New Blog Topic: Cooking 101

I have something to shameful to admit. I have hidden it for years, but now in this world of full admissions via social media, I feel that I can be honest with my tiny (probably non-existent) blog audience. I can’t cook.

Yes, I worked in the kitchen of several acclaimed restaurants for short periods of time, and yes I cooked for my family quite often as a teenager. I can follow a recipe, I know what most of the basic cooking terms mean and I am serve safe certified (like that has anything to do with cooking.)

Ask me to make a red sauce, though, and I’m likely to pull out a jar of Classico. Ask me to fine dice and you’re likely to get cuts in a variety of shapes and sizes.

When I worked in restaurant kitchens it was because I wanted to be a food writer. I was there to learn how restaurants were organized and functioned; I was not trying to climb the culinary career ladder.

Like most things becoming a great cook comes with practice and discipline. Practice allows you to gain the muscle memory to become confident in your actions. Discipline allows you to work on achieving the same results each time and not cutting corners for speed or laziness.

While I am not lazy, I am a get-it-done kind of girl. I do not have the patience for fiddling about and searching for perfection. While this attitude has mostly served me well in life, this kind of impatience makes for a terrible cook.

Now at age 34 I am for the first time in my adult life going to have a kitchen that’s conducive to cooking. Nick and I are renovating our tiny 1920 craftsman bungalow into a slightly less tiny bungalow with a Viking stove.

You might ask, why doesn’t Nick just cook? After all Nick is a great cook and has all the necessary skills to make the perfect dinner every night. That’s true, but Nick is a Chef, he cooks all day long and it is not relaxing for him to come home and have to consider dinner. Also when you are a chef anyone’s food that is not your own tastes better because it tastes different.

While we are gutting our house, we are staying in my mother’s home which has a fully functioning kitchen. My goal is to be able to cook six dishes perfectly by the end of the 6 month renovation (might be longer, but let’s be optimistic shall we?)

So stay tuned as I update you next week on Cacio, Pepe, e Pancetta.