Images-2 I grew up in a home where my mum did all the cooking. Dad and us kids did the dishes and not much else in the kitchen (other than toast, cereal, and the occasional milk shake). When I got married, Nicole did all the cooking and she's good at it too (only two not so good meals in 23 years – but that's a story for another day!). A few years ago I decided to venture into the kitchen and start doing some cooking.

I'm still an amateur but I've done a few Italian dishes, some Thai curries, and a few other odds and ends, including a delicious banana cake. Nicole loves it when I cook as it takes a lot of pressure off her and gives her a break too. I love to clear everyone out of the kitchen, grab a recipe and do my thing. Nicole is more of a free lance "make it up as you go" chef. I need guidelines :) 

Men, if you haven't already – why not give cooking a try! It's a lot of fun and worth the effort.

You'll find lots of good cookbooks in any bookshop, including books by Jamie Oliver and also the simple 4 Ingredients series. 

Cooking DVDs are another great idea, after all, a picture is still worth a thousand words:

There are also many online web sites with heaps of good recipes. Click here and here for two excellent sites.

For some more good ideas, why not check out a good Food and Wine show in your area.

Bon appetit!

7 thoughts on “Cooking – from the Amateur Chef

  1. Congratulations Mark on your venture into the world of cooking. I prepared and made vegetable soup the other day…really enjoyed making it too. Maybe I might get a bit more venturous one day…but I really didn’t want to deprive Judith of the privilege 😉

  2. That’s awesome Mark….good on you for venturing in to new territory. So I guess you’ve got your notepad out during MasterChef then? Especially when they do the Master Class. I know I do!

  3. I do most of the coooking at home now.. my wife loves it.. turns out that I’m also the better cook. I’m more like your wife though.. a make it up as you go along type cook rather than a follow by the book..

  4. Whilst I have no cliam to mastery – I love cooking … I had to learn at 18 when I was sent by the Bank to work in the Pilbara…away from Mum.
    After three weeks of junk food – my first meal was boiled vegetables. A guy in the bank took me under his wing and taught me how to cook roasts, apricot chicken, steaks etc.
    My wife and I share the cooking on weekends.
    Yeah Jamie Olivers books are great – made his “Good ol’ steak and guiness pie” last week.
    Here is a great cook book for mastering the BBQ my parents gave me a while back…
    http://www.dorlingkindersley-
    uk.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9781405319959,00.html

  5. THIS is a topic I can handle 🙂 When we talk about God and His Grace, we think about how God sent Jesus to die for our sins etc. Well, for me, God’s Grace to me is sending me my husband! My husband is a really fabulous cook! Sorry guys, I’m telling the truth.
    I was born in Malaysia, people there live to eat, not eat to live. That does not mean they can all cook. It just means they LOVE to eat and it is really easy to just get to a food stall and have a feast for very little money. As a result of that and also the availability of domestic helpers and my Mum who did the cooking at home, I never had to learn to cook.
    When I arrived in Melbourne in the 1980s, my best friend was Dolmio and instant noodles!
    It wasn’t until we went to live in UK that I was forced to learn to cook some relatively decent food as eating out was just too expensive.
    In all our years of marriage, my husband and Mum-in-law (she herself is a great cook) has always encouraged me in my cooking efforts. However, everytime we invited guests for a dinner party, it would be my husband who would do the really serious cooking. In our circle of friends, Reiner is our MasterChef. 🙂 He recently perfected Chocolate Soufflé.
    So, in our household, it was me who had to learn to cook. Now, I am a more confident cook. Reiner and our children give me lots of encouragement. It is really great when my family appreciate the time and effort I put in to make a meal for them. Only until recently, I used to really dislike the time and preparation it took to produce a meal that was eaten in 20 mins. Each time Mark talked about being cheerful when doing the mundane things in life because it just has to get done, I would grimace inside and chide myself for grumbling over having to cook.
    Now, I really rather enjoy cooking. I really think the TV series MasterChef Australia has made a positive impact on my view of cooking. Whatever the reason, I am so glad that I now try new dishes and they even turn out pretty good! 🙂
    So, Mark, thanks for the opportunity to talk about my learning to cook.

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