Food Revolution

[BookstoreEscapee]

Well, if it's Good tequila, nothing! *mumbles about people ruining good tequila with salt and limes* If it's bad tequila, well life is too short. . .

I don't like tequila, anyway. Don't know if that makes you feel better or worse.

Gimme a shot of Black 'Buca and I'm happy

[Becks]

B E, try Tequila Rose.

[AccountingDrone]

Lack of basic cooking skills makes me all stabby But I also understand the reasons for it in the US specifically ... having grown up in the 60s and 70s. See, industrialization is a blessing and a curse. We get access to all sorts of spiffy products we normally wouldn't have had before, but also we get industrial food products. When you can peel open a box, dump the contents in a bowl, add water and stir, then bake and get a cake that you frost by popping open another can, it sort of prevents you from learning how to make real desserts from raw ingredients. THe same goes for the wonderful selection of frozen foods. Why learn to prep food when you can pop open a box and POOF you have a lasagne, or stir fry, or fried chicken with all the trimmings, or a complete turkey dinner.

When I was in 7th grade, in 1975 my Home Economics class cooking segment taught me how to:
broil a london broil
make instant mashed potatoes
reheat a can of green beans in a pot on the stove top
make a chocolate cake from a box mix, and frost it with canned frosting.
And how to get it to all come out at the right time.

Do keep in mind I could actually *cook* real food by that point in time, I had been learning at home and could make a souffle from scratch that wouldn't fall in the oven, or any number of other real foods but my mother actually knew how to cook, and my mothers cook actually knew how to cook, and my grandmothers cook actually knew how to cook ... and I didn't get crap food at home.

Nothing about nutrition, just how to read packaging and get it all to come out at the right times ... and that you needed one meat, one veg and one starch and one dessert. Salad was considered fancy and restauranty/optional ...

I can remember shopping in the 60s with Marie. .. meats tended to be chicken, beef, pork and lamb very rarely [usually around easter] fruits/veggies tended to be potato, celery, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, carrots, turnips, cabbage, lettuce, green beans, apples, oranges, grapes, lemons, peaches, bananas, watermelon and canteloupe. Frozen veggies had a little more variety, you could get strawberries, corn, peas, lima beans, brussels sprouts, and succotash. Anything else depended on what was grown locally. Literally most grocery stores were not much larger than a convenience store today. Most people tended to do the same foods week after week [the sunday roast, spaghetti wednesday, fish fridays ... ] It was the internationalization and realization that you could both be american and keep your cultural heritage and the whole hippy liberality that changed how things were done in the late 60s .. you started having people explore different foods and it became acceptable to want to try wierd new things. I can say that in 1968 I was probably the only person in my school that had ever eaten at a Japanese restaurant, or lived out of the country [small school in western NY state]

[BookstoreEscapee]

When I was in 7th grade, in 1975 my Home Economics class cooking segment taught me how to:
broil a london broil
make instant mashed potatoes
reheat a can of green beans in a pot on the stove top
make a chocolate cake from a box mix, and frost it with canned frosting.
And how to get it to all come out at the right time.

I did cooking in Home Ec in 8th grade (1988-89). I don't remember most of what we did, but I do remember making cinnamon rolls from scratch. They were yum.

[Jester]

"I am never eating chicken nuggets again." I mean, I knew on an intellectual level what is in them, but seeing that...

Customers at The Bar are often (pleasantly) surprised to find that our chicken tenders are just breaded strips of actual chicken breast, not the processed "chicken" nuggets you get at Mickey D's.

Ask me sometime about the time my high school bio teacher grossed out a girl worse than we were trying to do. My bet? 25 years later, she still probably hasn't eaten another hot dog!

Maybe roasts, but nothing that required, you know, skill.

I have discovered more and more that there are truly people out there who just can't cook. I'm not talking about people who DON'T cook, or don't know HOW to cook. I am talking about people who do cook, but cook badly. My new roommate is one such person. I have tried a few of her dishes. Let's just say (and I told her this today) that she needs to learn that the spice rack is her friend. And I have a healthy and varied spice rack, mind you, one I have told her she is free to use.

Trust me when I tell you that at 6 you probably had more cooking skill than said roommate.

Why learn to prep food when you can pop open a box and POOF you have a lasagne, or stir fry, or fried chicken with all the trimmings, or a complete turkey dinner.

I have eaten frozen dinners. Sorry, but THAT is not a lasagne, THAT is not stir fry, THAT is not fried chicken, and THAT is not a turkey dinner. I am heavily biased with the first one, since we grew up eating pasta about three nights a week, but still, frozen dinners? Yuck. I almost never eat those things, unless I am desperate. Add to the fact that I hate using the microwave for anything more than melting butter or boiling water quickly, and you can guess that I don't spend too much time in the frozen "foods" aisle. (Unless I am craving ice cream, that is.)

Lasagne? As if.

[Magpie]

I have discovered more and more that there are truly people out there who just can't cook. I'm not talking about people who DON'T cook, or don't know HOW to cook. I am talking about people who do cook, but cook badly. My new roommate is one such person. I have tried a few of her dishes. Let's just say (and I told her this today) that she needs to learn that the spice rack is her friend. And I have a healthy and varied spice rack, mind you, one I have told her she is free to use.

Yeah, after hearing about the guy who managed to screw up brownies from a mix, I have been trying to learn to bite my tongue. That doesn't change the fact that certain things don't require much skill. And that it drives me crazy when my husband uses a spreadsheet as part of making dinner. (Even if it's for oven times. That's what page-a-day calendars are for.)

[Jester]

And that it drives me crazy when my husband uses a spreadsheet as part of making dinner.

Hey, if it helps him cook, let him have it. I have my way of doing things, you have yours, he has his. Lord knows my way isn't for everyone, but it works for me, even though it probably would be a bit too chaotic for most people. So unless the spreadsheets are actually making your hubby cook badly, let it go.

[AdminAssistant]

It's funny...everyone talks about how terrible Southern/country cooking is for you. But when I was at home, dinners were usually pork chops, fried chicken, ham, giant roasts, salmon patties, etc. With greens, boiled potatoes, peas, sliced tomatoes, fried okra, fried squash, etc. And cornbread or homemade biscuits. All of that "bad" food...and I was a slim 130 lbs. I didn't gain weight (to the point of borderline obesity) until I moved out on my own and started living on fast food and Lean Cuisine dinners.

I ate in the caf for all of elementary school and for most of jr. high and high school (the only other option being vending machines). Ours wasn't bad. Pizza was only served every other week, Friday was always hamburger day (and they were baked), and in between was pretty decent spaghetti, goulash, soup, and the ever present "mystery meat in gravy." I didn't eat breakfast, but I think options were limited to cereal or oatmeal. I do remember that the hot rolls they served were to die for.

I am slowly learning how to cook, and I'm getting pretty damned good at it (if I do say so myself). One problem is that Mom is such a perfectionist - when I'm actually home, she doesn't want me in the kitchen. I've finally harrassed her enough that I've got some idea how she makes her biscuits.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I am slowly learning how to cook, and I'm getting pretty damned good at it (if I do say so myself). One problem is that Mom is such a perfectionist - when I'm actually home, she doesn't want me in the kitchen. I've finally harrassed her enough that I've got some idea how she makes her biscuits.

When I moved into my first apartment, my mom typed up her recipes for gravy (one for beef, one for chicken/turkey) and rolled them up into scrolls and tied them with ribbons. (My mom makes the best gravy.)

[Jester]

I am slowly learning how to cook, and I'm getting pretty damned good at it (if I do say so myself). One problem is that Mom is such a perfectionist - when I'm actually home, she doesn't want me in the kitchen.

One of the best ways to learn how to cook is to simply get in there and do it. And just like anything else in life, one of the best learning tools is failure. Mistakes. Screwups. I am a pretty damn good cook. And I learned much of what I know by experimenting in the kitchen, and making many mistakes. And lest you think I am speaking just in the past tense, I STILL make mistakes. A lot of them. Some of them have been legendary. And I don't mean figuratively....some of my friends still give me shit about the potatoes I screwed up for Thanksgiving years ago. That really is the stuff of legend.

So don't stress over your mom not letting you in. Get in your own kitchen, and try things out. Experiment. Look up recipes. Make up your own. And most importantly, have fun!

[AdminAssistant]

So don't stress over your mom not letting you in. Get in your own kitchen, and try things out. Experiment. Look up recipes. Make up your own. And most importantly, have fun!

Oh, I do, trust me. I mean, I do have to eat and I need to do it cheaply. I've come up with quite a few things all on my own that are quite tasty. However, I'd like to learn more of Mom's recipes, and most of them aren't written down at all. (It's next to impossible to get good homestyle cooking around here. I get so homesick for biscuits.)

I've only tried making gravy a couple of times and have always failed. Mom's is so good. All she uses are the leftover fat drippings, flour, milk, and water. It's amazing. I usually end up with something that resembles water-y glue.

[Der Cute]

I'm an ok cook. I'm pretty good at getting the timing right on the items for the table, and being able to "keep warm" when needed.

I watched the Jamie Oliver show on Hulu.com and was amazed.
The school had a very well equipped kitchen - better than other schools' I've seen - and they weren't using most of it.
The end of the show - kids had no idea or how to use knives. Forks or knives? As a kid? WHAT??

I think this is amazing. Nutty amazing. Now I know what to emphasize in my house- how to cook and how to eat and how to make from scratch.

Cutenoob

[BookstoreEscapee]

I've only tried making gravy a couple of times and have always failed. Mom's is so good. All she uses are the leftover fat drippings, flour, milk, and water. It's amazing. I usually end up with something that resembles water-y glue.

My roommate and I just had this argument. My mother makes the best gravy, TYVM. She does it pretty much the same way, except she uses cornstarch and a bit of Gravy Master.

I haven't actually tried to make gravy in a long time. The last thing I really cooked was lasagna, and it came out pretty good. I once had some meatballs in the freezer, so I cut them up and made a meatball lasagna. Even though I had no eggs, it came out pretty yummy (just a little bit runny from the lack of eggs). I'll have to try that again sometime.

The end of the show - kids had no idea or how to use knives. Forks or knives? As a kid? WHAT??

Yeah, and when he brought up the subject in the first place, the lunch ladies cooks looked absolutely horrified. They're butter knives, for crying out loud.

[AdminAssistant]

My roommate and I just had this argument. My mother makes the best gravy, TYVM. She does it pretty much the same way, except she uses cornstarch and a bit of Gravy Master.

Hey, never said Mom's was the best, just that it's damn good. I have a personal preference for white/milk gravy...never really cared for any brown gravy I've had. And I wish people would stop polluting my mashed potatoes with the stuff.

I do have an issue with his 'chicken nugget' experiment. Americans need to be embracing those little unused pieces of animal, instead of being grossed out by it. After watching No Reservations and reading some of Anthony Bourdain's books, I'm eager to try livers, hearts, and the other 'nasty bits'.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Hey, never said Mom's was the best, just that it's damn good. I have a personal preference for white/milk gravy...never really cared for any brown gravy I've had. And I wish people would stop polluting my mashed potatoes with the stuff.

I know, my roommate said her mom's was the best. We agreed to disagree, but her mom starts with jarred stuff and doctors it up a bit (sacrilege!), so there's no way it can possibly be the best. Mashed potatoes with butter and gravy and salt and pepper....mmmmmm.....

I do have an issue with his 'chicken nugget' experiment. Americans need to be embracing those little unused pieces of animal, instead of being grossed out by it. After watching No Reservations and reading some of Anthony Bourdain's books, I'm eager to try livers, hearts, and the other 'nasty bits'.

You can have 'em. Of course, in addition to what he fried up, there are all the fillers and preservatives that also get added to the mix, in the "real" thing.