Duggars cooking and gardening - part 2

[Gobbles]

1 hour ago, HomeschooledHeartThrob said:

I saw after I posted you had already answered..whoops! But thank you!

No worries! I wasn't sure myself if I answered it before and if it was in this thread. :-)

[MargaretElliott]

5 hours ago, HomeschooledHeartThrob said:

-snip- You are absolutely right! Give me a moment of liberty to say that the average American does not understand the impact of cultural heritage. It's a huge insult when someone invites you for a hand made dish vs frozen pizza and you make a stink (like you said other than health reasons). My father raises beef cattle and for someone who is not avoiding red meat/vegan/vegetarian/you get the idea to make comments about the quality of his meat shits on his hard work!

Oh my sweet lord, I get so mad about that! For Thanksgiving, I'm the one making homemade pumpkin pie from scratch, spiced apple-cranberry compote, and sage and sausage stuffing. But a select few of my family members always request canned cranberry sauce, and stuffing from a box. One of my uncles literally wouldn't eat my pumpkin pie one year because it was "the wrong color". That's because it didn't come out of a can! In all honestly, I can understand if someone doesn't like more adventurous foods, but the flavors are quite tame. It's just the pumped-up, homemade, not-canned version. But everyone else appreciates it, so those few people can verb my noun. /endrant

This year they're getting pumpkin cheesecake and salted caramel apple crisp (in addition to the compote and stuffing), and they better like it!

Oh, and @HomeschooledHeartThrob, you mentioned growing radishes? Have you ever let them go to seed? The pods are really delicious when they're young and tender. They're sweet and spicy at the same time, like a radish and a pea pod had a baby. So good! I've pickled them, which is also delicious, but they're best fresh.

[Thorns]

13 hours ago, MargaretElliott said:

Oh, and @HomeschooledHeartThrob, you mentioned growing radishes? Have you ever let them go to seed? The pods are really delicious when they're young and tender. They're sweet and spicy at the same time, like a radish and a pea pod had a baby. So good! I've pickled them, which is also delicious, but they're best fresh.

Oh, I will so try this

[PennySycamore]

@Gobbles, thanks for that link about Autism Speaks!   I think I sent the link to Boycottautismspeaks to my daughter after her son's preschool was concerned about him maybe being autistic.  He does have sensory integration issues, but my daughter should be reassured that non-neurotypical people bring certain gifts to the world.  As Dr Tempel Grandin says, "if we didn't have the autistic gene in the world, we wouldn't have Silicon Valley."

[Coconut Flan]

I bought a new mint plant yesterday.  So far the dog has been very interested in it and spent about 15 minutes this morning trying to get to it.  I plan to keep it out of his reach but let him have a sprig once in awhile. 

[nastyhobbitses]

20 hours ago, MargaretElliott said:

Oh my sweet lord, I get so mad about that! For Thanksgiving, I'm the one making homemade pumpkin pie from scratch, spiced apple-cranberry compote, and sage and sausage stuffing. But a select few of my family members always request canned cranberry sauce, and stuffing from a box. One of my uncles literally wouldn't eat my pumpkin pie one year because it was "the wrong color". That's because it didn't come out of a can! In all honestly, I can understand if someone doesn't like more adventurous foods, but the flavors are quite tame. It's just the pumped-up, homemade, not-canned version. But everyone else appreciates it, so those few people can verb my noun. /endrant

This year they're getting pumpkin cheesecake and salted caramel apple crisp (in addition to the compote and stuffing), and they better like it!

Oh, and @HomeschooledHeartThrob, you mentioned growing radishes? Have you ever let them go to seed? The pods are really delicious when they're young and tender. They're sweet and spicy at the same time, like a radish and a pea pod had a baby. So good! I've pickled them, which is also delicious, but they're best fresh.

Just take comfort in knowing that those ingrates will never know the true joy of really good food. And hey, more for you to eat!

Here's the thing: I get it if people have dietary restrictions due to health or religious/ethical conviction. I get it if people have sensory issues that can make certain flavors and textures unpalatable (my sister has this problem). I get it if people are just very used to certain ways of cooking or certain flavors and textures. But if you're so disrespectful that you won't (absent a health concern) try a home-cooked dish someone made for you and to celebrate with you, screw you.

I'm pretty glad that my family's generally adventurous and interested in trying new dishes or cooking techniques; this year I'm going to make an upside-down apple cake with bourbon-spiked whipped cream (I used my roommates as guinea pigs and they loved it) and I really want to see if my dad (who's basically king of the kitchen for everything but dessert, which my sister and I handle, and gravy, which my grandma does) will let me try using a slightly toned-down Middle Eastern style spice mix I like to make for chicken marinade (chili powder, a little bit of smoked paprika, turmeric, cumin, red chili flakes, black pepper, and garlic) for the stuffing. I think that even with the more traditional flavors we use for the turkey, it would work well.

[Meridae]

My rule has always been this- try everything, and the worst that happens is you don't like it. If that's the case, finish your bite or spit it out and go about your day.

I couldn't care less if someone truly doesn't like a food, but it gets my goat when they don't at least TRY. It ain't gonna bite you!

[Lurky]

My dad suffers whenever his wife's parents come to stay with him, because they will NOT eat food made by a man.  My dad loves cooking for other people, and goes out of his way to feed them well (when my partner started eating meat again, he went out of his way to give her all the ribs-offal-bacon food she craved, and everything she hadn't tried before) but they bring their own food to his house.  He tries and tries, but even things like mashed potato, which he loves - they'll eat packet mash instead of his home-made gorgeousness.  And my dad lives in a European country, and they absolutely won't try local sausages, or anything they think of as "foreign" food.

The weird thing is, it's the wife who insists the husband won't eat the food, and polices his food madly.  He pretends he would, but she won't let him - she does all the talking for him, but does it because he avoids confrontation so has her speak for him.  My dad tries and tries, but I think it comes down to "a man can't cook", and really fucked up marriage dynamics.

[December]

I think a lot of people are so used to boxed/canned versions that they dislike the "real" version simply because it's unfamiliar. Not to mention the nostalgia many people feel about certain brands, especially holiday foods. 

That said, barring a medical or religious reason, it wouldn't hurt people to try something new!

[HomeschooledHeartThrob]

22 hours ago, MargaretElliott said:

Oh my sweet lord, I get so mad about that! For Thanksgiving, I'm the one making homemade pumpkin pie from scratch, spiced apple-cranberry compote, and sage and sausage stuffing. But a select few of my family members always request canned cranberry sauce, and stuffing from a box. One of my uncles literally wouldn't eat my pumpkin pie one year because it was "the wrong color". That's because it didn't come out of a can! In all honestly, I can understand if someone doesn't like more adventurous foods, but the flavors are quite tame. It's just the pumped-up, homemade, not-canned version. But everyone else appreciates it, so those few people can verb my noun. /endrant

This year they're getting pumpkin cheesecake and salted caramel apple crisp (in addition to the compote and stuffing), and they better like it!

Oh, and @HomeschooledHeartThrob, you mentioned growing radishes? Have you ever let them go to seed? The pods are really delicious when they're young and tender. They're sweet and spicy at the same time, like a radish and a pea pod had a baby. So good! I've pickled them, which is also delicious, but they're best fresh.

I have not but that sounds DELICIOUS!!! And I don't grow plants I am a horrible helpmeet and let my husband do the work  I help but i'm horrible at it he is the master gardener. 

You sound like an AMAZING cook YUM

[MargaretElliott]

@HomeschooledHeartThrob, Aww, thank you  It's one of the reasons I snark on the Duggars and their TTC so much. Not everyone's a natural cook, but with a little effort (and the help of the internet), making tasty, healthy dishes is super easy. Try new things, experiment, and it's bound to taste good eventually.

[HomeschooledHeartThrob]

@MargaretElliott if all else fails add tater tots!!!!

....and butter ya'll

[grandmadugger]

I started shopping for the holidays this weekend. I can't fathom not preferring the home cooked over the boxed version. There are a few things I do from a box now that I never did before.  Hubby has celiac disease so I have accepted the fact that the pros can make somethings easier and better than I can like Tyson chicken strips. No matter what I do they don't come out right so we buy them. Since I am the only one who will eat stuffing I buy a box of stovetop with a little tweaking its not bad and I get my stuffing.  Instant mashed potatoes are used a lot in gluten free baking and this summer I had some that had been in the pantry for awhile.  Hubby suggested we eat them so they didn't get stale  I'm  still traumatized. 

[DaniLouisiana]

This is the first year in awhile that I'm making Thanksgiving dinner. My hubs usually works it so we usually get a party tray of sandwiches and fruit and cheese. This year, barring an LSU game, I'm sweet tea brining a turkey, homemade mashed potatoes,  boubon pecan sweet potatoes, green beans with ham hocks and pumpkin cheesecake...

[PennySycamore]

@DaniLouisiana, can you email me some of you sweet potatoes?  They sound wonderful!

One of the highlights of our Thanksgiving dinners growing up was Mama's cornbread dressing.  We kids all helped out with the mixing and tasting.  Did it need more sage? Or celery?  Onion?  Did it have enough broth in it?  Stovetop just cannot begin to compare.  Pepperidge Farms stuffing mix is better and I might make that.  We always loved to eat leftovers of Mama's dressing.

I did but a new roasting pan today.  I do have a sturdy one, but the interior coating is flaking off and the rack is a pain to clean so I got a new stainless steel one.

NB: Don't ever try to carve your turkey in one of those disposable aluminum pans!  You may ask me how I know that is not a good idea.

[DaniLouisiana]

@PennySycamore, tell me how and I'll email you some! . My SIL is a New Orleans trained chef and showed me how she did hers-I took it and ran with it. Stuffing with cranberries, dried cherries and apples, anyone?

[catlady]

i've never cooked a Thanksgiving dinner.  through most of my adult life, i worked part-time as a motel maid and full-time as a payroll specialist (currently just in payroll now).  As a result, Thanksgiving week is a marathon of mandatory overtime and late nights, so regardless of whether we spent the holiday with my family or Mr. CL's, my job was to bring pumpkin pies.  this  was all i had time to provide for nearly 20 years and it's one of the few things i could do well.  (although one year i made them on Monday night, wrapped them up and stashed them in the fridge; when i brought them to MIL's house on Thurs, she said, "oh, three days ago?  so they're not fresh."  i bit back the FU-i-worked-42-hrs-in-the-last-3.5-days to smile nicely and say, "don't worry, they're fresh.")

my sister enjoys cooking, so she does dinner for my family.  MIL's health declined several years ago to the point where she couldn't do dinner anymore (she has since passed on), FIL doesn't cook, and the rest of us work, so we do restaurants with Mr. CL's family.  i know many people think that's blasphemy, but given our collective skill-set in the kitchen, it works for us.  a lot of local banquet halls do really nice buffets, we dress up a little, and nobody has to do clean-up.

[Shadoewolf]

3 hours ago, DaniLouisiana said:

@PennySycamore, tell me how and I'll email you some! . My SIL is a New Orleans trained chef and showed me how she did hers-I took it and ran with it. Stuffing with cranberries, dried cherries and apples, anyone?

Hubby is a chef and makes his like that

[LadyCrow1313]

On ‎11‎/‎13‎/‎2016 at 4:00 PM, Meridae said:

My rule has always been this- try everything, and the worst that happens is you don't like it. If that's the case, finish your bite or spit it out and go about your day.

I couldn't care less if someone truly doesn't like a food, but it gets my goat when they don't at least TRY. It ain't gonna bite you!

Exactly. You never know what you might end up liking. And if you don't like something you've tried, it makes for a good story (I once tried garlic ice cream at a local garlic fest many moons ago; it was gross, but I'm glad to have tried it & love to share the sordid details).   

On ‎11‎/‎13‎/‎2016 at 9:17 PM, catlady said:

 a lot of local banquet halls do really nice buffets, we dress up a little, and nobody has to do clean-up.

My mother/aunt usually cook (& I'll bring something to share; either a veggie dish or dessert), but we did do a buffet a few years ago (to give it a try; we've done that every so often). The food was good, but the food line setup was a little weird. This year, Mom/Aunt is cooking again, & I've been requested to bring a pie from a local bakery/farm place.

[DaniLouisiana]

@LadyCrow1313, that garlic ice cream is awful!! My daughter chose to go to the garlic festival for her birthday one year. The aparagus was good but that ice cream, never again.. I'd like to try the asparagus one though if the aparagus festival ever comes back...

Love your avatar!!

[Bad Wolf]

I tried garlic ice cream too. Not bad. Maybe we fjers were a!l waiting in line together for the free sample.

[SassyPants]

I tried the garlic ice cream too. I did not like it.

[missegeno]

On 3/24/2016 at 8:23 AM, Glasgowghirl said:

The shopping centre I work in used to an American Candy shop the stuff was expensive due to having to pay custom tax but I loved trying some of the stuff. I objected paying £10 for a box of lucky charms cereal though, I was curious to try them again. I loved them as a child then then they stopped shipping them to the UK.

Are you referring to American Fizz? There was one in England and I found it hilarious that it had only the worst of American foods. Other than Virgil's Root Beer, I couldn't find a single thing in that store that I or people in my circles would actually eat. I did buy a package of chocolate pudding (Jell-O brand) at American Fizz when I wanted to show british friends that American pudding is just far inferior custard.

@PennySycamore, I've always known Americans to be absolute maple syrup snobs and wondered who uses Aunt Jemima. Maybe it's just because I've always lived in the northern US?

(sorry, just realized these posts are from months ago, not sure how I missed them before, but I'm still going to hit "Submit Reply.")

I see we're talking about garlic ice cream now. Never tried it but I would. I've had garlic in fresh squeezed juices and it is amazing.

For unusual ice cream flavors, I highly recommend saffron. There's a little organic ice cream shop in San Francisco called Saffron after their signature ice cream flavor (the others are great too!). I have to stop there most every time I visit the bay area.

[PennySycamore]

@missegeno,  the only IHOPs* that serve maple syrup with their pancakes are the ones in Vermont.  When we went to Vermont a few years ago for my daughter's college graduation, I wanted to go for pancakes one morning for breakfast, but we didn't.  We were very near a legendary pancake house in New Hampshire too.  

The last time I went to IHOP a couple of months ago I meant to take a small bottle of maple syrup with me, but I forgot. People that don't use maple syrup on their pancakes don't know what their missing.  Maple syrup is divine!  You're right, though, about maple syrup being a northern thing.  I still recall the sugar on snow part from one of the Little House books.  Little House in the Big Woods  maybe?

*IHOP in the case is International House of Pancakes and not International House of Prayer.

 

[DaniLouisiana]

IHOP's butter pecan syrup is the best! I don't really eat pancakes often because they remind of my dad and then I'm sad...but hubs takes me to IHOP about once a year for pancakes and butter pecan syrup.