Can you cook and sew?

People like to watch the food channel, not actually make food.

I ddin't take home ec.

I grew up cooking, so I learned early on how to do things (although never as good as my grandparents, parents, not sure why that happens).  I do my laundry, press my own pants/shirts, etc.  Never understood folks that can't.  Sewing is a different story.  I can put something back together, but very haphazardly, but I get it done.  A button is easy.  Sewing a costume together, may not look like it's supposed to.  Instant Mashed potatoes, YUCK!!! Doesn't take much to make a mashed potato from scratch, even if you have to google how to do it.

That being said, so many folks (me included), just don't have the time to cook as much as we would like.  Both parents work, they come home, take the kids to practice, and by the time everyone is home, it's 7-8pm.  Maybe it's an excuse not to, as so many things are easily prepared.  We tend to eat healthy though, just may not cook nightly.  Make things ahead of time and have leftovers.  If we order food or pick something up, we order from places that make food from proper ingredients, and watch the portions, never fast food.

I just think a lot of family's don't think about it as much, and parents don't take the time to really teach their children how to do these things for themselves...  

i love to cook.  i cook a lot over the weekend because i don't have time to cook during the week, but much prefer to eat real food than convenient foods.  my husband and i go out for a lot of meals too.

he can't cook worth a crap.  i think it's because his dad taught him to do yardwork and his mom taught his sister to cook.  figures!

as for sewing, i can sew but don't own a sewing machine.  i repair hems and small holes by hand, and if i had a sewing machine, would have made my own curtains and my costumes would be much sweeter.  but hand-sewing anything more than a button or hem is a biotch.

when i grew up (i am 30), EVERYONE had to take home economics (2 semesters of sewing, 2 of cooking) and industrial arts (we worked with leather, plastic, metal and wood maybe?) in middle school, which is good because my mom is not a cooker or sewer.  my grandmother is though!  i don't know if that was normal in lots of schools or if it's gone now...

It's family and consumer science?  You have got to be sh_____ me.

I took home ec, but it didn't help with much for me.  My grandma taught me how to sew simple stuff when I was young, so buttons and hems aren't really a problem.  My wife is 1,000 times better than me so I just leave it to her anymore though.  In the same respect I can iron like a crazy man, so she leaves all that to me.

Cooking, I can "man cook".  grill and sides (corn on cob, mashed potatoes, beans, etc........) I can lay the smack down.  I can bake a cake or cookies too.  That's about as good as it gets though.  I couldn't make a quiche to save my life.

You kind of relate it to kids costumes and crafts and fortunately for me my wife is super duper creative and crafty and so she kind of handles all that so my skills have really only degenerated.  (I say fortunately because her projects turn out AWESOME, not because it means I don't have to do it)

Yes and yes.  I can cook better than my wife, but she can sew better than I.

My big project last winter was an underquilt for my hiking hammock.  This winter, I'm making a backpack and a top quilt.  I don't do clothes though.

I can cook, sew, clean, do laundry (with approval first) and fix things.  This is a soap box topic for me.  It annoys me to no end when I find out that someone can't do a basic function of life expecially when that function crosses over traditional gender roles but that will take us off topic.

I really enjoy cooking, and am happy to see that my kids are taking an interest in helping in the kitchen.  I have my own sewing machine and while I don't make clothes the repairs I have done to our clothes has more than paid for the machine.  Its incredible the pile of clothes that lands next to me when I start sewing.  30 min later done....

Granted we have our roles in the house but there is a lot of shared work done too. 

Of course.

I can even bake and nicely stitch up a wound, accidental or post-op.

IMO you will see more and more of this as more parents spend less time actually parenting and more kids spend more time in front of (insert electronic device/computer).

My sons are almost 20 and 17. Both know how to sew on a button and can cook. The older boy is reluctant but knows how to make 3 good meals start to finish. My younger son loves to cook and even uses some of my grandma's recipes.

We homeschool and my girls are 10, 9 and 5.  The 10 year old loves to sew and has taken sewing classes. Last year the only thing she asked for Christmas was a sewing machine, my husband built the table.  My middle daughter loves to cook and is always in the kitchen. The little one is learning to crack eggs and likes to help add ingredients.

Not everyone is strong in the kitchen or sewing but I do feel parents are lacking in passing down their own skills to their children.

This reminds me of a story about my older daughter. She had a spanish class and the kids were all making different foods for a party. She wanted to make churros. We found a recipe on-line, and she and a friend followed the recipe. We heated the oil for them to deep fry the dough after shaping. I don't know what went wrong, but the churros fried a nice crisp outside...while the dough inside was still expanding. Which resulted in churro grenades exploding hot oil and dough! We still have oil stains on the ceiling of the kitchen! To this day, she is afraid to fry anything - even pan fried! 

A backpack? I'm impressed! Do you have a heavy-duty machine to get through the strapping and hold securely?

I've made a few quilts for beds and walls (hand sewn topstitching), but I hadn't thought about doing the underquilt idea for my hammock. I haven't done winter camping in a few years - the last time I did, I brought the dogs and they kept my tent toasty warm. Then they got too old to take out for adventures like that.

Can I cook?  Check

Can I bake?  Check (from scratch)

Can I sew?  Check (basic stuff, although I prefer to outsource this task)

I learned all these skills as a kid.  I learned to bake from my step mom, and sewing in a home-ec class.  Although, my step mom did teach me to use an old peddle wheel sewing machine when I was a kid.  I wanted to learn how to use it cause I thought it was a cool tool. 

My wife can do all the same things, but she really learned to cook (more than pasta) and bake from scratch after we were living together. Now she does all the baking with our daughter (3yr old) and she (our daughter) is learning to bake.  I am sure she will learn to cook when she gets older.  Sewing is something that tends to end up in my hands or my mother-in-laws.  Mostly, because she cant stand it. 

I can cook pretty well. I can pick a wine to pair with food. I'm not good at baking anything except bread. My son is in his second year of college for Culinary Arts, so I'm learning a little classic technique by watching him. But he's a chef, not a cook. His homework is my good eats

I can sew a button back on, but that's it.

While I guess I can cook without killing anyone, I hate it.  I've also had the fire department called to the apartment twice when I've tried to cook.  However, I really enjoy baking and I'm pretty good at it.. for the safety of everyone involved, I'll stick to baking.

As for sewing, I too took home ec in high school and learned how to make an apron complete with pockets and embroidery - but those skills were forgotten long ago.  Now I'm fine with buttons, small repairs and hemming items of clothing. 

Thankfully the hubby likes to cook and makes really good meals! 

I did not have Home Economics in high school - I graduated in 1990. My mother taught me how to cook.

Yes we cook most of our meals from scratch. There is only subway or the gas station for take out in our town. There is one other restaurant, The Wagon Wheel, but I'm not sure they do take out . I'm an o.k. cook but not a great meal planner. And don't ask me to make pie crust - I just can't seem to get the feel of that.

I took a sewing class in college. I know how to sew but don't own a sewing machine and I'd have to search really hard to find a needle and thread around my house. Sewing is really low on my priorities list so even finding room in a closet to keep a sewing machine plus sewing supplies - just the thought of it makes me feel frustrated. 

This reminds me, when I was little my mother and older sister stayed up late several nights in a row before Christmas to sew my other sister and I a whole box full of Barbie Doll clothes. I can't even imagine the fine motor nightmare of sewing Barbie clothes!!

Also, I said my Mom taught me to cook but my Dad did too. He liked baking bread and used to get us involved in that whole process. I remember thinking that was really fun.

I do both fairly well.  

In the kitchen, I'm not afraid to try of anything.  I can make a kick-butt baklava, or an awesome roast duck, or homemade pasta, etc....  LOVE to cook.

As for sewing, I don't do much of it these days, but in the Navy I did a ton of it aboard ship making things like boat covers, winch covers, bags for monkey ropes, as well as sewing items onto uniforms.  I don't think I'll be making any clothing any time soon, but I could make a tent, if needed

Is that where your lady friend keeps them?