Cooking for One 101

The British girls on my hall often pull their resources and boundless knowledge all of things "cookery" related. I would join in on these celebrations of domesticity, but, seeing as how I don't really get in a tizzy over potatoes and pot pies, I cook for myself.

I thought, for giggles, I would share my top 8 cooking tips:

1) You do not peel a cucumber like you would a carrot. Instead, you slice it.

2) If you are in a backasswards country where they do not sell Hershey's syrup to put on your ice cream, apply liberal amounts of chocolate powder (the kind you use for chocolate milk - like Nestle's Quick). Super yummy! (nutella works as well...)

3) Although sugar looks the same as salt, it does not taste the same.

4) Sugar does not taste good on rice or pasta.

5) Portabello Mushrooms should not be frozen.

6) Put equal amounts of rice and water in the pot. Not two parts rice to one part water. Burnt rice is hard to scrape off of a pot.

7) Some English "Quick Meals" are meant for the "cooker" (oven). They do not go in the microwave because the metal bits make sparks and sparks make fire.

8) When baking cookies from an English recipe, be aware that the setting for the oven is in Celsius not Fahrenheit. Cookies in the oven at 350 celsius for 12 minutes come out black.