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Getting Comfortable in the Kitchen

All this encouragement to provide family meals is terrific. But what if the kitchen is foreign territory to you? How about if you don't own the right equipment, or stock essential foods and flavorings? Or if your stocks of knowledge and confidence are as empty as your shelves?

Not to worry! You don't have to be a wonderful cook to turn out wonderful meals. There's no need for specialized equipment or fancy spices. You can start with one simple dish that you and your family enjoy. Call it your signature dish, and give yourself a pat on the back.

What do you feel comfortable doing? Can you put a piece of meat under the broiler, or cook it in a pan with a little bit of oil? Are you capable of laying out some forks and knives? Can you open a bag of salad greens and set a jar of salad dressing on the table? If that feels like too much, can you microwave a frozen entrée and put it on a plate?

For your first efforts, you want to give yourself a good chance of success. So think modest thoughts. A sandwich and a helping of canned soup can be a meal.

Planning helps. Run through the foods that you are going to serve. Make a shopping list. Now picture the dinner table as you would like it to be. Is there anything you should buy, borrow, or improvise? Do you need all the elements you are imagining? Again, let's keep this in the realm of the do-able. You don't want to finish this exercise thinking, Well, I'll never do that again. You want to end thinking, Wow! I can do it. I really can.

When it comes time to make the meal, good cooks know that the preparation is at least as important as the act of cooking. And beginning cooks often get stuck on issues of timing. So run through the elements ahead of time, so you know what has to get started first.

Don't forget the clean up. If this is a big hurdle for you, then plan your meal accordingly. Disposables may be your best friends.

Here's one more piece of advice: cook what you like to eat. You will feel better about the whole process if you can really enjoy the end result.

Break down the pieces of the meal: shopping, prep, serving, clean up. Move through each one and go on to the next. Enjoy the meal, and bask in the glory.

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