Cooking is one basic survival skill that is more essential than most. It sucks to have a stocked-up kitchen, but you can’t do anything more than stare at all the foodstuff wistfully while you stuff your mouth with bread because you can’t cook.
To this kind of person, someone that can cook appears superior, and even the simplest meal they cook make them seem like one hot-stuff, first-class chef. The one with zero knowledge of cooking doesn’t know any better, do they?
OP calls his 17-year-old stepdaughter a “phenomenal cook,” highlighting her superb specialties: pasta sauces, baking, and imported seasoning…? I have no idea what that means. But, no judgment.
The thing is, only she gets to enjoy her phenomenal dishes as she only cooks for herself. When he asks her to cook for the family, it’s no problem, but that only happens on rare occasions.
When they are all busy and need to do “DIY dinner” and can’t all sit around the table, the scent of her delicious homemade garlic pesto or vegan teriyaki is all that fills the air.
The family gets her the ingredients she uses, yet, she makes meals and never shares them with anyone. Putting it that way, I can understand why he would feel upset.
Why Can’t She Cook For The Family?
His stepdaughter’s solo meals were about to change when he asked her if she could start making dinner for all of them more frequently. Or maybe not.
She refused the offer and even got annoyed. She was drowning with schoolwork, her internship, and commissions as a talented digital artist. That already sounds like a lot to deal with.