Stop Blogging and Cook

I ‘ M   G L A D   Y O U ‘ R E   H E R E !

Give a man a fish & he eats for a day.  Teach a man to fish & he eats for a lifetime.

< < < USE CALENDAR ON LEFT SIDEBAR TO CLICK ON DATE OF DAILY POSTS

IT BEGAN 1/1/10
A chronological site geared to teach non-cooks and kids how to begin cooking for themselves.  Posts begin on January 1st, 2010 and  continue through the year with easy preparations in January & February, and more involved things later on.  Nothing during the year is difficult to execute, nothing takes unusual ingredients.  Here’s the key:  It’s all practice!

< < < USE THE MONTH SELECTOR TO CALL UP PREVIOUS MONTHS ON THE CALENDAR

BRINGING JOY TO A KITCHEN NEAR YOU
All cooks, no matter how experienced, love to experiment.  It’s fun to try new foods, discovered at the green market or seen in a cookbook.  Cooking is nothing more than kitchen confidence.  As you begin to cook simple things, you will gain confidence which will enable you to take on more interesting dishes.  Keep an open mind and, if you’ve not ever cooked for yourself, you’re in for a real surprise.  Real food tastes different from processed food products; and different from food prepared in restaurants, often users of highly processed foods themselves.

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SLOW & SURELY WINS THE RACE
Late November is no time to begin learning to cook so you can prepare a family feast all by yourself.  Feeding a crowd is stressful even for the experienced.  By beginning well before November you’ll be ready for making a holiday feasts because you’ve been practicing.  And, incidentally, no one in their right mind insists on making the entire holiday feast by themselves, unless they are stark raving mad!  People love to help, and guests eventually work their way into the kitchen anyway.  Cooking and eating builds community, so let people into your kitchen to help.

NO MATTER WHEN YOU FIRST FIND THIS SITE, please stay for a while.  Even if you’re here for the first time on June 1st, don’t despair.  Just click on January 1st &, at your own pace, work your way through each month.  I don’t expect everyone to make every preparation, so just proceed at a rate you’re comfortable with.  Everyone has to start somewhere, so just dive in and begin.  January 1st is a good day to begin because the Preparation is so simple you’ll be amazed at how easily you can do it.  This site is about gaining confidence & comfort.  As I’m fond of saying, cooking is all practice!

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TOP TABS

HOME This is where the site opens & you find the current day’s post(s).
WELCOME! Site Map, About the Site, The Author, Contact, If you See a Problem, etc.
LISTS Menus, Parties, Workplace & School Breakfasts & Lunches, Elaborations, Homework, & Fast References listing Good-For-You Foods, Him & Her Gifts for the Cook, Reading & Resources to expand food-related knowledge base.
PREPARATIONS A list of all of the recipes to date. I call my recipes “preparations” because they are comprehensive, giving lots of background about preparing this particular food or dish; not just a list of ingredients with cooking instructions. I also give variations for Vegetarian or Vegan, Gluten- or Wheat-Free, & Non-Alcoholic options.
INFORMATION The nuts & bolts : PRODUCE, TERMINOLOGY, EQUIPMENT, SUBSTITUTIONS, etc.

INDIVIDUAL POSTS AND PAGES

DAILY POSTS – Daily articles with background on the Preparation or a subject related to cooking, food or a food issue currently being discussed in the media.

• DAILY QUOTE Meant to be thought-provoking, informational inspirational or just funny.  A sense of humor is important.
• TODAY’S PREPARATION, HOMEWORK or ELABORATION Right justified link.
• AUXILIARY PARAGRAPH(S) Discussion surrounding eating, food habits and customs, and some of the politics and social implications associated with.  Links to source material, outside this site, shown on a new window.
• MAIN POST Background on some avenue of food, cooking or eating as well as background detailing ingredients, technique on the dish featured in the DAILY PREPARATION.

PREPARATION PAGES How to make individual dishes (recipes to most people). Lots of links taking you to more information within the site: PRODUCE, SUBSTITUTIONS, EQUIPMENT,etc.

• PART OF A MENU This Preparation is part of a particular Menu: Super Bowl, Mother’d Day, etc.
• DAILY POST(S) At the top left, post(s) relevant to that particular PREPARATION.
• Indication of a preparation being VEGETARIAN or VEGAN, GLUTEN- or WHEAT-FREE.
• SHOP Shopping list broken down by type of shop: BUTCHER, GROCERY, GREEN MARKET, LIQUORSTORE; lists NON-ALCOHOLIC or VEGETARIAN options.
• TIMING Time you can expect to spend: PREP TIME, MARIATING TIME, etc + order of steps as well as PREHEAT OVEN temp.
• INGREDIENTS Quantities & form of individual ingredients.
• COOK / PREPARE Step-by-step how to put the dish together.
• SERVE Serving suggestions.
• WORKPLACE LUNCH Leftovers to work or school for lunch.
• FREEZE How to freeze, if applicable.

LEFT SIDEBAR

CALENDAR On top left, click date for intro of Daily Post(s), one post each day.  Once there, double click on the title of the post to get the full article.  Best place to begin: click on January 1st for the first post, the easiest meal Preparation imaginable. 
MONTHLY ARCHIVE Drop down menu (Select Month); displays latest month first, showing number of posts.
CONTENTS OF SITE A comprehensive outline:

• WELCOME! How to Use this Site (where you are now), About, The Cook, Contact, Problem?
• LISTS Menus, Parties, Workplace/School Breakfasts & Lunches, Elaborations, Homework; & Fast References listing Good-For-You Foods, Him & Her Gifts for the Cook, Reading & Resources to expand food-related knowledge base.
• INFORMATION The nuts & bolts: PRODUCE, TERMINOLOGY, EQUIPMENT, SUBSTITUTIONS, etc.
• PREPARATIONS Listed alphabetically by broad category:  Beverages; Breads; Condiments & Sauces; Desserts; Dips; Eggs; Grains, Cereals & Nuts; Main Dishes – Meat & Vegetable; Meat; Noodles & Pasta; Poultry; Salads; Salt-Crusted Cooking; Seafood; Soup; Vegetables.
  

IT ENDS ON 1/1/11
At that point, this site will be complete.  You can begin anytime, however if you are someone who has never cooked before (or cooked little), I recommend starting at January 1st and begin cooking through the days. Once you’ve begun, you will gain confidence in opening up a cookbook or going on line to expand your repertoire.   Cooking is trial and error, but it’s all good and IT’S ALL PRACTICE!