We’re turning cooking into a spectator sport,”

[Chefnot]

Never judge a cookbook by its cover
Malaysia Star, Malaysia - 10 hours ago
A lot of us are intimidated by cooking today. We watch cooking shows on TV but we cook very little. “We’re turning cooking into a spectator sport,” he tells ...

[Food Network Fan]

I do both!! I watch ... then it makes me want to cook like that too.

[ibcheft]

Sometimes I think I live in a different world, I read how people don't cook. how we are losing our restaurant road value, we don't pass recipes down, how we don't eat together anymore, are we becoming what these people are writing ? Yes I cook, yes I watch cooking on TV, yes I teach my boys that cooking is just as manly as anything else, equality is a perception of a person (doesn't mean that there isn't prejudices within society), and how important that self respect be held high, along with learning to be humble and thankful for what we do have. I do not understand why writers do not write about these things, or maybe they do I just do not see it.

[MiseEnPlace]

I do both also.

When I was a kid I watched a lot of the cooking programs on PBS but I also helped my mom in the kitchen. Of the shows I watched, I remember making a few things from The Frugal Gourmet. This back before you could get on the Internet and download the recipe so it was hard to make things seen on tv.

One reason I like Good Eats so much is that Alton often does inspire me to try something. He gives me the knowledge and confidence to make things I normally wouldn't think of trying. I remember making my first angel food cake after watching Good Eats and I was impressed with myself because I had tried to make something else with egg whites years before and totally messed it up. Now I know what I did wrong--thanks to Alton

When I was a kid I also started my cookbook collection and now a have a huge amount of them. The odd thing, I have very few cookbooks from celebrity/tv chefs. I have all 4 of Alton's books, the FN all-start cookbook (because Alton is in it), 1 by Emeril, 1 by the Frugal Gourmet and Julia's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

The recipes I've tried from Alton's cookbooks are spot on!

[BerryBaby]

Originally Posted by ibcheft

Sometimes I think I live in a different world, I read how people don't cook. how we are losing our restaurant road value, we don't pass recipes down, how we don't eat together anymore, are we becoming what these people are writing ? Yes I cook, yes I watch cooking on TV, yes I teach my boys that cooking is just as manly as anything else, equality is a perception of a person (doesn't mean that there isn't prejudices within society), and how important that self respect be held high, along with learning to be humble and thankful for what we do have. I do not understand why writers do not write about these things, or maybe they do I just do not see it.

I'm with you, ibcheft! Where are all these 'non-cooking' people? Everyone at my exercise class cooks, all my friends cook, family, relatives, people I meet at the grocery store. Maybe it is just the people who write the articles that don't cook!!

[FoodFan]

That's a grand assumption to begin with- "we watch cooking shows, but we cook very little." The author doesn't know me, or what I do (and don't) do. I don't have kids, but I do cook- thank you very much. Cooking shows aren't a new phenomenon; they've been around since television. I take it with a grain of salt...or pepper.