I still remember the time when I was really little, enjoying my nana’s cooking. She would cook the best food ever. Chicken wings, soul food, chili, etc. My mom was even taught almost all of her recipes by my nana, and she even wanted to teach me. That was until she died when I was 12. I was devastated. Even though she was gone, there were still some things that I could keep from her. One of those things was her cooking. I still remember me and my mom going into the kitchen for me to learn how to cook. The first meal my mom taught me was a pancake breakfast. Pancakes, bacon, eggs, and smothered potatoes. I remember it being just as good when my nana would make it. My mom would start to teach me more recipes like chicken nuggets, stir fry, and spaghetti. I would sometimes put these recipes onto my phone in case I would forget them. Cooking seemed easy to me. All the recipes I was told looked easy, like you could get them all on the first try unless you purposely mess up. However, I learned the hard way that cooking isn’t as easy as it looks. Many times, when I would put bacon in the oven for breakfast, and it didn’t look done to me, I would add an extra 5 minutes, which would either burn or almost burn the bacon. Another situation that happened to me was when I tried to make garlic knots by myself. I remember how bad it turned out. It was basically crackers, but they were flavorless and non edible. I had to throw them all away. Another time, I was making some frozen hash browns in the oven. I started to preheat the oven, and I made a huge mistake. I didn’t check the oven. The reason why you check the oven is because there might be something that could melt or burn in there that you left in. I remember there was a plastic restaurant container filled with homemade rice krispie treats. It caused a fire, and I had to put it out. The smoke detector in my house was going off like crazy, so I had to open many windows and fan the smoke detector. I started to think if I was a good cook. Was I ever going to carry on my nana’s cooking legacy?

I remember it being almost a week before my first day of 7th grade. I decided to cook something on my own once again, this time chicken nuggets and fries. One of the easier things to make. I could make small snacks, like grilled cheeses or quesadillas, but never a real meal. I remember walking into the kitchen feeling confident in myself. I started to prep the chicken, peel the potatoes, and get the oil ready. I knew the right way to cook fries, on medium-low first, then high, putting the chicken in after the fries. The food was done. I tasted it, and it tasted just as good as when my nana used to make them. I was actually very happy with myself. I made something good. I could possibly still carry my nana’s cooking legacy. Even my mom said that the food was really good, almost as accurate as what she makes. This made cooking one of my more favorite interests. I can actually cook something good and easily. During the present day, I still cook by myself once in a while, many times with my mom helping me as a sous chef or an assistant, and even sometimes on my own. If you ever get something out of this story, it’s that something can be easy, but only if you know how to do it.

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