Everyone likes to eat. It is one of the greatest pleasures in life. I was reminded of it yesterday while watching Mike Rowe; of the Dirty Jobs Show narrate ways various people gather their food. I am sure some of you reading this saw it as well. The thing that struck me is how incredibly blessed everyone living in this country is.

All of the segments were from third world countries and about indigenous peoples who actually have to go out every day and gather their food from the wild. Food that practically none of you reading this would be able to stomach. Even worse were the incredible hardships and danger they had to endure to obtain it. The preparation of it as well would have even made it hard to swallow.

I have always liked to cook. I learned a long time ago that how almost any food is cooked has a lot to do with how palatable it is. I have had meals that were outstanding that others prepared under time tested and uncomplicated methods of cooking and I have never been able to duplicate them. I also know that the degree of hunger has a lot to do with how we judge the taste.

I ran a trap line after school when I was a teenager. I got back home every night late tired and hungry. My mother would have my supper waiting in the warming oven, a fixture above the old coal or wood fired kitchen stove. It did not matter what it was, I ate it with gusto. There is something about a wood-fired stove that adds to the flavor of food prepared on it. Nothing tastes better than soup, stews or pork and beans that have been slow cooked and simmered over a wood fire.

I learned to cook at an early age. It stood me in good stead with the days and weeks I spent in out lying camps alone or with others who could not cook. Like many things in life some of the most simple and unsuspecting experiences stand out in our memories and the slings of time cannot erase them. With me good meals are one of them.

For example a dinner I had in The Black Bear Restaurant in some small burg in northern California. It was Swiss steak prepared in a way I had never had it before or since. I have tried in vain to duplicate it and cannot even come close.

We have our share of cookbooks which you may have assumed by now. The main cook in the house and I peruse them constantly looking for ways to re-energize the old standbys.

One thing we have both concluded is if the recipes call for more than five or six ingredients, three of which we have never heard of or would not know where to buy them if we did, forget it. In my opinion the colored pictures of the prepared dish looks much better than the finished product you turn out. You wind up asking yourself was it concocted to sell the cookbook. Some of the best dishes I have ever cooked for myself came right off the package of the main ingredient. Take a whole ham, package of either navy beans or split peas. There is usually a recipe on the package of either. Here is how to make good bean or split pea soup.

If it’s beans soak one pound package over night in plenty of cold water or bring to a slow boil for two minutes and drain the water. Same size package of peas need no soaking. Add to six to eight cups of hot water along with a meaty hambone, smoked turkey leg or smoked pork hocks. Add one medium chopped cooking onion. Bring to slow boil for two hours or so until the beans or peas begin to fall apart. Remove ham bone and put meat from it or others you may use back in soup along with chopped carrots, cook until the carrots are well done. Add pepper and salt to taste at end because it’s best to wait and see to what extent the salt in the meat has on the taste.

Many of my male friends cannot boil water without burning it. There is no excuse for that. They are simply just plain lazy, totally inept or not hungry. Here are a couple of lunch dishes that can be made in a hurry. Add cooked bacon chunks to canned beans and heat. Add a can of milk to a can of condensed tomato soup and heat with cooked bacon chunks or bits.

Like everything practice makes perfect. Try the souped listed above if it does not come out exactly right, try again until it suits you. One of the hardest things about cooking is to keep foods from burning. That especially takes practice and carefully watching the food until it is done.

We have got a long cold spell of winter awaiting us and what better way to pass the time in the warm house. Get to cooking. You will probably not ever reach a real cook’s standards but the food will be better than you ever thought possible. Can you think of a better hobby?