I don't view cooking as a stereotypical female thing personally. Granted I was taught how to cook by my stepfather (Italian) and my uncle (Portugese). My mom cooks some good things here and there but it's mostly been the males in my family who do the cooking. They also taught me to not use recipes unless it's something I've never cooked before, once I know how to cook it I move onto cooking by look, texture, smell, and taste.
That being said, I love to cook. My kitchen is exactly that, mine, even when I was trying to push aside my female side and ignore it. The only time I hate cooking is when I don't have the right tools or ingredients, at which point I improvise. Granted, it doesn't always turn out well. A particular example of failed cookery on my part was I attempted to make a Juicy Lucy (it's a hamburger, get your mind out of the gutter) with sliced american cheese and a meat mixture of ground turkey, ground beef, bacon (uncooked, first mistake), and chorizo (uncooked, second mistake). The patties not only didn't hold together (we didn't have eggs, so I had no binder), but the cheese didn't melt and overall it tasted too meaty and greasy. None of the seasoning came through, and my ex and I had to drench our burgers in condiments to even eat them. I need a meat grinder.
