So, yeah, my character has to be a level 35 before I can go further.  So I guess it is time for a player leveling guide to speed things up.

I got this out of the fishing/cooking guide:

150-225

Once you're up to 175 cooking, go to Shadowprey Village in Desolace. Speak to Wulan and buy [Recipe: Mithril Head Trout] and start fishing on the pier there. Alternatively you can purchase the [Recipe: Mithril Head Trout] from Shankys who stands at the dock in Valley of Honor in Orgrimmar. You're going to need about 60 of these to get your cooking up to level 225.

At this point you should now have level 225 fishing and level 225 cooking. If you're not level 35 yet, then this is as far as you can go. If you are level 35+ then you have two quests to complete before you can continue.