My (Pretty Much Nonexistent) Cooking Skills

With my approaching wedding, one of the things that keeps me calm is knowing that me and my fiancé know each other's facets like the back of our hands. He has seen me at my very worst, and my most excited; I have been there when he has been overwhelmed, and when he has been as calm as a clam (try to say that fast!). Most importantly, we know and accept each other's strong and weak points, and try to grow together.

One of my weakest points, which he found out about very early into our relationship, was my cooking skills. The very first time I stayed over, he made for me this incredible breakfast with poached eggs, sausages, toast, the works. The first time he stayed over? toast and... jam perhaps? Poor thing. But I just can't pretend to know how to cook. I am so useless. To give you an idea, last year while we were staying with my mother in law, I tried to help her out with dinner (big mistake!), and offered to boil some potatoes. How hard can that be? Who on Earth could mess that up? Me, that's who! Turns out I overcooked the damn things and we ended up eating mashed potatoes. Polite as she is, she smiled and said it was okay, "we love mashed potatoes anyway"... but the damage was done. I will always be the girl who can't boil potatoes!

On the other hand, I am lucky to be marrying a guy who is a cooking star. It appears that way to me, anyway; I suspect Wolfgang Puck would say I'm exaggerating. But he truly is: he improvises with whatever we have at home and makes fantastic, complete meals. He is the one to call me when I'm at the supermarket and instruct me on exactly what meat I should get, what ingredients, etc. For a short while he even made gourmet pizzas to sell, which were a great hit with family and friends. There never was any question as to who did what in our household: he cooks, I clean the dishes. No potatoes get overcooked, no one gets poisoned, no one burns the house down. It works like a charm.

When he cooks he is free and happy, and truly enjoys the experience. When I cook,  I spend half an hour staring blankly at all the ingredients, not really knowing where to start. In a very traditional country like mine, this is seen with shock horror, as the cooking is a "woman's role". And while I do agree that I need to expand my cooking portfolio further than noodles and sandwiches, the cooking role will always remain his and I guess we will just have to be a "modern couple" like that.

The only thing I have ever made that was acceptable: this Teriyaki Chicken and rice for my fiancé! I was (am) so proud of it, I snapped a photo with my iPhone (forgive the quality) and sent it to almost everyone I know. How sad.