Category: Grub Garage
So, I wasn't sure if this was better posted on the rant board or on this food forum. Anyway, it's food related and it's a rant. I hate eating at my inlaws. They can't freaken cook. My grandmother in law makes this cherry cheese pie that everyone raves about and it is store bought pie crust, creamcheese mixed with sugar, topped with cherry pie filling from a can. Yarg. Come on people, a home made biscuit style crust with a whipped marscepone layer, with vanilla and confectioner's sugar whipped in and a lary of fresh cherries with home made cherry reduction sauce would be nice, but this is junk. They use box spaghetti, with jar sauce and frozen meatballs for dinner. They consider corn, and potatos to be vegetables. Erm, wrong. They never think of my soy allergy and I am often reduced to eating nothing because theyb used condenced soup containing soy oil to make the mashed potato cassarole, or put margerine on the bread before serving it, or whatever. It wouldn't bother me so much accept that my husband has no taste buds and says how good the food is, and the rest of the family is always like "Oh, this is so delicious, yummy, yum, yum." Drives me fucking nuts.
Maybe that's all they can afford?
I can wholeheartedly identify with the original poster. Most of my family can't cook worth shit. It's frustrating when people scarf down artificial junk and lick their lips like it's the best damn thing in the world. Frozen chicken patties? Check. Frozen pizza's? Check. Frozen meatballs? Definitely. Boxed spaghetti? Always.
And, Ryan, to address your post, to make something from scratch often ends up costing less than to buy something premade, preserved and boxed up. It just takes time to cook from scratch, but most people either lack the skill or the work effort to do so. I confess, after working all day and caring for my eleven-month-old, I don't feel like cooking sometimes, but I'll whip up something with a little internal moaning and groaning before I'll snap open a jar and feed it to my fiance...Not to mention my baby.
Speaking of baby food... I hate that when my son is at my mom's house, she will occasionally try to feed him that nasty jar food. She claims all babie's eat it, so it's good for him. Wrong. Oh well, he refuses to eat it--Guess he has refined taste buds like his mommy and daddy... Score!!! :)
To the second poster. If they were broke I would not be that harsh on them, or if they worked crazy busy hours and this was everyday cooking, but they are boarderline rich, upper middle class, $250,000 house, 2 incomes, and they cook like this on days when it is a special occation, Christmas, Easter, someone's birthday, sunday dinner, etc. His grandmother considers herself a homebody and she doesn't work anymore. She can sew well, and she is a sweet lady, but she cooks like this when she's been home all day and had plenty of time to do better. We on the otherhand have a 100,000 dollar house, a morgage of course and I'm on freaken food stamps and I use high quality wholewheat box pasta, home made tomato sauce with tomatoes I bought at the farmers' market in bulk, blanched, peeled, hulled, pureed and froze myself, fresh herbs from my herb garden, with homemade bread, dough kneeded in my bread maker, but hand kneeded the second time, pan risen and baked in the oven, not the bread maker, freshly grated parmasian, homemade meatballs from grassfed ground beef from the farmer's market, and from scratch cake with home made frosting. Sometimes I will use frozen meatballs, but they're mine, made ahead and frozen, and when I have time I do experiment with my pasta machine. I'm still getting the hang of it, but the experiments are tasty. It's just the mindlessness that drives me crazy. They never read product labels, never search the net for new recepies, never try new flavors of potato chips or seek out new and interesting icecream choices. I guess that's what formula instead of breast milk, jar baby food instead of homemade, too many school cafateria lunches, too much fast food during busy days and too many TV commercials for prepackaged, fast food and resturant food will do to a family. I don't think my husband will ever change, at least in this regard. I love the man, but damn. I'll make a nice dinner, he'll eat it, give it the same degree of praise as the crap his family makes, then at midnight, he's warming up pizza bites or frozen mozerella sticks instead of left over stuffed shells, cyder and herb pork chops, loaded mashed potatos, chicken cordon bleu casserole, southwest meatloaf or whatever other tasty things are in the fridge from the previous few meals. *throws measuring spoons at the wall.*
Hello Heather,
I have to chuckle at your frustration regarding your husband's taste bud or the lack there of...
Anyways, I know you don't come on here very often, but if you ever read this, and have some times to reply. I'd love some tips on frosting a cake and getting the icing equally throughout. - Particularly cupcakes.
Thank you very much.
Kim
Well, this is how America eats. It is also why America's, um, hip measurement, is ever widening.
You, know something, and this is a fact, when you start to eat natural foods they don't or won't have much of a taste, because you've been eating foods that are over salted. If you eat natural for a while your taste comes back and you'll start to taste your food.
That is what is will require for your husband to get use to things as they should taste. Keep him home. Smile. Pretty soon he'll not be able to eat that stuff, because it will simply taste nasty.
To poster 5, ok, so frosting cakes. My first choice is usually to frost it myself, then have Jim straiten out any problems. If that's not a choice, I recommend utalizing crumb toppings, where you mix sugar, spices and butter into a crumbly topping and sprinckle it over the moist warm cake and it will set in place. Another great thing to do is make super moist cakes and instead of frosting them you can use confectioners' sugar over the whole thing, or make swirls of colored sugar, or just natural turbanato sugar, or if it's a caramel or maple cake, a mixture of sugar crystals with some sea salt mixed in. You can put that into a super thin funnel and make a swirl on top. Another choice is to make a glaze rather than a frosting, very thin and liquidious, you just put the cake on a large plate and slowly pour the super thin mixture over it, let it harden, then transfer the cake to a smaller plate, and discard, (or shamelessly stand at the counter and eat) the extra glaze left on the larger plate. *smile* I have found that if you are going to do frosting, cream cheese based frostings spread better than the ones based on butter, sugar and water. Cream cheese frosting needn't be bland mildly vanilla flavored goop like on a traditional carrott cake. You can make dark chocolate orange, lemon ginger, lime mint, strawberry, blueberry, mango, pretty much any flavor you'd want. For cupcakes, which are the most god aweful pain in the butt, I suggest something like taking something to decorate them with, tiny gingerbread men cookies, individual chocolate chips or hershies kisses, gum drops, etc, take each item, lay that flat in a shallow pan of frosting, then press this to the top of the cup cake. It holds it in place, makes it look fancey, and the icing spreads out nicely just around the edges of the item you've affixed to the top. You can feel what you're doing better also. Rings of M and Ms work well, smiley faces with peanutbutter mini cup eyes, a hershy's kiss nose and a smile made of M and Ms or Reeces Pieces is cute. Also, to avoid frosting, you can cook the cupcakes part way, usually half or three quarters of the way, then drop a snickerrs minni, a hershy's kiss, a peanutbutter cup, etc in the middle of each. It will melt and spread out on top, when you finish cooking it, making it look like it's a little pool of chocolate inside an open topped cup made of cake. Sometimes you can frost your cake, put olive oil, or some water on your hands and very gently sort of pat the frosting, to even it out, and if you mostly use the palms and heals of your hands, it won't leave finger prints. Another great thing is to make a super sweet, super concintrated syrup and pour that on top of the cake so it sinks down in, then top the cake with pieces of fresh fruit. For instance, boil a quart of real apple juice or cyder down until you've got it reduced by about half, pour about 1 cup of that, slowley onto the top of a large cake, then top the cake with slices of baked apple. You can use rum, or rum flavored extract to enhance fruit juice based syrups also. Whipped cream makes great frosting if people are eating the cake right away. Just pick a good real whipped cream in a can, made with real cream does indeed come in a can, and spray that sucker good, making swirls and peeks. It's really fun and looks neat. Another trick is to make a layer cake and just cram that pudding, mousse, frosting or custard in there however, put the top layer on, thereby concealing any unevenness, then use one of the other methods previously described above on the top. That way they get the taste of frosting and you get to not have snide comments about lop-sided cakes or finger printed frosting. Hope that helps. To poster 6. Maybe his taste buds are damaged for life. He served in the Marine Corps, and maybe eating that many MREs does longterm taste damage. *laughs*
Some people like traddition and aren't as open to change. I understand why you may be annoyed, but some food is better than nothing.
Regarding post seven, wow--I love your suggestions about frosting. I bake fairly often too, and I mostly use small funnels and tiny droppers, but I must admit it's a roayal pain in the ass doing it that way. I definitely have to try the mini candy-pool of chocolate idea. That's brilliant! Love it!
Anyone got a chocolate mousse pie recipe that doesn't clude pudding, or cream cheese? If any of y'all remember Olive Garden's chocolate mousse, that's what I'm after. I miss it. It was super rich.
No, his taste isn't damaged. Keep cooking as you do, and soon they will come back alive. Smile.
Can I come to dinner?
I remember you mentioning that before, and I'm upset I never got the chance to try that before they did away with that recipe.
I don't like fast food. I don't do as much as you do with my food but I haven't had the opertunity but I much rather have home made breads and pasta and etc...
I am relocating and have just moved to Raleigh. I started making home made bread a few months ago and even started a starter for it. I don't have anything right now because everything is in storage until I can find a place to stay... But I don't like the taste of a lot of the preserved stuff either... I had a chicken sandwhich from BBQ King and it tasted so salty and groce.
I am not a huge salt person either. LOL!
I am going to try out some of your baking tips sometime.
But I wanted to also say that some of us don't have those opertunity or the choice, maybe not the skills or the know how to do some of these things and that is why there are options out there. Maybe not what is best for you, but might be for them. I don't have kids but if I ever do, I am giving them formula and not because I am aginst breast feeding, but i have medical problems that makes it harmful for me to breast feed my child. My medication could harm my baby and i have to take it or i could die. So just because someone chooses to do things different than you doesn't mean they are always wrong. It is just a different choice.
No harm taken on my side.
First off, Heather, wow... thank you! I too, love the mini-candy pool of chocolate idea. I've never considered using a funnel, so there's something new to try.I'm thinking ahead to my daughter's fifth birthday in the summer and wanted to test out some ideas before hand regarding cake. Last year I did a no-baked cheese cake decorated with red and purple berries to write out happy birthday which everyone said looked pretty and tasted good as well, but this year I would like to do something a bit more fancy... So thank you again for the suggestions.
To Ryan, your comment regarding some food better then nno food... - What happen to the idea of going that extra mile when you have guests over for dinner? Or is that a concept that is out-dated???.
I would never serve anything that would contain soy if I know my guest is allergic to such a product. Common sense if nothing else...
Sometimes, you are only able to afford certain ways of making meals. Though I do agree making foods from scratch is the best way and most tasty, not everyone has the supplies to make foods in that way. It may be cheaper, but sometimes the supplies are what cost money.
I get the mashed potatoes that come in a tray thing covered in plastic and they go in the microwave. Lousy, but if I put a little garlic powder in them, yummm.
I want to clarify something. I am against the huge commercial push to get women who are perfectly capable of breastfeeding to use formula that is not as healthy, safe or benificial for babies as breast milk. I do not however fault mothers for using formula who honestly can't breastfeed. Some women who take extremely strong medications that could harm their babies in breast milk, that the mother can not discontinue the use of or risk losing their own lives, are a great example of this. Mothers who have had mastechtomies due to breast cancer are another good example, along with single fathers of babies whose mothers who have abandoned them or died in child birth or who are incarserated, also babies in the foster care system. When I do hear a woman say "Well, I can't breastfeed." I always ask gentle questions to make sure I understand her meaning, because some times she is right and some times, through the misinformation of others, she is actually wrong. For instance many idiotic doctors told women and some still tell women, that their breasts are too small to breastfeed. The size of one's breasts has nothing to do with their capability to produce adiquate amounts of breast milk. It is just fatty tissue surrounding the milk ducts and glands that actually produce the milk, which are pretty standard in women all over the world whether they have A cup or F cup breasts. Some, but certainly not all medications can be substituted safely for alternatives so that breastfeeding can be possible. Other medications if you work with a knowledgable doctor, can be worked around. For instance, some women can take a medication, like a heavy duty pain killer, or an as needed seizure medication, and simply pump and dump their effected breastmilk when the medication is in their system and nurse their babies the rest of the time. For instance, I nursed my son for 2 and a quarter years, and if I had a truly terrible migraine and needed to take vicadin, I would just pump and dump milk effected by that drug until that medication would be clear of my system, then continue nursing. Same if I wanted to have more than 1 glass of wwine with dinner, I'd consult a doctor about how long it would take for that to clear my system, then resume nursing. Another thing to think about is, and this is directed as a question in general for women to think about, nnot meant to belittle or put on the spot, the poster above, so the general plural "you" is meant here, but "If you need a medication so dangerous that you can't risk breastfeeding while taking it, and if this medication is needed to keep you alive, then perhaps you should not even have a child that is biologically yours? Because if this medication is so very dangerous, then you shouldn't be allowing it to pass to your unborn baby as it's major organs and brain develop in your body. If it's that bad that you'd have to use formula, then perhaps it is that bad that it could cause serious harm to a fetus including miscarriage, still birth, severe mental retardation, physical deformaties and genetic mutation resulting in severe disabilities? Now, there are cases where a medication can be passed into the breast milk, similarly to how it is sweated out through the skin, passed in urine or fecies, etc, but that does not cross the plecental barrier, thereby allowing a woman to safely carry a pregnancy while taking the medication but not to breastfeed, and this is the potential mother's responsibility to fully explore, research and understand before making the decision to even have a baby, let alone whether to breastfeed or to use formula." So, I do hope that the poster above will consider this and that any other potential moms out there will think about it. I know of moms who chose to adopt because their life saving medications would have posed serious risks to their babies, and so they did the responsible thing. i also know of mothers taking similar medications who went ahead anyway: 1 has a baby with an IQ of about 50 and some gross motor and many fine motor difficulties plus facial deformaties, 1 who had a still birth and 1 whose baby has some heart and neuro abnormalities that the doctors believe result from the mother's taking of such medications. I also personally know a mom who takes a medication that is very dangerous in breastmilk, but that fortunately was not capable of crossing the plecental barrier, so she had a healthy baby, who she fed with a combination of home made and commercial formula. So I really urge all women to challenge everything, ask as many questions as possible and understand their personal circomstances and their own bodies well enough to make the best possible informed health care decisions for themselves and for any future children they might have. I know this goes off of the topic, but this is important. I might cross post this response on the parenting board as well. Thanks for reading.
Oh my gods, you have no idea how much I empathize with your situation! I'm living with my SO's parents right now, and they're the same way. His dad's an analyst for phone systems, and his mother's a 2nd-grade schoolteacher.
Every month or so, they load up on meals from supper solutions. Basically, Supper Solutions puts out a menu for you each month, and you pick which meals you want. Then, you go to their facilities and assemble, that's right assemble, your selections for the month.
The ingredients for each dish are placed in separate coolers along with the sauces, and you just put them into ziplock baggies containing the instructions on how to "cook" the meal, and you're off. When you're ready to eat, you either take the meal out fo the fridge or freezer, thaw it out if necessary, and then either put it in the oven or sautŽ it yourself.
As if that wasn't bad enough, they make these prepackaged packets of rice and steamed vegetables to go on the side. the worst is one of those microwavable packages of instant, flavored rice.
I've not even started on her crockpot, pot roast, or pork roast recipes. Last night's pork roast was one ofr hte books.
you'll need:
A can of cream of mushroom soup
Green beans
A 1.08 lb. pork roast if you're feeding 3-4 people
and small potatoes
Throw all into crockpot, turn it on low, and leave it for 5 hours.
Result? Bone-dry pork, OK-tasting green beans, and funny-tasting potatoes.
Oh, and eveything's infused with cream of mushroom.
Mmmmm.
lol. wow. I know all about those packets of rice. Darn. Ever seen those microwavable packages of broccoli, all ready for you in a nice, prepackaged steam bag? Talk about processed convenience. And people are fooling themselves that they're eating healthy when they pop one of those in and have them ready in five minutes.
I am vegetarian and I really like Amy's kitchen frozen meals. Sometimes people just don't have the time to cook a full meal or the energy.
I bet you most people don't even bother to read the ingredients on those disgusting prepackaged meals... I wouldn't even feed most of them to my dog if I have one, let alone myself and my daughter...
You'd do better with a quick salad thrown together when crunch for time then those instant pukes, - I meant *meals*...
And, watch Food ink if you haven't already
MMM. Makes me laugh.
Loved the description of these meals.
Yeah, plus frozen vegetables just don't taste the same. Everyone keeps saying that frozen has just as much nutrition as fresh because they've been frozen at the peak of their ripeness or some junk like that.
However, I don't think it'd be feasible for me to go as far as making my own pasta, i.e. a pasta machine. I think a balance needs to be struck between convenience and freshness.
My family, for the most part, made things from scratch. We own a bakery now, and almost everything is made from scratch. For many of our more complex dishes, we do use a soup base.
I think it's great to want to make everything by hand, but nowadays, that's just not very practical. Therefore, a blanace needs to be struck between convenience and freshly made food.
I make most things from scratch. I eat a frozen meal every once in awhile, but for the most part, I make everything from scratch. I agree there needs to be a balance between freshness and saving time. I hardly ever eat out, either. not only does it cost a lot more money, but I also find it boring since it's mainly me eating out and I don't have someone to eat with. When I moved into my new apartment a year ago now, there was a lady upstairs being evicted. She gave me a huge box of top Ramen which was half empty. Still, there are like twenty packages. I ate my first packet the other night. lol. My grandma started teaching me how to cook and bake at a very early age. consequently, i do lots of it.
Take Care,
Dawnielle
post 1 and 4, I can appreciate what you're saying. I actually cook also, though I don't know how to do half the stuff you talk about. I've learned since the daughter got into the locavore thing buying from the farm store, and I mainly went along since hey, if the teenager wants the old man around I'm in. So I did mainly most the work, which again I don't really mind.
But yunno, sometimes a guy's just gotta eat the fatass food: taco hell, McDonalds, or something like that. I dono why.