I remember learning how to microwave some cup noodles when I was 7 and feeling really accomplished
Shoutout to the people who get by purely on microwaved foods, y'all are something else
The first ever-ever definitely were boiled eggs 
My mom and grandmom were always talking how "a girl should cook", but never taught me anything and just weren't even trying to explain how to do anything? Long story short, I knew very little of cooking until I went to another country to study in uni, just very simple things like boiling pasta or mashed potatoes... The first dish I made was mushroom soup, it was a win 
I think gâteau de Savoie (Savoy cake), one of the common French basic cakes. I was helping my grand mother whip the egg whites because at this time we did not have an electric wipper (that makes me feel very old!)
i know how to prepare milk
first, you need milk and a cup
then you pour the milk in the cup
and bam
milk
You mean...like actually making bread, like from scratch?? Because I would hardly call that 'simple'...I have mad respect for anyone who can bake, even basic things like bread, because when you're a beginner the odds that whatever you try to do will end up tasting even remotely like what you expect are probably around 5%. The odds of it being edible I MIGHT elevate to a coin flip...
Meanwhile, if even a child puts onions, meat, salt and pepper into a pot of boiling water, guess what they end up with? Something that tastes like boiled onions, meat, salt and pepper! :o And if that flavor isn't good enough? Just add something else and keep stirring!
TL;DR the learning curve for cooking with the oven is much steeper than that for cooking on the stove, even when it comes to frying, in my opinion...
You'd think so...but all the young Americans I've lived with since I moved to college are crazy about cooking. My current roommates have so many pots and pans, there's only one free burner on the stove at any time. And there's never any room in the fridge for me to store my hash browns...=_=
...Maybe it's just rich young Americans (who can also afford to throw out all the food they decide they no longer want to cook as if it's worthless garbage...).
Because the poor young Americans I live with at home (i.e. my sibs) can just barely cook to save their lives. They'd literally rather starve than boil some water and put more than 30 seconds of effort into feeding themselves. I've seen them do it.
Ye from scratch. It's simple as all hell, literally a step up from boiling pasta. I am literally talking about bread that consists of flour, water, yeast and salt.
Well, chuck me in with the 'fucking ridiculous' crowd, because I wouldn't dare. I tried to make a simple pie crust a few times (don't even need yeast for that) and it was always a nightmare that ended in disappointment and despair. I actually like bread; I don't want to ruin that by trying to make it...
I find what you say interesting. I am thinking...
Maybe there's not just poverty going on but time poverty, where cooking is concerned. So, maybe cooking (outside a restaurant) is becoming a privilege? I don't want to jump to conclusions, would love to see some research studies, but I see how that could be so. Combine this with food deserts and there's some serious danger: the poorer someone was, the less control they'd have over what went into their body.
Isn't that a scary thought.
Oh, but that's a real thing; there's been plenty of research on the subject. ^^ In general, poor parents simply don't have the time or resources to make complex dishes from scratch, or even to develop cooking 'skills' in many cases. (Poor children, on the other hand, could at least learn to make soup...but that's beside the point). I mean, even if you can technically finish making a dish in 30 minutes (if everything goes well), you still have to shop beforehand and clean up afterwards; it's not exactly a small investment of money or time...
I made rice and several types of egg, not sure which one first. It's a slow process and I still don't risk baking things if there's not a set time to cook - my mom taught me more on 'when it looks done' and uhh that's not an easy thing to tell - but I'm getting there with small meals.
About poverty; It is the opposite, atleast where I'm from. I know how to make bread, because it is a lot cheaper to make it than buy it. My family was poor during my entire childhood (my parents had me & my twin as a surprise, after all), and so we would never have anything "ready-made", because it was expensive.
Baking is not hard. You need to make things by recipe once or twice, and then you are pretty much set. Most things use the same basic dough, be it yeast based or not and it's easy to tell when it's right.
I think I made cookies by myself quite young. But I'd been helping my mom cook meals for years. That said, every time I try to use yeast, it turns into a nightmare hahaha! I can make a soda bread easily enough though...not that it's as good for you. I like to think I'm a decent cook. When my mom realized that my older brother went to college without any clue how to cook and that I was having to teach him once I moved back to the US to start college, she made sure my other siblings know how to cook, my poor big bro was the guinea pig ehehehe but he does alright cooking now!
I voted fried for fried eggs or grilled cheese, but then I remembered I probably made instant noodles before that 
growing up we didn't have a microwave for pre-made meals, so my parents taught me and my brother how to cook at least some basic food like pasta, rice, etc for when they weren't home.
I chose fried...not deep fried, but scrambled eggs and grilled cheese XD
I'm going to sound old...but I remember when we got our first microwave. o_O I was so scared to use it 'cause mom said foil and metal would make it blow up XD
I can bake a little but I need a recipe in hand for that, lmao.
I can cook rice and... instant noodles...
This! We weren't in the worst dire straits (we at least had a good support network,) but my mom was a stay at home mom, and there were two kids. Dad also...well, he was a bit spend thrift on certain things he SHOULDN'T have been buying. So mom cooked all our meals from scratch.
We did go to the bread outlet a bit, since you could get loaves discounted really cheap. Usually when grandma got her social security, we'd all pile her boat and she'd take us there XD
But more often than not, mom would make fresh loaves, or monkey bread. It was a special treat if she made pancit (my dad's mom's recipe.) Our house always smelled soooo good 
She taught my sis and I how to cook, and we often baked cookies and stuff together for holidays.
I don't think it's specific to America. If anything, I think young adults in America might be better equipped at domestic stuff like cooking and laundry than some other places. I have friends who don't know how to cook at all, some girls and a lot of boys. Some people consider cooking a woman's domain, which is regressive and wrong. Some people reason that they can learn it when they need to.
It's a life skill. Knowing how to cook saved me a ton of money during my final year of college, and home-cooked food is much healthier than takeout.