Your list of "things I can cook"

[netherfield]

Not much problem cooking stuff, getting it ready all at the same time is something else.

[simon_harris]

netherfield said:

Not much problem cooking stuff, getting it ready all at the same time is something else.

it is even more of an issue when you are cooking four different meals to appease the picky eaters in the house!

[CharlesdeGaulle]

simon_harris said:

it is even more of an issue when you are cooking four different meals to appease the picky eaters in the house!

I'm not sure I could tolerate that in my house. I didn't mind cooking a different dish when my eldest flirted with vegetarianism but I certainly wouldn't cook 4. Now I live alone and cater for myself and various weekend guests so it's my rules and the regulars know what to expect!

[Scabutz]

simon_harris said:

netherfield said:

Not much problem cooking stuff, getting it ready all at the same time is something else.

it is even more of an issue when you are cooking four different meals to appease the picky eaters in the house!

God I had this. I'm separated from my wife now but before this was becoming a real problem. Not just cooking different meals but even getting them to decide what they wanted was a nightmare. Led to a lot of arguments, lot of ordering takeaways amd was a contributing factor in the split, along with many other things.

[simon_harris]

Still happens from time to time now but much less than it used to, my wife is veggie but that is generally not a real problem as I only really vary the protein element for her and after 30 years keeping veggie stuff uncontaminated has become second nature.

When the kids were young it was much more of an issue.

That said there is a certain satisfaction to be had delivering four different plates of food at the same time and to the same standard.

[Kart16]

UTH said:

How big is this list?

Chatting to friends this weekend and I'd hazard a guess that most people end up cooking the same 3 or 4 things fairly regularly, if not all the time.

A while ago I made a list of all the things I can cook, mainly in an attempt to try and at least vary my cooking between all the things I can actually cook rather than the same 3 or 4.

It seems my list is about 20 things, which on the face of it isn't bad, but I can definitely see things on there which get cooked at least once a week and some on there I haven't done in months, so even with this list, the variation isn't huge.

Not sure I've added anything new to my list for quite a while though, so I do think I need to broaden my horizons and learn a few new things.

I believe it's better to know how to cook very well just a few special good things than to know how to cook a lot of mediocre stuff.

My signature dish that everybody else that tried liked very much:

[Mobile Chicane]

simon_harris said:

Still happens from time to time now but much less than it used to, my wife is veggie but that is generally not a real problem as I only really vary the protein element for her and after 30 years keeping veggie stuff uncontaminated has become second nature.

When the kids were young it was much more of an issue.

That said there is a certain satisfaction to be had delivering four different plates of food at the same time and to the same standard.

Sounds like you've got it nailed.

Do you do a basic level of prep in advance, chef mise en place style?

[Skeptisk]

I’ve been together with my wife over 35 years. There are some dishes I’ve cooked the whole time we have been together, others I’ve picked up and still do but also plenty that I made for a while and we liked but somehow seem to have dropped off the list.

I do like trying new recipes off the internet but can be difficult as wife and daughter have very different tastes