I don't know about other women, but I can certainly cook. However, my mother (and father) did not teach me; I learned how to cook out of necessity after I married, and I learned via cookbooks.

Even today my husband says I have more cookbooks than his mother did, and she too, was a great cook!

My husband is satisfied with two things, primarily: Pasta and pot roast. And it's pretty hard to mess that up!

He works second shift, so it's primarily me and our son that I cook for. My husband is satisfied with pasta in the fridge that he can heat up. Sometimes, though, I'll take some pot roast, potatoes, and corn to him at work, but I usually make that if he's going to be home.

When my mother was dying I had to do most of the cooking for her and my dad. I can honestly say I was better at her recipes than she was when healthy (mind you she hated cooking).

I like to make casseroles, because they are one-dish meals and the ones I make, everyone here loves. My crockpot (put on "low") gets lots of usagetoo, but mostly on the Sabbath...a time when we are not supposed to cook.

Do you ever bake bread? Every Friday morning beginning around 6AM (my one day off from my usual early morning workout), I bake four loaves of challah bread. Its used for the Sabbath, and everyone prefers the homebaked kind, rather than what Jewish bakeries here sell. Its braided egg bread, and easy to make once you get the hang of it!

I am an excellent cook, one of the best

you aint ate a bacon chili cheddar burger till you ate mine
and my fried pork chops, peas and jalepeno cornbread are to die for

I can't cook, I can never seem to get the hang of it, I can make some basic meals but not all that well though

Jalapeno cornbread rocks!!

I make it in cast iron cactus-shaped baking irons, so they come out shaped like cacti!

I usually make them from scratch...cornmeal, onion flakes, shredded Mexican cheddar cheese, corn kernels, milk, egg, baking powder, some sugar, and chopped Jalapeno OR (if you're brave) habanero peppers!

Great article Rebadow!,
I remember back to the '80's when I was at Secondary school here and they had a class called Home Economics, this was a class where girls were taught to cook, etc.
There were questions raised at the time as to why boys were not allowed to do this class, but I do remember at least 2 girls in the Metal-working class I was in at the time.
This could be why NZ has never been famous for male chefs.

I learned to cook out of necessity, obviously living alone, there are only so many take-aways one can have before they all start to taste the same .
Now, these sorts of classes rarely exist in schools (think feminist education system and woman in kitchen) these days, or at least if they do, they are so watered down that they are pretty much useless.

Go to any given supermarket on a week day and you'll see what happens, people under 30 (of both sexes) with trolleys full of ready-to-nuke meals of various descriptions.
IMO, this is just bloody laziness at it's worst degree, supermarkets also sell fresh veges, meat and other accompaniments, but you get the same old answer when these people are asked why they don't cook meals and that is usually "Ooh, but it's too hard and time-consuming!", my arse it is.
I manage to work a 70 hour week and cook for myself and clean the frigging house, so don't hand that crap.

And let me say this, things are only going to get worse from a cooking point of view, at one time mothers used to teach their daughters how to cook, now if Mum's culinary skills begin and end with operating the nuke-box, God help us all.

I agree, men do make better cooks, a lot of the guys I know do all the cooking in their households, a mate of mine makes a really kick-arse garlic stuffed rolled leg of lamb, with all the trimmings, I went around to his place for dinner one night and he had things really under control, mind you he was being constantly being told that he shouldn't be doing this or that by his wife, apparently she can't cook to save herself, but still likes to criticise.
The meal was better than you would get in an expensive restaurant IMO.

Mike,

When I went to school (junior high, which they now call middle school), they had the girls take home ec, and the boys took woodshop.

I hated home ec; sewing was boring and so was cooking. All the sewing teacher had us sew was aprons, and all the cooking teacher had us cook was sugar cookies (to this day I hate sugar cookies!)

Thing is, she had a crush on the math teacher, and would have US bake cookies, and SHE would bring them to him. ARGH!!!

I asked my Dad to have me switched to woodshop, because some of my male friends said it was great, plus, it would enable me to make stuff like the things Dad and I used to make in his woodshop at home.

So, he got them to switch me, but I had to put up with being called "lezzie" for months after that, by the other girls (the boys thought it was great, and welcomed me into the class, OTOH.)

Wouldn't a Lezzie want to be where the girls are?

Grand Ma was an excellent cook with 100's of recipes in her head and never a measuring cup in her house.

I've known a few guys who were excellent cooks. In fact one of my old school buddies was the best chinese cook ever. I can't find a chinese restaurant that gets near his cooking. Most are very disappointing.