Having just read a review on this brought back some memories from long ago. I thought I would tell you a bit about those memories first.

When I was young my mom never let me in the kitchen except to set the table for dinner. When I met my first husband and he asked me to marry him, he didn’t ask if I knew how to cook and I never said a word. I had figured how hard can this be.

For the first two weeks of married life we stayed at my parents until our apartment was ready to move into. He had gone off to work and I was going to surprise him with a home cooked meal.

I took chicken out of the freezer and starting frying it, managed to peel potatoes and made some frozen peas. What a disaster. The chicken was black on the outside and frozen in the middle, potatoes were hard and lumpy and the peas were way overcooked. He sat down and took one taste then got up and walked out of the house without a word. I thought for sure he had left me.

He did return with 2 T.V. dinners and a cookbook and said here learn to cook.

So my first recommendation is a good, simple cookbook. The one I had gotten even told how to make a sandwich. You can’t get much easier than that.

I since have become a very good cook. If you can read and follow directions exactly as they are given you have it made. If it says to add ingrediants in a certain order make sure you do so as this is important.

Always time what you are cooking until you can judge and set a timer. I have known people who can burn water.

Always check your food before assuming it is done. For example if you are doing an oven dish and it says bake for 30 minutes at a certain temperature, what you have to keep in mind is that oven temperatures vary and what may have cooked for one in 30 minutes does not mean yours will be done or it could even get over done. So after the first 10 minutes check the food, turn meats so they can cook evenly on both sides and do this every 10 minutes until the dish is done.

If you are still unsure about meat cut it open and look inside. Never serve chicken or any poultry with pink still inside, this could make you sick.

Also make sure you allow enough time to thaw the item you are cooking first. A good cookbook will tell you how long to allow per pound of food.

Always taste the food before serving to make sure it has enough seasoning.

I would not advise serving company until you are comfortable with cooking as this will make you nervous and getting nervous is a sure way to mess something up.

Even now I will make some things ahead before company gets here and then just take my time with the rest.

Try some simple dishes to start and do not rush to get into more complicated dishes at first. Once you have learned to cook it will become like a second nature to you.