The Joy of Cooking

When I say that cooking is a basic skill, I am talking about simple meals prepared from scratch using a range of ingredients. I was taught to cook by my Dad when I was 9 years old. According to him, if you could read you could cook, and in that he was absolutely right. He also said that if I could cook I could choose for myself whether to move in with a woman rather than having to! At 9 years old that particular observation confused me and went right over my head 🤣. Anyway, over the period of a few weeks he taught me to cook a range of straightforward meals, even leaving me in charge of the deep fat fryer, a health and safety nightmare these days! By the age of 14 I was able to cook a Sunday lunch from scratch and passed one element of my Advanced Scout Standard by doing so. At Scout camps we also learnt to cook over open fires and if you can do that the cooker is the easiest thing in the world to control by comparison.

Over the years I have added countless meals to my repertoire first through following recipes then through adapting recipes and finally through seeing what’s in the cupboard, fridge and freezer and going from there. We hardly ever eat out and when we do I very rarely eat something I couldn’t do better myself. I love cooking as a practical pursuit but I love it even more as an art and a way of putting something on the table for my family. So, get the cooker on, switch on the air fryer or even learn how to use a microwave to cook – yes it’s possible – and enjoy the freedom from take away or eating out it gives you. You may not decide to go beyond basic meals, but you don’t have to once you master this basic skill.