Can you cook?

I mainly ordered out when living in corporate life, then I was an ‘entrepreneur’ and suddenly had more time to cook and prep and started watching hundreds of cooking shows (Curtis Stone - Take Home Chef, Gordon Ramsay, Bobby Flay), and I started to get good at cooking. My close circle knows if I cook for them it is a special occasion, but honestly it drains me a lot as I have high expectations and definitely see some flaws at times, but people don’t really notice it also and say it’s great. My main focus is filet mignon and salmon. I love potatoes and asparagus as well.

Do you like to cook? What are your favorite dishes?

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Also, my friend Matt Pace beat Bobby Flay on the show “Beat Bobby Flay” which was amaaaazinggggggg.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

I've heard he's a real douche, did he say anything about that?

Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
 

No I didn’t hear about that but can imagine.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

And chicks love a guy that can cook. Cooking skills have real benefits.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 
[Comment removed by mod team]
 

I've never been amazing cook but I do cook most meals, and have tried to mix it up. I have a good amount of free time now so it's easy to, but that will probably change if I switch to something with longer hours.

Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
 

Your meals definitely sounds pretty appetizing. I'd say people are always happy to be cooked for so don't worry about living up to Gordon Ramsey's standards when cooking for friends lol.

I'm a student right now so I have a lot of time to cook. For the past 2 years or so (Up until I took a break due to a health problem a month ago), I've been meal-prepping weekly. I don't cook actual meals, more so just frying up / baking different food groups since I try to follow the 1/2 plate veggie, 1/4 plate protein / fat and 1/4 plate carb guidelines. 

Ex. 1/4 plate baked salmon with maple syrup, 1/4 plate pasta, 1/2 stir fry bok chow with mushrooms

However, I'm very flexible and will eat whatever I want when I haven't meal-prepped but still try to maintain some protein / vegetable or fruit in each meal.

 
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This post inspired me to make a Santa Fe omelet for breakfast. So good!

Now for the lesson. Many folks on WSO are in HS and college. I’m much older (maybe wiser) than most of y’all.

If you are in need of a job, don’t write off the service industry. I got my first job in a kitchen and learned how to cook when I was young. This skill has served me very well. When layoffs came in 08, I swallowed my pride and got my chef knife out again and put in work to make ends meet. I rarely enjoy eating out as I know I can do a better job with higher quality food myself. Women love being cooked for as well.

All that said, don’t think that if you didn’t get the IB intern spot at GS all is lost. Learn to cook and you’ll learn invaluable skills. What skills you ask? Well, working with many different strong personalities (many on a kitchen staff have done time at some point), managing time efficiently, multitasking, performing under pressure, and enduring long late hours. It’s not all work and no play through. Pull out the DVD “Waiting” with Ryan Reynolds. Working in a kitchen is basically that. At the end of the day you’ll have a posse of folks you enjoy working with, learning skills, saving money on takeout, and so forth.

As I alluded to above, you’ll also always have a plan B in case a job/career is not working. Turnover is high in the service industry and establishments are always looking for good staff.

 

Do I like to cook?  I love it.  However, time is not of the essence these days where I can prep beautiful 3 and 4 course meals like I used to be able to.  Now I'm eating leaner which is often a sort of salad with a lean protein.  Simple, healthy, flavorful, and most importantly, fast!  When it's warm out, I pull out my smoker and smoke meats.  Real tasty BBQ done low and slow will change your life srs.  

 

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"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee

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