Sigh, “I like the subset of cooking known as baking. It’s lots of fun! But cooking as a whole is kind of boring and not my thing.”
You can still take it out on a random Philadelphian, though.
You didn’t just beat a street-person to death, did you? Heard about it just now. If that was you, I think you’re taking this too far, even if Anaamika did provoke ya.
I protest the suggestion that I would initiate a hand-to-hand violent encounter myself rather than sending a minion to do it, or administering the violence long-distance and from behind. Are you trying to imply that I’m not a cowardly bully?
“I like to eat” is certainly part of it for me, but I also learn something almost every time I cook, either about how to treat an ingredient or how to get the result I want to.
When you ask if I like to cook and I say yes I mean what I think of as recreational cooking. A recipe that’s new to me, good ingredients, and plenty of time to prepare and then enjoy is.
I’ve come to really dislike to day to day just fixing something so my kid will have some nutrition sort of cooking. I have a great plan to get ahead of that particular eight ball. On days when it all comes together I’m pretty happy, but those are few and far between. I’ll keep trying, though.
My sister and I have this idea that some day we’d like to take a vacation together and rent a place where we could really stretch our culinary wings. Last time we talked about it the daydream became renting a place with a great kitchen AND part of the rental is that you send ahead the recipes you hope to prepare and magically there’d be the right herbs and spices, and the right number of scallions, and the right sort of pans and tools…and since it’s our fantasy, someone else cleans the broiler pan or the pasta machine.
If it was a mime, they brought it on themselves.
I love it.
Actually, thinking about it, if I could do EITHER all of the shopping or all of the cooking, I’d be fine. But doing both kills me. I might just be weird. (Notice I said “just,” smart asses!)
That’s my story in a nutshell as well.
I hate cooking. The process is dull. The results are generally poor. And cleaning it up is a pain in the ass.
My present wife is an excellent and creative cook, but man can she destroy a kitchen. I go in there afterward and it looks like a tornado hit the place, with every bowl, pot, pan, knife, measuring cup and prep surface covered with the debris from her efforts. I’ve learned to clean as I go; it makes for a much happier aftermath.
And it’s also easier. Your wife sounds like one of my sisters, who refuses to believe that I (and another of my sisters) can, like Rachael Ray, do some seemingly complicated meals start-to-finish in 30 minutes. She always says that “Well, yeah, Rachael can do it, but she has all her ingredients out first and that’s cheating.”
I’m willing to predict that your wife also does not perform what seems to me to be the very first step of cooking a meal: making sure the kitchen is clean and that nothing not needed is on the counters and cooktop.
I love it.
My parents were very busy (With their careers) when I was growing up. Which meant I was left alone a lot. So, if I wanted a decent meal, I had to learn to cook it myself. My dad, being the cook in our family, taught me a lot. But being Cajun, his dishes were pretty much limited to Cajun style dishes.
I wanted to expend beyond that. So that meant a lot of experimentation on my part. And let me tell ya’, not all of my dishes came out masterpieces. Shocking! I know.
FF many years later, cooking is still a joy as it turns out my youngest son has a thing for cooking. So it’s a nice bonding experience for us.
In our house, Friday night is steak night. We’ve tried every kind of steak under the sun, cooked all kinds of ways. I’m also beside myself with delight that my 15yo (autistic) son can cook a better med-rare steak than you would see in most upscale steak houses. This done, with out using a thermometer or poking inside the steak with a knife to check for doneness.
I like to cook. It makes me feel competent and worthwhile and like I can take care of the people I love. I wish that cooking was more of a regular job for me–right now I just catch-as-catch-can in between taking care of my toddler and supporting my husband’s business. Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn’t be fun to be the cook for, say, a fraternity house on campus. My husband’s mother did that for a year.
My cooking tastes good. I am past the “naive confidence” phase and into a phase where I realize that I have a lot to learn about optimizing dishes and ingredients.
I used to love to cook. I think I still would if I were not chronically ill… ( kinda sucks, because one doesn’t feel like eating or the cleanup 
The second reason is I believe a rather silly one… my kitchen is very rundown, old house, blah blah blah and I’m sorta OCD I think… I love to go into other people’s kitchen when they are nice and new and such and think wow, this would be a nice place to cook in.
So yea, I used to and I think I was actually pretty good at it, but now I’m just too darn worn down and sick to enjoy it … but I still do it pretty regular since I have a family and that leaves out choice in the matter.
I do like looking at recipes a lot though on sites like pinterest, so apparently it’s just my little hangups I think that keep me from really enjoying it.
I can’t do it. Incompetent. I can barely boil rice in a microwave. The last time I used my oven, I burned myself. Never gonna happen again.
It’s just one of those things: some people can ride a skateboard, and I can’t do that, either.
I kind of like the problem solving aspect of cooking and baking - “how do I turn this group of ingredients into food?” But I can get that by watching “Chopped” and trying to think up good ideas from the basket ingredients before the contestant do. Plus, with “Chopped” I don’t have to shop for the foods, spend time cooking them, or clean up afterwards. Still, every so often, I’ll see or hear about a dish and see if I can make it as kind of a challenge to myself.
I don’t dislike it, but I wouldn’t consider it a hobby or leisure activity.
I think the process of cooking is fascinating. I watch TV shows about it and read cookbooks and write down recipes on cards, and sometimes I even cook something. I can’t leave recipes alone, though. I have to do something to them to make them my own.
However, I don’t like eating and have no real interest in food, and there are several thousand things I won’t eat, so most of my interest in cooking is theoretical. This being the case, I’ve decided to accept my limitations and stick to a few basic recipes that I can do well. I’m sending all my cookbooks to my daughter, who loves cooking and eating.
I would like to learn to bake bread and preserve the food we grow, but that’s about the extent of my culinary ambitions.
I HATE TO COOK!
Its not that Im not good at it, I was the self appointed chef in the commune I lived in eons ago and nobody died of any food related illnesses (that I know of). Its just such a hassle now. The thrill is gone.
Fortunately I married a man who has discovered since retiring that he likes to cook. And he does an OK job of it using the crockpot and oven. I stay out of his way when he cooks and this pleases both of us. He even likes Kroger pies (they have a thick crust which he likes), so he shops the sales and gets good deals.
I mostly eat raw food anyway now, so its a WIN/WIN at the Pekala house. Besides, Id rather be in the lab making my skin potions.
I enjoy the process, it relives stress.
I enjoy the results, with just a bit of effort I can make just about any dish better than I could get eating out.
I enjoy the savings, a steak at home is a fraction of the price of a steakhouse.
I enjoy the variety, I can eat whatever I want whenever I want and the fact that no restaurant in the area is serving roast duckling tonight doesn’t mean I can’t have it.
I absolutely love to cook. I do it for fun, which is double the fun cause then I get to eat. But the greatest pleasure is to feed my loved ones. If food be the food of love, cook on.
Nice Shakespeare reference! Remind me to make you an extra piece of fairy cake.