Home ec. or lessons for scratch cooking

[MomOnBike]

As the eldest of five I cooked. I fear that there were some odd meals during that period, but the boys were little and were a little afraid of me - they ate what they were given. I took home ec. and still use the biscuit recipe I got there. I also spent a lot of time "helping" my grandmother cook. As a result, I'm one of the few people I know that can cook on a wood cook stove.

I also took sewing - which I enjoyed. Some of my most vivid memories are of Mother and me sewing, and getting frustrated. (details upon request and after several beers) I made my sister's rodeo queen outfits and both our wedding dresses, my children's clothes and my husband's shirts for many years. I'm so retro that I sewed these on a treadle sewing machine.

I don't remember what I learned in the home ec classes, but I'm sure it's there, lurking in the background of my knowledge.

[PamNY]

Some people like to cook; some don't. It's nothing to make a fuss about. Most of my friends who are serious about cooking are men, but I think that's just coincidence. My whole family loved to cook and food was a source of much joy. I can't imagine anyone I know thinking about whether cooking is "cool."

My mother hated home ec; they started off sewing (she claimed) with bound buttonholes and flat felled seams and she never recovered from the trauma. I learned to sew from my high school best friend.

More than once, when I talked about sewing, my mother announced that I couldn't be her child and must have been mixed up in the hospital.

Pam

[shootingstar]

Some people like to cook; some don't. It's nothing to make a fuss about.

Agree. As for making a fuss..tell that to Jamie Oliver or Gordon Ramsay on the foodnetwork where they try to grab media attention by getting family members (not their own) to cook from scratch or at least more healthily.

MomonBike- Wow, woodstove cooking. Just realized I should ask my parents if they cooked over wood fuel in China. They weren't raised on farms, but they each grew up in rural villages in very basic households in the 1930's when there were no electric stoves...

Sewing shirts ....well mother did sew 100% merino fine wool plaid shirts for my father with French stand-up collars, cuffs, etc. Yes, this was expensive material from Scotland..but her work was an expression of her love. Not many shirts she did, but you can imagine, plaid lines matched across pieces, etc. He wore her homemade shirts every week when he left the house. Unlike cooking where she saw it as a duty, sewing was something she genuinely enjoyed doing and teaching us.

[ny biker]

I'm almost 45 and I still can't cook. I tried for a while after I got out of college but nothing turned out right. So I gave up.

I took home ec in high school but all we ever made was biscuits. That's not what we were supposed to be making, but somehow we passed the class even though we ignored every assignment and just made biscuits.

[Owlie]

No home ec for me, although my high school offered it under some other name. I learned to cook by hanging around my parents in the kitchen, and helping once they trusted me not to set the house on fire. Sewing, however...well, I can repair seams and sew buttons back on. That's the important part, right?

[skhill]

I never took home ec, and on top of that my mother and both grandmas were terrible cooks. One grandma was so bad that we'd stop at McDonalds just before we got to her house for lunch... Also, my uncle always had a big bottle of pepto-bismol in his luggage when he came for a visit! And somehow I've taught myself how to cook over the years, (thank you, Joy of Cooking!), and I enjoy it. Especially baking.

Oh, and I sew also. But I don't know what to do with those pattern things, I just make it up as I go along.... that doesn't work so well when I'm baking a cake, tho...

[andtckrtoo]

I like the thread. Thanks for starting it. I took Home Ec in Junior High. I still have nightmares of the skirt we had to make then WEAR to school for a day! I'm an okay sewer. I did make a Halloween Costume for my daughter (she was a bear) one year. My mom was a professional seamstress who taught 4H classes (yes, I was a member of 4H for sewing), etc. I did not inherit her talent, unfortunately. I'm much too impulsive. (She also went back to college when I was in college and got an associates degree in computer programing - another skill at which I'm useless).

As for cooking - I learned to cook from my mom and my grandmothers, and both of my daughters (step and natural) learned to cook from me. I actually enjoy cooking and I think I passed that on to them - they both are good cooks (and yes, I encourage them to make dinners and I sit on my hands when they do not do things the way I would). I'd like to think that the most important thing I taught my daughters was to not be afraid to experiment and try new things. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work and it's not the end of the world. I am a good cook, but I've served some very questionable meals. Fortunately, I have a fairly tolerant DH who enjoys the occasional PB&J for dinner.

But I do agree - if cooking is not your thing, why worry? I have friends who are my age, and have gone through Home Ec and all of that, but who would burn water. They have other talents that I often envy.

[PamNY]

Agree. As for making a fuss..tell that to Jamie Oliver or Gordon Ramsay on the foodnetwork where they try to grab media attention by getting family members (not their own) to cook from scratch or at least more healthily..

Ha -- no one who listened to me would have a successful television show. My question about cookbook authors is: how much testing takes place? I have a friend who is a cookbook author and it is fascinating to talk to him about his work (and also to taste, of course). He is meticulous about recipe testing, and writes very detailed recipes so even the novice can have success.

I haven't watched cooking shows since Chef John Folse was on PBS. I did learn to make a roux from him.

Pam