How do you cook?

Ever since I could remember, my dad always cooked for my family. He would eat at some restaurant, taste their food, and then make the exact thing at home without any recipe. I have had the luxury to eat almost anything in my home. Yet, one thing is for sure, my dad doesn't like to teach us how to cook. He always says,"All you can do is watch." I didn't have time for that.

Now that we are almost graduating and entering into independence and adult hood, I have begun to think about my future without my dad's cooking. Many of us have someone cooking or buying us food. As children, we began being fed by someone other than ourselves. The idea that food will no longer be served and that it is time to cook for myself or else spend the rest of my life depending on eating out (having someone else cook for you) scares me. Can I cook for myself? My dad's cooking ability was developed through years and years of experience, learning from his own great grandfather. How will I ever be able to sustain my conditioned lifestyle of eating certain food all the time when the pressures of school and work will probably prevent me from having time to cook? This is an entire generation of people. Cooking is no longer as common as it had been before when people (mostly women) were initially called to the duty of learning how to prepare meals. This generation consists of dependent consumers who have considered cooking as a rare skill.