Maxwell 46: Relegating the Kids' Table to the Vestibule

[crawfishgirl]

That soup doesn't seem appealing to me, either.  However, I suspect that the recipients of her meal deliveries are her sons' families and they are probably used to it.

Quote

For these kinds of meals, I don’t try to add side dishes and dessert like I would if I knew several days or weeks in advance that I was taking a meal in . It is simple – just the main dish.

The fact that she needs several days/weeks advance notice for sides and desserts is a bit sad, considering that she is retired and has three helpers.  Someone with a job or other family responsibilities may not be able to whip up those dishes on short notice, but in their case, they probably just don't want to deviate from the schedule.  

[MamaJunebug]

Not gonna rush to look at the soup pics because I fancy myself a pretty good self-taught soups-chef (  ).  That said, if it were for a friend or an acquaintance at church, say, who I'd been asked to provide for, I'd buy something frozen and deliver it.  There is a women's shelter in the bi-state area that produces a frozen soup and frozen pot pies that are beyond compare.  Tuck that in a Cathy-Arndt-style basket with some good rolls from any of the numerous bakeries in the area and take it on over.

My kitchen is clean (enough) and I am well versed in food safety, but it would kill me to find out that something I made harmed someone to whom it was given because they were in need.  As others have said, I'd eat nothing from the Fathership's kitchen.  I'm sure they clean it within an inch of its life but the place just looks grimy.

The foregoing is ALL my humble opinion and I'm not saying one thing about your kitchen if it's the same vintage / construction / detail as the Maxes'.

Edited March 6, 2021 by MamaJunebug

[freejugar]

This post uses the same picture as this one from November

https://blog.titus2.com/2020/11/16/how-to-make-healthy-simple-soup/

[Joe Pukepail]

On 2/16/2021 at 8:44 AM, anachronistic said:

I love Apples to Apples but I despise Cards Against Humanity and made the decision years ago to not play it. The reason is that I think A2A is about having fun, while CAH is about making fun of people, and not in a kind way but in a mean way. It is also really embarrassing for those people who don’t know what a term means but don’t want to google it because they’d rather not encounter something explicit. Some of the cards have really outdated, incredibly offensive terms and the fact that they are in a game normalizes those terms or ideas - off the top of my head I remember ‘dwarf tossing’ but there were other ones so bad they’d get me sent to the prayer closet to even mention their existence here. CAH turned my friends into people who were not as kind as they usually were and that is weird. I also think the game sexualizes women and, frankly, children, and I don’t think it’s fair to someone who may have been abused to have to deal with those issues coming up on a game night. Incest isn’t and never will be funny to someone who experienced it.

But I’m also surprisingly prudish for someone raised by hippies, and for medical reasons I have never drunk alcohol. I think the game is made for people who are at least a little inebriated and that may make it more fun to play. I have never asked my friends to not play it, just said that I don’t like it and won’t play it. (Although as we get older the game has become less funny for people overall. At least, I think it has, I haven’t been to a gathering for games in about a century at this point.) Despite this incredibly judgmental post I just made, I honestly don’t judge people for playing it. That’s their decision. And at this point, I feel like a hypocrite for ever saying no to sitting with my friends and playing a game or doing anything. I had no idea how much I’d miss those simple times until they were gone.

 

It strikes me as the kind of game I would have thought incredibly clever when I was 16 or so and really desperate to prove both my intellect and my edge. Of course, everyone is different and I think it probably depends a lot on the composition of the group you're playing with.

I also don't have friends, so my opinion is probably irrelevant. ?

[HerNameIsBuffy]

To veer off from soup for a second....I just reminded my daughter to order the pizza.

good thing she isn’t my headship or I’d have to atone for not reverencing her enough!

[WiseGirl]

Spoiler

 

Wait, this is the soup? It looks like bags of frozen vegetables thrown into some broth or water. I'll pass.

[NoseyNellie]

I am not gonna snark on taking a meal to others- I am sure her intention is there, but the Maxwell family has proven they are limited in their ability to  handle impromptu events.  I was in the middle of putting the finishing touches on our roast beef supper when I was on the phone with a friend as she learned her father passed away.  I shot her husband a text that I was bringing supper over shortly and finished the mashed potatoes, tossed the frozen veggies in the bag and clicked the lid on the crock pot and drove our supper over to their house.  We probably ate mac n cheese that night.  With Covid this past year I have not been comfortable with taking homemade food but have still managed to provide meals with take out from restaurants or pizza delivery- 2 weeks ago I was all set and ready, had all the food bought and ready to make a lovely meal for a family in crisis.. and *C* hit my house.. Pizza delivery it was.. ugh

[Tatar-tot]

I think If my MIL (which she never would - her soups are amazing!) I would be adding a ton of onions, garlic, meat, and potatoes or some sort of grain to soak up all that liquid.  It probably need bullion, and a ton of seasoning.  Then when it was just about done I would drag out the box of bisquick and make dumplings.  
 

If I served that to my kids, as is, they have told me to stop making soup.

Cooking should be a fun family adventure not a drudgery on the weekends.

[Tatar-tot]

Courtesy of America’s Test Kitchen:  A yummy soup and a gorgeous rustic bread to accompany the soup.

[ElizaB]

22 hours ago, PennySycamore said:

@HerNameIsBuffy, I had the same thoughts about the troubling picture in If I Ran the Zoo.  Just delete that image.  

This month on TCM, they are showing some classic films that have troubling elements to them and discuss why they are problematic.  Jacqueline Stewart, a black woman is one of the TCM hosts (Silent Sundays at midnight) and  she talked about how the film Gone With the wind glorifies the antebellum South, including lying about slavery,  but the strongest characters are women and the strongest of those is Mammy.  Later on this month, they'll discuss how Native Americans are portrayed in film, yellowface in film and particularly Mickey Rooney's unfortunate portrayal of Holly Golightly's Japanese neighbor,  and how lesbianism was dealt with in The Children'a Hour.  

I think its important that we don't just completely forget that these movies or other forms of media exist. For instance, I know there is a lot of controversy lately about little house on the prairie and the prejudice they showed. However, by not showing these movies or reading these books we can forget our past and how prevalent racism was. Obviously, we have a long way to go on this front and forgetting our past is not going to help us grow in our future. 

 

[Cults-r-us]

Green beans are good, corn and peas are good. If someone made me this soup in a spirt of generosity, I would eat it (after adjusting it a little) in gratitude.

[Tatar-tot]

Her soup is broth, beans, and frozen vegetables.....WATCH OUT RACHEL RAY! Teri Maxwell is going to put you out of business!!!

Edited March 7, 2021 by Tatar-tot

[PennySycamore]

@ElizaB, that's exactly what Dave Karger, another of the TCM hosts pointed out: to erase the media erases the history.  We need to contend with the problematic parts of books and films.  

Eddie Mueller, the host of Noir Alley, points out that Dan Duryea was pretty much slapping women around in every noir flick he made.  Truthfully, I'm not so bothered by that as I am by the scene in Carousel where Billy Bigelow comes back to Earth and slaps the hand of his daughter, Louise.  It is said that a slap can sometimes be a loving thing.  Except that it isn't. At least when Dan was slapping women around in his films noir, he was not an admirable character.  BTW,  Dan, in real life was apparently a pretty wonderful guy and not at all like the rats he played on screen.  

[Ozlsn]

On 3/2/2021 at 6:21 AM, PennySycamore said:

@SPHASH, not only did Laura teach school before she married, but her mom did as well.  I wonder if Caroline would have kept teaching after she was married if she had been allowed to.  Women teachers were expected to be unmarried. 

Given how bad Pa was at earning money I think she would have kept teaching for the stable income if nothing else.

It took me until quite recently to realise just how huge the Pill was in changing society so married women continuing to work* became more accepted - it had just never occurred to me that pregnancy after marriage was just assumed, and keeping women on when they were likely to leave any month now was considered too hard.

*and yes women did work after marriage - on farms, in businesses, at home etc. But being employed externally (ie by a non-family business) after marriage was a lot less common unless it was wartime.

[MamaJunebug]

8 hours ago, freejugar said:

This post uses the same picture as this one from November

https://blog.titus2.com/2020/11/16/how-to-make-healthy-simple-soup/

That ain’t soup. That’s vegetables in a pot with some grease floating atop. 

[IsmeWeatherwax]

I make quite a few different soups, these are my favourites: 

https://cookieandkate.com/classic-minestrone-soup-recipe/ (I made this for dinner last night)

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/132785/vegetarian-kale-soup/

They dont look the prettiest but darn they are tasty! 

This is my sons favourite https://www.delish.com/uk/cooking/recipes/a29841144/butternut-squash-sweet-potato-soup/

[FloraKitty35]

14 hours ago, freejugar said:

This post uses the same picture as this one from November

https://blog.titus2.com/2020/11/16/how-to-make-healthy-simple-soup/

It looks like pond scum.

[LilMissMetaphor]

Ahh, childhood memories of my mom's disgusting soups.  She didn't know how to cook, either.  To this day I can't try any form of anything labeled "chowder".  My dad was also terrible at soups after my mom left.  His favorite was greasy leftover meat tossed in a pot with fava beans and broccoli.  It took me a long time to discover good soup, and even now if I hear that someone is making soup for me I'm always dubious about what it's going to be like.

[fundiefan]

I'm cracking up over her using the same picture. They are so lazy she can't even take a picture of the current soup she is making. 

All this soup talk got me craving some. So, this is currently simmering on my stove. Except no fire roasted tomatoes because I don't like them. I have petite diced tomatoes, diced even further by me, instead. I like raw tomatoes, but hate getting a chunk of cooked tomato in my mouth. I avoid them whenever possible. 

It was so easy and I already had everything needed. Given how easy it is to make soup, I'm still kind of struck dumb at how Teri does it. But, I guess I just need to be glad I don't have to eat Maxwell food & can enjoy my own. 

https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/tuscan-sausage-soup/e2f22d6e-2333-41c7-ae73-ebeeb6c058b8

 

Edited March 7, 2021 by fundiefan

[jeansonly]

On 3/5/2021 at 2:10 PM, HerNameIsBuffy said:

My daughter loves my homemade soups so much it's all she wants every birthday.  I try to get her to go out to eat, but no....mommy in the kitchen over a stove is preferable to a lovely restaurant where you don't have to do the dishes.  Of course she has a summer birthday, who doesn't want to heat the house with four kinds of homemade soup during the hottest part of the year?

Seriously - I really should have had her in winter.  

My birthday is in July.  Growing up we did not have air conditioning.  I think it was my fourth or fifth birthday and my mom asked what I wanted for dinner, sure I would say macaroni and cheese with hot dogs (my favorite at the time).  Nope I asked her to make cabbage rolls.  In the middle of July.  She made them though! And still likes to remind me of the fact forty some years later! ?

[HerNameIsBuffy]

19 minutes ago, jeansonly said:

My birthday is in July.  Growing up we did not have air conditioning.  I think it was my fourth or fifth birthday and my mom asked what I wanted for dinner, sure I would say macaroni and cheese with hot dogs (my favorite at the time).  Nope I asked her to make cabbage rolls.  In the middle of July.  She made them though! And still likes to remind me of the fact forty some years later! ?

I love that story and I love your mom!  

[JoyfulSel]

5 hours ago, FloraKitty35 said:

It looks like pond scum.

This just made me cackle ?

I despise soup! My mom is an incredible cook but I just never liked them, specifically broth-y soups. When I was studying abroad in Italy, one of the restaurants we visited had a complimentary soup that night so we all of course had it. I tried it and actually LOVED it; it was a creamy pumpkin soup. One of the girls I was with (who nagged at me being a picky eater because I had pasta two days in a row ?) hated the soup so I took it from her and ate hers too, haha. Maybe I should try creamy soups again!

[Lady Grass Lake]

Have you ever tried dried soup mixes.  We purchase the Bear Creek brand, our favorites are the Minestrone and the Tortilla.  You just boil water, add the mix and wait 20 minutes.  The package has suggestions for adding your own ingredients.  We like to add cut up pieces of barbequed sausage like bratwurst to the Minestrone, or sliced smoked sausage.   Add some hot bread or rolls and a salad and you've got a wonderful meal.  

 

With the Tortilla soup, I add cooked chicken, a can of black beans, and some salsa.   I cube up a couple of ripe avocados and add them to the bowl just before I pour in the hot soup and then crumble torilla chips for crunch.   I just discovered Progresso now has a line of dried soup mixes so I have a few on hand to try.

I make homemade soups but these are wonderful for days when you are busy and want something quick and hot.     

[Maggie Mae]

The reused soup picture is cold. That's why the fat is separated and on top. She probably realized that hot soup = steam which made the photo difficult to take. 

I make a lot of soup. I usually put the entire pot in the fridge after it reaches room temperature (so that I don't heat up the fridge). It looks different in the morning. 

I don't use frozen vegetables, either. Soup is like, the easiest thing to not mess up. 

My favorite one to make is pasta e fazole (there are like 3 different spellings). We keep the pasta separate until ready to eat. And most of the online recipes don't have the family secret of adding pepperoni slices. 

[fundiewatch]

They’ve talked many times about freezing balls of cookie dough so they can easily bake them up fresh treats when they need some. The grands, on their birthday dinner/Uno/Bible thumping solo time at the mothership, are usually blowing out candles in what appears to be freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Why don’t they bake and send some of those with the vegetable water?

Side note, I made their chocolate chip cookie recipe last week and they were fantastic. We’re going to make some more for us and to “bless” the woman who just moved into the airBNB next to us. I wish I had the guts to carol.