since being a single father i had to develop my cooking skills , i remember the time i even have to be going for cooking classes, it wasn't too bad because there was other men there too and even women . i think being in the kitchen is not gender restricted. like me i am good cook and my kids never complain of my meal since passing of my wife.
drop your stories >>

When I went to university, the canteen was brutal. So I had the choice between fast food and learn how to cook from scratch. I went for option two

I learned to cook because one of my stepmothers kept poisoning us.
Everyone should learn to cook, men included..survival is at stake ;-)

Heck taught my son if he wanted to eat home cooked meals he better learn to cook at a early age.. To many women don't know how to cook anymore...

My son started doing all the grilling when he was like 10-12 and is a awesome cook.. Good thing for his first wife could not boil water...

Myself I actually prefer men that can cook.. Was raised with a single dad which taught my brother to cook... I actually never had too since they did all the cooking.. But I did watch and help out...

To me a man in the kitchen is pretty sexy looking..

I like to cook, but like Txsgal... I enjoy watching a man cook.... very sexy!

I had a bf who did most of the cooking, it was kind of nice to sit back and relax while he prepared us a meal. A little awkward at first because I was used to always cooking, but I grew to appreciate it... quickly!

I taught my sons to cook when they were teenagers. Now my one son takes turns with his wife because they both work full time. He seems to really enjoy it.

If it's something you don't enjoy doing, you're not going to be good at it. I happen to love cooking and taught myself when I was very young.

This is the 21st century and some men have been good cooks for years.

I cooked years for my ex husband and children.

One of my ex bf's was s great cook. He fixed dinner for me many times. We also went out to Nice dinners.

Men don't need Women to cook for them anymore.

my husband cooked breakfast, lunch and supper for 2 weeks while I recovered from surgery years ago. But never again. Always sucked up to me with "oh, you make food taste better" etc. Men have a way of whining and wheedling to get what they want. LOL

LOL, when my marriage ended I was limited to banquet dinners or BBQ.
(Nothing wrong with BBQ)
I had very little left when it was all said and done and the kitchen was really sparse.
Believe it or not, I started pinning on Pinterest.
I found so many recipes and ways to cook, what was needed for the kitchen and what is nice to have.
I started experimenting with food (back when I was healthy enough to eat) and found out that I can cook much, much better than my X. LOL.

I dedicated my time to figuring it all out and now, I can tackle most dishes with ease.
Oh, I still have a few that I have no idea what to do to make it come out right but hey, at least I'm trying.

They cool thing, when I create a new dish, I GET TO NAME IT! Hahaha!

Okay, so I have a Thunderbird calendar of meal ideas and here is what I have for an average month (I can cook any of these and more)...

Hamburger gravy over egg noodles
Open-faced roast beef & cheddar sammiches
Pizza Pasta
Toasted cheese sammiches & tomato soup
Ultimate fish sammiches
Brats & beans
Crockpot burgundy beef & egg noodles
Rib-eye steak, baked potato w/broccoli and cheese sauce
Sauerkraut & pork short ribs in brown sugar glaze
Stew beef sammiches w/ peppers and onions (au jus)
Homemade, chicken pot pies
Meatball Subs (yummy)
Pigs in the blanket stuffed cabbage
Sloppy joes (mild or cajun) on pretzel buns
BBQ babyback ribs
Chicken poppers & fries
Hamburger soup
Stewmeat stirfry
Corned beef & cabbage boiled dinner
Kielbasa & linguini in mustard sauce
Ribs, mac & cheese, butter fried Brussels sprouts & cheese
Sweet & sour chicken & rice
BLTs and soup
Homemade pork & beans
Homemade tuna casserole
Hot dogs (red hots), fries and beans
Big Chicken Dinner (BCD)
Chicken club sammiches
French fried pork & rice
Shish-ka-bobs (any meat, any veggy)
Good ole fashioned Beef Stew
Country fried steaks
L a s a g n a
Spicy steak poppers
Good ole fashioned fish fry
Spaghetti & meatballs (I add Italian sausage)
Stuffed shells (manicotti)
Tuna melts & veggies with dip
Chicken club sammiches
Chicken wings
Chili
Homemade clam chowder
Ham boiled dinner
Homemade ravioli
Lamb chops in scallop potatoes
Steak strips noodle casserole
Beef stroganoff
Hot dogs pigs-in-a-blanket
Roast turkey dinner
Sliders
Beef tips in wine reduction over egg noodles
Butterfly shrimp & wild rice (so wild it will 'bite' you)
Chicken caccitore
Chilimac
Beef Roast dinner
Chicken fajitas
Insulated tacos
Poorman's Meal
Chipped beef on toast (Sht on the shingle)
Hot turkey au jus sammiches
Pizza burgers
Roast beef poorboys
Homemade chicken & dumplings
Homemade calzones/strombolis
Loaded chicken nachos
Philly cheese steak sammiches
Beany bean soup
City chicken
Homemade chicken wantons
Pork fried rice
Chicken potstickers
Chicken biscuit casserole
Chicken-Ala-king
Ham & peas noodle casserole
Pork chops in scallop potatoes
Chicken cordon-blue in cream of chicken soup
Goulash
Meatloaf in gravy
teriyaki beef sammiches w Parmesan noodles
Cheesy chipped beef on onion bagels
Chili dogs
Ham potato soup & sammiches
Homemade Salisbury steaks
BBQ chipped ham sammiches
Cheeseburger potato boats
Ham steaks & mac&cheese
Meatball stew
Breakfast for supper
Butterfried pork chops
Homemade subs w/ salad
Loaded nachos
French onion steak & baked tater wedges
Hamburger pie
Smoked brisket
Swiss steak sinner
BBQ chicken drumsticks & potato salad
BBQ ribs & homemade baked beans
Pepperjack burgers
Big taco dinner
Chef salad with sammiches
Chicken lasagna Alfredo
Fried chicken with country gravy
Pork tenderloin
Pea soup & chipped ham sammiches
Homemade pizza
Kielbasa & rice
Loaded omelets
Beercan chicken
Cheesy beef burritos
Homemade hotpockets
Shepard's pie
Burger turds & egg noodles
Fried raviolis
Mini meatloaves & cheesy egg noodles
Old-fashioned Pork roast dinner
Cornish hens (rotisserie)
Fish sammiches
Fried pork steaks
Souper burgers
Loaded twice-baked potatoes
Red beans & rice
Muffulatas
Smoked turkey legs
Loaded bagel pizzas
Pork hocks (or ox tails) black-eyed peas & rice
RED GRAVY (Yummy)
Tomato mussels & cheesy garlic bread.

Since I wrote this list, I have added quite a few meals to my menu.
The thing is, once you understand how food cooks and how it pairs the sky is the limit.

I love cooking. Right now, I cook 90% of the meals I share with others.
My GF (dare I call her that?) says she has tried more new food with me than she has ever had in her life?
I feel good when she likes what I cook but I also understand that she can't take the spices I am used to and I have found it kinda challenging to limit those spices.
Its certainly been interesting....

You are so right, same here used to sit on counter to watch mom and learn

Never better served than by one's self.
I love cooking and I love eating. I learned early ( thanks so much, mom!) and improved over the years.
I improvise with different ingredients now, the sky's the limit.

I wanted to know how to cook so that I didn't have to rely on someone else. Men should know how to cook also. Restaurants are expensive.

After my late husband's fourth heart surgery, he found cooking therapeutic.
He became really good at it. Lucky me! That was the good news.. the bad news
was we all got fat.

I was taught at a young age to
Cook so I wouldn't have to
Depend on anyone to eat

THINK. men cooking is excellent - better yet cooking together is better - brings relationships closer

All men should learn how to cook, clean , shop and manage their finances why should they be dependent on a woman be it their mother, wife, girlfriend or whatever. It's called equal rights

What you men "mean deserve to be good cooks"?
Almost all cooks in restaurants are male, hahaha. Maybe it should be "Women deserve to be good cooks"?
I've often wondered why this is.
But in my experience, men tend to be better with herbs & spices and experimenting with foods and herbs & spices, and coming up with new dishes.

I don't like cooking, I CAN cook, and good too, but I do need a recipe and I do need to follow it to the letter or things go wrong.
I'm crap at experimenting with herbs. I must say I'm not keen on herbs & spices so I am not too familiar with them either.
My daughter is the same, although she's made grand dishes, but also with a recipe.

My son, however, is assistant cook in a top quality beach club and he can cook like you wouldn't believe! He comes up with new dishes for the restaurant at times, he experiments with herbs & spices etc., he loves cooking.
He has not studied to be a cook, he just started working there as a helping hand kind of, and worked himself up. He's managing a number of other people as well in the kitchen.

My ex whinged he couldn't cook but that was lying because he tried to get out of it as he didn't like it.
He could, however, cook really well, and also great at experimenting.
My last partner could've been a cook, had thought of becoming one even. He loved it, and was an excellent cook too.

So there's no need to wonder or say men deserve to be great cooks. They usually are.

Good point crystal. I like to cook and am an "ok" cook, but I have to follow a recipe. My brother on the other hand, is almost a gourmet cook and never follows a recipe. Drives me nuts! Maybe it's because he's a scientist? He told me it's just like chemistry. Still drives me nuts though.

Funny isn't it!
I also don't really know why.

Recipes? What's that?

I usually open the fridge, see what's there and the rest is creativity