thanks alot pale
hay ace101 here and wanted to tell my crunchy buddes i did it i did i brock up with my phycotic girl freind now i am off to be a man whore

ummm.. should i say, "good for you"?

Does anyone have any advice on how to improve my cooking skills?

Tips from el Eros, arm chair chef. I'd say its best to learn from someone good, and though experience and trying out different things.

Buy some books. I guarantee you that there is something like cooking for dummies. Or you can go higher-class. Search the web, get stuff like this: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/cooking-101-20-lessions-to-kick-start-your-cooking-skill.html

All those cooking shows on t.v. Turn on, tune in, drop out.

Thanks. I'll try that or get lessons from Zepher.

Yes, as a matter of fact! I don't know if you have a community college, or university that is close by to you, but if you do>>>take a non credit class! I know that the community college in my area offers different classes with different cuisines every month. I have taken the credit portion of what my community college offers and it was great building on what I already know. *But if you are serious about cooking it is definitely about the knives. One good chef's knife, and one good pairing knife can go a long way in saving you some grief down the road!*

Obtaining a college level course book in cooking will also go a long way in demystifying the whole cooking process. It spells out why food does what it does, and how to make the most from your food!

So Good Luck!

Also, it helps me when I am cooking to imagine what the food looks like when it is done. That keeps me from forgetting ingredients. I also guess what is going on inside areas I can't see. I also think about what will shrink and what will expand, what might burn and what will get cooked the slowest.

When cooking meat, remember that it will cook for a tiny bit longer, even after you remove it from the heat source. And in general, when food sticks to the pan, that part will burn 9 times out of 10.

Next time you are cooking for yourself, stop the recipie early and look at what is going on inside, play around with it and learn how fast your stove will cook the ingredients. It is okay if you make a mess of it, just make sure it is all the way cooked before you eat it.

But my number one super tip: Pay attention to your food! All the times I have messed up were times I got too cocky and let it cook too long, or forgot to turn on the stove entirely. Not paying attention means dropping ingredients or adding extra charcoal flavoring to your meal.

WATCH THE STOVE/GRIDDLE/WHATEVER.
i cook for myself a lot, and the burners i have are rather erratic and hate me.
start simple. i mean the absolute basics, then add on.
just because it looks cruddy doesn't mean it tastes cruddy and vice versa

^ I'm with gopherthegold; a great advice. I'm good at cooking, so more or less i never had a problem in the kitchen. (well, except for the mess! LOL)

^(o.o) we don't eat much cooked food mostly sunflower seeds, dried corn, cookie crumbs, etc ,etc (^.^) but this is some good cooking advice we gonna try =D

^ i'm gonna eat you cos i love hamster.

^ oh behave yesa - chan!

^ welcome back! Personal advice - don't leave CR again.

just go to the white house and cook for bush's food.... be sure to make it a poisonous food, okay

^ that doesent make sense.

Anyway i never understood what was so difficult about cooking, ive been doing it since i was 7, i make a heck of a lasagne, the most important thing is, as stated above already, not to get cocky with your food and start doing different sh@t althogether, and thus forgetting about your ohh so delicious food wich by then has turned a nice fireish color.
if your cooking, your cooking, if your napping, your napping, if your on CR, your on CR.
OHH Sh3it i forgot my potatos and they are boiling over!!!
*runs away*