Learning to Cook

by Nita Holstine

Everyone knows Randy. The superhero webmaster who makes the Newsletter possible. He is also an excellent cook. I help but that is all; he does the recipe reading but has learned that some spices, we do not like. "5-spice" in some recipes is terrible. So, he uses only what we do like. He has some great recipes for Chinese food that are our favorites. He also makes wonderful Saucy Pork which is Campbell's Golden Mushroom Soup with seasonings and pork over noodles. Delicious! I help but he gets all the praise and credit. He is also the one who created the famous chili recipe for crockpot in my recipe section. 

There were times in my childhood when my mother was working outside the home and would pressure cook several chickens at one time. We were on our own to make a meal out of canned veggies with the boiled chicken. My fondest memory was when mom and dad would have this silent argument about washing the dishes. If I had done the chore, it would have taken the fun away from the spectacle. Dad wouldn't wash dishes, no matter what! But he would stick them into the oven to get them out of sight. Then he would forget they were there, turn the oven on and melt everything plastic. And stink, oh my goodness. Mom wasn't home so she didn't get to enjoy the fun. 

It was dad who believed in eating cheap. Heart, liver, brain of the cow; just boiled and served on a plate. Never any steaks or even ground beef. I remember endless canned turnip greens and spinach that were terrible but one learned to appreciate pepper sauce. When I was a teenager, it became my chore to cook the Sunday fried chicken. Those were the days when there were the 4 of us (brother Alan) in a tiny 3 room apartment. Long gone were the days when we went out to eat after church. I was buying my own clothes by then and could not afford dressing up for church so I became the preparer of the special Sunday chicken dinner.

I loved to help mom with her weekly bread making. She made 2 pineapple upside down cakes (or sometimes peach). One to give away and one for us to eat. There was always enough dough left over to make a meal of pigs in a blanket. Little sausages inside a pinch of bread dough, baked up brown and crusty. Such a treat of a meal almost every week.

My mother didn't want me to learn to sew but it was part of Home Economics. The final project was an outfit we were suppose to model but I gave protest that it was a short set and I couldn't wear it to school. It also didn't fit. Much too small. I learned a lesson real quick but much too late. The cooking part was lots of fun especially when it came to the actual cooking. Going to the grocery store and getting all items needed for the meal. And if all went well, our group got to eat the goodies. We learned the principles of popovers and such. The why you needed the proper cups for baking. Using a rising agent or you'd have a flat cake. The boring part was learning about English fine china and crystal. Memorizing names and passing written tests. But it was four years worth and fun to say the least. 

Sure enough though, my first cake I made from memory and forgot the baking powder. Flat as a pancake. Threw that booger into the trash can and no one else ever knew about it. Things did get much better. 

The actual learning how to cook a meal every evening came by learning from my ex-grandmother in law. She knew how to find the bargains and how to cook a good big meal with a little of nothing. Buying BIG bags of flour, how to cook chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and white cream gravy. That was the only acceptable meal in those days. Since then, I have learned the joy of cooking many different meals and sweets; baking and candy making. With the danger of sugar giving us humans diabetes, I am now learning to cook with Splenda and leave the terrible sugar behind. Randy just got a clean bill of health having brought down his blood sugar level to well within normal levels. Hurray!

When I was 10, I ordered my first cookbook. It was from the Imperial Pure Cane Sugar Company in Sugarland, Texas. I saved up my 50 cents and sent it to the address on the back of the bag. I was so proud of that little booklet and made every recipe in the book.

Now, send me your own notes and share with others how and when you learned to cook. It's easy; be long and rambling or short and sweet but send them in. Use your complete name and location, just your name or nickname. Click here.