Preparedness: Not Just for Boy Scouts

I've posted the pages for this little cookbook
in previous posts, but it's also at my Flickr pages

"A new bride [in my social circle] has asked me for cooking lessons. What's one essential kitchen thing you wish you'd known how to do earlier in your life?"

Someone posed this question recently, & I gave it a quick response, but after mulling it over, I've come to the conclusion that my reply needs to be expanded.

Grandma Helen had – and Mom still has – what I call the three "P"s: Planning, Preparation, and Pacing oneself. The first two are always important in getting dishes on the table, but the last one is always the most challenging, and, unsurprisingly, often the most neglected skill in the kitchen. The goal, here, is to be able to serve a meal for yourself and your loved one(s) without coming to the table so frazzled you make your dinner companion(s) uncomfortable.

Of course, if you're an absolute rookie cookie, your ability to do any pacing is limited, because you won't know what it takes to get anything together and on the table. It helps, therefore, to start very simply. Don't plan fancy dinners for dozens of guests, with monster menus. New brides, you're cooking for yourself and one other. Don't be afraid of shortcuts like mixes and kits – they are the training wheels and/or comfortable shoes (Crocs?) of kitchen wizardry.


When you have an hour or two, sit down and begin to read through a basic cookbook – my high school graduation gift of The Joy of Cooking was where I started, but I can also recommend How to Cook Everything (and/or its follow-up, HTCE The Basics), or ask at your local library or book store if they've got any interesting introductory cookbooks you can peruse.* And seriously, I mean read it. You'll get a general sense of how long most recipes take to prepare and cook.

Side note: I don't generally recommend trying to follow internet recipes when you're too new to the game, although I'll make exceptions for those which use test kitchens, and define and explain both the process and the results. Videos offering instruction on techniques can be helpful, but, again, one needs to have enough experience to know that some suggestions are just plain bad ideas. Stick with the well-known professional cooks' and culinary sites, initially, if, for example, you need to see someone demonstrate how to sharpen a knife and dice an onion safely (both things a good cook needs to know fairly early).

In younger days, the Candy Man
He's now the master of the potato masher

Okay, now that you've done a little research, the next stage is to begin playing with your supplies. I mean playing, too. You're a sculptor and a chemist and a bit of a mad scientist. You know in theory what can happen on that stove top or in that oven, but what about what your mixer does? And how long does that mixer take to do what it does? Why does that recipe say "in a non-reactive pan"? What the ever-lovin' heck does that even mean? Well, fool around and find out! Get out ALL the tools and ingredients your recipe says you're going to need, set them out on the counter or table in the order they were listed. Go ahead and say "hello", if you wish. My personal preference is to measure all the ingredients in advance, the way they do on cooking shows, using, among other things, small mason jars (if disaster strikes & I'm delayed – which does happen – I can pop a lid on the cold items, stack 'em in the fridge, & come back to safe, unspoiled and unspilled-by-cats ingredients). Then make a mess. Taste that mess. Clean up and do it again tomorrow, with a different list of ingredients.

After you've gained a little experience playing the game, you can start planning ahead. The recipe for muffins says prep time is 5-10 minutes and the baking time 20-22? Yeh, that's not gonna do it. Give yourself enough time to rifle through the fridge & bring eggs, butter, and/or other such basics to room temperature if needed, and to preheat the oven. And, of course, enough time in case – like me – you discover that you're easily distracted. In other words, allow yourself extra time for things to go wrong, because, in early days, things will go wrong (sometimes horribly. Like I used 3 Tablespoons of salt instead of sugar so the trash can gets the entire batch and I start anew wrong). And, then, while the muffins are baking, wash up those dishes you used (or, in my case, clean up the floor and counter where I spilled half my ingredients, set out the cooling rack, and then wash what dishes I can in the remaining time…). Your first batch, you should scientifically test for yourself as soon as it's cool enough to pop in your mouth. (After you gain confidence in your culinary skills, you should probably diplomatically offer the first bite to your nearest and dearest.) Then get that tasty treat onto the table, sit, and enjoy each other's company over a bite to eat.

All this is pacing for a single thing. Once you know how long it takes to make one dish, do some more research, and try two dishes (e.g., a skillet steak and baked potatoes, with a salad kit for color), and then doing all the steps for a full meal, when you've got the hang of simpler multi-tasking. And this is where you learn your own strength and endurance. And where you learn to use your own shortcuts and tricks, like prepping many dishes days ahead – or even weeks, if your freezer has room. And where you learn to occasionally, politely, ask for an extra hand in something (Mom used to ask Pop for heavy lifting & for retrieving things from top shelves, but when I got tall & strong enough, she allowed Pop his freedom).  Over time, you'll be prepping a full holiday feast for extended family, seating, serving, & enjoying the company of a dozen or more guests, if that's your desire.

And, quite frankly, it's one activity I finally, truly, enjoy, now that I've figured out how to pace myself.

Of course, these days, I also get other family members to pitch in, potluck style. But that doesn't mean I don't have to have a rough schedule for the things I need to bring to the table.




*If you're a bit nerdy, as I am, you may also like chewing on the kitchen chemistry info in Culinary Reactions. I am also assured by a longtime friend that The Science of Cooking is nerdy, practical and attractive.