I’ll admit it. I love watching cooking shows. (The kind where people actually cook recipes that you can use, not the assorted reality shows and competitions.)

I’m a visual learner, so watching someone do something makes it easier for me to do it myself. When I decided to learn how to cook almost twenty years ago, I watched a lot of Food Network and practiced what I learned from the shows.

If you want to watch cooking shows to improve your skills, here are some ideas:

• Always go to the website to download the recipes. It’s not unusual for the televised version to omit a step or an ingredient.
• Use shows as a way to learn how to put together a meal where the flavors enhance each other or to learn how to schedule your meal prep so that everything is finished at once.
• You don’t have to have all the special gadgets that cooks on tv have. Do not buy a gadget just to use it once.
• Don’t be embarrassed if your version of the dish doesn’t look as good as what’s on tv. First, they are professionals. That’s why they have a tv show. Plus, if they have a dish that doesn’t turn out, they don’t broadcast that one!
• Keep in mind that most cooking shows have a whole staff working behind the scenes. You have you. What’s practical for a cooking show and what you can pull off on a weeknight may not be the same thing.

Watching cooking shows is fun, but it’s not cooking! Turn the tv off and get to it!