First thing you ever cooked or baked for your SO

[Gypsy]

What's the first thing you ever cooked or baked for your SO.. and what was their reaction.

I make stuffed peppers for my DH. He watched me cook them and looked excited to try them. So I served us both and he took one bite and a look of utter shock crossed his face. I looked at him and understood immediately and accused, "You were expecting it to be bad!" It turns out every woman who had ever cooked for him on a date made food that looked okay but tasted, well... bad. So he was expecting more of the same. He was happily surprised to discover that my cooking was actually edible.

Your turn.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

The first, was tempeh with peanut sauce. DH choked it down and acted like he loved it. A few years later he admitted that was the nastiest thing he had ever eaten (FYI it was delish!)

Shortly thereafter, I made it up to him though...with Gumbo...

I am a white girl from rural Pennsylvania who had never eaten or seen gumbo. He is a black man (now my DH) from southern Louisiana who grew up on gumbo...I did tons of research on recipes, spent a small fortune on ingredients, cooked a pot of gumbo, carried it all over Boston and the suburbs (the T, commuter rail, and bus) to give him a surprise birthday party a few months after we started dating. That he LOVED!!!

 

[kenny]

Hot sticky buns.

 

[Imdanny]

I have a similar story, but it was SO who cooked for me. I don't cook or bake. I mean I'm not as hopeless with it as fabric-anything but cook for him, then, for a date, noo.

He cooked me steak - now this part is French and, well, let's just say got a 65 in French in middle school, and 64 would been an F- au pavra (sp), green beans, mashed potatoes, I don't remember if there was salad, and raspberries for desert.

I'd never had food that good, and never could have imagined it.

SO could have been a chef if he had chosen to. He doesn't bake, but he's the best cook I've met, far and away.

Me, I just stand there in a panic, never knowing when something is done, when to turn the stove off, when to take something out of the oven, trying not to ruin meals, pretty sad.

 

[tuffyluvr]

We had eaten out and ordered takeout for the first couple months we dated. I love to cook, so for our first valentines I invited him over for a home-cooked meal. I wanted to make something that was all from scratch, but was quick and looked like I threw it together effortlessly, so I made penne vodka. He sat in the kitchen and drank wine while I cooked. It was good, but I think something with bacon would have been more impactful on the dude. I knocked his socks off with my lasagna--that has sausage, pancetta and bolognese about a month later. He ate three pieces and made himself so sick that it was NOT a romantic night, so it's a good thing I didn't make that on valentines, hahaha!!!!

 

[tuffyluvr]

Hot sticky buns.

Perverse....

 

[tuffyluvr]

I have a similar story, but it was SO who cooked for me. I don't cook or bake. I mean I'm not as hopeless with it as fabric-anything but cook for him, then, for a date, noo.

He cooked me steak - now this part is French and, well, let's just say got a 65 in French in middle school, and 64 would been an F- au pavra (sp), green beans, mashed potatoes, I don't remember if there was salad, and raspberries for desert.

I'd never had food that good, and never could have imagined it.

SO could have been a chef if he had chosen to. He doesn't bake, but he's the best cook I've met, far and away.

Me, I just stand there in a panic, never knowing when something is done, when to turn the stove off, when to take something out of the oven, trying not to ruin meals, pretty sad.

Ahhh, steak au poivre--a Julia Childs classic!!! Such a wonderful dish--he must have wanted to impress you! Did he make the cognac-cream pan sauce?

 

[kenny]

Hot sticky buns.

Perverse....

Goodness, girl.
Whatever were you thinking?

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sticky-buns/

 

[JewelFreak]

Don't remember what I made for DH the first time -- I love to cook so whatever it was, he liked it. The thing that knocked him out was that I offered him Remy VSOP after dinner. 30 yrs ago when we met, you didn't see many good wines, etc., in the U.S. & he, who grew up in Holland, was an expert -- bought them before they were in cask. I NEVER expected to meet an American girl who had decent cognac around, sez he. I think he was mine at that moment.

 

[yennyfire]

I love to bake and had made a plate of little bite sized desserts....mini pecan pies, mini chocolate ginger tarts, cranberry/white chocolate biscotti, etc. I served them to him after our second date. He had taken me out to dinner and I invited him to my house for coffee and dessert. He was hooked, then and there. Nowadays, with the kids, I tend to bake lots of cookies. Their tastes aren't as refined and I don't have hours to spend baking anymore...thinking about this kinda made me miss it. I may have to devote a Saturday to baking....

 

[Enerchi]

I do not cook now - I'm like Danny - PANIC! what goes where/when does it turn on/when does it come out.... omg - cooking strikes fear in my heart....

but way back in the 80's, I did cook. DH's favourite food of all time is lasagna and I made him a tray of it. YUM! That and ceasar salad. Yeah, typical cop out 'man food', but it worked!!

 

[Echidna]

It was either Thai chicken meatballs or peanut chicken satay. Neither of us can remember! I guess it wasn't that awesome

 

[April20]

We actually cooked together the first time- we both love to cook. But I can't remember what it was!!! I think it was fish.... I remember it was good.

 

[Amys Bling]

A roasted chicken, mashed potatos, stuffing and veggies- we just bought our house and he and his family were going away for thanks giving weekend so I made our own little thanksgiving for the two of us.

 

[luv2sparkle]

First of all, before I tell you what it was, I have to preface the story with the fact that it was 1980 and I was just 20 years old. I had never cooked much of anything before other than a hamburger in a pan.

For some reason, I don't know why now, I decided to make mini corn dogs. I cut up hot dogs and battered them individually. They actually came out pretty good except the oil started smoking and set off the smoke alarms in our apartment. I never did it again.

I am actually a pretty good cook now, but I sure don't know what I was thinking with that.

 

[Lottie]

I had never really made anything other than pasta before, so I decided to cook a recipe I had torn out of a magazine called Fish Florentine which was a bit like a fish pie, it looked AMAZING when I brought it to the table - so amazing that I had secretly taken a photo of my masterpiece in the kitchen. Unfortunately, when I tried to serve it I realised that I hadn't blanched any of the vegetables and the dish was completely waterlogged, it was inedible. We ordered a takeaway. This is going back 12 years - I am greatly improved now I promise!

 

[daintyG]

We were 19. I wanted to be sweet and surprise him, so I cooked in his apartment while he was working. I had everything ready when he got home. Oh, and I turned the lights down, played some music, lit candles, and got sparkling juice to go with it (kind of an attempt to be sweet and funny at the same time. the lighting and song was sort of an inside joke). Anyway, I cooked mexican chicken. I still don't know how, but it came out really runny. I was embarrassed, but my man is so easy to please that he ate it up and complimented me anyway. I had stupidly put the candles onto a quilt on the floor (with a little napkin under them) and they melted through the quilt into his carpet. So then we had to go buy carpet cleaner and try to get the mess up before his roommate found out. It's a cute memory now, though.

 

[Jennifer W]

I made individual goats cheese and caramelised onion tartlets,served with rocket salad, followed by some grilled fillets of wild Scottish salmon, with avocado salsa, fresh asparagus and Jersey new potatoes. We had a bottle of vintage Bollinger with it, and then three tiny pots of bitter chocolate, vanilla, and raspberry mousses for dessert. It was (though I say it myself) an incredible dinner.

Of course, we ate it on the floor of the (recently condemned) apartment I lived in, since some of my furniture had been stolen, and we ate by candle light, since the electricity was off (someone stole some of the wiring). We were wearing many layers of clothing, because there was no heating and the demolition crew had started stripping out the windows in preparation for explosive demolition (I may have stayed longer than I was supposed to...).

Yeah, I'll show you romance.

Oh, and someone had died horribly elsewhere in the building that afternoon, so we were interrupted by the police crashing through the building looking for a suspect.

I can certainly cook, but I've never been great at finding lovely places to live.

 

[Amys Bling]

We were 19. I wanted to be sweet and surprise him, so I cooked in his apartment while he was working. I had everything ready when he got home. Oh, and I turned the lights down, played some music, lit candles, and got sparkling juice to go with it (kind of an attempt to be sweet and funny at the same time. the lighting and song was sort of an inside joke). Anyway, I cooked mexican chicken. I still don't know how, but it came out really runny. I was embarrassed, but my man is so easy to please that he ate it up and complimented me anyway. I had stupidly put the candles onto a quilt on the floor (with a little napkin under them) and they melted through the quilt into his carpet. So then we had to go buy carpet cleaner and try to get the mess up before his roommate found out. It's a cute memory now, though.

awww.

 

[LJL]

I honestly can't remember. I cook and bake so much that it could have been almost anything... but I'm sure he loved it! I know for sure that within in the first couple months of meeting me I had made for him (and others) chicken with yellow rice, and a full Easter meal with ham, turkey, potatoes, cobbler, etc.

We were living in a series of apartments with a bunch of other students who were stuck away from home for a lot of holidays/occasions. I turned into a little mom and took care of everyone.

 

[monarch64]

I'm pretty sure the first meal I made for us was salad, pasta, and garlic bread that came from a foil pack. It's very likely that there was a ~$5 bottle of merlot served with it. I was pretty poor at the time having just gone through a divorce. He was VERY complimentary although I found out later he isn't a huge salad fan (he ate all of it). I didn't have a table, so we ate on my couch, and I didn't have a television or source of music besides my ipod or laptop so it was a very quiet dinner. I do remember discussing how happy we were that we both were vegetarians and how easy it would be to cook for each other. If he'd been a meat-eater it would have been a very sad little steak I'd have made him!

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

The first meal I really remember (though I'm sure I baked cookies or brownies early on) was a stuffed chicken recipe with roasted red peppers. What the side dishes were, I don't recall. I was 19 and still learning to cook, and when the grocery store in my super-tiny college town did not have a jar of roasted red peppers, I figured I could substitute using roasted red pepper flakes

My boyfriend, now DH, was so, so sweet that he choked down the meal and took leftovers home. Mine was inedible, so I know his was, too. It was like eating pure fire. I have since learned my lesson and have grown to be quite a cook (if I do say so ) I love cooking for DH and other friends and family. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy!

The first meal DH cooked for me was 2 weeks after we met. He made overcooked steak and tater tots. College boy. His cooking ability hasn't developed much since then, but I love him anyway

 

[isaku5]

I was never allowed in the kitchen at home. That was my mother's domain so when DH and I were married, his first lunch was warmed-up pork 'n' beans served with toast The poor guy suffered through many of my efforts without complaint until I made creamed peas over toast. He took one look and said, " What's that supposed to be?"

I should add here that his mom was a fabulous cook. It's a wonder he didn't high-tail it back to her.

 

[distracts]

My SO's birthday is right around Thanksgiving (usually falls right after it by a day or so), and he had this long tale of WOE about how he usually got leftover pie with a candle in it (if he was really lucky, a whole pie and not just a slice) because by that time his mom was too tired from cooking for Thanksgiving to make him a cake. I kept asking him his favorite kind of cake and he kept saying he didn't know (code for he likes all cakes), so I made him three small cakes using recipes from the book Small Batch Baking. One was chocolate, one was vanilla, and one was raspberry cheesecake with fresh raspberries on top.

His reaction - he was over the moon! I had told him many times by then that I couldn't cook and wouldn't even attempt it, but he didn't know that didn't extend to BAKING. And that not only will I bake, but I am pretty good at it.

SO could have been a chef if he had chosen to. He doesn't bake, but he's the best cook I've met, far and away.

Me, I just stand there in a panic, never knowing when something is done, when to turn the stove off, when to take something out of the oven, trying not to ruin meals, pretty sad.

This is exactly my SO too! But he does the cooking and I do the baking, so it works out. I mean, we still don't have anyone who has a flair for making vegetables, but I can do soups, and other than that we make do with the pre-made from Whole Foods or Central Market.

For our third date he made figs wrapped in prosciutto and bacon, with cheese melted on and honey drizzled on top, and veal cordon bleu. And maybe some other stuff, I don't really remember because my mind was wiped away by the fig thing.

He's such a good cook that my father has said that if I don't marry my fiance, HE will. Several other people have also told me this.

when the grocery store in my super-tiny college town did not have a jar of roasted red peppers, I figured I could substitute using roasted red pepper flakes

OMG. BEST.

 

[iheartscience]

No clue! I don't really cook. I'm trying to think of either of us cooking each other anything back then, but I really don't remember anything! We mostly went out a lot.

I do remember that he surprised me with around ten 12-packs of Coke when we first started dating, though! I was very impressed with his thoughtfulness! (I used to really, really, really love Coke. Still do but I've cut back in my old age. )

 

[Echidna]

But he does the cooking and I do the baking, so it works out.

This is our system too. I'm still learning to cook "real" meals but I love baking

 

[Echidna]

I made individual goats cheese and caramelised onion tartlets,served with rocket salad, followed by some grilled fillets of wild Scottish salmon, with avocado salsa, fresh asparagus and Jersey new potatoes. We had a bottle of vintage Bollinger with it, and then three tiny pots of bitter chocolate, vanilla, and raspberry mousses for dessert. It was (though I say it myself) an incredible dinner.

Of course, we ate it on the floor of the (recently condemned) apartment I lived in, since some of my furniture had been stolen, and we ate by candle light, since the electricity was off (someone stole some of the wiring). We were wearing many layers of clothing, because there was no heating and the demolition crew had started stripping out the windows in preparation for explosive demolition (I may have stayed longer than I was supposed to...).

Yeah, I'll show you romance.

Oh, and someone had died horribly elsewhere in the building that afternoon, so we were interrupted by the police crashing through the building looking for a suspect.

I can certainly cook, but I've never been great at finding lovely places to live.

Jen, I don't care if someone elsewhere in the building happens to die; I'm coming over for dinner. If I can only have one course, I'll start with dessert.

PS. I seem to remember that you have chosen an architect for a husband. Problem solved.

 

[Jennifer W]

I made individual goats cheese and caramelised onion tartlets,served with rocket salad, followed by some grilled fillets of wild Scottish salmon, with avocado salsa, fresh asparagus and Jersey new potatoes. We had a bottle of vintage Bollinger with it, and then three tiny pots of bitter chocolate, vanilla, and raspberry mousses for dessert. It was (though I say it myself) an incredible dinner.

Of course, we ate it on the floor of the (recently condemned) apartment I lived in, since some of my furniture had been stolen, and we ate by candle light, since the electricity was off (someone stole some of the wiring). We were wearing many layers of clothing, because there was no heating and the demolition crew had started stripping out the windows in preparation for explosive demolition (I may have stayed longer than I was supposed to...).

Yeah, I'll show you romance.

Oh, and someone had died horribly elsewhere in the building that afternoon, so we were interrupted by the police crashing through the building looking for a suspect.

I can certainly cook, but I've never been great at finding lovely places to live.

Jen, I don't care if someone elsewhere in the building happens to die; I'm coming over for dinner. If I can only have one course, I'll start with dessert.

PS. I seem to remember that you have chosen an architect for a husband. Problem solved.

Hahaha! You're very welcome for dinner. As you can see, I am unable to budget, but I can cook, for sure! I was 22 then, had been cooking since I was a little kid. My dad did all the cooking when I was growing up (my mother can burn water) and he taught me well! He did not teach me economy, but I do know how to make champagne mousse...

I did indeed marry an architect - we now live in a half-finished slum in the country instead of a half demolished inner city slum. Some things never change...

 

[Echidna]

I made individual goats cheese and caramelised onion tartlets,served with rocket salad, followed by some grilled fillets of wild Scottish salmon, with avocado salsa, fresh asparagus and Jersey new potatoes. We had a bottle of vintage Bollinger with it, and then three tiny pots of bitter chocolate, vanilla, and raspberry mousses for dessert. It was (though I say it myself) an incredible dinner.

Of course, we ate it on the floor of the (recently condemned) apartment I lived in, since some of my furniture had been stolen, and we ate by candle light, since the electricity was off (someone stole some of the wiring). We were wearing many layers of clothing, because there was no heating and the demolition crew had started stripping out the windows in preparation for explosive demolition (I may have stayed longer than I was supposed to...).

Yeah, I'll show you romance.

Oh, and someone had died horribly elsewhere in the building that afternoon, so we were interrupted by the police crashing through the building looking for a suspect.

I can certainly cook, but I've never been great at finding lovely places to live.

Jen, I don't care if someone elsewhere in the building happens to die; I'm coming over for dinner. If I can only have one course, I'll start with dessert.

PS. I seem to remember that you have chosen an architect for a husband. Problem solved.

Hahaha! You're very welcome for dinner. As you can see, I am unable to budget, but I can cook, for sure! I was 22 then, had been cooking since I was a little kid. My dad did all the cooking when I was growing up (my mother can burn water) and he taught me well! He did not teach me economy, but I do know how to make champagne mousse...

I did indeed marry an architect - we now live in a half-finished slum in the country instead of a half demolished inner city slum. Some things never change...

My dad is an architect. I know not of what you speak

 

[JewelFreak]

Of course, we ate it on the floor of the (recently condemned) apartment I lived in, since some of my furniture had been stolen, and we ate by candle light, since the electricity was off (someone stole some of the wiring). We were wearing many layers of clothing, because there was no heating and the demolition crew had started stripping out the windows in preparation for explosive demolition.

Oh, and someone had died horribly elsewhere in the building that afternoon, so we were interrupted by the police crashing through the building looking for a suspect.

Jennifer, that's hysterical! You gotta be young to do that, huh? I'm gonna chuckle all day.

--- Laurie