Jessa, Ben and Spurgeon Part Seven

[theinvisiblegirl]

2 hours ago, BlessedMajorNeglect said:

Something else I thought of is that despite my MIL being a god awful cook, 3 of her 4 kids ended up being accomplished cooks. My husband is the exception probably because I'm a chef so he hasn't really had to learn. But my siblings in law told me they learned a TON from TV and the Internet rather than books and that seems pretty common. The Duggars seem to severely limit TV and Internet access and I wouldn't be surprised if even cookbook selection is severely limited by them until the kids get married and move out. It is ridiculous that J'boob and Ofboob "champion" homemaking skills but don't teach their daughters to cook properly but I can't blame any of the kids for that. 

They might have some "safe" cookbooks, like the two that the Jeub's put out. But they're definitely not getting access to Ina Garten or Bobby Flay or to Giada DeLaurentis.

[BlessedMajorNeglect]

13 minutes ago, theinvisiblegirl said:

They might have some "safe" cookbooks, like the two that the Jeub's put out. But they're definitely not getting access to Ina Garten or Bobby Flay or to Giada DeLaurentis.

Yup, and there's no way they watch stuff like Chopped or Hell's Kitchen or Masterchef or America's Test Kitchen or Good Eats. There is legitimately very good advice and insight into cooking techniques on a lot of those shows. I wouldn't be shocked at all if the Duggar parents thought nicely plated fresh food is too "worldly" or something. 

 

 

[PennySycamore]

@luxfilia  you can eat all the damn sweet potato skins you want, but I'm not going to.  They're gross and there is plenty of nutrition in the sweet potato without them.

[SilverBeach]

If you are only a mediocre cook, don't bother to post videos. Why do these folks think we want to see everything they do when they don't do it very well?

No Internet back in my day, but I poured over the Better Homes and Garden basic cookbook, and Betty Crocker I think, for basic cooking information and techniques. Thinks like roasting temperatures, how to saute, portion sizes, etc. The different sections on salads, vegetables, entrees, and such also made it simple to combine things for meal ideas.

From there I was off! With the knowledge of my mom's Southern cooking (largely no formal recipes), I bloomed in the kitchen and enjoyed it.

Truly, not rocket science at all. The Duggars never stressed wholesome, simply prepared meals, always some conglomeration of crap. Smashed potatoes with sour cream and chives, a hearty meatloaf with tomato sauce or gravy, and a salad would have been nicer than the chopped stuff she made. Don't  get me wrong, one pan meals can be good, but not all the time except for holidays.

[Grimalkin]

@SilverBeach your post reminds me of pouring over The Joy of Cooking. I barely use cookbooks these days.

[Denim Jumper]

I remember picking up a few issues of Cooks Illustrated at a yard sale when I was a newlywed. Now, until that point I had been cooking for myself since I was 7, and knew a decent amount about nutrition, but I had no idea about specific techniques to really knock a basic recipe out of the park. So, I can't snark too much; she's trying.

[jcanglin991]

The Duggar children grew up being  told they are superior to everyone else. Therefore, everything they do needs to be put on the internet so we can all be enlightened about how to do things properly. It's like the tree falling in the forest. If we don't see and react to everything they do, do  they actually exist?

[SilverBeach]

45 minutes ago, Denim Jumper said:

I remember picking up a few issues of Cooks Illustrated at a yard sale when I was a newlywed. Now, until that point I had been cooking for myself since I was 7, and knew a decent amount about nutrition, but I had no idea about specific techniques to really knock a basic recipe out of the park. So, I can't snark too much; she's trying.

Her trying is fine, I just dont think her efforts need to be made into a video. No one expects her to knock anything out of the park anytime soon, just basic things like making a roast.

I would applaud more if she or any of the rest of them talked about researching cookbooks or taking lessons instead of just flinging stuff together.

[luxfilia]

3 hours ago, PennySycamore said:

@luxfilia  you can eat all the damn sweet potato skins you want, but I'm not going to.  They're gross and there is plenty of nutrition in the sweet potato without them.

Oh, I thought you were being literal when you said they weren't edible, so I was just confused about whether we discussing the same type of sweet potatoes! Sorry to rant.

[FleeJanaFree]

We have the same conversation everytime any Duggar cooks anything.

[nastyhobbitses]

I grew up in a cooking family. Mom isn't a big fan of cooking but she's pretty damn good at it (she's especially good at "lazy" recipes like doctoring jar sauces, and making really tasty marinades for steak), Dad learned to cook as a way to occupy his semi-retirement and became amazing at it (his lasagne will make you believe that there is good in this world and there is such a thing as miracles), I learned out of a combination of osmosis and because of my mom's house rule that whoever cooks doesn't have to do the dishes. I've been cooking/helping out with cooking since I was a little kid, and I'm still learning new techniques and styles. I don't do much variety or showstopping recipes right now because I'm busy/lazy/not rolling in dough/have a very tiny kitchen, but I try to branch out when I can.

[Tim-Tom Biblethumper]

8 hours ago, SilverBeach said:

No Internet back in my day, but I poured over the Better Homes and Garden basic cookbook, and Betty Crocker I think, for basic cooking information and techniques. Thinks like roasting temperatures, how to saute, portion sizes, etc. The different sections on salads, vegetables, entrees, and such also made it simple to combine things for meal ideas.From there I was off! With the knowledge of my mom's Southern cooking (largely no formal recipes), I bloomed in the kitchen and enjoyed it.

We must come from the same generation.  I still have my red and white Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (worse for wear) that I received upon moving out on my own, and still refer to it for some recipes.  
And not having internet 'til my late 30's, how in the world did I plan my wedding?  learn to cook?  or wish folks a happy birthday!?  

[Ungodly Grandma]

2 hours ago, Tim-Tom Biblethumper said:

We must come from the same generation.  I still have my red and white Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (worse for wear) that I received upon moving out on my own, and still refer to it for some recipes.  
And not having internet 'til my late 30's, how in the world did I plan my wedding?  learn to cook?  or wish folks a happy birthday!?  

Without the internet, how did we tell someone how proud we are of them? Or if they're dead, how much we miss them, b/c the have Facebook in heaven apparently. 

Same cookbooks as you guys. My Betty Crocker is the red and white checked binder style, great for staying open for reference!  

[RosyDaisy]

My mother taught my sister and I how to cook and run a household from a young age. To her those things she thought everyone should learn.

[formergothardite]

11 hours ago, SilverBeach said:

If you are only a mediocre cook, don't bother to post videos. Why do these folks think we want to see everything they do when they don't do it very well?

I'm not sure this is just a Duggar thing. It seems like it is fairly common for people to proudly display on the internet their fairly unimpressive cooking skills. This is another one of those trends I don't get. Unless you did something pretty damn amazing, we really don't need to see a video/picture of it. 

 

[season of life]

Maybe they need something to keep the fans interested and Ben can't think of anything to superficially blog about.

[VelociRapture]

1 hour ago, Ungodly Grandma said:

Without the internet, how did we tell someone how proud we are of them? Or if they're dead, how much we miss them, b/c the have Facebook in heaven apparently. 

Same cookbooks as you guys. My Betty Crocker is the red and white checked binder style, great for staying open for reference!  

Not to derail, but I know a family who does the bolded - the mother and sister of a very young woman (only 18 or 19) who died of liver failure just a few years ago. She battled the disease since birth, survived a transplant, and died while waiting for a second transplant after an infection caused her new liver to fail.

(With organ transplants you have to take a anti-rejection meds the rest of your life. When she got sick with the infection the Doctors had no choice but to take her off those meds to treat her and hope they got her back on them in time. It unfortunately did not happen that way.)

Some people snark about people sending wishes and messages to those they love who are gone via Facebook - I can't. It's another form of grieving for many families and loved ones. For others, it's an excellent way to raise awareness about the manner in which their loved one passed - such as suicide prevention or drug addiction or the need for more organ donors. I'm not about to tell anyone how they should mourn their loss or that the manner in which they choose to remember a loved one is wrong. It's not my place - and if it ever bothers me I can simply ignore it and move on.

1 hour ago, RosyDaisy said:

My mother taught my sister and I how to cook and run a household from a young age. To her those things she thought everyone should learn.

My mom wasn't patient enough to do too much of that. She had a lot to deal with and I can't blame her for that at all though. I did learn a great deal just by observing her though. Especially when it comes to the family Christmas cookies. I loved watching her make those and it was one of those times she didn't really mind us bugging her while she worked. 

[ShadowCat]

On 6/13/2016 at 11:08 AM, HeadshipRegent said:

 

 

Firstly, I have no idea how, why or where the empty quote came from. Perhaps I'm a secret stalker?

Secondly, despite cringing something awful when I saw Jessa's clumsy knife skills.... I went ahead and made it. 

As someone else said, the potatoes take a lot longer than the beef mince to cook, and you'd certainly need all your teeth to eat it. I used my own seasonings and the potatoes turned out very well. Lovely and crunchy around the edges and sweet and yummy in the middle.

If I was making this again, I think I'd use a mixture of potato varieties, some garlic and a few bacon lardons to keep it from getting too dry. 

All things considered, it was definitely one of her better attempts

[Bad Wolf]

Joy of Cooking from the 60s. I still have it.

[donnal]

My mother was a just a step up from the Duggars, lol. She did make sure our meals were balanced with lots of green vegetables and cooked meat pretty well, but a lot of sauces and sides came from cans and boxes.

I do pretty well in the kitchen myself because I became extremely interested in cooking as a teenager and started experimenting with different recipes I found in books and magazines. I actually thought I wanted to do it professionally for a while. I lost that level of interest eventually, but I still enjoy cooking from scratch as much as my schedule allows. My sisters ended up much like my mother though and about 50% of what they serve is out of a box.

[ksgranola1]

I had the red & white checkered cookbook, too. I think my mother got it for me at my wedding shower. I must've made every recipe in there. Now I have dozens of cookbooks; a cpl Martha Stewart's  and one called How to Cook Everything by Marc Bittman. Love that one.

It's a crying shame the girls don't know about PBS & the food network. But I'm sure they have tv's so maybe one day The Marrieds will let it slip.

[SassyPants]

16 hours ago, jcanglin991 said:

The Duggar children grew up being  told they are superior to everyone else. Therefore, everything they do needs to be put on the internet so we can all be enlightened about how to do things properly. It's like the tree falling in the forest. If we don't see and react to everything they do, do  they actually exist?

I wonder when they are all going to learn and accept that none of them is the best at anything- and neither are their parents. Being the best means working hard-for forever-being tenacious and up to date. These folks are lazy and lackluster. And in terms of this discussion, the cooking skills shown are poor. The housekeeping is poor- the parenting, not the greatest.

They are masters of nothing.

They need to go away and wallow in their own perceived greatness.

[JesSky03]

My parents didn't really take the time to teach us how to cook. But I don't think I could have learned much from them anyway. Fresh vegetables were a rare sighting in our household. My dad used to work for a warehouse so it was canned everything. And they seemed to have a rotation of fairly bland meals. Ham and potatoes. Porkchops and canned vegetable whatever. Pan fried shrimp and buttered noodles. Chicken breast and potatoes and canned vegetable whatever.  My dad and I used to go round and round at the dinner table over vegetables. I would happily gobble up steamed fresh broccoli or fresh veggies sauteed in a stir fry but I just could not (and still can't) stomach most canned veggies. So as an adult I've had to learn how to cook and enjoy fresh vegetables. 

[xlurker]

15 hours ago, Tim-Tom Biblethumper said:

 I still have my red and white Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (worse for wear)

Count me among the users of the red and white book!

[twinmama]

On 6/23/2016 at 8:41 PM, season of life said:

I wonder if Hermione could be a middle name for a potential daughter of mine. You know, I used to pronounce Ginny's name all wrong. Not Jinny, but with a g like guinea pig. I was so embarrassed when I watched the movies to realize I got it wrong.

Noooooooo this all turned into another HP conversation!!! lol I know thread drift happens and I'm not bitching about that, but man the mere mention of HP devours threads! I loved the books, the movies were fine, but I will never understand the undying obsession with HP. I read them as an adult, maybe that's the reason.