1. Some of both. I've always liked cooking, and my wife and I both like good food and used to eat out a lot. When we got our own place instead of having to share with roommates/family members we just ended up cooking a lot more.
2. Only in a casual way. We have a few stapels that we rotate through on an ad-hoc basis depending on how we feel and what food might be on sale or in season, and plan 1 or 2 more complex meals a week. Planning is the least enjoyable part of it for me.
3. Pasta dishes, curries, roasts, occasional barbecue. I grew up in Ireland eating meta & two veg, my wife is vietnamese/Chineseso maybe 30-40% homestyle cooking (which we both do, eg I can make Pho) and 60-70% what we might have if we went out. We have good farmers markets near us as well so every so often we'll just buy ingredients that look interesting and learn how to cook with them.
4. LOL no. the nearest we come to health food is using olive oil by default. I don't like a lot of grease/salt/sugar in my food so I don't cook tht way. I could accomodate a special diet if I had to, two of my family have coeliac disease so I grew up dealing with limited diets.
5. Cooking is mostly about control of heat. So if you have a choice, use a gas stove. Spend money on pots and pans, you'll get better results. If in doubt, heavier is generally better. It's better to start hot and turn down than vice versa, I've lost a lot more meals to undercooking than burning things. Ceramic or anodized non-stick is totally worth it, but it's not appropriate for everything. 'Barkeeper's friend' will get the shine back on your metal cookware. You can cut your cooking time in half by doing things in the right order.
2. Only in a casual way. We have a few stapels that we rotate through on an ad-hoc basis depending on how we feel and what food might be on sale or in season, and plan 1 or 2 more complex meals a week. Planning is the least enjoyable part of it for me.
3. Pasta dishes, curries, roasts, occasional barbecue. I grew up in Ireland eating meta & two veg, my wife is vietnamese/Chineseso maybe 30-40% homestyle cooking (which we both do, eg I can make Pho) and 60-70% what we might have if we went out. We have good farmers markets near us as well so every so often we'll just buy ingredients that look interesting and learn how to cook with them.
4. LOL no. the nearest we come to health food is using olive oil by default. I don't like a lot of grease/salt/sugar in my food so I don't cook tht way. I could accomodate a special diet if I had to, two of my family have coeliac disease so I grew up dealing with limited diets.
5. Cooking is mostly about control of heat. So if you have a choice, use a gas stove. Spend money on pots and pans, you'll get better results. If in doubt, heavier is generally better. It's better to start hot and turn down than vice versa, I've lost a lot more meals to undercooking than burning things. Ceramic or anodized non-stick is totally worth it, but it's not appropriate for everything. 'Barkeeper's friend' will get the shine back on your metal cookware. You can cut your cooking time in half by doing things in the right order.