Fromageball's Profile
Do you have family/friends who don't appreciate good home cooking?
I have the same sort of problems only it's with my own family. Anyway, I don't take it as a reflection of myself anymore; they react the way they do because of who they are. A lot of people seem to be threatened by people who like to cook for whatever reason. My mother has never enjoyed cooking so she frequently tries to tell me that she has forgotten more than I will ever know about cooking. Ok? It's not a contest! It should also be noted that she never attempted to teach me anything about cooking or food when I was growing up.
What's the best way to grocery shop cheaply?
As a student I cooked for myself all the time and still do. I buy a lot of stuff from bulk bins - I think the important thing is to shop somewhere where you know the product is rotated fairly often. If you buy basic veggies such as onions, carrots, celery, garlic, etc and then invest in spices that you like, you've got a wide range of cooking options.
I don't buy a lot of meat when trying to eat cheaply so I get animal protein mostly from eggs and sardines. I even buy organic stuff and my grocery bills are much lower than people I know who buy a lot of prepared foods.
Obviously knowing how to cook is important, and once you've got the basics down it is easy and fun to experiment with different things. Get some new and different veggies when they're cheap, etc.
When cooking for just myself I often make up a big pot of veggie soup or lentil stew or something like that and then eat it over a few days. Quinoa is another good high-protein food.
Help make my family love beets!
This is a delicate issue. I can identify with your husband because I too was forced to eat canned beets as a kid. The only problem now is that most methods of preparation, to me, still taste like the canned version.
I am actually working on branching out though and so far I either like roasted beets(I like them with herbed yogurt sauce - sometimes I roast them and then dip kind of like beet french fries)
I also like beets in a pureed root vegetable soup. I often make a carrot soup that is great, so one time I decided to add beets and found that the flavor wasn't overpowering. I also put in tons of garlic.
Red beets are a polarizing food in my experience, sort of like olives where it seems like people love them or hate them. I don't mind the golden ones but I have to do a degree of flavor masking in order to eat the red ones. Luckily the flavor masking can be in the form of roasted garlic or something else that is not just covering them with cheese.
So, after all those words, I would roast chunks of root veggies along with beets with olive oil/salt/pepper. If nothing else, they might find that they love other root veggies even if they don't love the beets.
Any memories of "poor people food" from your childhood that you still crave?
I like barley with lots of butter/garlic and a fried egg on top for breakfast. I put tons of black pepper on it.
Any memories of "poor people food" from your childhood that you still crave?
That's funny - I guess I'm kind of the "intentionally poor" type now. I eat a lot of beans and buy everything from the co-op bulk bins.
I eat beans or lentils almost daily but I switch it up.
Any memories of "poor people food" from your childhood that you still crave?
haha...I've found that to be the case for a lot of food items I loved growing up. The jalapenos could give it a nice kick though!
I still love pig in the blankets as much as I did as kid though - I bet those would be good with jalapenos or chile peppers.
Any memories of "poor people food" from your childhood that you still crave?
My family has always been horrified that I don't like (raw) tomatoes...not even fresh from the garden. Everyone loved the tomato/mayo sandwiches and thought my tastes would eventually change, but I'm 28 and still don't like them.
Any memories of "poor people food" from your childhood that you still crave?
That sounds good, I've seen my grandma several times eating saltines with milk(plain) but that didn't sound very good to me. I'd eat the saltines with the milk on the side.
Any memories of "poor people food" from your childhood that you still crave?
Ok I've wondered about that...my grandma eats the saltines and milk after dinner or sometimes before dinner. Always wondered about that...I like saltines but don't think I would like them in milk.
Any memories of "poor people food" from your childhood that you still crave?
Mmm...sounds delicious!
Was your mom a timid cook?
This sounds like my experience...right down to watching Julia Child. In fact, Julia was pretty much the only TV I would watch as a kid.
Was your mom a timid cook?
It wasn't so much my mom, but she did the cooking and my dad was really picky - meat & potatoes...my mom tells me that on one of their first dates to a Mexican restaurant my dad asked her what kind of vegetable an enchilada was. So my mom couldn't be very adventurous and I think that sort of made her apathetic about cooking and it wasn't really enjoyable to her.
Then there is me who loves to try new things and new vegetables, spices, cuisines, etc. There are so many vegetables I thought I hated growing up because of the way they were prepared. My dad died a few years ago but since then I've found that my mom is pretty adventurous and will try most anything, and she likes spicy food which she was never able to make with my dad. To give my dad some credit he would try things when I made them. Now I trade recipes with my mom and she makes a lot of different things; she loves going to the Indian and Turkish markets in her neighborhood to browse through the spices, and when I visit she is always up for trying new restaurants.
Strangest Starbucks Drink?
Did we work at the same starbucks? We had a guy who came in and ordered 6-8 shots at a time, sometimes he would down them and then go through the line again.
Another guy was waiting for us every morning to open and would order a grande white mocha with 6 shots and like double the syrup. He also may have added a few packets of raw sugar.
Strangest Starbucks Drink?
I worked there several years ago in college and one regular was a lady on Atkins diet(she told us) whose drink was a venti sugar free vanilla latte made with heavy cream.
Trader Joe's Yea/Nay Thread - 1st quarter 2012 [old]
TJs here in MD finally got uncrystallized ginger back in stock. There was a problem with the distributor apparently, but it's back now. So yea to that!
Kale Preparation
Agreed. I make kale salads with lime juice/olive oil and also massage it. The avocado sounds really good!
What is the Proper Way to Order in a Chinese restaurant to receive a spicy dish?
Make eye contact and just be very clear. I think eye contact is important. I also think it depends on the restaurant's normal customers and whether or not they have had a lot of dishes sent back for being too spicy, etc.
Unexpected guests at a dinner party?
haha..."kind of" - honestly sometimes it takes extreme measures to get a point across to some people. I can't believe how entitled a lot of people are, thinking everyone should accommodate their every whim when they've been given ample notice to prepare. I feel sorry for the offspring too having parents like these as an example.
Slow Food's $5 challenge - Why exactly is this pissing people off?
I've been a cheap-eating grad student for the past couple of years and fast food is really expensive! I even shop at the local organic markets(bulk bins ftw!) and my food bills are much lower than if I ate fast food regularly.
Slow Food's $5 challenge - Why exactly is this pissing people off?
That's interesting, I actually thought the $5/person would be directed towards middle class people....so people who don't necessarily eat from the dollar menu every day but are more likely to fill their diets with processed junk and not realize how unhealthy their choices are, but they think that eating "slow food" will blow their budgets. Most people I know fit into this category except for the ones who have taken an active interest in cooking, solidly middle/upper class people but don't have a clue about what they put in their mouths. Just for reference I am 28 and most of the people I am thinking of are in my mom's age range ~60. Since I've taken an interest in food, my mom has as well and I think some of her friends and their kids are too once they realize that slow food isn't some sort of thing that normal people can't embrace.
Healthful School Lunches: How Do We Get Kids to Eat Them?
I think healthy eating needs to be made a part of the curriculum. Not sure exactly how, especially on a larger scale, but just throwing these healthy items at students is not going to make the skeptical ones eat them. From what I remember high school offers plenty of electives - a mandatory elective each year could have something to do with learning about food and cooking. I was actually the type of high school student who ate a few bags of chips for lunch(when I didn't buy pizza or fries which were served every day), but since then I did a 180 and mostly do my own cooking and eat a lot of veggies and other healthy stuff. In other countries like France or Japan, lunch time is also much more of an occasion than it is here. So I think our whole food culture/attitude towards food needs to change in order to get the kids to eat better. Concentrate on the math/science/english, but also devote a decent part of the curriculum to cuisine. I think kids would be interested - I remember trying to get into the home ec cooking classes but they were always full. Expand the program and have every kid learn the basics at least.
IHOP - What to order and what to skip?
Erm...are you sure the fried apples were vegan? I thought apples were usually fried in some mixture of butter/sugar/cinnamon/etc.
Hamburgers are now a special order item at Wendy's
Yes, you can even watch them cooking the burgers right behind the cashier.
Hamburgers are now a special order item at Wendy's
Ok...I am going to come to the defense of the people who work at these burger joints. I would bet anything that they are forced to ask these questions as part of the job and are threatened with such things as the district manager coming by or secret shoppers or whatever and punishment when they don't comply with the script. I worked at Starbucks in college and was threatened with this sort of thing...believe me, I felt obnoxious when I had to ask customers ridiculous questions that most of the time I already knew the answer to - "no" or "no thanks"
What fast food do you eat rarely, but that first bite think "Wow, this is so good!"
Bummer I used to love McDs hash browns....haven't had them in years but I like them with a sausage/egg/cheese biscuit. Going to have to try dunkin donuts...
Where do chowhounds hang out with their electronics
I like panera, starbucks, indie coffee shops...and I think that's about it. I usually either go to get work done or just to get out of the house, but I don't live close enough to any of those to do that currently. When I lived in Raleigh there was a cool coffee shop/bar/Vietnamese restaurant with a nice atmosphere and good food/service that was the perfect spot until they closed. I usually like to sit and work, people watch, and occasionally chat.
How important is wine to food?
I like beer with "fiery Szechuan" - white wine too. Haven't tried rose. I've also read(forget where, sorry) that western wine is gaining in popularity in China and probably other Asian countries as well.
Skinny/Slim/Healthy BMI Chowhounds
I love the book "French Women Don't Get Fat." I've never been fat but I've fluctuated around 10lbs. Basically I learned to pay attention to when I am feeling almost full, and then I stop eating. I try to eat slower and savor things. Being a chowhound helps this because we tend to eat better quality food. I still don't have much self control so I avoid buying junk.
I notice a huge difference in how satisfied I am after eating when I have low vs high quality food. I've also started eating a lot of lentils and they fill me up better than anything else. I make basically a lentil stew type thing with veggies and sometimes meat, and will have that several times per week for a quick meal.
So, pay attention to how you feel when you're eating, stop when you feel full, and don't worry about cleaning your plate.
Popular flavors that you don't care for
I'm the same way with yellow curries, and I don't really like ginger in anything savory like that either but I can't get enough ginger chews, ginger cookies, and really strong fresh ginger tea.
SOUP, SOUP, SOUP
That sounds like the Czech version of garlic soup. It's really good...my absolute favorite is an Austrian version(like someone else mentioned). It is seriously the best soup ever. I would fly over to Austria just. for. that. soup.
