"I need to know how to cook something"

the Whirlwind tells me.
   "Yes? What do you want to make?"
And out it comes. She has grown something, seen something, eaten something somewhere, read something.
Ms W is interested in food in a healthy sort of way. I am not suggesting she doesn't like the "wrong" or "just occasional"  things just as much as any of us. One of her favourite outings as a small child was to go to "the icecream shop" and spend a long time choosing which flavour she wanted. She still likes the shop but spends less time choosing. ("I've tried everything except the bubble gum one. That looks revolting.")
She likes hot chips too. Pizza? It depends on where it comes from. She went to a birthday party at a certain hamburger chain once and told me afterwards, "I didn't  say anything but it was horrible."
And she cooks.
Ms W has had to learn I suppose. When you don't have a mother you need to learn, especially if your father is "not a great cook". He works very long hours and, as soon as she was old enough to be trusted, Ms W started to take over. 
At first it was merely heating things in the microwave oven. But one day, of her own accord, she made toast and put a piece of cheese on top and put it under the griller. I remember her telling me, "And I stood there and I watched until it was all just melted and I used the hot mitts just like my Dad told me."
Riding on that success she made some for her father as well. He consulted me and we decided that she could be trusted to try other things. I suggested  buying a much smaller sharp knife but, apart from that, we both taught her to use adult size utensils. 
There have been a few failures and some tears but now, like any other cook, she learns from her experiments. If she doesn't know how to do something she will search the internet, ask me or ask the mother of her best friend. Her best friend can do some things in the kitchen too - although not, I suspect, nearly as much.
I will therefore be interested to find out what the two of them think of an article in this morning's paper talking about the lack of kitchen skills among children and teens. It is said that half of them don't even know how to boil an egg. 
Is it any wonder we have an obesity problem?