Jinjer 40: Still Waiting for the Baby

[TeaELSee]

I’m going to guess a name for the first time. I’m going with Seraphina.  I read that one meaning is “angelic”.

I don’t know if it is a religious name, but it sounds like one and it is Italian.

[MathQueen]

I love the name Seraphina,@TeaELSee! Brilliant! Could use Sarah (Sara) as a nickname. Add Grace as a middle name, and you may have a winner.

[tabitha2]

I like Seraphina. Useless trivia: that was Nala’s mother’s name

[feministxtian]

There's a restaurant here that's close to CB...reasonable and yummy. But then again, I live in the city of restaurants. There's a Chinese buffet place here that is to DIE for...when you see the Chinese and Korean people eating there you know it's good! I'm not crazy about Italian food in general, too heavy for me (yes, I've had real Italian food, my BFF growing up was from a big, crazy Italian family). I prefer Chinese, Mexican, "all-American", Cuban & German food. The rest, you can keep it. I don't do shi-shi foo-foo. I'm just an unsophisticated Cuban-German redneck. 

[Shadoewolf]

I wasn't a foodie until I married Hubby, and now I eat to enjoy and not just survive. Which isn't to say simple food made cleanly isn't just as exceptional as froo-froo, but ohh sometimes filet with crab bearnaise that is the wonder of an Iron Chefs restaurant...

Ok back to food reality..It's crazy to spend that much when I can get T-bones for $5.99 a lb and good asparagus for $2.99 a lb, a few Yukon gold potatoes and cook at home. A little butter, garlic powder and heat can make broccoli taste amazing. It's just knowing how to season. 

[SapphireSlytherin]

We only eat steak because we buy a "share" of a cow (steer? heifer? who knows?) every winter. Our last batch of meat cost us $3.35 or $3.50 per pound--can't remember. That's across the board, for everything - hamburger, steaks, ribs, stew meat, and roasts. This cow/steer/whatever was pasture-raised, no hormones, no antibiotics, no cow-chow. Such good meat - very little fat.

[Playagirl]

1 hour ago, Shadoewolf said:

Ok back to food reality..It's crazy to spend that much when I can get T-bones for $5.99 a lb and good asparagus for $2.99 a lb, a few Yukon gold potatoes and cook at home. A little butter, garlic powder and heat can make broccoli taste amazing. It's just knowing how to season. 

Gagh!!!! I'm jealous of your meat prices. Where I live T-bones are about $18.99 a pound.  Needless to say I haven't bought one in a few years.

This thread is making me hungry, damnit.

I had always wanted to try Cracker Barrel so I pestered my husband when we were on vacation one year until he finally caved.  I was so disappointed!  Everything was salty and the veggies were overcooked and mushy.  Our meal came minutes after we ordered so it was all obviously prepared well in advance and all they had to do was plate it and bring it to us. Such a let-down.

[SapphireSlytherin]

Welcome to Southern Cooking, where vegetables are cooked to mush (and in bacon grease). I love Cracker Barrel food - because it's so very very close to the way my grandmothers and great-grandmothers cooked.

[onekidanddone]

@Satan'sFortress just like to say dissing Rhode Island is fight’n words. I’ve been living in the Washington metropolitan area since I was 12, but Little Rhody will always be true home. I was crushed the day someone told me I had a Maryland accent.  In short I am a Rhode Island girl with a western heart stuck in the mid Atlantic 

[JemimaPuddle-Duck]

3 hours ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

We only eat steak because we buy a "share" of a cow (steer? heifer? who knows?) every winter. Our last batch of meat cost us $3.35 or $3.50 per pound--can't remember. That's across the board, for everything - hamburger, steaks, ribs, stew meat, and roasts. This cow/steer/whatever was pasture-raised, no hormones, no antibiotics, no cow-chow. Such good meat - very little fat.

I’m so jealous! The last time we bought half a cow it was about $6/lb....and that was a steal!

[Audrey2]

8 hours ago, allthegoodnamesrgone said:

Personally I would rather eat catfish with some black-eyed peas than Coq au vin, but coq au vin isn't that bad.   OH and can someone talk about Bob Evans? We don't have them where I live but we stopped at one and loved it, it gave me that "down home" family place feeling as well.

My family is from Ohio, and my sister now lives on the East Coast. She and her husband know where the first Bob Evans is on their trip west. When they visit my Mom, they must go out to Bob Evans every morning!

[nastyhobbitses]

I'm a Yank living in the UK, and even though I'm from the Northeast (CT/NYC, but they bleed into one another, to be honest), I am absolutely psyched to be making what I will call, to reduce confusion for my British guests at my 4th of July party, Actual Goddamn Biscuits. Also on the menu: giant M&M chipwich cake, popcorn chicken, a crudite plate to maintain the illusion of health, and Kraft mac-n-cheese, since I saw that in the "American imports" aisle and figure that's a sign. 

In general I like Southern cooking, but if I were at a buffet where you could get any cuisine you wanted and it would be all of equal quality, it's honestly not the first thing I'd reach for. I'd probably go for Chinese or Southeast Asian (Burmese or Thai) first. 

[Kaylo]

I am one lucky girl - my dad raises our beef and all I pay for is the butchering. I know exactly what it eats - in our case it’s the grass in the pasture and almond hulls that were grown by my brother in law. No idea how much it is per pound, but it comes to about $450 for half a steer (yes, it’s a steer. No one is butchering heifers!)

 

[laPapessaGiovanna]

18 hours ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

I think I understand what those who are trying to communicate when they say Italian-based/Italian-sounding names are pretentious - it's not that they're pretentious, in and of themselves, but they're pretentious in our (supposed) melting pot of cultures--especially when these Violettas, Elisabettas, Vivianas, and Giuseppinas are surrounded by Graces, Emilys, Abbys, and Hannahs.

 

Sorry but I don't get it. This sounds like complete bs. What's wrong if in a place like the US, where someone named Condoleeza can become Secretary of State, someone names their daughter a perfectly normal and fine Italian name? How does it sound like a pretentious name just for being Italian? 

As for doing better and be less tacky than the in-laws, that's a low bar, as long as they don't name her Spurgeona it will be done deal.

[ItsMeY'all]

Think I paid just over $5/lb for the last cow I split with a friend. I was so surprised moving to a new state a few years ago and hardly anyone in our area had ever heard of buying a quarter/half/whole cow. Finally found a place but being from an area where this was very common, I was kind of surprised at how many hadn't heard of doing this. Growing up everyone had a "deep freeze" freezer in the garage for beef and popsicles!

I can't actually remember ever eating breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Bob Evans is for breakfast for us! Cracker Barrel is for grilled trout (hubby) and I LOVE their grilled chicken tenders! I really like their old school, over cooked, salty cabbage (only offered as a veggie of the day a few days a week). We usually skip the breads, but  when I give in, their cornbread is actually pretty good. We travel a ton and as much as I like trying local stuff, sometimes it is nice to know I can get a decent piece of grilled chicken or fish and a few veggies. Not high end stuff but consistent, fast, and green beans that taste like Luby's/Furrs/my grandma's from childhood. 

 

[Iamtheway]

10 hours ago, Pecansforeveryone said:

A lot of this "fancy" food stuff can also just be elitism and hypocrisy anyway. Fancy restaurants charge 40 bucks a plate for the same venision that many an "unsophisticated, backwoods" hunter proudly cooks up. So many friends and family expressing revulsion for ethically hunted meat while chowing down on factory farmed meat. I love them and Rufus bless. 

We’re vegetarian but I have friends that only eat meat that their family hunts, or only eat meat from their own farm. And I think I’d do that too if we had hunters or farmers. Knowing where the meat comes from and that the animals had a good life before ending up on the plate is awesome and the only way I’d be ok with eating it. 

[IntrinsicallyDisordered]

10 hours ago, TeaELSee said:

I’m going to guess a name for the first time. I’m going with Seraphina.  I read that one meaning is “angelic”.

I don’t know if it is a religious name, but it sounds like one and it is Italian.

I love the name but it sounds very Catholic to me (as a Catholic) and we know how Jeremy feels about Catholics. 

[SapphireSlytherin]

Oh, Bob Evans. Tried it once and found it not-so-good, so we haven't been back.

When traveling, we do try to find cool local places (TripAdvisor is a great resource for that!), but occasionally a Cracker Barrel next to the interstate exit ramp is a life-saver. Consistently good food, good service, etc.

4 hours ago, laPapessaGiovanna said:

How does it sound like a pretentious name just for being Italian? 

I'm sorry that I didn't make myself clear. I think it's more the combination of names - Italian first name + Polish or German or Irish last name that makes it sound like the parents are trying to be something they're not (even if they have Italian heritage not evidenced by a surname).

For instance:  Gianna Sienkiewicz. Anastasia White. Violetta Heinrich.  I hope this helps? Maybe?

2 hours ago, Iamtheway said:

Knowing where the meat comes from and that the animals had a good life before ending up on the plate is awesome and the only way I’d be ok with eating it. 

That's the meat we eat. Our steer (THANK YOU, @Kaylo) was raised by a family we know, which is why we get a good deal on it - we also only pay for butchering. My husband hunts, so we have venison in the freezer too. We occasionally get a whole chicken from the guy who supplies our eggs - they get "retired" when they quit laying. 

 

[mollysmom]

11 hours ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

We only eat steak because we buy a "share" of a cow (steer? heifer? who knows?) every winter. Our last batch of meat cost us $3.35 or $3.50 per pound--can't remember. That's across the board, for everything - hamburger, steaks, ribs, stew meat, and roasts. This cow/steer/whatever was pasture-raised, no hormones, no antibiotics, no cow-chow. Such good meat - very little fat.

Yeah, that's definitely the way to go!!! 

[tabitha2]

Around here Golden Corral is THE place for cheap(ish) and good food. I was raised on that and Lubys . I miss Lubys  

[laPapessaGiovanna]

1 hour ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

I'm sorry that I didn't make myself clear. I think it's more the combination of names - Italian first name + Polish or German or Irish last name that makes it sound like the parents are trying to be something they're not (even if they have Italian heritage not evidenced by a surname).

For instance:  Gianna Sienkiewicz. Anastasia White. Violetta Heinrich.  I hope this helps? Maybe? 

Still bs. Excuse me but by this criterion Hope Vuolo or Grace Vuolo or Jennifer Vuolo are way more pretentious than Giovanna Vuolo or Viviana Vuolo or Diana Vuolo or Veronica Vuolo or Alessandra Vuolo.

14 hours ago, TeaELSee said:

I’m going to guess a name for the first time. I’m going with Seraphina.  I read that one meaning is “angelic”.

I don’t know if it is a religious name, but it sounds like one and it is Italian.

Seraphina is an English name, Seraphine is French, Serafima is Russian and Serafina is Italian/Spanish/Portuguese. All of them are the feminine version of Latin name Serafinus that comes from the Bible and Hebrew mythology about seraphim.

[tabitha2]

I do think naming a daughter something like Seraphina Allesandra while very lovely would be a little precious and grand for  a Duggar Grandaughter and a Laredo Texas pastors kid.   And a long name would get shortened pretty quick anyway. 

[Nomorethanfour]

My youngest daughter is Francesca Grace. Please Rufus, don't let them name their daughter the same!

 

 

[Daisy0322]

You can get half a steer around here from 550-600$... in not sure what that comes out to pound wise but I know it's fairly cheap because it's raising money for the 4H kids.

[SapphireSlytherin]

@laPapessaGiovanna - OK, Sorry. I don't know how else to say it. I apologize for offending you.