Where do I cook?

[Max Shadow]

I found a frying pan and a cooking pot, but I can't find a way to cook. There's a stove near my "base", but it requires reinforced pipes to fix, and I don't know where to find those. I haven't unlocked the stove recipe either. I haven't got far in the game, but If I've spent enough time to die of starvation twice, then at this point I should have found a way to get more food.

[burger boy]

have you gotten out of the stater area yet?
-- with the guy waiting to be let in.

if not, i'd recommend crafting the craftingbench and then crafting the thing needed to open the doors.
-- after that, explore for awhile, interact with every and any thing, you'll get the blueprint you're after soon enough.

[CrissCrossGal]

Make sure you've picked up keyboards and smashed monitors! Those items will be very helpful in finding certain recipes you'll need throughout the game.

And then be prepared to eat some aliens!

[silentbob212]

So the damaged stove near the beginning is a little off.
You will likely notice that the meat on the frying pan starts sizzling to notify you that you can pick up the cooked food. But then I could not figure out how to drop another piece of raw alien part on the frying pan.
So I picked up the frying pan and placed it back on the stove
Voila
The next time I held raw alien in my hand, I got an "E to cook alien" prompt

[Max Shadow]

Ah yes, the keyboards. I've been ignoring them for a while. They didn't seem useful, and my inventory is always full (I'm playing SP). That worked, thanks.

I also forgot about the first stove you find in the game, which works out of the box. The one I was talking about is near the pool, and that one needs to be repaired.