The one thing those of us who learned to cook at their mother's and grandmother's knees have to be cautious of is becoming smug about it.

We have two generations, now, who grew up believing that "cooking" and "thawing in the microwave" are the same thing.

Thanks to many influences, the younger (and not so young, in fact) folks are now coming back to real cooking. Their problem is that they are unfamiliar with terms, techniques, and cooking styles that we take for granted.

A good example is lifecooks' post below. I never give any thought to preheating the pan. It's just something I do automatically. But I've learned that with many people I have to iterate every step when teaching them a particular recipe---precisely because they did not learn at their momma's knee, and have no idea they are supposed to do that.

I went through a period where I got progressively more put off by the minutia found in most published recipes. You know, instead of just saying "saute" the recipe says, "in a small skillet, over medium-high heat, put 1 tbls oil, and heat until it smokes......" But I now realize why it is there. It's so those folks who grew up with the microwave as their primary cooking tool know what to do. So now I'm much more tolerant of such directions.

I just wish more recipe writers would learn that most terms and techniques have precise meanings, and use them correctly.

Let's face it - more cooking terms have gone down the tubes because of microwave cooking, failure of school to teach home ec in 7th and 8th grade (I guess sex education is more important) and both parents working, or single parent households that don't have the time to cook, don't want to cook, etc. Don't forget that family values have changed - no more family dinners 7 days a week with everyone at the table and no telephones being answered. Fast foods, while talking on a cell or texting is what too many are doingl Families do not eat together anymore. No one has time for anyone - we are in a big rush to go nowhere for some reason. Instead of technology allowing us more family time together - it is pulling families apart.

I still teach the old school way - the old terms, etc. and I will until I can no longer do it or I am dead.

Mama, that's the only way to to teach...the old school way. Not only do many of today's teens not know how to cook they also do not know how to sew. That was all part of home ec as well.

DCMerkle

This is a great thread. I never learned to cook. My mother was a very poor cook and I always was too. I have always had to prepare food daily because I have a large family but it has always been bad. During the years, friends of mine who are good cooks would often say, "oh I have a recipe for you that you can't screw up" and then I promptly would. The reason was I didn't know all the understood methods ya'll were mentioning on thei thread like heating the pan first and how to tell the oil is hot enough before you fry and a million other things like this. I've just recently decided I'm going to become at least an adequate cook. That is my major goal right now. So thanks in advance for all the help and tips I'm finding here.

tcinsa - don't ever be afraid to ask any question at all - no question is a stupid question! You'll get a lot of support here!