Dillards 68: Jill "Can" Cook

[Iamtheway]

7 hours ago, fluffernutter said:

I love my kitchen aid too. It's the first pricy thing I got for myself. Then, a vitamix. Now I want a lecreuset dutch oven. It's a rabbit hole of kitchen awesomeness. 

My mum got me and my sisters lecreuset dutch ovens for christmas a couple of years ago and we all use them a lot. I always feel like I’m a better cook when I use nice cooking supplies. 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

53 minutes ago, mollysmom said:

3 pages in & I'm still laughing about the thread title!!! Classic!!

Idk if the show is even still on anymore, i wonder if everyone got the joke?

[BullyJBG]

6 minutes ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

Idk if the show is even still on anymore, i wonder if everyone got the joke?

I thought of that too! "If Yan can cook, so can you". That was a LOOOOONG time ago; he could still be doing it, but with more gray hair. I'll have to look that up.

[SilverBeach]

17 hours ago, WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo? said:

Also, we don't do marshmallows on sweet potatoes. We have yams (which are really just orange-er sweet potatoes) with a brown sugar type sauce over them. Mom has always called them candied yams. 

Yes. Brown sugar and butter and cinnamon.

[Playagirl]

20 hours ago, HerNameIsBuffy said:

My kids love galumpkis (Polish cabbage rolls) but I'm terrible at rolling them so I saw an idea for a galumpki casserole so I adapted the recipe to mine:

Ground beef, garlic, diced onions, diced tomatoes (from a CAN!), cabbage, rice, paprika...and because I was out of tomato sauce i used a can of tomato soup and it was fabulous no matter how duggarific that is!

The family loved it.

I love this idea and may have to steal it. Cabbage rolls are a pain in the butt to make. Do you cook your cabbage before throwing it in the dish, or do you put it in raw?

My grown kids often ask me to make cabbage rolls and perogies for family dinners but I don't have the energy to spend hours in the kitchen making both from scratch anymore so I haven't done them in years.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

5 minutes ago, Playagirl said:

I love this idea and may have to steal it. Cabbage rolls are a pain in the butt to make. Do you cook your cabbage before throwing it in the dish, or do you put it in raw?

My grown kids often ask me to make cabbage rolls and perogies for family dinners but I don't have the energy to spend hours in the kitchen making both from scratch anymore so I haven't done them in years.

I did homemade perogis exactly once and never again.  An incredible amount of work when out local Polish deli sells them homemade which are amazing...and don't break apart when cooking like mine tend to.

I put it in the casserole raw and it cooked down.   My most fervent galumpki lover said it was the best thing ever and has already requested a repeat.

I have made galumpkis and I am just not coordinated enough to get the wrapping down.  So this was the same - less mess, less fuss.

[Playagirl]

35 minutes ago, SilverBeach said:

Yes. Brown sugar and butter and cinnamon.

I do the same without the sugar as I find them overly sweet to begin with.

 

[Dandruff]

6 hours ago, Glasgowghirl said:

It's a creepy teddy made from Turkey stitched together, I'll see if it uploads now.

WTF?  Oh, I know.  Turkey + Teddy = TURDY

Have the Magnolia Pearl folks seen this yet?

[PumaLover]

I hated to cook when I was younger. I didn't really start enjoying it until Rachael Ray's 30 minute meals. That show changed my life because her recipes were quick and easy and not too complicated, with every day ingredients. I watch Food Network all day long now and love making new recipes. I've gained so much weight since I started cooking, LOL.

I absolutely HATE doing the dishes. I try to clean as I go but I just make a mess and use tons of dishes for everything I cook and my kitchen is a mess 99% of the time. 

@feministxtian I am rooting for you guys. I really, really hope you get the house of your dreams. It makes all the difference cooking in a GOOD kitchen. Our kitchen now has a great layout with lots of counter space. Years ago I bought a gas 5 burner stove with double ovens. It's my baby. When we were selling the house some potential buyers asked if the stove came with the house. I said, no way! We have to take out the island in our new house so I can put that stove in, so I'm currently using a crappy gas stove. But a crappy gas stove is still better than an electric stove of any kind.

Also I made slow cooker apple butter last weekend and everyone is raving about it. I'll be happy to share the recipe if anyone is interested! (I recently bought a slow cooker and I love that thing!!)

 

[PennySycamore]

For those wondering if Martin Yan is still around, yep, he is!  This year, he did Martin Yan: Spice* Kingdom where he explored the cuisine of Sichuan (Szechwan) province.  He filmed some parts of the show in Chengdu and the surrounding countryside in Sichuan and some parts of the show in his San Francisco studio.  I loved that show!

*Maybe the name of the show was Yan Can Cook: Spice Kingdom.  Anyway the show is worth checking out.

[Pretzel]

Am I the only one who thinks it's tacky that Jill partakes in Alyssa Webster's gift card giveaway? 

[PennySycamore]

 

1 minute ago, Pretzel said:

Am I the only one who thinks it's tacky that Jill partakes in Alyssa Webster's gift card giveaway? 

Nope, you're not the only one, @Pretzel.

[Pretzel]

Just now, PennySycamore said:

 

Nope, you're not the only one, @Pretzel.

I have excused a ton of Jill's questionable moves and behaviors in the past, but now even I think that this one takes the cake. She really does lack self-awareness. 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

31 minutes ago, PumaLover said:

Also I made slow cooker apple butter last weekend and everyone is raving about it. I'll be happy to share the recipe if anyone is interested! (I recently bought a slow cooker and I love that thing!!)

Yes, please!  Might I show you a blog here called Feed Jinger which is just begging for recipes? 

Seriously - let me know if you want to post there and I'll add you.  (That goes for anyone - tis the season to share recipes)

[VelociRapture]

48 minutes ago, Pretzel said:

Am I the only one who thinks it's tacky that Jill partakes in Alyssa Webster's gift card giveaway? 

There was a discussion about this earlier actually. Personally, I think it’s much weirder that some of Alyssa’s siblings chose to enter. That said, another poster pointed out that the people who actually know Alyssa might have entered just to help get Alyssa’s number of followers up - you had to tag 3 other people and follow Alyssa’s account in order to be entered. Jill and the Bateses might have participated as a way to help Alyssa out. 

(And in case you were curious, Jill did not win. Neither did Alyssa’s siblings.)

[ViolaSebastian]

I love to cook when I have the time and energy to enjoy myself while I'm doing it. However, when I'm with people (*cough* men *cough*) that assume its my job to make a large multi-dish dinner every single night, cooking becomes just another chore I have to do. So it's the expectation that its my job that ruins it for me. 

ETA: Also cooking for picky eaters. I hate trying to cook for picky eaters.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

3 minutes ago, ViolaSebastian said:

ETA: Also cooking for picky eaters. I hate trying to cook for picky eaters.

Ha - as a picky eater I learned to cook in self defense.   

[Maggie Mae]

I don't mind 'picky' i mind rude. People who say stuff like "that tastes like shit" or "what the hell is this shit?" .. um, it's food? Not Shit, food. Sorry if you don't like it, but is there a way you can be more precise with what you don't like about it? I can't fix it if all you say is "that shits nasty." 

I no longer hang around people who talk like that, it's so irritating to me. SO irritating. Say you don't like the texture, or just "no thank you." No need to be rude. 

[HerNameIsBuffy]

3 minutes ago, Maggie Mae said:

I don't mind 'picky' i mind rude. People who say stuff like "that tastes like shit" or "what the hell is this shit?" .. um, it's food? Not Shit, food. Sorry if you don't like it, but is there a way you can be more precise with what you don't like about it? I can't fix it if all you say is "that shits nasty." 

I no longer hang around people who talk like that, it's so irritating to me. SO irritating. Say you don't like the texture, or just "no thank you." No need to be rude. 

That's terribly rude..."no thank you" if said and accepted with politeness on both sides is all you need.

[ViolaSebastian]

My first serious boyfriend was an extremely, extremely picky eater. After we moved in together, it was assumed that I'd be preparing three meals a day. As I was 21 and hadn't found my inner bitch yet, I complied. I was just learning how to cook, and I'm sure some things were better than others, but every. single. thing. I made was met with rude comments or just not eaten at all after I'd spent time and effort making it.* It was so, so disheartening and for quite a long time I felt like I just wasn't a good cook. It wasn't until my thirties that I tried to cook seriously again (beyond hamburger helper and spaghetti) and found that I'm actually alright at it. But man, did he sure tear down my self-confidence in my ability to cook. 

*Rest assured, he made absolutely zero effort to cook the things that he would like instead of leaving me to do it. 

[JillyO]

I have to say I kind of enjoy cooking for picky eaters/people with food restrictions of any kind. It gets me out of my comfort zone and forces me to try out new things. Which I sometimes forget I LOVE doing in the kitchen.

I used to have a vegan roommate, and I learned to cook so many vegan dishes, and bake so many vegan treats, during that year. It was fun for me, and I still use a lot of those recipes!

[PennySycamore]

@ViolaSebastian, some years ago at either Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner at my folks, my husband whispered to one of our daughters that something looked "nasty".  (I think it was either my sister-in-law's homemade Cranberry sauce or Ambrosia.)  I told him that he should not be so rude.  Don't eat it if it doesn't appeal to you, but don't say anything.  

[ViolaSebastian]

7 minutes ago, JillyO said:

I have to say I kind of enjoy cooking for picky eaters/people with food restrictions of any kind. It gets me out of my comfort zone and forces me to try out new things. Which I sometimes forget I LOVE doing in the kitchen.

I used to have a vegan roommate, and I learned to cook so many vegan dishes, and bake so many vegan treats, during that year. It was fun for me, and I still use a lot of those recipes!

I reckon I could handle it better now than I could when I was just starting to learn. His voluntary food restrictions were also pretty difficult--no vegetables besides potatoes, no processed food of any kind (including pasta and bread), no fruit except for apples, only pork and beef, only clear soups, and no cheese except for this specific homemade soft cheese from Eastern Europe. I was a full-time college student at the time and I worked part-time, and I just didn't have the time or the resources to make everything from scratch, pay for special ingredients, and spend time learning to make everything to his requirements. It was just a very unfair situation that was helped along by some deeply sexist attitudes about household chores and a woman's role. 

[JillyO]

1 minute ago, ViolaSebastian said:

I reckon I could handle it better now than I could when I was just starting to learn. His voluntary food restrictions were also pretty difficult--no vegetables besides potatoes, no processed food of any kind (including pasta and bread), no fruit except for apples, only pork and beef, only clear soups, and no cheese except for this specific homemade soft cheese from Eastern Europe. I was a full-time college student at the time and I worked part-time, and I just didn't have the time or the resources to make everything from scratch, pay for special ingredients, and spend time learning to make everything to his requirements. It was just a very unfair situation that was helped along by some deeply sexist attitudes about household chores and a woman's role. 

Yeah, I don't think his problem was that he was a picky eater. I think his issue was that he was an asshole.

(Hoping I don't offend you by saying so.)

[ViolaSebastian]

Just now, JillyO said:

Yeah, I don't think his problem was that he was a picky eater. I think his issue was that he was an asshole.

(Hoping I don't offend you by saying so.)

Not in the least--it took me some time to get there, but I came to the same conclusion. I pity his wife.