Okay, how many guys here cook?

[Dalton]

I can do basic stuff - sandwiches and eggs mostly. Though the other night I learned to fry up some breaded chicken cutlets.

[Crayz9000]

like a boiled boot.

::gets Discworld flashbacks::

[Durandal]

I'm starting to learn. It helps I have an Italian grandmother. That lady can cook. Once I get the knack of making good spaghetti sauce from scratch, I'll be set for life.

You too, huh? I think that most Italians can become good cooks. To be a good cook, you must be a good eater. If you know what tastes good, you'll be able to make it happen in the kitchen.

[Zaia]

But... it's the center of my reason for existance!

Aww. What a sad life you must lead then, dahlink!

Baking is more precise. If you fudge up a stew, you can still make it good. If you mess up a little on a cake, you'll probably end up starting all over.

Ok, so then does it make sense that I'm better at the one that's more precise? No. I just don't understand myself sometimes.

[haas mark]

But... it's the center of my reason for existance!

Aww. What a sad life you must lead then, dahlink!

Baking is more precise. If you fudge up a stew, you can still make it good. If you mess up a little on a cake, you'll probably end up starting all over.

Ok, so then does it make sense that I'm better at the one that's more precise? No. I just don't understand myself sometimes.

<-- is better at baking, too...

~ver

[Alex Moon]

But... it's the center of my reason for existance!

Aww. What a sad life you must lead then, dahlink!

*sobs* I need a girlfriend.

Baking is more precise. If you fudge up a stew, you can still make it good. If you mess up a little on a cake, you'll probably end up starting all over.

Ok, so then does it make sense that I'm better at the one that's more precise? No. I just don't understand myself sometimes.

Well, if you're following the recipe to the letter, you might be preparing book perfect, but not to your tastes. On the other hand, it may just be that you are more likely to be more focused when baking, and so are less likely to mess up.

[Zaia]

*sobs* I need a girlfriend.

Oh, sweetness, I hate making boys cry. *pulls Alex down onto lap to snuggle and play with his hair* An adorable, intelligent and witty guy such as yourself will find a girl in no time flat...

Well, if you're following the recipe to the letter, you might be preparing book perfect, but not to your tastes. On the other hand, it may just be that you are more likely to be more focused when baking, and so are less likely to mess up.

But see, that's the weird part--I bake according to feeling and I do it exceptionally well (especially with all things chocolate)--but when I cook, I can't get the same feel. It's--I don't know--just weird. They're so similar to my logical side, but my brain can't separate them and I suck at one and just am dazzling at the other. *shrugs* Mental block, maybe? Dunno.

[aerius]

But see, that's the weird part--I bake according to feeling and I do it exceptionally well (especially with all things chocolate)--but when I cook, I can't get the same feel. It's--I don't know--just weird. They're so similar to my logical side, but my brain can't separate them and I suck at one and just am dazzling at the other. *shrugs* Mental block, maybe? Dunno.

I'm the exact opposite of that. Other than the Home-Ec classes in middle school I've never followed recipes or anything for cooking and everything's turned out to be edible so far, and most of the time it's pretty good. With baking I can't make it work unless I follow the recipes to the letter or have my GF guide me through it.

[haas mark]

Hm.. I have a knack for cooking, but ask me what's wrong with a car, and I'm lost. Same with a lot of comp stuff. And gardening. [shrugs]

~ver

[Darth Garden Gnome]

I am a level 3 Musashi Jeet Kun Jistsu Master of the Mountain Top Expert at crushing Ramen noodles and pouring them into a pot of boiling water. Anything more is for failures.

[aerius]

I am a level 3 Musashi Jeet Kun Jistsu Master of the Mountain Top Expert at crushing Ramen noodles and pouring them into a pot of boiling water. Anything more is for failures.

What about putting toast or bagels in the toaster?

[Sr.mal]

I am a master at baked goods. What can I say I've made so many. Also you name it give me a recipie and I can cook it. First time will be like the recipie any subsequent times will be experimented with. Helps that I've been to cooking school. Working as a pastry chef while going through college. Bake in the morning learn during the afternoon and evening.

[Alex Moon]

*sobs* I need a girlfriend.

Oh, sweetness, I hate making boys cry. *pulls Alex down onto lap to snuggle and play with his hair* An adorable, intelligent and witty guy such as yourself will find a girl in no time flat...

Aw, thanks.

The problem is that anytime I find a girl I'd like to ask out, she's usually taken, or a good friend who's sick of guys trying to be her friend just so they can ask her out, or both.

Well, if you're following the recipe to the letter, you might be preparing book perfect, but not to your tastes. On the other hand, it may just be that you are more likely to be more focused when baking, and so are less likely to mess up.

But see, that's the weird part--I bake according to feeling and I do it exceptionally well (especially with all things chocolate)--but when I cook, I can't get the same feel. It's--I don't know--just weird. They're so similar to my logical side, but my brain can't separate them and I suck at one and just am dazzling at the other. *shrugs* Mental block, maybe? Dunno.

Hmm, well then I don't know what to tell you. Perhaps it's just one of those weird things. Oh well, I'll cook dinner if you do dessert then?

[Darth Garden Gnome]

What about putting toast or bagels in the toaster?

You do not put toast into a toaster.

[TrailerParkJawa]

I try to cook, Ive asked the board for help before with some sucess. Now that Ive rented my condo out and moved home, my dad is doing the cooking.

[Bug-Eyed Earl]

I can cook, but never really get to.

[The Yosemite Bear]

I just bought a new knife set.

Did I mention that in Home Ec. I was nominated most likely to become a serial killer based on my ability to dislocate joints, carve up Turkey, Chicken, and all manner of other dead beasts, make them all edible, and proprer handling and mainenace of knives.

I So I could dress just about anything, without flinching...

[Edi]

I'm a decent cook, and I don't need recipes for most things either, I often do things by feel. I don't have an extensive recipe list, but I know enough to get by quite well. Most of the time I'm the one who does the cooking, but where baking is concerned, I'm a total disaster. Fortunately, my gf is very good at baking.

There is one catch, though: No way in hell am I going to cook anything on an electric stove if there is any way I can weasel out of it. I hate the damn things. Five years of cooking with a gas stove has made things so that I'm not even considering using anything else.

As for microwave, yes, you can actually cook some things in it, depending on how fancy your microwave is. Potatoes are easy to do, takes a lot less time than boiling them in water too. There are some other things too, but can't recall them right now, and most of them are better done the usual way in any case, but potatoes are definitely microwave-cookable. You just need to know how to do it...

Edi

[Dahak]

I'm quite good at cooking.
Though I'm a free-style cooker I take a look at what I have in my fridge, and then decide what good would come out of it

I can make a tasty Swabian potatoe salad (not those abominations with mayonnaise or stuff like that...), had good results with salmon in lemon-cream sauce, and other tasty stuff

[Companion Cube]

I can cook passably.

What does 'passably' taste like?

like a boiled boot.

Don't knock boiled leather until you've tried it.

[DeadM]

Basic cooking if I'm just hungry and dont wanna make something:

1. Turn oven on 225* Celsius
2. Wait 10-15 minutes for oven to heat up
3. Insert 'Big One' pizza in oven
4. Wait 21 minutes
5. Remove pizza from oven
6. Eat

or I can make some 5 minute macaroni (ph34r my 5up4r 1337 m4c4r0n1 5k1llz0rz) or ramen noodles.

Sometimes I'll just throw some french fries in the oven and steak some leafbeef(not sure what its called in english).

[Gandalf]

Don't knock boiled leather until you've tried it.

In a food sense or some perverted sexual sense?

[Lagmonster]

I can't cook. At all. I can perform complex and precise chemical experiments in a laboratory setting for MONEY, but I cannot get the mix of ingredients right in any meal known to man. Before I got married, I had developed the ability to digest unprocessed ingredients, on the grounds that it seemed a good idea at the time (hence, 'macaroni and cheese' involved a handful of raw macaroni noodles, a glass of milk to drink, and a couple slices of cheese, while I was in university)

Luckily, my wife can cook. Very damn well (put herself through school at a restaurant).

For your viewing pleasure, however, I can demonstrate the LOWEST POSSIBLE FORM of cooking ineptitude: The recipe for Burnt Cold Cereal.

1) Put cereal in bowl.
2) Put milk jug near bowl.
3) Sprint off to answer phone.
4) Chat on phone for an hour.
5) Notice strange smell.
6) Sprint back to kitchen, noting that very-recently-purchased-by-mother small collectable 'crystal trinket' on windowsill has been cut in such a way as to inadvertantly focus the bright morning sunlight into a tight beam, which has somehow managed to light cereal ablaze.
7) Douse with milk.
8 ) Have foresight enough to smash small collectable crystal trinket in trash compactor to avoid setting kitchen table on fire in future.
9) Serve cereal at own discretion.

[Zoink]

Sure I can cook. I'm 27 now, been cooking regularly since leaving for college at 16.... and I do watch the Food channel regularly.

[Sporkzen]

I cook awesome pasta dishes and can bake cakes and such.. only think i keep fucking up on is making a decent breakfast other than cocoa pebbles heh