Maxwell 53: Escaping the Borg by Marriage. Who'd Have Thought Sarah?

[Black Aliss]

34 minutes ago, ElizaB said:

I’m going to get downvoted for this but I’m going to say it : I think the maxwells get more snark for their food then they deserve. 

Yeah, but for years nothing changed with them--Gigi's Mulching Day, Cabinet Polishing, Ceiling Fan Dusting, Fixing up a Brother's House, Shipping Merch, What Some Might Call a Vacation, Praying for the Unborn. It might have been somewhat BEC, but most days their food was what we had to work snark with.

[browngrl]

My food snark for the Maxwell's is almost exclusively related to their savoury recipes/main courses. On the whole their desserts are not bad (and some even good). But the mains! The soups Teri made. The burritos. It goes on. Bland and boring the lot of them. The worst part is the recipes could so easily have been improved with a few technique tweaks and spices. 

 

 

 

 

[Bethy]

2 minutes ago, browngrl said:

My food snark for the Maxwell's is almost exclusively related to their savoury recipes/main courses. On the whole their desserts are not bad (and some even good). But the mains! The soups Teri made. The burritos. It goes on. Bland and boring the lot of them. The worst part is the recipes could so easily have been improved with a few technique tweaks and spices. 

And that awful-looking mushy "stir-fry" they were making at the height of the heart-health diet. That was just sad. I was literally sad for them for feeling like they had to eat it.

[louannems]

14 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

My mom has a fantastic pumpkin cake and cream cheese icing recipe that is so moist and amazing. I should go find it and see how close it is to the Maxwell recipe. 

Omg this is not even close to my mom’s recipe but it looks so good! 
 

https://blog.titus2.com/2008/11/14/a-taste-away-from-home-pumpkin-cake/

But that’s not the Maxwell recipe I used from their blog.  Mine did not have cake mix in it.  I think maybe it was pumpkin bread?  It was the recipe where they say they like that one since it uses the whole can of pumpkin, not just a cup so no leftover pumpkin.  I know I have it saved in an email archive of recipes.

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/best-pumpkin-cake/

 

So this is MY favorite pumpkin cake recipe with cream cheese frosting.  I found it in my archives and now I’m not sure if the Maxwells would have shared a recipe using a link.  Regardless it’s amazing and I make it yearly.

[louannems]

10 minutes ago, louannems said:

But that’s not the Maxwell recipe I used from their blog.  Mine did not have cake mix in it.  I think maybe it was pumpkin bread?  It was the recipe where they say they like that one since it uses the whole can of pumpkin, not just a cup so no leftover pumpkin.  I know I have it saved in an email archive of recipes.

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/best-pumpkin-cake/

 

So this is MY favorite pumpkin cake recipe with cream cheese frosting.  I found it in my archives and now I’m not sure if the Maxwells would have shared a recipe using a link.  Regardless it’s amazing and I make it yearly.

I just went through all of my recipes and I do believe the above recipe IS the one the Maxwells shared.  I distinctly remember sharing it to my email.  And it does use the whole can!

[JermajestyDuggar]

That recipe looks a lot like my mom’s recipe. It’s a very moist and tasty pumpkin cake. 

[kpmom]

12 hours ago, browngrl said:

My food snark for the Maxwell's is almost exclusively related to their savoury recipes/main courses. On the whole their desserts are not bad (and some even good). But the mains! The soups Teri made. The burritos. It goes on. Bland and boring the lot of them. The worst part is the recipes could so easily have been improved with a few technique tweaks and spices. 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember their Thanksgiving menu where the only sort of veggie we could see was a 7 layer salad.  And it was in one 9x13 pan for something around 20 people.  

Teri said the extended family was growing so much they might need two of those salads the next year! 😄

I am a very lazy cook.  I just follow easy recipes, not much creativity at all.  So, when stay-at-home fundies, who preach women  managing their homes, make recipes even someone as clueless as me can make, I can't help but snark.  Maybe I'm being unfair, but I was always surprised their main dishes seemed so basic.

But, I do agree their desserts look good.  I haven't made them, but I'll take the word of our cooks here that they taste good too.

[AmazonGrace]

On 7/10/2022 at 7:19 AM, Bluebirdbluebell said:

Probably what her parents would approve of. Abby is a kid, but her beliefs reflect Nathan's and Melanie's beliefs.

She had written a long essay, but Steve and Teri just showed us the last paragraph. Here's the blog post in question. 

Option A: The story was bad and there was nothing to learn from it.

Option B: There was something to learn but it was missed by the reader.

[fundiewatch]

They count mashed potatoes as a veggie at thanksgiving too. 😬 And didn’t make nearly enough of them IIRC. 

The oil free stir fry was really sad but what stands out even more for me was when they did a blog post about Anna’s skill with leftovers. She put leftover rice in the bottom of a pan, sprinkled it with garlic powder, then layered leftover meat and thinned out ham gravy and topped with leftover biscuits. As if that wasn’t dicey enough, they put it back in the fridge for two days before baking it. It was really awful. 

[louannems]

1 hour ago, fundiewatch said:

They count mashed potatoes as a veggie at thanksgiving too. 😬 And didn’t make nearly enough of them IIRC. 

The oil free stir fry was really sad but what stands out even more for me was when they did a blog post about Anna’s skill with leftovers. She put leftover rice in the bottom of a pan, sprinkled it with garlic powder, then layered leftover meat and thinned out ham gravy and topped with leftover biscuits. As if that wasn’t dicey enough, they put it back in the fridge for two days before baking it. It was really awful. 

Don’t forget the time they wanted to use up one half of a left over onion.  So they dethawed 2 pounds of ground beef, cooked it up with the half of an onion, then refrozen it all! They were so proud of the fact that half an onion didn’t go to waste!

[catlady]

1 hour ago, fundiewatch said:

They count mashed potatoes as a veggie at thanksgiving too. 😬 And didn’t make nearly enough of them IIRC. 

(.......)

 She put leftover rice in the bottom of a pan, sprinkled it with garlic powder, then layered leftover meat and thinned out ham gravy and topped with leftover biscuits. As if that wasn’t dicey enough, they put it back in the fridge for two days before baking it. It was really awful. 

I think they made five pounds of mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving when the Nathans and Christophers came over, for maybe 20 people (my family makes 10 pounds for half as many).  

Yeah, that casserole-of-leftovers that sat in the fridge for a few more days before they ate it sounded utterly revolting.

Wasn't the 7 layer salad so loaded with sour cream that it was as much dairy as vegetables?

I have their chocolate chip muffin recipe that I've made many times (not so much now due to dietary restrictions), and they're really good.  I agree that their desserts are good, but their main dishes are definitely snark-worthy.

[fundiewatch]

19 minutes ago, louannems said:

Don’t forget the time they wanted to use up one half of a left over onion.  So they dethawed 2 pounds of ground beef, cooked it up with the half of an onion, then refrozen it all! They were so proud of the fact that half an onion didn’t go to waste!

And she was so dang proud that she was multitasking! And if the SAH daughters are helping it’s multi-multitasking. 

Oh my their world was so small. I really am feeling a lift that the sisters left. Frankly we have to take the successes where we can get them, these days. 

[allyisyourpally5]

I was more snarky on the portion sizes then the blandness, as discussed. I also remember a “Neighbor Ladies Lunch” where Teri said she led the conversation to avoid individual conversations breaking out, and there was one strawberry for each person.

[Giraffe]

38 minutes ago, allyisyourpally5 said:

I was more snarky on the portion sizes then the blandness, as discussed. I also remember a “Neighbor Ladies Lunch” where Teri said she led the conversation to avoid individual conversations breaking out, and there was one strawberry for each person.

WTF?!? Tell me your beliefs are fragile without saying your beliefs are fragile. As an introvert that just sounds exhausting. I mean, great way to prevent people getting to know each other so yay for Terri the Avoider, but wow. That would’ve been my first & last neighbor’s ladies lunch at their house! 
 

(I may be a bit overreacting. I’ve had a more people-y morning that typical so I’m happily sitting in my car enjoying a quiet lunch)

Edited July 12, 2022 by Giraffe
Spelling

[fundiewatch]

They WERE rich looking strawberries filled with some sort of dairy swirl but yes, that plate was very noticeable for it spareness. One year the neighborhood ladies brunch included telling the group about your greatest joy and sorrow that year. Because nothing spells a good time like performing your grief for the neighbors. 

[patsymae]

3 hours ago, allyisyourpally5 said:

I was more snarky on the portion sizes then the blandness, as discussed. I also remember a “Neighbor Ladies Lunch” where Teri said she led the conversation to avoid individual conversations breaking out, and there was one strawberry for each person.

I think if I were at a lunch where one person decided to direct the entire conversation I would have left, strawberry be damned.

[feministxtian]

7 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

Option A: The story was bad and there was nothing to learn from it.

Option B: There was something to learn but it was missed by the reader.

I refuse to believe that one must only read things that "teach a lesson". But, knowing how the Maxwells are opposed to doing any thing for f*n, I can see where they don't understand reading a story just to escape. Yes, I tend to read a lot of non-fiction but there comes a time when I want to lose myself in some sort of fictional world. It might be a Clive Cussler world or it may be the Discworld. 

I hope Sarah is now able to read for f*n when she wants to. 

[patsymae]

38 minutes ago, fundiewatch said:

They WERE rich looking strawberries filled with some sort of dairy swirl but yes, that plate was very noticeable for it spareness. One year the neighborhood ladies brunch included telling the group about your greatest joy and sorrow that year. Because nothing spells a good time like performing your grief for the neighbors. 

Sounds like one of those horrible team-building exercises companies make you do on your day off.

[patsymae]

25 minutes ago, feministxtian said:

I refuse to believe that one must only read things that "teach a lesson". But, knowing how the Maxwells are opposed to doing any thing for f*n, I can see where they don't understand reading a story just to escape. Yes, I tend to read a lot of non-fiction but there comes a time when I want to lose myself in some sort of fictional world. It might be a Clive Cussler world or it may be the Discworld. 

I hope Sarah is now able to read for f*n when she wants to. 

This. Same as only listening to Christian music, watching only Kirk Cameron movies, 

[mango_fandango]

Ugh team building exercises. I swear, every time they say “tell me an interesting fact about yourself!!” I immediately think “oh god, I am the most boring person ever”. And then everyone else says something like “I’m a quadruplet!” or “I lived in China for eight years as a child!” and I’m just like “uh… um… I have a brother?”

[feministxtian]

3 minutes ago, patsymae said:

This. Same as only listening to Christian music, watching only Kirk Cameron movies, 

I listen to CCM and watch some Christian television (NEVER Kirk Cameron though). BUT I'm of the opinion that it all can be balanced. Not to mention, I have yet to hear my pastor say anything about watching only Christian stuff and listening to only Christian music. I have my opinions on secular music but my tastes tend to run to "happy" music. Seriously, how pissed can you get listening to Jimmy Buffett, the Eagles or the Monkees? I have my own self-imposed limits on things but it's not like I think everyone else has to do the same thing I do. Life is to be enjoyed, not suffered through. 

[mango_fandango]

And yes, the recipes were often rather strange, particularly the bean burritos. It was so bizarre the way they pulverised the onions, jalapeños and beans into mush and put it in a tortilla wrap. I can’t imagine it tasted that great. 

[Hane]

21 hours ago, browngrl said:

My food snark for the Maxwell's is almost exclusively related to their savoury recipes/main courses. On the whole their desserts are not bad (and some even good). But the mains! The soups Teri made. The burritos. It goes on. Bland and boring the lot of them. The worst part is the recipes could so easily have been improved with a few technique tweaks and spices. 

Their cooking and baking remind me of the Mennonite Community Cookbook I bought in Lancaster County PA, when I first visited my future inlaws there, back in the early ‘80s. The book contains lots of great baking recipes, but the other ones range from hopelessly bland to revolting.

[JermajestyDuggar]

I’m mostly only a food snob when it comes to making enough for everyone. I can’t stand the thought of anyone walking away hungry at a big Sunday family dinner. That kills me. 

[Mela99]

I can just imagine her hyperventilating over two little old ladies sharing a recipe or something. What is so threatening that you don’t want them to speak?