Where Did You Learn How to Cook?

Something I get asked often by people in person and online is where did you learn how to cook and bake? Well, today I am answering that question!

In my October newsletter, I had a special section at the bottom telling all my subscribers about a fun new question series, Ask Alexis Anything! By the way, I share some fun stuff in my newsletter that doesn’t always make it to the blog, so make sure to sign up below. The next one will be coming out in a week or two! (with a delectable pumpkin spice latte DONUT recipe 😉 )

Being a chemist, I get asked some neat scientific questions by readers all the time. Some of them are so good, they are definitely worthy of a post. I will share some of those too!

Back to today’s question, where did you learn how to cook and bake?

The truth is, I am very much a self-taught, trial and error cook! In fact, it wasn’t until the middle of high school that I began forming an interest in it, specifically in baking. My mom always had certain recipes that she cooked, and they were amazing! She was not a baker though, and my family wasn’t big on sweets either.

My 85 year old grandmother is a fantastic baker. She makes pies, cakes and other treats weekly, even to this day! I lived far away from her though, so I didn’t grow up baking with her either. At my age now, I try to pick her brain for all her baking secrets!

So, in high school I took a nutritional food science class that required a huge project due at the end of the semester. We had to make our own cook book, full of our favorite recipes for all categories like dinner, breakfast, lunches, breads, desserts, etc. It had to look presentable too, so it ended up being like a scrapbook project. I started getting completely fascinated with recipes and how unique they were. I remember trying out a few for my family during Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Learning how to cook became an obsession that continued on through college. I loved the challenge of baking and spent hours watching the Food Network too. I was crazy enough to even take notes and print out any recipe I thought looked interesting. I kept adding it to my recipe book I made in high school.

When my husband and I got married in 2007, I was only 20 years old and still learning how to really be a good cook. I was still inexperienced to say the least! I have a funny story about that here! My husband is a total cookie monster, so I had to step up my game in the cookie department. I started experimenting with all types of methods and recipes, thanks to chemistry! Being a chemist really helped my precision in the baking department. I posted some chemist tips this week on my oatmeal raisin cookie recipe.

Now, over ten years later, I have definitely gotten most of my recipes down to a fine art. Especially cookies! People request them so much, I started selling them occasionally. Like the Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies!

[Tweet “How a chemist learned how to cook!”]

Another sub question is, how can I learn how to cook? I definitely recommend watching videos and shows, even from people you know! I teach some of my friends how to bake and I even do stuff with my family so they can learn too 🙂

Do you have a question for a chemist? A writer? Or something about me? You can email chemistrycachet@gmail.com or fill out the form below!

 Thank you to all your support on my first newsletter! I am so grateful for your kind words. I can’t wait to share the next one soon.

 

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