1. Practicality: cheaper, better control of what the family eats. Hospitality: There's little better for building bonds than sharing a home-cooked meal. Recreation: Fun to try new things, to copy things we like, to do something special for special occasions. Also: Cooking changes how I'm using my hands and brain in a different way than sitting at a keyboard/screen all day.
2. We do a rough sketch of the week on Sunday mornings - we spend half an hour talking over budget, schedule, meals and their intersection.
3. A) What we grew up with. B) What we learned we liked C) Things from cookbooks that look good.
4. At different times we've tried Atkins and South Beach. Mostly, we like Pollan's 'Eat food, not too much, mostly plants'. Although we probably eat too many brats to really qualify.
5. Do you have any life hacks, tips to be more productive as a cook?
Planning by the month/week/session ('mise en place') is key. The right gear can be important (knives and pans, yes, but an ounce/gram scale and a thermometer have changed how we cook). Learning is the other key. I've spent too much on cookbooks, but Alton Brown (e.g. 'I'm Just Here for the Food'), Julia Child (esp. 'The Way to Cook'), and Thomas Keller (esp. 'Ad Hoc') all have a lot to teach that applies in day-to-day cooking. I like Thomas Keller's baking trick (from 'Bouchon Bakery'): Use a single measuring bowl with a scale, measure quantities by weight, taring out after each ingredient goes in. Faster, more accurate, fewer things to clean up later.
Not really notes, but off the top of my head:
1) We pull up Mint, categorize anything that isn't and look at how last week's spending compares with the budget.
2) We talk day by day over the week - special events, working late, etc. We dedicate Thursday to having people over for dinner, so we talk about who and what to make for them.
3) We've got a not-nearly-enough-organized list of 'the usual' meals, and we do a sketchy job of lining that up against what's in the fridge/pantry, and against what we haven't had in awhile. If it's Fall/Winter, we usually make a stew or soup or casserole or two for lunch/dinner Sunday and leftovers/lunches the rest of the week. We'll decide Sunday morning, and make it that afternoon, or the following week if we're missing some key ingredient. We buy bulk stuff on our Saturday runs to Costco, produce and such on Sunday afternoons, and there's sometimes a Wednesday or Thursday trip to fill in bits for Thursday dinner.
Hope that helps... I'm sure someone's put more thought into it than we have.
2. We do a rough sketch of the week on Sunday mornings - we spend half an hour talking over budget, schedule, meals and their intersection.
3. A) What we grew up with. B) What we learned we liked C) Things from cookbooks that look good.
4. At different times we've tried Atkins and South Beach. Mostly, we like Pollan's 'Eat food, not too much, mostly plants'. Although we probably eat too many brats to really qualify.
5. Do you have any life hacks, tips to be more productive as a cook? Planning by the month/week/session ('mise en place') is key. The right gear can be important (knives and pans, yes, but an ounce/gram scale and a thermometer have changed how we cook). Learning is the other key. I've spent too much on cookbooks, but Alton Brown (e.g. 'I'm Just Here for the Food'), Julia Child (esp. 'The Way to Cook'), and Thomas Keller (esp. 'Ad Hoc') all have a lot to teach that applies in day-to-day cooking. I like Thomas Keller's baking trick (from 'Bouchon Bakery'): Use a single measuring bowl with a scale, measure quantities by weight, taring out after each ingredient goes in. Faster, more accurate, fewer things to clean up later.