Help, Carl's Jr. ad in person.
 

Okay, have you guys seen the commercial where the guy is standing in front of the produce at the supermarket with a dumbfounded look on his face? He stands there for a few minutes, and then a voice-over says, "Carl's Jr. Without us, some guys would starve."

I can totally relate to it.

What advice can you guys give on how to get started and what books to read/use and what stuff I need?

Fairly competent in most other areas of my life, I just never bothered to learn how to cook.

There is a cookbooks thread:
http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=30867

Go to your local Barnes and Noble and park in the cookbook section... There's a ton available for beginning cooks (including a cooking for dummies - which I really didn't like but I'm sure other people would)


However for learning to cook, start with one recipe and learn to do it well -- especially something that you like, and then adjust it with different herbs and spices for slightly different tastes.

You will also want to acquire a decent knife (there is a knife thread somewhere in Tilted Cooking) and a decent pot - cookware can make all the difference.. you don't need to spend 300 dollars for a pot - but that 5.99 pot just doesn't cut it - you want a thick bottom pot/pan set. Also make sure that you have a decent measuring cup/spoon set. It's generally more fun just to throw stuff in and see what happens, but in the beginning following a recipe helps.

There are also a lot of fabulous recipes people have added in this thread... along with a lot of cooking tips...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...20832?v=glance

If you have no clue, buy this book. "A Man, a Can, and a Grill!" It's perfect.

There are also some other great books in this series, including one just using a microwave.