Jessa, Ben and Spurgeon Part Seven

[actuallyjessica]

The reason I think they aren't spotted wearing pants as everyday wear outside of the house is not because they're convicted to wear only skirts (because we've seen them all in pants, at one time or another), but because they want to project a holier than thou image... Which leads to me to believe there are some sort of levels of IBLP, where the "holier" ones look down on those who don't have the same "convictions" as others. And I do think there can be a correlation in dress code to this.

I fully believe this to be the case between the Bates sisters.

Michael (ankle length skirts), who seemingly looks down on her little sister Erin, (knee length skirts), and they look down on their little sister, Alyssa (pants wearer).

I'm sure there is also something similar for courtship standards "we front hugged while courting" "we didn't hold hands until engagement" "we didn't even see each other until the wedding day"

I hope this is being conveyed correctly - I've been awake for 30 hours.

[Natalie22]

On 6/27/2016 at 8:38 PM, VelociRapture said:

I love the HP thread drift, but I get how it's probably obnoxious after a while.

For me, a big part of the draw is because I literally grew up with these characters. I think I was 9 or 11 when the first book came out and I was in college for the last one. For a kid like me who was really withdrawn and socially awkward, these characters kind of became my friends and an escape in some ways. When I was upset or scared or lonely I would just retreat to the books again - the different characters managing to find their way and place in the world gave me hope that I would too one day.

When will they learn? I doubt they will as long as their leghumpers continue telling them they are amazing. It's tough to face reality when you have a ton of people telling you something false is true. Plus, I don't know how willing they would be to consider they don't know everything anyway. They seem awfully content with the way things are now.

The same thing happened to me with HP.  I started at 7 or 8 and the last one came out when I was 16.  I'm actually giving my cousin her first book this week and am really nervous as to whether she'll like it or not.  This is the one thing I've always looked forward to doing with all my little cousins.  She's the first, so hopefully she likes it!

[lascuba]

3 hours ago, barbecutie said:

What bothers me the most about the no-pants wearing for girls rule is that we get very rare photographic evidence that this is not true. If they want to exclusively wear skirts that's fine, but don't present some bullshit image on TV about how you never wear pants because modesty and femininity and bogus gender roles when we know that is not true. Why can't they just say on TV "Hey, we prefer dresses and skirts but we do put on gym pants and shorts every once and a while because it's more practical". The whole thing completely reeks of sexist daddy duggar garbage to me, and because Michelle eats that crap up, they follow her lead.

Because they are fundamentally stupid people who think if that if they're upfront about practical exceptions to their rules that they'd undermine their whole "ministry." Not seeking proper treatment for their adolescent son after he molested his sisters is no big deal, but the world will burn if they say, "we wear skirts most of the time but working out is an obvious exception."

[nst]

5 hours ago, lizzybee said:

I sincerely hope that picture is staged. You just can't work out in inappropriate shoes and not eventually hurt yourself. Even bad tennis shoes can cause painful leg and foot problems. 

As for the food video, I didn't think it was the worst. I think I would have done some things differently, which is cook the vegetables for a while first and then add the ground beef. The longer ground beef cooks the drier and chewier it gets. I might even cook the ground beef and drain it first to avoid the grease. I don't know. At least it was fresh ingredients. 

Also, Jessa, as evidenced on old episodes of 19KAC is not a recipe person. I remember there was an episode where they were in the kitchen with Grandma D making cookies or pies or something and she was trying to get Jessa to measure and Jessa was being downright rude to her and refusing to even try to measure. I'm pretty sure it was cookies. Ever since that episode I've sort of thought Jessa just doesn't have the patience for recipe cooking. If it's not thrown together, it's not for her.   

jessa was downright rude 

what - never 

snark number 5 

next 

[nickelodeon]

Every time we've seen Jill and Jessa in pants or going sleeveless, they're always wearing the fugliest shit, e.g. their nasty swim trunks and cutoff shirts. I would assume that if you were gunna break your freaky modesty covenant, you'd do it for something really worth it, like a sweet sleeveless one-piece, so that if you ended up going to gender roles hell for your transgressions at least you looked fab doing it. But nah.

[princessmahina]

6 hours ago, lizzybee said:

I sincerely hope that picture is staged. You just can't work out in inappropriate shoes and not eventually hurt yourself. Even bad tennis shoes can cause painful leg and foot problems. 

As for the food video, I didn't think it was the worst. I think I would have done some things differently, which is cook the vegetables for a while first and then add the ground beef. The longer ground beef cooks the drier and chewier it gets. I might even cook the ground beef and drain it first to avoid the grease. I don't know. At least it was fresh ingredients. 

Also, Jessa, as evidenced on old episodes of 19KAC is not a recipe person. I remember there was an episode where they were in the kitchen with Grandma D making cookies or pies or something and she was trying to get Jessa to measure and Jessa was being downright rude to her and refusing to even try to measure. I'm pretty sure it was cookies. Ever since that episode I've sort of thought Jessa just doesn't have the patience for recipe cooking. If it's not thrown together, it's not for her.   

That was so obnoxious. It's pretty easy to learn to cook if you have a detailed recipe. You just follow the instructions and BAM there's food. All she's doing is making things more difficult on herself. 

[Four is Enough]

12 hours ago, princessmahina said:

That was so obnoxious. It's pretty easy to learn to cook if you have a detailed recipe. You just follow the instructions and BAM there's food. All she's doing is making things more difficult on herself. 

Well, yes, that's true. But if you grow up, as I did, watching a mother and two grandmothers "throw food together" you'd want to do that yourself, vrai? Now for me, it was grandmothers and a mother who had cooked since the year one, and I was just starting out, but I wanted to cook without the book, TOO!! It didn't matter that their fine judgment came from their years of experience. I wanted to bypass that part and JUST DO IT. Like them.  Well... many years later, I CAN, NOW. (Can't make a piecrust from scratch without the recipe in my head, but... I can make a helluva lot of other stuff 

 

Perhaps that was what Jessa wanted? To be like her grandmother? (I can't believe I defended her rude behavior..)

[theinvisiblegirl]

I've always been a recipe person. Maybe it's because I've logged so many hours on the couch watching Food Network. But once I pick up on a concept of a recipe, I enjoy utilizing the concept in different ways. For instance, in high school I used to get a panini wrap for lunch almost daily. Post high-school, I've used my George Foreman grill to make a variety of panini wraps - meatloaf (the first I tried which was something I didn't know would work but turned out to be great!), beef and bean, and - for the first time last night and it was so good that I'm going to have it again tonight - a buffalo chicken wrap. I think, once Jessa learns to read some recipes and master certain concepts to try in different ways with different ingredients, then she'll be on her way to becoming a really good cook.

[lizzybee]

Recipes are definitely my thing. I love being able to follow something verbatim and get amazing food. My husband got me the Carabba's cookbook as a gift last year and I've had so much fun recreating their recipes. It took me two tries to get an emulsion sauce down, but I was so proud of myself when I succeeded. I can also really get down on some Ina Garten. I love to watch her and then pull up her recipes and try them for myself.  

[Jessie E]

On 6/6/2016 at 4:29 AM, nastyhobbitses said:

If Ben is indeed releasing a Christian rap album, I already have some album title ideas for him:

To Pimp A Family

The Chronic (Need for Attention)

Become One Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood

The Spurgeon Seewald LP

The Homeschool Dropout

The 36 Chambers (of Jim Bob's House that Need Cleaning)

Just laughed out loud at this while reading it at work.......and now my boss is staring at me lol! 

[Denim Jumper]

And even without detailed recipes (or recipes, period) one can still turn out some really good throw-together meals just by learning basic techniques. I'm not much of a recipe person either, but a lot of what I cook (mostly ethnic dishes) doesn't require a recipe; all you really need to know are some flavor profiles, and basic preparation techniques (for example: meat thinly sliced across the grain vs. sliced into thick chunks). These types of dishes have been prepared for hundreds of years without written recipes, they allow for more culinary freedom, and can be whipped up with whatever you have on hand (as opposed to making a specific shopping trip). The one drawback though is that a dish never comes out the same way twice, so I kind of have to backtrack in my head "Oh yeah, the last time I made this I was out of ____, so I used ____".    Hell, some of my best "signature" dishes came about by throwing shit in the pot and seeing what happens.

[princessmahina]

5 hours ago, Four is Enough said:

Well, yes, that's true. But if you grow up, as I did, watching a mother and two grandmothers "throw food together" you'd want to do that yourself, vrai? Now for me, it was grandmothers and a mother who had cooked since the year one, and I was just starting out, but I wanted to cook without the book, TOO!! It didn't matter that their fine judgment came from their years of experience. I wanted to bypass that part and JUST DO IT. Like them.  Well... many years later, I CAN, NOW. (Can't make a piecrust from scratch without the recipe in my head, but... I can make a helluva lot of other stuff 

 

Perhaps that was what Jessa wanted? To be like her grandmother? (I can't believe I defended her rude behavior..)

That's true. I got the feeling that Mary appreciates a set of measuring cups and spoons though I'm sure Michelle does very little measuring-- not that it's needed when all your recipes start with "combine a can of cream of chicken soup with a can of..."

[ksgranola1]

You can have great success whipping up a savory dish but whe it comes to baking, as Emeril used to say, "Baking is a formula. You have to follow the recipe exactly." Thus Gr-ma says, "You're gonna have some messed up cookies." and I'll bet they were.

[princessmahina]

16 minutes ago, ksgranola1 said:

You can have great success whipping up a savory dish but whe it comes to baking, as Emeril used to say, "Baking is a formula. You have to follow the recipe exactly." Thus Gr-ma says, "You're gonna have some messed up cookies." and I'll bet they were.

I really think that only applies to novice bakers. Once you understand baking and the importance of each ingredient, you can start having fun with it and fiddling with ingredients. Example: I have a cake recipe that calls for 2 cups of sugar (!!) and a cup of oil (!!). I halved the sugar and replaced half the oil with applesauce. The cake was much healthier and tastier. I'm a pretty experienced baker though.

 I virtually never follow baking recipes exactly. Jessa definitely should.

[PecanThief]

I think the problem with Jessa's cooking video is that she didn't need to make a video or even a blog post about it. She literally cut up two vegetables and threw in a package of meat. THAT IS NOT RECIPE WORTHY. 

I agree with what other posters have said in term of it looks like she's trying to be more adventurous with her cooking but please Jessa just admit to yourself you're not a pro at cooking. Go buy a cookbook and stop making these wack videos!

[MyMilkshake]

To me, cooking is an art, so you get a bit more leeway in how precise your measurements need to be. But baking is a science- if you don't measure out the ingredients correctly there's a higher probability of your baking not turning out too good.

[twinmama]

47 minutes ago, ksgranola1 said:

You can have great success whipping up a savory dish but whe it comes to baking, as Emeril used to say, "Baking is a formula. You have to follow the recipe exactly." Thus Gr-ma says, "You're gonna have some messed up cookies." and I'll bet they were.

Ha, this is exactly why I don't bake! I can't follow a recipe for anything. I come from a long line of "eh I don't have XYX ingredient so I used this other thing" and "I don't know how long I cooked it, until it was done!" My husband on the other hand would probably love one of those kitchen scales to further perfect his baked goods.

On 6/29/2016 at 3:59 PM, Natalie22 said:

The same thing happened to me with HP.  I started at 7 or 8 and the last one came out when I was 16.  I'm actually giving my cousin her first book this week and am really nervous as to whether she'll like it or not.  This is the one thing I've always looked forward to doing with all my little cousins.  She's the first, so hopefully she likes it!

My boys are just 4 and I am looking forward to starting Harry Potter some day! Last year they were giving up naps and I was looking to start audio books at nap time to put them to sleep, lol, I held off on HP because everyone said they wouldn't get the full effect for years yet. We did the Wizard of Oz, it did put them to sleep, and they loved it. lol How old is your cousin? I want to know how many years I still have to wait? 

[nst]

1 hour ago, MyMilkshake said:

To me, cooking is an art, so you get a bit more leeway in how precise your measurements need to be. But baking is a science- if you don't measure out the ingredients correctly there's a higher probability of your baking not turning out too good.

cooking is an art is so true - to make a true meal and share it is exceptional 

a true vision of life 

you are my Favorite person today 

[anotherone]

On ‎6‎/‎26‎/‎2016 at 11:55 AM, BlessedMajorNeglect said:

. 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. 

That just makes me wonder, yet again, what do they DO all day??

On ‎6‎/‎28‎/‎2016 at 8:16 AM, paulypepper said:

She is wearing a Nike branded top, so I guess that is "workout" appropriate attire.

It looks like she has office attire on, and that logo is a brooch.  Also you know why she is kind of hunched over, her hair is caught under the bar.  I can't stand not having my hair up in a ponytail or barrette.

[Shadoewolf]

Hubby being a chef, I've picked up some interesting dishes without a recipe, but our shelves are still loaded down with cookbooks of all varieties. Personally, I can cook basics (spaghetti, chili, chicken or shrimp alfredo, baked pork chops or pork tenderloin, roast etc)  but I like the precision of baking better. I do a custom, surprise birthday cake for my kids each year and my oatmeal breakfast cookies beat the hell out of any you can get in the box, with less sugar! Its weird but baking is soothing for me.

[Natalie22]

10 hours ago, twinmama said:

Ha, this is exactly why I don't bake! I can't follow a recipe for anything. I come from a long line of "eh I don't have XYX ingredient so I used this other thing" and "I don't know how long I cooked it, until it was done!" My husband on the other hand would probably love one of those kitchen scales to further perfect his baked goods.

My boys are just 4 and I am looking forward to starting Harry Potter some day! Last year they were giving up naps and I was looking to start audio books at nap time to put them to sleep, lol, I held off on HP because everyone said they wouldn't get the full effect for years yet. We did the Wizard of Oz, it did put them to sleep, and they loved it. lol How old is your cousin? I want to know how many years I still have to wait? 

7 and a half (just finished grade 1).  It's definitely hard to wait as long as you have to.  I think JK Rowling said she wouldn't recommend anyone under 6 or 7 reading them, so I based my timeline off of her.

[Melissa1977]

11 hours ago, PecanThief said:

I think the problem with Jessa's cooking video is that she didn't need to make a video or even a blog post about it. She literally cut up two vegetables and threw in a package of meat. THAT IS NOT RECIPE WORTHY. 

I agree with what other posters have said in term of it looks like she's trying to be more adventurous with her cooking but please Jessa just admit to yourself you're not a pro at cooking. Go buy a cookbook and stop making these wack videos!

I agree, but maybe she is so proud of herself about not serving bread with ketchup as a diner, that she needs to show it to the whole mankind.

Do you think she will feel superior to Michelle? I mean, if she's feeding Ben and Spurge with fresh food, she has to realise she was not well-nourished as a kid.

[anotherone]

On ‎6‎/‎29‎/‎2016 at 5:14 AM, actuallyjessica said:

Do you think when they know there's going to be no photographic evidence they will actually wear activity-appropriate clothes?

Or do you think Jessa's convictions are so strong she doesn't dare at least look at cute gym wear like Lululemon and think "wow, I want that."

Seeing as Ben comes from a family of pants wearers and there are other families like the Websters who have no issue with pants and tank tops.

Or does she think they're dirty heathens too?

Choice D. 

If I were Ben I'd be so impatient with her.  If you're doing what's important to you and your partner is going at it half assed, I'd be annoyed.  Maybe she could only put 20 lbs on that bar but still, you can't even stand straight with your hair like that because it gets caught under the bar.  So she can't really be giving it a try and so yet again Ben has to work out alone, or with her just watching. That has to get lonely after a while.  She is young and not obviously out of shape, so she should be able to share that activity with him.  They have to do something to fill those long days of not working.

[Snickles]

13 hours ago, princessmahina said:

I have a cake recipe that calls for 2 cups of sugar (!!) and a cup of oil (!!). I halved the sugar and replaced half the oil with applesauce. The cake was much healthier and tastier. I'm a pretty experienced baker though.

But it sounds like you still measured the things you halved and the replacements.  Still a formula, just a tweaked formula.  I'm an experienced baker and love to tweak things, but I still always measure so I can know what I did for next time if it is really good or bad lol.

[Mercer]

To me, the "workout" picture just looks like a staged "I'm so girly/he's so manly/look at us being a cute couple conforming to gender stereotypes" shot. I don't think Jessa truly believes she's working out or is wearing what she considers gym clothes. She may or may not ever actually work out, but in that particular picture I think they've just posed themselves to try to be cute.