Cookers vs. Non-Cookers
I spoke yesterday about what it meant to cook and what cooking was NOT.
The reason I wrote on this particular subject was not to say I want someone that just cooks. There are underlying factors why a guy says: 'We want someone that can cook'.
Lets examine what a cooker and a non-cooker do to 'prepare' for dinner.
A cooker gathers, cleans, cuts, and prepares a recipe for dinner. The non-cooker buys a frozen, canned, or packaged meal to heat up.
A cooker tastes her food and adds spices as needed and desired. The non-cooker takes the meal out of the oven or microwave, touches it to measure temperature, then places it on the dinner table.
A cooker plans meals in advance thus making proper purchases. The non-cooker strolls down the aisle and drops items that look good into the cart.
A cooker is creative. A cook fuses flavors out of ingredients to make a deliciously, harmonious dish. A non-cooker does not really have the option for that creativity. Although you can be a bad cook...
A cooker is patient, they take time. A non-cooker probably is a non-cooker because of time, convenience, and cost.
Surprisingly, if you plan accordingly, cooking does not have to take a lot of time. You think Oh Gosh preparing, cutting, making, then baking/grilling/sauteing! That will take 2 hrs!! But if you manage it correctly, you can do far more stuff while things are bakings, while things are boiling, you get the drill.
Cooking is not a prerequisite to marriage. When guys say 'we want a woman that can cook', we are valuing the underlying principles at work when someone DOES cook. We want a hard working, quick on your feet, prepared, patient, & creative person; rather than a quick, easy, 2 minute person.
Share on FacebookIf you want a man, learn how to cook.
You hear it all the time from men: We want a woman that can cook.
But what does that mean? Are all men lazy, self-centered pigs who want a gourmet meal everyday when they come home from work? What is cooking? What defines being a 'woman that can cook'?
Now to define cooking, let us look at what cooking is not:
- Cooking is not: throwing something in the oven or the microwave and boom, 30 minutes or 2 minutes later, you have dinner. I understand busy moms or families who pre-make dinners, BUT those who just buy a pizza or a lasagna for dinner is NOT a cook!! Sidenote: a good test is if a 5 year old kid could do it, it is NOT COOKING! There are amazing prepackaged stuff, but that is not cooking.
- Cooking is not: cup ramen, hot dogs, or mac and cheese (the blue box)
- Cooking/(Baking) is not: cakes in a box
- Cooking is not: cereal. Although I love me a bowl!
- Cooking is not: a pre-made salad.
- Cooking is not: a PB&J
- Cooking is not: buying a rotisserie chicken
Now let's look at what cooking IS:
- Cooking is: trying.
- Cooking is: knowing how to read a recipe and follow the instructions.
- Cooking is: knowing the difference between diced, minced, chopped, cubed.
- Cooking is: knowing that garlic, shallots, EVOO (olive oil), lemons, are necessities in almost every dish.
- Cooking is: nutritious (You know what goes into your food rather than the highly preserved, how-long-can-it-stay-on-the-shelf-before-rotting mega corporations abuse it)
- Cooking is: love.
Ever heard of the word scratch? Ya, start there.
The thing is we like the non-cooking things as much as the cooking things. Some people prefer one side over the other. I lean more toward the cooking side. There are guys that are totally content with a PB&J, 3% milk, and an ice cream bar. They love it.
So when you hear a guy say they want a girl that knows how to cook, it is not them asking for Giada-esque food every night. It is being comforted by the fact that delicious meals can be made and are made, from the heart. It doesn't hurt to watch and learn from the Food Network either 