cooking lessons and boys

 What sorts of lessons have you learned from the people you’ve dated?

I started thinking about it today, and along with some life lessons, it seems I’ve also gathered a few cooking tips and tricks along the way. I notice these revelations in real-time. For example, the thought “pierce the sausage or it might explode” popped into my head as I cooked pork sausages today. My Covid summer fling used to BBQ for me all the time. Perhaps a cooking tip I wouldn’t have known if it wasn’t for the time I spent with him.

You see, I’ve never really been a Betty Crocker in the kitchen, so perhaps my dating experiences were also to benefit my skills in the kitchen. Perhaps these cooking lessons were imperative for me to learn as they are preparing me for when I meet “the one.”

“They used to say to get a man you had to know how to look. They used to say to keep a man you had to know how to cook.” – Lizzo

Crazy thought? Maybe! But I’m gonna go with it, because whether you spend a few hours or a few years with someone, everyone we meet is for a reason, right? 

In case you were wondering here are some cooking tips I gathered over the years: 

For example:

• Massage kale with oil before consuming. It makes it so much better!
• Heat up your oil with chilli flakes before throwing your items into the pan 
• How to make your own BBQ sauce and deep fried chicken wings (this was before YouTube, friends)
• Cut out the white parts of peppers
• Making spice rubs
• Pierce the sausage! 

Some of that advice was from guys whose names I don’t remember. Others, from guys who broke my heart. And as I cook different dishes, I sometimes get flashbacks of memories of a time when a man was cooking for me, and the tricks he had . And all I can say is that I hope they learned something from me in return.