I’ve been spending time, recently, researching the topic of “writing”.   I came across an ebook called “You are a writer, now start acting like one”, by Jeff Goins.  Basically, just act like what you want to be and you will become it.  I’ve heard this before, phrased differently, “dress for the position you want not the one you have”…etc. So I got to thinking.  There are way too many people out there who believe they cannot cook.  My question to these people would be:  what have you tried to cook?  Cooking is really no different than any other step by step process.  You start at #1 and go from there.

Now, if you have a Julia Childs French cookbook (one of her earlier books) that you are trying to get through I can totally see why you think you could never do it.  Frankly, I can’t cook anything from those books either…she had to dumb it down so that normal housewives could actually find the ingredients, follow the recipes and make the food.

Here is my simple advise:

1.  Find a recipe for your favorite food.  It doesn’t matter what it is; macaroni and cheese, french toast, nachos or linguini with clam sauce. (How about trying Kraft Macaroni and Cheese in the box for your first adventure!)

2.  Read the recipe from start to finish.  Does it make sense?  Can you follow the steps and understand what all of the ingredients are?  If not, look for another recipe, there are hundreds of them out there for whatever food you desire.  And always GOOGLE any cooking term you do not understand.  Oh, and if you have a picture of what the finished product should look like, that’s really helpful.

3.  When you find a recipe you like, assemble all of the ingredients and all of the tools you will need to prepare the dish (spoons, measuring cups, spatulas, mixer, rolling pin, bowls, etc).

4.  Start with the first step.  Move to the second step.  And so on.

You can do it.  Just eat this elephant one bite at a time.  Pretty soon you will be eating your first culinary creation.  It might surprise you and be awesome!  And if not, it’s okay.  Keep trying.

Oh, and for everyone that says they “can’t even boil water”, there’s a trick. Start with hot water and add salt!  (I should add that if you have a water softener installed, please use cold water for cooking as it doesn’t pass through your softener).

Look in the mirror and tell yourself “I can cook.  I am a cook.  I make delicious food.”  Let this be your mantra and before you know it, your confidence will show in your food!

“No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow your progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying”  ~Unknown Author

Good Luck!