Hogrider wrote:

> Hey you! I'm 40 years old...only recently began cooking again after some
> unpleasant experiences cooking in my 20's. I don't have a cookbook..but I
> have something better. My mother is 75 years old and a master cook. She sure
> put a lot of meat on my bones. Anyway, over the last couple years I've
> demanded she teach me how she makes some of her best recipes ( I didn't tell
> her why...but I know I'll lose her some day and I want to keep eating her
> food, if nothing else)...and surprisingly she relented. Mama has taught me
> fried chicken to pork chops to meat loaf, etc...all the things I love!

A master cook and she never taught you to cook until you were 40? Pity. My
mother is a pretty good cook and she started teaching me and my brothers when we
were kids. She never had any problem sharing her successes with us, or trying
to learn something from us.



> Well
> except for one...I just taught mama how to cook steak (weird she never
> learned to cook steak well!)! Plus, amazingly, I have a "talent" for gravy
> that boggles her mind. Except for one thing....I've cut the spices down to
> the ones that REALLY matter for taste/simplicity.

I hate to imagine what those are. I have done most of the cooking in my house
for more than 30 years. I dumped a few spice mixtures from my early years after
finding better things, and my spice and herb cabinet is crammed with all sorts
of things. There would be more if I had more room. I generally go for simple
dishes rather than the really complicated, but a touch of the right herbs and
spices can do a lot for a simple dish.


> I'm a bachelor who doesn't
> want to spend 10 hours cooking dinner for myself (and don't have the time
> even if I wanted to).

Who spends 10 hours cooking a meal? My wife and I both worked and we never had
trouble cooking up a quick, delicious meal.