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growing up my parents were always working late or out of town on business so me and my sisters had to each make dinner for everyone at least once a week M-F. mind you we never were actually taught how to cook for real, e.g. using seasoning (yes, i am white), cutting up veggies, using garlic and onions, etc. it was mostly boxed and canned meals. but it was a good baseline. i didn't learn how to actually cook until i got in a long term relationship with a woman who was similarly taught cooking at a young age (legit cooking: greens, corned beef and cabbage, homemade spaghetti sauce, etc.), and was like, "what are you doing? why aren't you using salt and pepper? onions aren't the devil!" after observing my "cooking" "techniques"
for the past 5-6 years i have regularly watched cooking shows on TV and YT, absorbing a lot of cooking techniques via osmosis and observation, i.e. spice toasting, proper cutting techniques, searing, generating fond, etc. once i accepted that not every meal is going to be amazing, and that sometimes they're going to be basura-adjacent, i threw myself into it and started having fun while cooking. i now have a pretty hefty skill set and a shockingly (to me) diverse set of dishes that i can just bust out at a moment's notice. it feels great to be able to generate a tasty meal from raw ingredients in just under 45 minutes. or making a soup or stew, or braising a cheap cut of meat until it's falling of the bone
dirty dishes and cookware can fuck right off though. i hate cleaning so much that it legit prevents me from cooking. the last thing i want to do after a 10 hour shift is cook for 30-45 minutes and then clean dishes for another 10-15. "clean as you go" is a mantra that i need to really embrace
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