Cooking help??

[Phoenix524]

So I am probably the worst chef on Earth. I do not have any illusions of ever becoming a domestic goddess, my goal is not a fire hazard. I would just like basic instructions for anything beyond microwave prep. Let me give you a clue of how clueless I am:
This is a true story, I sh** you not, I couldn't come up with this if I wanted to. I am cooking spaghetti, simple enough, right? So I put the raw noodles in lightly salted boiling water, set a timer for five minutes. I have it on max to boil quickly. Next, I start making the sauce. I turn around, the spaghetti, in the water, is on fire. This wasn't my first kitchen fire, so I removed it from heat and all that jazz.
Second example, I was cooking mozzarella sticks in the toaster oven. It overcooks in the 5 minutes I'm away so a piece of cheese fell from the breading. No biggie, or so it should be. That piece of cheese is on fire, glowing blue and white and singing the breading of the other sticks. Unplugged it and had to call my neighbor for this one.

So if anyone knows of any good places to start learning how to cook from the very basics, that would be awesome.

[ImCoolBeans]

If you have the opportunity to, start cooking with a parent/whoever does the cooking in your household. Ask them if you could start helping them in the kitchen so you can start learning how to cook. Just by going through the motions with them and assisting them you'll be surprised at how much you'll pick up and how quickly you will.

[DerBear]

Like Mike said, getting involved with the main person who cooks in your house will give you a large variety of skills. During my early teens, my parents both worked latish so I was often cooking for myself if I wanted dinner early so what I used to do was watch online videos of preparing and cooking basic meals as you could have both a visual and step by step guide on how to do things.

[Abyssal Echo]

I agree with Mike and Derri that would be a good place to start learning. I've learned a lot from watching and helping my mom. I've seen some really good videos on you tube too.

[LouBerry]

I feel yah. I'm an awful cook too. Honestly, there is really no hope for people like us. Just pay VERY close attention to what you're doing so that you hopefully, stop setting things on fire.