Armed with a spatula, a Hershey's chocolate cookbook, and most of the correct ingredients, we decided we could substitute for the things we didn't have. Baking powder? That's the same as baking soda, right? Cocoa powder? Um, do you think we could use melted chocolate chips instead? (FYI: You can't.,”

Last weekend, my roommate and I tried to make chocolate cake.

Armed with a spatula, a Hershey's chocolate cookbook, and most of the correct ingredients, we decided we could substitute for the things we didn't have. Baking powder? That's the same as baking soda, right? Cocoa powder? Um, do you think we could use melted chocolate chips instead? (FYI: You can't.)

Our attempt at molten chocolate cake turned out more like melted chocolate crap.

And unfortunately, I can't say it was the women of my apartment's first failure in the kitchen. There was that issue with the burnt Hamburger Helper. And those potentially delicious Christmas cookies that became a forgotten hope when the batter inexplicably wouldn't gel. And, of course, there was Thanksgiving, when our glorious sense of accomplishment dwindled after my boyfriend pointed out that we had cooked the turkey upside down – though in our defense, at least that still tasted good.

Apparently, we can't cook. And by "we," I mean most of the women I know.

You know who can cook? Men. Last year, some of my male friends impressed me with homemade garlic mashed potatoes, fruit salad and a fish fry – from fish they had caught themselves, no less. And my boyfriend constantly concocts these Italian dishes with seasoned meat and types of pasta that I can't even pronounce.

I suppose it's quite possible that my experiences are the exception to the rule. Maybe somewhere out there, women are fulfilling their "traditional" roles in the kitchen while men simply stick to frozen pizza. It could be just me, but a New York Times article I found this weekend says it's not.

According to the article, some people are "alpha cooks" and some people are "beta cooks." And apparently, more and more women are taking the beta route – aka letting the "alpha cook" men take the wooden spoon and leaving their own attempts to go up in flames on the backburner.

I, for one, say that's just fine.

While we still face our share of obstacles, women today are generally encouraged to be alpha writers, alpha doctors, alpha lawyers or alpha anything else we want to be, including alpha cooks. (I just don't happen to know any of those women.)

If it doesn't matter if it's a man or woman in control of the board room or emergency room or courtroom, it makes sense that it doesn't matter who's in charge in the kitchen. Frankly, who even cares as long as the food is delicious?

Men shouldn't worry about whether making mostaccioli is macho. And women, we shouldn't feel bad when we burn brownies out of a box. Just like anything else, cooking is a skill some people possess and some people don't. Sure, I can follow a recipe as well as the next person, provided I have the right ingredients. But I can accept that I will never fully understand the difference between margarine and butter. Or why that matters.

So until I figure it out, I think I'll leave the cooking to those who know. Which means for at least the foreseeable future, all my non-frozen dinners will probably be made by men.

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