# Do You Cook Meals And enjoy It?



## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Cooking is an art much like music. Great food results from creativity, patience, experience and exciting the senses of smell and taste. Over using any of the ingredients may result in food that is not tasty and maybe even unhealthy. 

Cooking and consumption of food, like music, are an essential part of life.

Do you cook for yourself/friends/family? Do you enjoy cooking?


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

I enjoy cooking too much, experimenting with new ingredients, new methods of cooking, new ideas. 

Sometimes it even works out.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

NoCoPilot said:


> I enjoy cooking too much, experimenting with new ingredients, new methods of cooking, new ideas.
> 
> Sometimes it even works out.


Any particular cuisine?


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

Thai, Vietnamese, Asian in general mostly. Lots of fun to be had there. But also French and Balkan and Middle Eastern and just non-region-specific experimentation using tasty ingredients in non-standard combinations. Surprising combinations : like music, as you say. The more surprising the more fun, when it works out.

There used to be a French-Vietnamese restaurant in the neighborhood which was a revelation to me.


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## Varick (Apr 30, 2014)

I enjoy cooking a lot. Like the OP stated, it is an art form. I am far from that level, but I enjoy it nonetheless. I enjoy cooking for myself (experiment time) and I enjoy cooking for others. I do not know a more intimate and greater bonding experience with people (non sexual speaking of course) than "breaking bread" with them. If you cook a meal for them, it's even better, And even better when the meal comes out right!

I do not have a deep repertoire when it comes to meals. I have a few pasta dishes I do well with Chicken and Sausage, I have a few fish dishes, a Chicken breast with bone in (the only way to eat chicken breast - to hell with the boneless: easy to dry out and no flavor) and root vegetables, steak and especially my favorite - lamb. I sous vide all my meats and Chicken and have started to experiment with fish and vegetables, unless I'm roasting the chicken with root vegetables. I started to sous vide about 1-1/2 years ago and I'll never go back. You can take an OK cut of beef, sous vide it, and it will be like tender filet mignon.

Probably for the rest of my life I will be experimenting with recipes, cuisines, and flavors. If I am preparing a nice dinner for my wife and me that takes a few hours, there is nothing better than opening up a nice bottle of wine as I start preparation. I love cooking with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

V


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

Varick said:


> - to hell with the boneless: easy to dry out and no flavor


Try it in a slow cooker with some bone broth and cumin.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

I particularly enjoy sous vide cooking* (my unfortunate engineering nature) and picking out new dishes from YouTube. I am a bit disabled so my wife does a lot of the actual prep work, but I enjoy the results intently!

*I am probably the last person in the world without a sous vide stick, but use an old digital temperature controller and a cheap rice cooker instead. Comes out just as nice!


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

There is definitely skill and an art required in good sous vide. I see my mother make duck that way and it is amazing.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I only enjoy eating. Cooking is a bother. Cleaning up after is an even bigger bother.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I do cook, I am indifferent whether I enjoy it or not.

I chose this option because I'm not fond of cooking but I don't hate it. I have certain recipes which Taggart loves and so I cook them. He does most of the cooking - but that's how it should be, because I am not really bothered what I eat. I could happily exist on banana for breakfast, cheese and oatcakes for lunch, and something on toast for tea, every day. 

Anyway, Taggart loves cooking.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I cook about 5 days a week (Western dishes), my wife 2 days (authentic Chinese dishes, not the surrogate you'll find in 'Chinese' restaurants outside China). I have a number of dishes that I know how to do reasonably well, and once in a while I experiment a bit.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

I enjoy cooking. I'm basically a good plain cook rather than doing anything really fancy. 

I like to think that what I do cook, I do well and that people enjoy it.


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## GucciManeIsTheNewWebern (Jul 29, 2020)

I enjoy the process and I'm competent enough to put together a decent meal, but I lack any kind of skill beyond that or special finesse you need to really be an amazing cook. My S/O is really talented in that regard so I just like to be the sous chef and enjoy the meal afterward 

It's a skill I definitely want to develop, takes a lot of trial and error.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

SixFootScowl said:


> I only enjoy eating. Cooking is a bother. Cleaning up after is an even bigger bother.


I'm with you all the way - let's go out to eat!


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

Bulldog said:


> let's go out to eat!


My dad used to abbreviate that as "Squeet!"


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I cook out of necessity. I don't hate it but it's not one of my passions. And yes, the cleaning up is the worst part.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

Cleaning up is not fun but can be made efficient, say letting the grease sit overnight in the utensils to make it easier to wash.


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## Ariasexta (Jul 3, 2010)

I like cooking my own meals but almost nobody likes my food except myself. Very awkward.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

I quite enjoy cooking, ok on curries and my shepherd's pie is almost famous. But I'm a cook, not a chef.


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## Varick (Apr 30, 2014)

I rarely like moving after a good meal, let alone cleaning up. Yes, certainly the worst part of cooking. My wife and I have a good deal. If I cook, she cleans up. If she cooks, I clean up. I'm glad I usually get home before her, so I do the cooking during the week. 

Weekends, we often cook together, but I always try to do cook more so she has to clean up. 

V


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

Geez, cleaning up is that big a deal? Rinse out a couple pans, stick the dishes and utensils in the dishwasher.

And I'm on septic! No garbage disposal.


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## WNvXXT (Nov 22, 2020)

Made some Low Carb Keto Biscuits. Used chopped cheddar, a 9 inch pie pan, and threw in some minced garlic, along with everything else listed.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

^ That looks quite simple and staple. It must be delicious.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Varick said:


> My wife and I have a good deal. If I cook, she cleans up. If she cooks, I clean up.


We have a similar deal: If she cooks, I clean up. If I cook, I clean up.

To be fair though, she does all the laundry and we share regular house cleaning.


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## erki (Feb 17, 2020)

I do most of the cooking, however my wife is very good at it as well. Our son asks for dad if hungry.
I started cooking because my mother was terrible cook. Not that she had no interest or was indifferent but she had no patience. She could start up with something and get bored in the process and experiment(with good results sometimes) or burn it. Although some foods she did were delicious always. So in order to get good meals I did it myself. Specially after I bought some interesting spices with all my pocket money while visiting foreign countries.
The other reason is that I can nibble at the cooking starting with raw ingredients, then tasting while it cooks - so the the process of cooking and eating becomes whole event.


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## Open Book (Aug 14, 2018)

I cook out of necessity. I find everything about cooking boring - mixing and measuring ingredients (I often just measure with my eyes), watching water come to a boil, waiting for butter to just melt but not spatter in the microwave. I could cry I get so bored. But it is kind of nice to be nourishing someone you love and receiving their appreciation.


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## Varick (Apr 30, 2014)

Open Book said:


> I cook out of necessity. I find everything about cooking boring - mixing and measuring ingredients (I often just measure with my eyes), watching water come to a boil, waiting for butter to just melt but not spatter in the microwave. I could cry I get so bored. But it is kind of nice to be nourishing someone you love and receiving their appreciation.


Dude, put on some music, open a bottle of wine, sip a glass of something while prepping, groove to the music, taste while cooking like Erki does, but for the love of God, don't just stand there and stare waiting for water to boil!! Hell, I'd find cooking boring too if that's all I did while prepping a meal.

V


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

We share the kitchen chores. When Mrs Pat cooks, I clear up. And when I cook, I ... hey, wait a minute!


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## ToneDeaf&Senile (May 20, 2010)

I don't know how to answer this one. I prepare my own meals, except on rare occasions when I eat out. (I've not done so since the pandemic began last year.) However, I am in no way a cook beyond what can be heated in a microwave. My meals are very simple. Breakfasts are a outmeal with chopped fresh fruits. Suppers are salads. Lunches are either a Wowbutter sandwich, a canned soup, or something similar. At meal's end I have at most two utensiles, a micorwave-safe bowl, a plate and a glass to clean. I tend to clean these as soon as I'm done with then, so that, for instance, the bowl, if used solely during the heating process, is washed, dried and put away before I sit down to eat.

Wait, the above is not exactly true. I own and use a conventional bread toaster, and an egg boiler designed for use inside a microwave.

At best I am indifference about preparing my meals. I don't mind it, but certainly don't enjoy it. That said, I simply ahbore chopping lettuce for salads. (I don't mind chopping anything else.)


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## Varick (Apr 30, 2014)

ToneDeaf&Senile said:


> I don't know how to answer this one. I prepare my own meals, except on rare occasions when I eat out. (I've not done so since the pandemic began last year.) However, I am in no way a cook beyond what can be heated in a microwave. My meals are very simple. Breakfasts are a outmeal with chopped fresh fruits. Suppers are salads. Lunches are either a Wowbutter sandwich, a canned soup, or something similar. At meal's end I have at most two utensiles, a micorwave-safe bowl, a plate and a glass to clean. I tend to clean these as soon as I'm done with then, so that, for instance, the bowl, if used solely during the heating process, is washed, dried and put away before I sit down to eat.
> 
> Wait, the above is not exactly true. I own and use a conventional bread toaster, and an egg boiler designed for use inside a microwave.
> 
> At best I am indifference about preparing my meals. I don't mind it, but certainly don't enjoy it. That said, I simply ahbore chopping lettuce for salads. (I don't mind chopping anything else.)


So, with all that microwaving I guess you get absolutely no nutritional value from your food outside of salads.

V


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## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

During the week it is simple, after work cooking. On the weekends I do more. My wife seldom cooks.

I have been using this cookbook for years. I have purchased a number of copies for others. I have gotten rid of all other cookbooks.


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