Mel Of Bacchus

What do you think gets better with age?

When it comes to cooking, it was this one foster family whom first taught me how to cook!

While I was living in their house in foster care I learned a few things which I took with me into adulthood.

One of those things was cooking.

While I don’t remember ever cooking solo when I lived the Biddells, I actually enjoyed helping my foster mother Sabine prepare dinners.

I learned how to “dice”, “slice” and “shred” and learnt how to make simple things like Tacos, Baked Potatoes, Pasta dishes and omelettes.

A brief stay with my Nana while I was pregnant with my son also had me learning the old meat and three veg method in which she used each and every night. She taught me the key to getting everything on the table at the same time was the timing. Potatoes always took the longest so you do them first while the meat took less time so I was taught to fry that up last.

Nana taught me how to cook things like steak, sausages, rissoles, chops mash and veggies. She also did an amazing Beef Stew but I never learned that one.

When I moved into my first house with my son still yet to be born in 2005 at the age of 16yo , cooking and cleaning were things that came easy to me and were things I enjoyed doing simply because I knew how to!

That next year I mended the broken relationship with my father and over the next few years learned a few of his favourite recipes he shared with me too.

Dad taught me how to make chicken skewers, chow mien, meatloaf, butter chicken and pineapple with Ham steaks. He also taught me how to BBQ.

Spending time with different friends over the years also helped me feel inspired when it came to meals and also following Mum blogs.

As my children got older and especially when my sisters kids started living with us I was introduced to things like a slow cooker and a stackable steamer.

Feeding all 7 of us at times really tested me especially on busy nights when the kids had footy, or basketball or scouts.

I looked to cookbook recipes and meal recipe bases to guide me into the world of slow cooking.

Most nights we had two slow cookers on with two different dinners warmed beside our big rice cooker filled with rice to go with whatever the kids chose to have.

After I relinquished care of the four kids in my care I lost all passion for cooking and a grey cloud started following me everywhere I went as I fell into deep depression.

It was over a year when I again picked up my love and passion for cooking with the ordering of a Hello Fresh box.

I have since tried them all, Hello Fresh, Everyplate etc. and learned new flavours and recipes.

It’s been 20 years since buying my first pot set and making my first meal and I have perfected my favourite dishes over time.

Those big hearty meals I once made to fill all the kids bellies back in the day are gone but my love for flavoursome meals remain.

And knowing what I know now, I feel like a chef when I create something that is both delicious and looks good on the plate!

My cooking skills got better with age..