"Kswck" > wrote in message
...
> Parent, other family member, friend? Or did you have to learn on your own?
>
> Mom boiled every veggie to death. Figure ALL pork must be cooked in a fry
> pan covered with mustard and sauerkraut, till it's dead, beef so rare it
> would moo and chicken ONLY in a pressure cooker, or Shake-N-Bake.
> (Don't get me started on her soups-she believed food was to keep you
> alive...taste? 'You want that too? Why?').
>
> Learned on my own.
>

At home, I could fry an egg, make a burger and other simple survival types
of cooking but had no interest aside from that. It was some years later that
I really started to get interested. Frugal Gourmet and Romagnoli's Table
were the two that really got me interested so I took the time to learn basic
cooking and some of the science behind it.

Out of necessity I've been doing the majority of cooking the last couple of
years so there definitely was a payoff in time spent learning. Wish I had
watched my grandmother more though. I certainly miss some of her meals.