Ever thought about a philosophy of cooking? Well, here’s Vicki’s Philosophy of Cooking!
Vicki’s Philosophy of Cooking
It is a good thing that Colonel Sanders did not know my mother. He might have been driven to distraction by jealousy.
My mother makes THE WORLD’S best fried chicken. Double-battered, gently spicy. Served up with fluffy mashed potatoes and gravy mixed from the chicken batter and drippings.
Crunchy, moist, rich, wonderful.
Fortunately for my family’s cholesterol, the cooking-genius gene skipped my generation.
When my kids were young and I’d call them to the table for supper, they’d all rush in (not having learned to do otherwise yet) and take a seat. Then they’d chime in,
“What’s for supper?”
…with the supper sitting and staring at them (not literally; I never fed them anything that was still moving or breathing).
Sometimes it was sort of hard to guess what it was. Even for me.
Yes, I was born with a cooking disability. Based on my disability, I developed a personal philosophy of cooking that goes like this:
Cook when necessary. Do not give food poisoning to anyone. Never bring food to church- it is NOT a blessing.
So, when my oldest sons hit high school, I was desperate. What is a homeschooling mom to do if she can’t teach her sons to cook? What if they ever have to fend for themselves?
Ah, the joys of co-op and a friend who has the gift of cooking.
One of the moms, Lois, applied her cooking skill to our teens. She taught them to brown ground beef, she taught them to make the world’s best pie crust from scratch, she even taught them to grocery-shop. The true mark of manhood came when she had them cut up a whole chicken (it only took a few counseling sessions to recover from the post-traumatic stress).
Now, those kids are grown and cook for fun. Really. For them it is a social event. Praise God for Lois!
That is homeschooling for you- you can educate on your own AND when you are out of your league, you can pool your resources. (I pulled my weight- I taught Lois’s kids literature.)
For REAL cooking, check out our 7Sister Allison’s post on Cooking for a Crowd.
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Vicki’s Philosophy of Cooking
My mother’s cooking motto – “There are alot of people baking pies who ought to be buying pies.”
In general I don’t like to cook to feed my immediate family. I like to cook for non-family members who respond to me in my love language…words.
Polite homeschooling neighbor coming into the house, “Mmmmm. What smells so good?”
My child, “What is THAT smell?????”
My husband, “Is it supposed to taste like this?” (I think this only happened once.)
Maureen, you make my day:)
There’s always the husbands too! It’s gotten to the point of embarrassment when my husband holds the conversations about coupons and the best places to buy corn on the cob.
*happy dance* It is so cool when the menfolk cook. Good philosophy!
My girls still talk about coop cooking and the great things they learned from the other mothers. I was a mostly self-taught cook, though I learned a few tricks in public school home-ec. We have taught them to read recipes and not be afraid to experiment. Though we are still working vegies being reguired at each meal they can balance meals. Lois taught them alot but they refuse to handle a raw chicken lol
Being part of an excellent coop definitely kept us homeschooling. The reinforcement we gave to each other and the time in prayer together helped to get through the week.
Ah, Cindy, I remember your WONDERFUL chicken noodle soup. It made lunchtime the best part of the day (along with our prayer time).
My mom is a good cook – and she taught me. But, I don’t especially enjoy it. I see it as a means to an end – eating, which I do enjoy. This does not make me the best teacher, although all my kids can make M&C from a box and pancakes from a mix!
Learning to cook with others in co-op turned it into a fun activity – with lots of stories to remember.They still talk about “cream on cream” and pushing Meghan in the shopping cart when she broke her leg (yes, she was in high school at the time) and Steven putting cinnamon in EVERYTHING!
Some things are just more fun when you are learning with a group of your peers!
Couldn’t have gone through those home school years without the wonderful, talented co-op that I was blessed to be a part of. I believe together we were stronger in leading our children through this educational process.
Not only were we stronger together, the co-op moms had a blast praying and commiserating together. Miss you, Lois.
My mother was a wonderful woman in every way…except cooking. Though she could make the best apple crisp (still haven’t found a recipe to equal hers!), most of her dinners were a pasta (of some nature) with a tomato sauce (of some nature) over it, with ground beef ground into it. (She could do a roast fairly decently, to be honest with you.)
I did inherit her cooking genes, so my dinners are boring to the extreme (though I use less pasta and tomato sauce than she did). My boys also benefited from Lois’s teaching, and I have managed here at home to teach them basics, like how to use the microwave and how to cook eggs. They also have each learned how to make one traditional specialty food for our Thanksgiving dinner each year, and they’re quite good at those things.
The BIG thing is…I taught them how to read so they can follow the instructions on the instant mashed potatoes box!
I actually gave food poisoning to people once….but maybe I should save that story for an upcoming blog post.
I agree, Vicki. For the not-so-Suzie-Homemakers of the homeschooling world, co-op-ing with moms who are cooking gurus is a must! My sister Allison has been the “go-to” resource for my kids when they want to know how to do food and entertaining the right way. She’s already hard at work designing the plans for the cupcake tower for Bekah and Casey’s wedding in May….
I’m really not a cooking genius either, just learned how to read cookbooks and instructions, then try things on my own. But the point remains that we all can help each other by sharing our strengths. I (and more importantly, my children) have benefited SO much from the strengths of the other moms in our co-ops and Mt. Sophia. Praise God.