Most people over a certain age can cook? Certainly some sort of meal can be produced. I know there are levels of knowledge and ability but most of us could produce something edible.

We have access to far more raw ingredients and exotic flavours yet for many they are just ignored. Cost plays a part in why some things are bought and others shunned but that still leaves a shop load that are available.

In the kitchen one doesn’t have to buy every gadget or cooking utensil that is on the market. Far from it but a few essentials are a must. Maybe a few hundred pounds is needed to start with for pans, spoons, bowls and measuring equipment and most kitchen suppliers will be happy to recommend good kit.

One doesn’t have to buy expensive cook books either as there is a wealth of knowledge on-line or within free mobile phone Apps.

Its not hard to make a soup, a tasty main or a cake and a little confidence is all one actually needs. Oh and to be bothered to cook in the first place will help. You don’t even need a lot of space.

As a nation we spend more than ever on takeaways. Thats fantastic news for the takeaway firms and the delivery drivers but bad news for wallets and waistlines. And the younger generations are getting worse. Some have no idea and buy everything from coffee and sandwiches to their evening meals from shops and ready-made meal outlets and this is either they are incredibly wealthy, downright lazy or just plain dumb. It must cost them a small fortune each week.

Ready meals in our supermarkets are flying off the shelves as they have become so cheap that a weeks supply is around half the price or buying fresh. This has got  to be morally wrong and healthily unacceptable. It’s little wonder we are becoming ill with all the extra sugar, e numbers and crap that is shoved into these products let alone overweight.

One doesn’t have to be a top chef to cook and it doesn’t take a genius to start.

Just the other evening I produced meatballs in a tomato and herb sauce with pasta and it took probably the same time as it would have to turn out a ready meal of the same kind. Five minutes to chop and prepare the ingredients and twenty minutes to cook. Whilst that was doing its thing in a pan, the pasta bubbled away in some boiling water for ten to fifteen minutes and voila; on the plate.

I know exactly what was in it and how it was made. Simple, tasty and quick. Its down to education both at home and at school to get kids to be a bit more hands on in the kitchen.

I understand the baking thing. Baking can take up a lot of time and not all of us have the luxury of time every day but not all baking is time-consuming. Bread making is great. So line up a film. Then Mix the flour water, sugar, yeast, salt and oil and knead ( it’ll firm up those biceps and pecks). Pop this mix into a bowl, cover and leave somewhere warm to prove. While this magic is going on sit back and watch your chosen film as in around two hours (the length of a good film) your dough will be ready to knock back and form into a loaf tin. Leave it to rest while you do the vacuuming or tidy the kitchen and then pop it into an oven. In about half an hour or so that fresh loaf will be ready to turn out onto a cooling rack.

So you see it’s a lengthy process but with logical time-management it can be absorbed into a day. Thats the message behind baking for me. Plan a day of housework or telly or radio or reading and fit in the steps of producing breads, cakes and pastries as you go. Unlike a stew which can be left to its own devices all day so one can go to work, ride a bike, play in the park or visit friends as it gently bubbles away for your awaiting repast when you return.

I just find it very sad that the simple art of preparing and cooking a meal is dying out for so many. Open a packet, order over the phone or go out to eat. Lazy, boring, unimaginative, unhealthy and warped are a few words that spring to mind.

Are we really breeding a generation of people who don’t feel there is a need or want to do anything for themselves?