Learning Over The Phone

Woman in a kitchen, smiling while talking on the phone, cutting vegetables. Bright setting with white cabinets and a salad bowl nearby.

A woman smiling in a red top with glasses stands outdoors. Text next to her introduces Jennifer Theurer, a content creator and coach.

At this point in time, we’re all familiar with working online or online schooling but just a few years ago it wasn’t such a common solution.

Before I graduated from high school, my mom tried several times to teach me how to cook. Sometimes she would ask, other times she would just say, “Today, you’re learning to cook.” It didn’t matter her approach my answer was always the same – “I think Dad needs my help outside!”

So I went off to college only knowing how to make a layered chocolate cake. My home county fair had a chocolate cake contest every year and then auctioned off the top three cakes during the last night of the rodeo. I placed in the top three every year I entered so I considered it my money maker for the summer. And, yes, there were usually more than three cakes entered. Good try though.

Chocolate cake with glossy icing and chocolate sprinkles, topped with strawberries and truffles, on a white plate, isolated.

As my college years went on, I found making my own food came in handy. So I called Mom. Then I got married. I tried to have “fend for yourself” nights every once in a while, but my husband would just say, “Just make a little more of what you’re having and I’ll eat that.” He’s a crafty one, I tell you. Then I had kids. I quickly determined that their survival was dependent on me making food, so I called Mom.

A few years ago, my mom called me and said she owed me an apology for not teaching to cook when I lived at home. I told her I actually owed her the apology because I made her teach me how to cook over the phone all those years.

She agreed with me thankfully and I was sincerely apologetic because I could have learned standing next to her instead of with the phone pinched between my ear and my shoulder.

Woman cooking vegetables in a pan while talking on phone, smiling. Kitchen background, jars in foreground. Casual and multitasking.

There was really only one area that I’m glad I didn’t learn about from Mom and that would be how to grill a steak. My parents are from the era before men considered themselves the kings of the barbecue grill, so my mom was always in charge of cooking the steaks we’d get from our home-raised cattle.

Mom was a masterful multitasker which meant she did three things at once. There were times the third thing didn’t have anything to do with the meal either! This means she would put the meat on the grill, close the lid, and walk away.

Juicy steak sizzling on a grill with visible flames. The meat is browned and textured, creating a mouthwatering, smoky atmosphere.

She only came back to the grill when she remembered she was cooking steaks, so our steaks were always well done. I didn’t know any different until I started dating my husband and he absolutely would not let me order a steak medium well.

There are some lessons that I’m glad I went outside to avoid.