Kswck wrote:
> 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.

I pretty much learned on my own. Somebody (my mom, maybe?) gave me a
children's cookbook - probably a youth version of the Joy of Cooking -
that I read cover to cover. I believe that was the summer between 3rd
and 4th grade. Good info on basic techniques and plenty of decent
recipes. I got a lot of practice because my parents were busy that
summer building our new house.

Until I started cooking on my own I thought I hated vegetables. Turns
out, I just hated canned vegetables. My own kids regard canned green
beans as dog food, because that's the only reason I buy them. Our dogs
are athletes and keeping them at their ideal weights leaves them feeling
deprived. Given the opportunity, the wolves in their DNA tell them to
gorge 'til it hurts, eat it all, eat it now, who knows when your next
kill might be? Scheduled feedings are too recent an innovation to
trust. So I add high bulk, low calorie veggies to their meals to help
them feel satisfied.

Usually I make enough extra of whatever vegetable I'm making for the
family so that the dogs can have some but if whatever I've made is too
spicy, greasy or onion-y (big no-no) they get canned green beans or
canned pumpkin. I've actually seen my daughter shudder at the sight of
canned green bean casserole at a holiday potluck. I feel pretty much
the same myself.