~patches~
I have a few years on you Patches. We were married in 59 at age 16 (not a typo) My Mom didn't teach me anything about cooking (probably best that she didn't...she was a terrible cook) and my MIL, though a good cook didn't teach me anything either. I picked up things from watching people that I came in contact with, and seeking recipes from a cookbook. But I didn't do anything adventurous. Meatloaf from an older friend, Hamburger stew from a friend on a tight budget, etc. The purchase of a slow cooker helped in my working days, with roasts etc. It wasn't until we retired 4 years ago that I started reading this group and picked up a LOT of tips. The best thing I learned here was not to disturb meat in the pan until it realeases on it's own. Now my breaded fried stuff still has the coating on when it's served. I also got away from the onion soup thing for my potroast and stocked up on spices and herbs so I could do it my way. We yard sale in the good weather, and I have accumulated a lot of cookbooks. I learn something from almost all of them and have a large collection of loose recipes printed from the web and copied from library books. The other day my DH bragged to my sisters about my culinary endeavours...lol. He's loving it and the deal we have, is that if he doesn't like something he will say so before I go and make it again. So far, so good. No Shake and Bake in this house anymore, but when you don't know any different....... .........Sharon
