This was something I that aggravated me about Sims 2. You had to spend the first few hours of every game reading a cookbook so no one would die horribly trying to make toast.
I'm going to be getting a new laptop soon, and am thinking about playing The Sims again. The question is, which version? I've never played 3, but have heard conflicting things about it. Some people say it's terrible, others say it's the best of the series. I've played 4, and I like a lot of the quality-of-life and gameplay changes, but overall everything seems kinda dull compared to Sims 2.