Good cookers make messes - my daughter when she was 3 (after noticing that the more bowls and pots I used, the better the meal tasted)

No access unless you agree to be spammed. Boo.

If you click "cancel" it'll still take you to the site, but the comments will be blurred out. I wasn't about to sign up for Facebook just to see, either!

That was an interesting read for the thinking behind the action; rather like that book of abandoned and found grocery store lists.

Besides the usual and obvious already posted, ours would include at least these for their invitation to adventure:

1. Recipes are suggestions; feel free to vary from them.

2. Try major alterations or very unfamiliar recipes on family first.

3. Cook without written instructions as often as possible (and there is even cookbooks on that subject).

4. Lastly, remember that variety makes things taste great like dining al fresco does so don't burn out everyone's taste buds on a favorite go-to recipe by repeating it too often or varying it too little.

I'd probably rearrange the list from fresh>canned>frozen to fresh>frozen>canned. I don't know about you guys, but I get much better quality from a bag of frozen broccoli than a can of broccoli.

I'd probably add:
- Know where your food comes from, and what makes it taste good/bad
- Experiment when cooking, calculated experiments while baking
- Try to find someone who will eat anything you make
- Know how techniques work. Eg. How to make caramelized onions and why it needs certain conditions to happen
- Learn what shortcuts don't impact the finish as much, you can't always spend forever on a dish to make it perfect
- A bad craftsman blames his tools, but having awful tools makes things harder. Sharp knives and solid pans make life easier

Thou shalt not buy cheap olive oil.

sistervashti , i love it!

If you cook, you don't clean up!

And can we have an AMEN for lakelady84 -- that's commandment #1 in my house!

Don't rush. Have a glass of wine.

I've always disagreed with, "if you cook, someone else cleans" - if you cook, or really do anything in life, be prepared to take responsibility for the entire endeavor from start to finish.

"Work clean and clean as you go", as the first Quora post lists.

Never trust a clean kitchen.

Clean as you go but plates, cutlery and table service wear gets cleaned up by the others.
But my number one commandment for the kitchen is
Fresh is best and variety rules.

Share what you make, including recipes.

cook what is in season. asparagus tastes so much better if you only eat it for 3 weeks every year. ditto corn, strawberries, peas.....

Yes, lonibelle! Buy fresh, buy local, buy what's in season is my #1.
At #2, thou shalt not eat plastic...yeah, you heard me. I avoid canned foods 99% of the time, since the BPA (read plastic) transfers its nasties to what´s inside.

With all respect to Julia Child: Never cook with a wine you wouldn't drink nor a food you wouldn't eat.

My first rule is: If you don't want to cook. Don't. Defrost or order in.

I hate cleaning the kitchen, but I do it (almost) every night now; I found trying to cook in a dirty kitchen was almost as bad as having to wait for someone else to clean it (after I bugged them to do it on my schedule). Easier to just get it done than nag.

I honestly don't agree with the if I cook, you clean rule most of the time. I love to cook, so it's not a chore for me like it could be so most nights, I'm happy to clean my mess. If it's a weeknight and I'm wiped out and not really into it, I'll let my husband do it, but I usually volunteer before he does.

My number one rule: Learn the fundamentals. Recipes are great, but if you never learn the fundamentals, you'll always be following someone else's steps instead of creating your own. And if someone else's recipe doesn't work exactly for you, how would you ever know how to make it better?

Share what you cook. World peace will ensue.

Ketherian got to it first, but I've just got to reiterate:

Thou shalt not cook with wine thou wouldst not drink.

Not really on cooking, but a corollary commandment:

If you're going to give someone a recipe be honest. Don't change or leave out ingredients. Yes, there are people who do that...

I don't understand why you wouldn't want to share a recipe. I've heard "it was my grandmother's." Well, what's wrong with having your grandmother's recipe loved outside your family? I make notes of where recipes come from. One of my most asked-for recipes is for spice cookies, a recipe from a woman my mother worked with 60 years ago. When I give folks that recipe I include the story, naming my mom's co-worker. That woman never had children, but her cookies have been being made for years after her death, and people who never met her are grateful to her.

Thank you, WendyMR! I agree 100%! I clean as I go, so cleaning up behind me is merely a matter of tableware. But when my husband cooks, the whole kitchen looks as if it blew up - and he doesn't want to clean it up, or understand why no one else wants to. *sigh*

For the cook: learn the method(s) & techniques, *then* worry about the recipes.
Clean as you go.
Cook locally & in season as much as possible
Family & friends make the best guinea pigs (they are more likely to forgive you for accidental poisoning!) ;D

For others: stay out of the way
Offer to help with clean-up, at the very least
Say something positive to the cook, even if the result is inedible - the effort alone is worthy of praise, regardless of the food

If you drop something, don't try and catch it, just step out of the way. Because sooner or later, you'll try and catch a falling knife or hot dish, and wish you hadn't.

Marion, I totally agree. It baffles me why anyone would not share a recipe! I guess if it is a proprietary business secret that's one thing, but for a home cook? I don't get it.

heard in a New Orleans cooking class: never trust a skinny cook!

Also, forgot the source: Never eat anything your grandmother wouldn't recognize as food!