PS curiously, Dad completely gave up cooking too, and never explained that. He, wouldn't cook so much as a sausage, and left all that to my Mum's culinery naivete. Aside from his occasional reminiscences about his seafaring days, he never even said anything to betray that he knew how to cook. Except once, just once, when he suddenly decided to teach me how to make a gratin, much to my Mum's amazement. I think that might have been an act of rebellion/autie solidarity on his part. Mum totally discouraged me from cooking, believing that I would accidentally "burn the house down"if not kept in check. Unbeknownst to myself, some of the family were aware of the the way in which she systematically destroyed my self-confidence, and pissed off about it on my behalf. He never said so (nobody said so until long after I left home) but I shouldn't be surprised if that included my Dad, eh?