"Dimitri" > wrote in message
. com...
> Other than cinnamon toast and cold cereal or a sandwich what was the first
> thing you cooked, and about how old were you?
>
> I distinctly trying my hand at scrambled eggs Mexican style at about 11 (
> after they cooked I needed to drain off the extra liquid from the tomatoes
I
> put in).
>
> I second attempt was a pineapple upside-down cake in an old cast iron pan
> swerved with whipped cream about 3 yeas later. That one turned out very
> well. ;-)
>
> Dimitri
>
That would be peanut butter cookies, way back a million years in for home
ec. Would have been fine, but I thought it would be easier to use vegetable
oil, in the same amount as shortening. Can you say 'oil slick'?? They were
the most horrid things in the world. My two brothers ate them anyways. My
mother wasn't much on teaching us to cook, I picked it up as I got older.
Learned how to read a recipe and then how to put things together w/out a
recipe.

When I was in my early 20s I got a job cooking in a La Jolla restaurant.
Didn't have any experience, in fact I was applying for a waitress position.
The owner asked me if I could follow a recipe, I said yes, and she hired me
to cook, hire and fire staff, plan the menu and keep the place stocked. 12
hour days, 6 days a week, very hard work. I totally enjoyed it! Learned
alot from the chef that was leaving and did okay. Then, I got fired for
quiches that were burnt on my day off. That was enough of restaurant work
for me!

I still love to cook though there's not much time.

Suzan