Cooking As An Art Form
- Date: 2010-05-25 - Word Count: 552
Share This!
Cooking is defined as the process of food preparation through applied heat. But there so much more involved in planning, preparing, and presenting meals for your family. One thing the dictionary left out is the love that goes into the creation of that meal.
If you are someone that is rushed and overburdened by their job and settles for dashing home, throwing a TV dinner in the microwave, and sitting before the television while "dining", you might want to take some time to learn about the fine art of cooking. It need not be fancy gourmet foods you prepare, or even require a gourmet professional kitchen in which to work your miracles of culinary delight. Feeding your family involves a little planning, researching, love, and a bit of time. Finding the time to prepare and serve healthy wholesome meals need involve no more than an hour or two from start to finish. With planning, you can even cook most of your meals on the weekend and store them in the freezer or fridge. Your family will be happy even if you only cook burgers and French fries, as long as you all sit down together and make it a family affair.
Appliances large and small
Cooking most commonly involves heat and that means an oven and a stove top with either gas or electric burners. A microwave oven is useful as are a slow cooker pot, mixer (stand and hand held), toaster, electric knife, electric skillet, food processor, and a blender.
Kitchen necessities
Pots and pans come in an assortment of sizes, depending on their intended use. Basically you will want a small non-stick skillet (6" to 8"), a larger non-stick skillet of about 10"-12", several sizes of cooking pots from one to three quart size, and a larger pot maybe six to eight quarts for soups and chilies. These can be heavy cast aluminum or steel depending on your budget (look online for recommendations and reviews of products). If you plan on baking you will want to have a cookie sheet or two, some loaf pans, cake pans, and muffin pans (for cupcakes). Spatulas, stirring spoons, tongs, and forks should also be available to handle food as it cooks.
Spice it up
An assortment of spices will come in handy when you are cooking. Depending on what dish you are preparing, having the basics will improve flavors. Salt, Pepper, olive oil, vegetable oil, paprika, thyme, garlic powder, cloves, dry mustard, nutmeg, ginger, and celery seed are often used in recipes. Based on the nationality of your dishes, you may also want some oregano, basil, cumin, cayenne pepper, and crushed red pepper on your spice shelf. Don't be afraid to experiment with ingredients, just go lightly to begin with because you can always add more, but seldom take away.
Pantry necessities
Items like chicken and beef broth, canned milk, tomato sauce, flour, rice, pasta, soup for cooking, and powdered buttermilk are staples everyone who cooks should have on hand.
Cook Books
An assortment of cook books or even cooking videos can be helpful and offer interesting ideas to plan meals around. Tons of recipes can also be found on the internet at no charge. Let your imagination create something original that your family will enjoy. Finally, make a list before going to the grocery store, and stick to it.
If you are someone that is rushed and overburdened by their job and settles for dashing home, throwing a TV dinner in the microwave, and sitting before the television while "dining", you might want to take some time to learn about the fine art of cooking. It need not be fancy gourmet foods you prepare, or even require a gourmet professional kitchen in which to work your miracles of culinary delight. Feeding your family involves a little planning, researching, love, and a bit of time. Finding the time to prepare and serve healthy wholesome meals need involve no more than an hour or two from start to finish. With planning, you can even cook most of your meals on the weekend and store them in the freezer or fridge. Your family will be happy even if you only cook burgers and French fries, as long as you all sit down together and make it a family affair.
Appliances large and small
Cooking most commonly involves heat and that means an oven and a stove top with either gas or electric burners. A microwave oven is useful as are a slow cooker pot, mixer (stand and hand held), toaster, electric knife, electric skillet, food processor, and a blender.
Kitchen necessities
Pots and pans come in an assortment of sizes, depending on their intended use. Basically you will want a small non-stick skillet (6" to 8"), a larger non-stick skillet of about 10"-12", several sizes of cooking pots from one to three quart size, and a larger pot maybe six to eight quarts for soups and chilies. These can be heavy cast aluminum or steel depending on your budget (look online for recommendations and reviews of products). If you plan on baking you will want to have a cookie sheet or two, some loaf pans, cake pans, and muffin pans (for cupcakes). Spatulas, stirring spoons, tongs, and forks should also be available to handle food as it cooks.
Spice it up
An assortment of spices will come in handy when you are cooking. Depending on what dish you are preparing, having the basics will improve flavors. Salt, Pepper, olive oil, vegetable oil, paprika, thyme, garlic powder, cloves, dry mustard, nutmeg, ginger, and celery seed are often used in recipes. Based on the nationality of your dishes, you may also want some oregano, basil, cumin, cayenne pepper, and crushed red pepper on your spice shelf. Don't be afraid to experiment with ingredients, just go lightly to begin with because you can always add more, but seldom take away.
Pantry necessities
Items like chicken and beef broth, canned milk, tomato sauce, flour, rice, pasta, soup for cooking, and powdered buttermilk are staples everyone who cooks should have on hand.
Cook Books
An assortment of cook books or even cooking videos can be helpful and offer interesting ideas to plan meals around. Tons of recipes can also be found on the internet at no charge. Let your imagination create something original that your family will enjoy. Finally, make a list before going to the grocery store, and stick to it.
Related Tags: buy truffle, white truffle
Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles
Recent articles in this category:
- Feel Refresh With Durable Sports Bottle
Almost every person in this world is addicted to sports. Whether it is an indoor or outdoor sport, e - Types and Designs of Cookie Cutters
Cookies are everyone's favorite snack. No matter what time of day, it seems that it becomes the ulti - Fun Cookie Treats For Everyone
There are some foods that most people don't outgrow or take off their favorites list even after deca - How To Have The Perfect Halloween Party
Traditionally more popular in America, over the past 10 years Halloween has wormed its way into Brit - Come and Get It, The Pizza is Here
If one were to ask two different people what they wanted for fast food, more than likely one of them - The Perky Healthy Benefits Of Tea
A sip in the morning, while reading your newspaper just makes your day complete. Most people's under - 3 Key Factors of a Good Bar
The process of elimination combined with a list of "pros" and "cons" is used by many people to make - Remembering Those Favourite Sweets From Our Youth
It's safe to say that quality never goes out of fashion and just as those favourite Top 40 hits of y - Recommendations For Creating Extraordinary Biryani
Good biryani is all over the place, but fantastic biryani can be quite tough to come across. Too man - Top 5 American Sweets Of All Time
America is famous for producing many things, from fantastic films through entertaining sports to glo
Most viewed articles in this category:
- Spices Thai Food Galangal, Nutmeg Tree And Krachai
Galangal Scientific name:Alpinia galangal (L.) Willd. Family:ZINGIBERACEAE Vernacular name:Kha Gala - The Little Things in Life: Food Presentation
While it may seem silly, the appearance of a little radish rose on my salad plate has the power to t - Popular Malaysian Fruits
Malaysian fruits are becoming very popular with an increasing number of people. Some of the more pop - Not The Usual Super Bowl Theme Party . . . Celebrate Backwards Day Instead!
While it seems that 99% of the United States (OK, the world) plans to either throw or attend a Super - How Long Should I Let My Bread Rise
It depends. The best way to tell if the dough has risen enough is not by time-though it helps to se - Buffalo Wing Sauce Recipe
The simple ingredients used are ketchup, warm honey, lemon's juice, butter, Louisiana sauce, white v - A Bakers Guide To Chocolate
What's the difference between bittersweet chocolate and semisweet chocolate? Can I use Dutch cocoa i - Red Grapes Are Not Just For Jelly!
As a continuation to, "White Grapes are as Different as Apples and Oranges," red grapes are very muc - High Altitude Breads
Can you make bread and buns in the mountains? We got a call from California this week, "I can make - Tips For Great Pizzas
A pizza made at home should be better than a commercial pizza. You get it fresh from the oven made w