4/5/17 Learning How To Cook?

    Most people learn to cook early, either because they love it, or because their family calls on them to do it.  I had been lucky most of my life, as growing up my mom did all the cooking, whether it meant we ate Pizza Hut or Golden Chick once or twice a week, that was fine, as long as I didn't have to do it.  College was more of the same.  I was fine getting by on cans of tuna or cereal or peanut butter/jelly sandwiches, but my roommate liked to cook, and in return I washed the dishes and kept the kitchen more or less clean.  The third chapter of my life has had Wife doing a beautiful job with the cooking.  She can and will cook anything and seems to even enjoy the challenge.  I will admit, I have been spoiled up until Wife's new job.
    When she started, she took Chubs down there for the first three weeks, so it was just Boy and myself.  I certainly wasn't going to worry about Boy on a nightly basis, being that the young man is 22, now 23, he should be able to go buy a burger or tacos at night.  Then Chubs came back, that was really a fly in the ointment, as they say.  I tried to say we'll eat after school at say Bill Miller, then you can eat whatever later at night, like a sandwich, or a microwave item.  That was working for awhile, but I think they just started getting tired of Paninis.
    I do like to grill, so usually on Sunday nights, we grill after Wife leaves.  That takes care of Sunday evening and maybe even the afternoon the next day.  Another trick Wife has been teaching me is to use the slow cooker.  I have now done a pork butt roast last week and a brisket hunk tonight.  The brisket was not a full sized one, but it was still about six pounds, so plenty of meat for everybody.  I am impressed with the slow cooker, it makes me look like I know what I am doing.  Since I am spending all this time in the kitchen, I have also made a couple of cakes, including a german chocolate cake this Monday night.
    I thought making a good grilled cheese or some scrambled eggs was going to be the extent of my cooking, but the boys are back to eating as good as they always did.  Just to go above and beyond, I even cut a watermelon into pieces to make it easier to eat and surprisingly, it was sweet and went rather fast.  I cut it Monday, since we had cake Sunday night, and both the cake and the watermelon are gone already.  For tonight, the boys can make fettucine alfredo with chicken breasts, or eat some leftover brisket.