Let's Dish: What Was The First Meal You Ever Made?

October 6, 2008

There comes a day in most people's lives when they decide to start cooking or baking. Some people pick up a cookbook or experiment with a technique they watched on the Food Network. Others, like myself, call a parent. I asked my father, "Dad, how do you make pasta carbonara?" I distinctly recall that day when I first cooked a real meal all by myself. The experience was so rewarding that I've been hooked ever since! I'm sure I'm not the only one who remembers their initial successes in the kitchen, so do tell: what was your first dish?

Source

60 Comments

Allytta 4 years 29 weeks

cookies when i was 12-13... my mom was speechless when she rea;lised they were so awesome. she made me do them from now on... :) and i learned the recepie in school! crazy...

justanerd1975 4 years 31 weeks

WOW Wackdoodle, your family sounds like so much fun!!! I just wanna make a copy of your comment about the and use it as a blueprint to use to give my kids the same great childhood you must have had !:) Rhode Island!! Wooot!Woot! where in RI? I lived in North Kingstown but I knew a lot of Italian grandmothers in Cranston, Warwick and Providence who were MEAN in the kitchen...I still know how to make awesome gnocci from them... My son decided to cook me scrambled eggs for breakfast one morning when I was sick and he did it without any help, just my having shown him awhile before hat how to do it while I was doing it... I was proud and horrified at the same time lol :) He was 12 :)

justanerd1975 4 years 31 weeks

WOW Wackdoodle, your family sounds like so much fun!!!I just wanna make a copy of your comment about the and use it as a blueprint to use to give my kids the same great childhood you must have had !:)Rhode Island!! Wooot!Woot! where in RI? I lived in North Kingstown but I knew a lot of Italian grandmothers in Cranston, Warwick and Providence who were MEAN in the kitchen...I still know how to make awesome gnocci from them...My son decided to cook me scrambled eggs for breakfast one morning when I was sick and he did it without any help, just my having shown him awhile before hat how to do it while I was doing it... I was proud and horrified at the same time lol :) He was 12 :)

GlowingMoon 4 years 31 weeks

Some of these posts are funny. As for me, the first real meal I cooked was stir-fried tomatoes with beef and fried eggs. It was served over rice. I was about 8 or 9 years old. I remember being scared because it was cooked in a wok (a tall Chinese pan). I was not tall enough, and had to stand on a stool to hover above the wok. The sizzingly wok, hot oil was frightful. Maybe that's why I don't like cooking. My first experience was traumatic. :)

GlowingMoon 4 years 31 weeks

Some of these posts are funny.As for me, the first real meal I cooked was stir-fried tomatoes with beef and fried eggs. It was served over rice. I was about 8 or 9 years old. I remember being scared because it was cooked in a wok (a tall Chinese pan). I was not tall enough, and had to stand on a stool to hover above the wok. The sizzingly wok, hot oil was frightful.Maybe that's why I don't like cooking. My first experience was traumatic. :)

Jude C 4 years 31 weeks

Ahem...special brownies. ;)

Jude C 4 years 31 weeks

Ahem...special brownies.;)

chiefdishwasher 4 years 31 weeks

But what do you cook for your first 4th meal?

Isista 4 years 31 weeks

First actual meal? Hm...I was about 6 and I learned how to (safely!) fry chicken and make mashed potatoes with garlic. Now, the first thing I learned to cook in general was baking cookies, which I've done with my grandma ever since I can remember.

Isista 4 years 31 weeks

Spectra 4 years 32 weeks

I used to help my dad all the time in the kitchen...making pancakes, pudding, lasagna, Spanish rice, pizza, etc. I do remember the first thing I cooked by myself though. It was rice porridge with raisins. The recipe was from my American Girls Kirsten cookbook that I got when I was 9. It turned out great, but the only problem was that I sort of underestimated how long it had to cook. I started cooking it for breakfast and it wasn't done until closer to lunchtime. Oops. At least I didn't burn the rice: My dad warned me that if I burned the rice to the pan, I'd have to scrub it out.

Jude C 4 years 32 weeks

That's a hell of a first meal to cook.

AROTCgal08 4 years 32 weeks

I remember the first time I actually cooked, I was about six years old, sitting on my Dad's lap in the back yard while grilling steaks. He let me flip over the steaks, my Mom flipped out having me so near fire. But the first real meal I cooked by myself was Fillet Mignon, wrapped in bacon, splash of Bourbon, salt and pepper, grilled rare. I recall also cooking rice pilaf and steamed asparagus. I think I was around eight or nine years old. I was cooking before that though, just not by myself in the kitchen.

AROTCgal08 4 years 32 weeks

I remember the first time I actually cooked, I was about six years old, sitting on my Dad's lap in the back yard while grilling steaks. He let me flip over the steaks, my Mom flipped out having me so near fire. But the first real meal I cooked by myself was Fillet Mignon, wrapped in bacon, splash of Bourbon, salt and pepper, grilled rare. I recall also cooking rice pilaf and steamed asparagus. I think I was around eight or nine years old.I was cooking before that though, just not by myself in the kitchen.

CaterpillarGirl 4 years 32 weeks

first meal, had to be breakfast i made scrambled eggs, bacon and toast.

verily 4 years 32 weeks

I don't remember. I've helped my mom in the kitchen since I was small. I do remember the first time I tried to bake a cake on my own and it turned out to be a disaster.

bugsbrat 4 years 32 weeks

spaghetti bolognaise - when my mom was at work and i was at home studying for exams, she used to ask me to make then every now and again. to this day it's my fav dish to make!:breastcancer:

Kate Marie 4 years 32 weeks

I've always helped my mom in the kitchen so I can't remember one particular first meal. But I do remember helping out with this one dish several times when I was quite young--Polish crepes filled with fruit jelly, called palachinki. We would always make them for lunch when my brother wasn't home because he didn't like them.

carrothead 4 years 32 weeks

I've been in the kitchen ever since I could stand! The first thing I helped make was homemade pasta and marinara from scratch. It's my dad's specialty and I always loved to help roll out the dough into long strips!

Schaianne 4 years 32 weeks

I think it was Egg Bologna Cups - my mom bought me a cookbook just for children. I love cooking!

hippiecowgirl 4 years 32 weeks

It's been so long ago I'm not completely sure. I think it was either spaghetti or meatloaf.

digibron 4 years 32 weeks

Pancakes :)

digibron 4 years 32 weeks

Pancakes :)

wackdoodle 4 years 32 weeks

justanerd - from watching Julia, Jeff and the Galloping Gourmet anything on PBS I even watch this show called "The Victory Garden" which was great because they focused on growing seasonal fruits and veggies - then at the end of the show the main gardener's wife would show a recipe that used either the fruits or veggies from their garden. Plus, I watched my mom and her friends cook. One of her friend was from South America, another was Mexican-American, another Portuguese, a Greek, North Eastern American (RHODE ISLAND BABY! M&M cookies)and so on and my mom's favorite thing was to go to her friend's houses and learn how to cook their favorite dishes, things they learned to cook when they were younger. I also watched all of my grandma's (at least 4 of them) cook or baked and they loved to have helpers. Since I was attached to my mom at the hip where ever she went I went. Some of her friends didn't have kids and the ones that did were trying to teach their kids their traditions too. My mom was never worried about me and a hot oven or the flame on the stove. Once you get a minor burn from not being safe then you learn. But my mom had a lot of very sharp knives and those she was super cautious about letting me use because it never failed that I would suffer some major cut that should have had stitches. Same with my nephews, when they were small cooks/bakers we let them use the oven and stove supervised at first then by themselves. Knives we (my sister and I) were cautious about for awhile. After a few times of the boys cooking at a young age we let them go at it - with minimal supervision or interruption. It built their confidence in the kitchen. The main thing was to remind them to shut off the stove or oven when they were done and don't leave anything flammable on or near the stove. Since their dad was handicapped there were times when if he was carrying for them alone because my sister and I weren't home they would cook for him. They would make tuna pot pies from scratch for him. And he would remind them to shut off the burner and oven and to clean up after themselves. Obliviously my family is weird. I do have cousins who do not know to cook at all, so even at 45 they eat at their parents house nightly with their children and hubbies in tow.

wackdoodle 4 years 32 weeks

justanerd - from watching Julia, Jeff and the Galloping Gourmet anything on PBS I even watch this show called "The Victory Garden" which was great because they focused on growing seasonal fruits and veggies - then at the end of the show the main gardener's wife would show a recipe that used either the fruits or veggies from their garden. Plus, I watched my mom and her friends cook. One of her friend was from South America, another was Mexican-American, another Portuguese, a Greek, North Eastern American (RHODE ISLAND BABY! M&M cookies)and so on and my mom's favorite thing was to go to her friend's houses and learn how to cook their favorite dishes, things they learned to cook when they were younger. I also watched all of my grandma's (at least 4 of them) cook or baked and they loved to have helpers.Since I was attached to my mom at the hip where ever she went I went. Some of her friends didn't have kids and the ones that did were trying to teach their kids their traditions too.My mom was never worried about me and a hot oven or the flame on the stove. Once you get a minor burn from not being safe then you learn. But my mom had a lot of very sharp knives and those she was super cautious about letting me use because it never failed that I would suffer some major cut that should have had stitches. Same with my nephews, when they were small cooks/bakers we let them use the oven and stove supervised at first then by themselves. Knives we (my sister and I) were cautious about for awhile. After a few times of the boys cooking at a young age we let them go at it - with minimal supervision or interruption. It built their confidence in the kitchen. The main thing was to remind them to shut off the stove or oven when they were done and don't leave anything flammable on or near the stove.Since their dad was handicapped there were times when if he was carrying for them alone because my sister and I weren't home they would cook for him. They would make tuna pot pies from scratch for him. And he would remind them to shut off the burner and oven and to clean up after themselves.Obliviously my family is weird. I do have cousins who do not know to cook at all, so even at 45 they eat at their parents house nightly with their children and hubbies in tow.

Link Love

60 Comments

You Might Also Like