Granny’s Gone
Well, it looks like Granny couldn’t survive on canned fruit and crusty gravy. On a drive around town the other night, C and I drove past the former location of Granny’s Golden Oven. “Where’s Granny’s?!” C exclaimed as we drove by. We looked around and here’s the kicker – the whole damn building is gone! HA!
Sorry you couldn’t make it Granny, but thanks for the $1.28 experience we’ll never forget.
Learning to Cook
Three years ago, a typical weeknight dinner might have been some fries from the oven and a sandwich, maybe something pre-packaged that I’ve microwaved or warmed up on the stove using crappy equipment. Lunch would usually be fast food or a frozen dinner.
Today a weeknight meal might be pasta with homemade sauce, broiled chicken with wild rice, homemade pizza using from-scratch dough, fresh salads, or steamed veggies, cooked using modest equipment. Lunch is usually leftovers with a side salad.
Learning the basics of cooking isn’t hard but you have to want to learn. I really had no interest until I started paying more attention to where my money was going and realizing how much of my paycheck went to food.
Finding a girlfriend that was easily impressed with my cooking did not hurt either and she encouraged me to continue learning.
Cooking at home saves a lot of money, is infinitely better for your health, and is a lifelong skill that won’t be forgotten. And it impresses women (and men, I’d suspect!)
Here are a few things I think beginners should know if they want to learn to cook.
- You don’t need to buy a 21-piece mondo set of cookware. I learned the real basics on crappy equipment and you can too. There are thousands of kitchen gadgets out there. I’m tempted by a lot of them and will acquire more over time but to start out, you don’t need a steamer basket or an immersion blender or a nice pepper mill. If you have some money to spend, here’s what I recommend you look at:
1) Large 10-12” skillet. Can be stainless steel or cast iron. I love my cast iron and use it for almost everything skillet-related. They do take a bit more effort in cleaning (can’t go in the dishwasher, can’t use soap on them) so if that doesn’t sound appealing to you, go with stainless steel. A matching cover is a good idea.
2) Saucepan. Three or four quart. Or both. I like stainless steel here again. Mine is Cuisinart and was about $45. Uber-cheap saucepans have super thin bottoms that burn easily and don’t heat evenly. Avoid them if you can.
3) Stock pot. Stainless steel. Nice tall sides with a heavy bottom and tight-fitting lid for boiling lots of water for pasta or making soups.
4) Chef’s knife. Doesn’t have to be expensive but don’t make the mistake I did and buy the $4.99 grocery-store special. You will hate it. Pick up something low- to mid-range at Target and buy something better down the road. You don’t need a knife block.
5) One plastic slotted spoon, plastic non-slotted spoon, wooden spoon, tongs, one or two “flipper” spatulas and a bowl scraper spatula.
6) Colander. Just about any will do.
7) Baking sheet. I still don’t have a decent baking sheet and I don’t really feel like I need to upgrade. I usually line with foil anyway so I’d recommend going cheap here.
One item that’s not necessary but is real helpful is a food processor. I started with a small, cheap one. It didn’t do a great job but it beats chopping onions by hand. I’ve since upgraded and love it.
- Most cooking shows don’t try to actually teach you how to cook. Most Food Network programming is littered with cupcake baking competitions or other such nonsense. Most of the “real” cooking shows just show you how they cook something and aren’t created to inform you, just entertain you long enough so you’ll stick around to watch their advertising. You learn absolutely nothing. There are two notable exceptions – Good Eats on Food Network and America’s Test Kitchen on PBS. These two programs teach you “why” you should do certain things a certain way and offer some history behind the cooking method or an ingredient. Both highly recommended.
- You can “cook” and home and still eat junk food. Frozen oven dinners contain the same ingredients as frozen microwave dinners. A jar of cheap pasta sauce may have as much salt as a fast food burger. Look at labels and learn where you can cut corners to save time and money, and what things you should really try from scratch. A lot of things that might seem complicated on the surface really aren’t hard at all. Like, did you know whipped cream is just heavy cream and sugar that’s been whipped? Seems stupid but I didn’t know that until I made my own from scratch. Not hard!
- Start with easy, basic recipes and don’t be afraid to fail. I love Allrecipes. They have hundreds of great recipes and thousands of so-so recipes. Pick something easy, print it out, and give it a shot. I generally try to avoid recipes that call for weird ingredients I’d only use once and then put in the pantry for six months. If you’re just starting out though, it’s inevitable you’ll be buying stuff you’ve never used before. Spices, oils, cornstarch, kosher salt, stuff like that. Start small so you’re not spending lots of money on stuff you find out you don’t like or will never use. When you have a good idea of what you like you can start buying in bulk.
- Don’t be afraid to experiment. Don’t have a fringe-ingredient for a recipe? Try something else closely related or leave it out and see what happens. You won’t know what works until you find something that doesn’t work. Obviously leaving out two cans of diced tomatoes probably won’t work but skipping the fresh tarragon and substituting a different dried spice won’t kill your dish. I tend to get discouraged when a meal doesn’t turn out but the next time I will know what to do differently. Trial and error.
- Have fun! Cooking doesn’t have to be a chore. I never thought I’d enjoy standing over a stove watching a sauce simmer or butterflying a chicken and spreading butter and herbs over its delicious skin, but when you taste the end result it’s rewarding and time well spent. If you end up being the primary cook in the household, involve your significant other or kids with simple tasks. This is both encouraging and rewarding for them and gives you more time to focus on the not-as-simple tasks and techniques.
Now, here are five beginner recipes for you to try on your own.
1) Stuffed Pork Chops – One of my easily-impressed girlfriend’s favorite dishes. Pork chops are famously dry and tough but simmering in the beef broth makes them more tender than usual. Steam some frozen mixed veggies in the microwave and you’ve got a nice meal.
2) Broccoli Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo – I would use frozen broccoli in this one. Saves time, frozen veggies contain nearly as many vitamins as fresh, and 1lb bags are super cheap.
3) Rempel Family Meatloaf – I’ve made this one and it is not hard but also not mind-blowing. You’ll need a loaf pan.
4) Tuna Casserole – All of that condensed soup is not ideal but sometimes an evil necessity. Always use low- sodium.
5) Amish Breakfast Casserole – One of my favorites. Takes time but is delicious. You could make it the night before and bake it in the morning. I use Simply Potatoes for the hash browns.
And a bonus – Spaghetti Carbonara. One of the first dishes that actually made me feel like more than a beginner cook. You need to balance a few things at once and it could get hairy but the result is a very good one indeed.
And one more bonus – Alton Brown’s Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes. So, so good. I don’t have half-and-half on hand usually so half milk, half heavy cream or butter substitutes.
Acquire a few pieces of equipment, master a few of your favorites, and keep learning. That’s what I’m doing. Now go enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Undershirts
Undershirts are an interesting personal preference for men. Some go without, some go crew neck, some v-neck, and yet others wife beater or muscle shirt.
I’ve been wearing undershirts under almost everything for over ten years (so you should take my opinion very seriously). I like the sweat and outershirt protection, the softness of a good undershirt, the slight extra bulk they add (not a problem for everyone, or even most, I realize), and the ever-important nipple coverage.
In my exhaustive research I’ve found that most men start with the classic white Hanes or Fruit of the Loom crew neck. Some move on and some stick with them forever.
I started with the Hanes in my early teens and wore them through my early twenties. Then something got in my head and I started trying out to other undershirts.
I did the wife beater for a while, and I like how they hug your torso but don’t they do anything for underarm sweat. Then I moved on to the muscle shirt and those have the same problem but it’s nice to have the wider shoulder “straps”, for lack of a better word. I don’t, however, like the vertical lines that accompany most A-shirts and muscle shirts. A solid fabric looks much nicer.
The next step was v-necks and that’s what I’ve settled on. I wear them with button up shirts, polos, sweaters, almost everything.
Some men like the white crew neck sticking out over a dress shirt while others think it looks a bit tacky. I used to do the crew (while doing the Dew) so I can’t fault anyone that chooses to go with it.
However, in my unqualified opinion a nice dress shirt can have its sleekness ruined but a white collar poking out.
It’s your choice but whatever you do, DO NOT wear a crew neck with a stretched-out, wrinkled, or yellow collar. It looks awful no matter what you’re wearing over it.
The participants in my studies informed me that a common issue men have is the awful “undershirt visible through white shirt”. It’s the male version of visible panty lines. Not good. So here’s a secret to prevent that problem:
Wear a gray undershirt. Really. It seems counterintuitive but a gray shirt will be invisible under most white shirts. There’s some science-y reason why that is but it’s not important.
Here’s another somewhat-weird-and-embarrassing-if-seen-by-others tip you may or may not choose to follow:
Tuck your undershirt into your underwear.
Yep. Sounds weird but this prevents your undershirt from coming untucked, leading to that unsightly clump of cloth around your waist when your undershirt is untucked but your outershirt is still tucked. This is especially a problem when wearing an undershirt that is too large.
And now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for, the revealing of my current choice of undershirt:
I size down one size to get a closer fit. The V is not too shallow or too deep, they are soft, don’t cost too much (Gap has 40% off coupons regularly), and the sleeves are short enough to not stick out under a polo. Very important.
I also have some Puritan heather gray crew necks I found on clearance at Wal-Mart that are super soft and well fitting. I wear the crew necks under a crew sweatshirt but the Vs are worn a lot more.
There are as many opinions on undershirts as there are actual undershirts out there so experiment a bit and find what you like. My advice is to spend a few more dollars on nicer undershirts like Gap, Calvin Klein (at Macy’s), J. Crew, and Banana Republic, for example, and they will fit better, wash better, feel softer, and last longer. And if you end up back with the classic white Hanes crew, great.
TUG at http://www.undershirtguy.com/ has a blog that you should check out to read more about the fascinating world of undershirts.