettuce, on the first day he arrived at university, in the freezer - was boiling things, mainly, but now my idea of cooking is: stocks and soups! Learn about stocks and soups and how you can boil a stock down, what you can add to it, and the bases for things like soups - veg and garlics and onions and what-have-you, and the world is your table, honestly. This all sounds a bit glib probably but it was a great way of getting to understand flavour a bit more when you have to build it up bit by bit from raw ingredients.

[cosmolinguist]

I don't believe you: what was a student doing with tomatoes and lettuce?!

It's not glib it's a good point. I've been making stew for Andrew all the time recently and when the kitchen isn't permeated with the lamb smell, making me never want to eat againi, it just reminds me that this is really fun and easy. I should get my act together and buy stuff to make chili because I do love it. It's a good way to mess around with vegetables and spices and stuff too because it's nearly impossible to mess up.