Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

I have been so down on myself since last night. I wanted to make something special and different for dinner. So I bought the Everyday Italian cookbook and made (well, tried to) Penne Carbonara. I followed the directions 100% but it was just gross... Too salty and I felt like the eggs werent cooked.

The point is also that I LOVE to watch Food Network. I think its on that channel the same amount as Noggin (hee hee )

I even had fantasies of going to cooking scholl after DS was in school.

Forget it... I stink at the one thing I love to do.

Message edited 8/28/2008 9:04:58 AM.

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

Keep trying!!!

Practice makes perfect!

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

Cooking requires experience! Just following a recipe doesn't always give perfect results. Sometimes you need to make certain adjustments depending you many factors from how old the eggs are to how humid is the climate you live in! Experience will give you that knowledge!

Please don't beat yourself up! Keep trying and will be great after a while! Love of cooking is a VERY important ingredient and you already have that!

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

Posted by kahlua716

Keep trying!!!

Practice makes perfect!

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

Don't throw in the towel yet!!! I say go take a cooking class and learn the basics. It'll be fun and you'll probably end up bringing dinner home with you

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

I totally hear ya I love love love scrapbooking but cannot do it at all! My best friend makes amazing ones and its so frustrating to see what she can do and what I can't...but for her wedding I wrote all the little poems that she needed because she can't write like I can...so I'm sure that you have an awesome talent that someone else wishes they had too! Just keep practicing, you'll get better!

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

Hey, maybe it was the recipe! Everyone has different tastes!

I make a kick@ss meatloaf but the first person to ever try actually gagged on it ( my lovely DH ) and I cried about it. Everyone else who tried it , LOVED IT.

Try something else! Some people find recipes VERY salty bc they are not used to so much salt. I do not have this problem bc I grew up putting salt in my SALADS, LOL but I know it is common.

Also, carbonara is HARD if you don't time the eggs perfectly. It is like you have to choose between an omelette on your pasta or salmonella!!

Message edited 8/28/2008 9:13:46 AM.

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

Yes, I love tennis, but I absolutely stink as a player. Really stink, I am not being hard on myself. DH is pretty bad too, so we have fun with it now and then.

Also, arts and crafts. I have wonderful ideas, they just don't translate through my hands somehow!

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

I don't cook but I bake. And the first time I try out a recipe, I never let anyone eat it besides myself and DH. So everyone else thinks I'm a good baker but really, it's because I practice and practice before anyone actually gets to try it out.

A wonderful site is AllRecipes.com because not only do you get the recipes, but you also get the wisdom of all the people who have tried it before you. I almost never stick to the recipe there, but I take the most common suggestions from everyone else, and use those substitutions instead.

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

practice, practice, practice!!!! Keep trying - maybe get some really easy recipes off the net and keep cooking!!!!

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

Don't be so hard on yourself! Cooking is a very difficult thing to do to begin with and carbonara is a super tough thing to do! Keep trying and practicing. Make adjustments with what you did, and you will get it to come out right.

Cooking is different from baking in that when you bake, you have to follow a recipe to the letter so that it all comes out as planned (kind of like a science experiment). When you cook, you have to be willing to deviate a little from the recipe. Altitude, weather, ingredient age, etc can all alter how a recipe will come together. So you have to keep an eye on things and then adjust as you go along.

Don't worry, you'll get it. Just keep trying!!

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

i am in the same boat... i enjoy cooking but i feel like im terrible at it..

i bought the better homes recipe book.. its the one that looks like a pink binder... and the recipes in there are nice and easy! i follow them and they have been coming out great!!!

dont give up!!

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

I hear you on this one....I do love cooking but sometimes I feel like I do a really bad job with it, and DH is so much better at it and doesn't try half as hard! I think experimenting with ingredients when I'm cooking for just myself has helped me b/c I know I will suck it up and eat it even if it's bad and I learn...and I think I've gotten better!!

I totally second Allrecipes.com--GREAT site, you can see how other people fared making the recipe, if it came out good for them and what potential pitfalls might be--I would definitely check it out! Keep plugging away, you will get better!!

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

Don't beat yourself up - the more you cook the better you will be. I keep telling myself patience and practice ....over and over again.

I am trying to master grilling this summer - and I have made some terriable mistakes so far.

But as the summer wears on they are becoming less and less.

I also am not a good baker so I give myself a pep talk before hand "you are doing this to relax and have fun if you have to throw it all in the trash after it is done, and bring a bakery cake so be it"

I say buy a frozen pizza for backup and keep on cooking !!!!!

Message edited 8/28/2008 10:47:09 AM.

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

dont let it get you down.. i am a very good cook and i once also made cabonara and it was gross.. sometimes its just a recipe needs to be tweaked a little

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

I know the feeling!

Don't give up though!

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

Thanks for moving it even though I asked you not too. It isnt about a recipe... its about how I feel.

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

seriously, carbonara is HARD.

you need good FEEL with making a recipe like that, and FEEL comes with practice.

try her baked pasta will bechamel first....I am pretty sure it's also in the book.

you could the bechamel (so you can taste it for seasoning BEFORE you add it to the pasta) but it will get you used to working with creams and bacons...

DO NOT stop trying.

I've been cooking since I was a little girl...my dh reaps the benefits NOW but good lord did my parents and sibling suffer

one of these days...you will make the BEST carbonara this side of the atlantic!

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

I don't know one person who was awesome at their passion immediately. I ride horses - have done so for more than 20 years. I didn't wake up one morning and find myself really great at it. Even gifted riders need YEARS to learn to do it properly. Passionate doesn't equal savante! If you are truly passionate about cooking, keep at it. You'll have good days and bad days (good recipes and bad recipes) -- but you will enjoy it and get better as you go along.

I think the same is true of any craft or anything people love. It's not that you are great at it immediately - it's that you love it enough to dedicate lots of time and energy into learning more and getting better at it.

Don't let it get you down -- keep working at it and I bet you will just keep getting better and better!

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

Thanks everyone! Maybe just because I watch the channel, does not make me think its as easy as it looks or sounds in a book. I am still down because DH went to work hungry and I doubt he will pay for me to go to school anytime soon (Im a SAHM) but I should stick to the basics for a bit.

Its also that I have no hobbies... cooking seemed fun and good for my family.

I am bad at sports or musical anything. I cant do crafty type things to save my life. Ehhhh I'm being a "debbie downer" and will stop here.

Thanks again!

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

get back on the cooking horse! It's not easy to learn how to cook, it takes lots of time and patience. When I first moved in with FH he used to laugh at me b/c I couldn't even boil water. But I watched the food network, learned some lessons (the hard way, may I add), almost burned down the house and now he RAVES about my cooking. He invites people over just so they can try a dish he raved to them about. Don't give up!

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

Posted by MrsDiamondgrlie

Thanks everyone! Maybe just because I watch the channel, does not make me think its as easy as it looks or sounds in a book.

Thanks again!

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

If you love it, keep doing it. People who are really awesome at something make it look easy -- and those are the ones who we see on TV! I'm guessing they took many years to hone their craft, too. You just have to work at it.

Do some searching - there are a lot of places who do free or low-cost cooking classes periodically. It's not a big school thing, but a night of fun and learning. See if you can find anything like that near you. Keep reading and trying. Don't let a bad recipe keep you down! The very first horseback riding lesson I ever took, I fell off. My life would be so much less full today had I not gotten back on...

So get back in that kitchen!

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

Yes! Pretty much anythign I think is my new favorite hobby, I am awful at. Cooking I am at hit or miss, but lately I getting worse, since my DH cooks mroe than me, so I am out of practice.

What I have learned, is that recipes are not always perfect. Especailly the cookbooks of tv chefs. I think something gets lost along the way sometimes.

On the food network website, you can see reviews of the recipes. Many people thought this recipe was awful.

reviews

Re: Is anyone horrible at something they love? (please dont move this post - I dont know where it belongs)

Don't give up! I love to cook and I've messed up some stuff I've cooked a 100 times!!!

Even though I like the stuff from Everday Italian, some stuff I think is too involved...maybe some other shows from FoodNetwork might be better to build up your confidence with and move on to other things. I've made a lot of stuff from Racheal Ray and Sandra Lee and Paula Deen. I love Bobby Flay and Emeril, but sometimes I'm a little intimiated. I'm moving onto Guy Fieri next...

GOod luck!