Taco Station
Taco Time!
Recently I had an epiphany. I need to learn to cook!!
I cook. I cook for myself and I live alone, so that’s okay. I cook the things I enjoy eating. But because I cook for one, sometimes I don’t cook the things other people would enjoy. I don’t cook a lot of meat, I hardly eat meat and its expensive when you’re buying for one. I don’t cook the meals my mother used to make me as a kid. The meals I grew up on. Those meals mean leftovers! I don’t cook the types of meals I could invite a date to have, or that would impress anyone. I don’t have dinner parties, or cook things my future children would like. So what is it that I cook?
Recently a guy that I’ve been seeing asked me if I could cook him a home-made meal. He wasn’t being a chauvinist, he can also cook. Being from a different culture, he thought it would be interesting to see what I made. I failed epically. I lacked the planning and preparation to make a home-made meal. I couldn’t even remember what my Mom had made our family as kids that would have counted as a home-made meal and I ended up heating up a Skillet Sensation. Yes, that truly happened.
A few days after the failed home-made meal I was discussing the date with a friend from work. She is about five years older than myself, married and trying to start a family. I told what had happened and she was taken back. She couldn’t believe that someone like myself that loves to bake, couldn’t pull together a home-made meal. She told me that even in her culture where women traditionally cook, her husband learned to cook as well. She told me how important it was to both of them that their spouse be a least proficient in the kitchen because they wanted to share roles and be able to express their love and care for one another in that way. As she speaking, I realized, I need to learn to cook!! I have always stated that whoever I marry will be able to cook, so if I expect that of them, I should expect the same of myself.
With no plan, I decided to get started.
At the grocery store I realized I didn’t know what I was going to do for my dinners. As I wandered the aisles I came across a box of taco shells that was on sale. Remembering how often my Mom had made us tacos as a kid, I thought to myself, what a great place to start!! So into the cart went some taco shells, an onion, a green peppers, sour cream and a pound of hamburger.
Hamburger. A meat I have never cooked alone. Back when I lived at home my Mom insisted I learn how to cook it, but had I ever done it without her supervision? No. I’d never needed to because I generally don’t like hamburger.
It turned out to be really easy. As the hamburger browned, I added some spices and cut up my veggies. Once everything was done, I put them in their own containers and set up a little taco-making station. It was one of the best meals I’ve had since I started living on my own and it has inspired me to start a new project. 12 weeks of learning to cook. Stay tuned to hear what I make next week!
