Poll: The lost art of cooking?

[24601NoMore]

I voted 2..

The "from scratch" bread that I eat for breakfast every morning isn't just made with store flour. Nosiree - that'd be too easy! Instead, I buy 50 lb bags of wheatberries and grind my OWN FLOUR . Then I make fresh, "whole" grain bread from that..that's breakfast most days.

After buying a Big Green Egg several years back, we're totally turned off by most restaurant and store bought food. There's nothing like firing up the Egg and cooking a great from scratch meal for dinn..

In retirement, we'll probably do most all meals from scratch. I love to cook and have gotten better than halfway decent at it over the many years I've been trying (and failing - always learn more when that happens!)

We make "from scratch" pizza, pasta and a bunch of other things the same way - grind wheatberries..make the dough (even pasta)..it's a lot of work, but we've come to the conclusion that we just can't buy anything comparable in terms of taste and nutrition.

BTW, I had to eat at Olive Garden when traveling the other night (long story - was the only thing open nearby when I arrived late night). That stuff is SWILL! Totally inedible. Reminds me of how nasty some restaurant food can be. Manager asked me how my meal was and I politely told her. Guess cuz I was nice about it she wound up comping my entire meal..pretty thoughtful!

 

[braumeister]

I buy 50 lb bags of wheatberries and grind my OWN FLOUR

You have wheat?

We had to use plaster we scraped off the walls to make our flour. And dirty water from the roadside ditch to mix it with.

 

[Amethyst]

I bet that tastes fantastic! But I won't go that far ;^>

I voted 2..

The "from scratch" bread that I eat for breakfast every morning isn't just made with store flour. Nosiree - that'd be too easy! Instead, I buy 50 lb bags of wheatberries and grind my OWN FLOUR . Then I make fresh, "whole" grain bread from that..that's breakfast most days.

 

[W2R]

BTW, I had to eat at Olive Garden when traveling the other night (long story - was the only thing open nearby when I arrived late night). That stuff is SWILL! Totally inedible. Reminds me of how nasty some restaurant food can be. Manager asked me how my meal was and I politely told her. Guess cuz I was nice about it she wound up comping my entire meal..pretty thoughtful!

We won't eat there either. I did eat there once or twice when traveling for work. But now that Frank and I are retired, with all the time in the world, we try to avoid national chains like that because our experience with them is always pretty substandard.

 

[Walt34]

Hey, I even grow my own spaghetti trees.

Seriously, I rarely eat anything that comes out of a box. Some snacks once it a while but I'll make a huge salad and eat that for days, or in winter make an 8-quart crock pot of beef stew and eat that for a week or so, depending on how much DW consumes.

DW is much more likely to eat prepared meals out of a box.

 

[MRG]

We trust you to make the right judgement...

If anyone wants to take a stab at defining "from scratch" beyond any shadow of doubt for everyone, be my guest. It's impossible...

If anything, some posts above are being too hard on themselves IMO. From scratch doesn't have to mean complex.

+1
Can't define "From scratch" anymore than I can "clean food", "real food", or another 12 cute phrases passed around in food bloggers blogs.

For us we try to buy foods that are like what our Grandparents would have recognized. Ingredients that an average fifth grader would easily pronounce. As I started reading ingredients I discovered all the garbage I didn't know people still eat. Bisquick, good old fashioned bisquick has transfat! That garbage is in all flour type products you don't need to add fat to. Right next to bisquick is a brand that doesn't have transfat, but you have to add oil. If you know that it's a no-brainer to know what to buy.

 

[2017ish]

DW and I love to cook and built a 2-cook kitchen to make it fun.

But, as long as we are working, we don't get to do it from "scratch" as much as we'd like. Say Tuesday and Friday nights most of the time as long as DW schedule permits, and usually Saturday and Sunday dinners. The other three dinners are usually out of the box/bag, with fresh salad on the side.

(All other "meals" are fruit and tea/water/coffee/cola, so not really fair to vote either way. Basically, half our meals are homecooked/scratch.)

 

[Bestwifeever]

DW and I love to cook and built a 2-cook kitchen to make it fun.

But, as long as we are working, we don't get to do it from "scratch" as much as we'd like. Say Tuesday and Friday nights most of the time as long as DW schedule permits, and usually Saturday and Sunday dinners. The other three dinners are usually out of the box/bag, with fresh salad on the side.

(All other "meals" are fruit and tea/water/coffee/cola, so not really fair to vote either way. Basically, half our meals are homecooked/scratch.)

I was ready to throttle DH one night when we both got home late from work and started cooking dinner at 9:00, and he started by making a salad that required 12 ingredients in the dressing, sectioning a grapefruit, etc., etc. We would have been eating by 10:00 pm. Sometimes food needs just to be fuel, and that was one of those times!

 

[haha]

I think that perhaps have never eaten convenience foods. My former wife is an excellent and fancy cook. I am not half bad, though nothing fancy. Lately I doing homemade soups often. Make it big, heat it to the boil daily, add new ingredients as it gets depleted, and I have excellent tasting and I believe healthy meals without much trouble.

Ha


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[unclemick]

I have a wife. And I lived 30 years in New Orleans - er men are chefs women are cooks or live to eat not eat to live and all that.

Sometimes there is a lively discussion. Also as foodie's we eat out a lot. KC has plenty to offer.

heh heh heh - it's not all about BBQ anymore.

 

[rodi]

DW and I love to cook and built a 2-cook kitchen to make it fun.

But, as long as we are working, we don't get to do it from "scratch" as much as we'd like. Say Tuesday and Friday nights most of the time as long as DW schedule permits, and usually Saturday and Sunday dinners. The other three dinners are usually out of the box/bag, with fresh salad on the side.

(All other "meals" are fruit and tea/water/coffee/cola, so not really fair to vote either way. Basically, half our meals are homecooked/scratch.)

We redid our kitchen while we were still working. We designed it for function not resale... So... stainless countertops, new gas range/oven plus kept the old electric wall oven (better for baking). It's an L shaped galley kitchen - so one can be prepping on one part of the L and not be in the way of the person prepping on the other. Extra plugs and spot lighting along the counter and behind the stove for when you need a mixmaster, grill, food processor, etc all going at once.

We'll be putting all the function to full use tomorrow night when we do our 7 fishes Christmas eve dinner... Everything but the shrimp platter will be from scratch.

 

[Amethyst]

I would consider frozen vegetables "scratch" ingredients unless they are the kind with built-in sauces. Perhaps some people would expect us to grow our own peas for it to qualify as "scratch."

I make two meals a day . A late breakfast made from scratch and dinner which is also made from scratch sometimes with a little help ( Frozen vegetables , packaged salad dressings ).

 

[MichaelB]

DW does all the cooking in our home, so I'm not really sure how to respond. She prepares 3 meals a day from scratch for herself, one for me. Usually I reheat one meal a day that was originally made from scratch. So, on average, that would be 2.5 meals per day from scratch.

 

[Amethyst]

I know! I was chagrined when I found that out. Even my Mother, who during the 1970's taught me all the 1940's ways to do things, used Bisquick.

Fortunately, it's not hard to duplicate Bisquick by using flour, vegetable oil, baking powder, and salt. Just takes a few more minutes and being handy with measuring cups/spoons.

+1
Bisquick, good old fashioned bisquick has transfat! .

 

[Meadbh]

I know! I was chagrined when I found that out. Even my Mother, who during the 1970's taught me all the 1940's ways to do things, used Bisquick.

Fortunately, it's not hard to duplicate Bisquick by using flour, vegetable oil, baking powder, and salt. Just takes a few more minutes and being handy with measuring cups/spoons.

Who needs pancake mixes when you have this recipe? It's just as easy to make them from scratch provided you have the ingredients on hand.

Buttermilk Pancakes Recipe & Video - Joyofbaking.com *Video Recipe*

 

[sengsational]

In this context, a reasonable definition of from scratch would include food that you wouldn't eat alone/by itself, and single ingredient items you might eat as-is (apple, milk)?

I answered 3 ... If everything at home is from scratch, we can go out to eat every other day, that rounds up to 3.

 

[2017ish]

We redid our kitchen while we were still working. We designed it for function not resale... So... stainless countertops, new gas range/oven plus kept the old electric wall oven (better for baking). It's an L shaped galley kitchen - so one can be prepping on one part of the L and not be in the way of the person prepping on the other. Extra plugs and spot lighting along the counter and behind the stove for when you need a mixmaster, grill, food processor, etc all going at once.

We'll be putting all the function to full use tomorrow night when we do our 7 fishes Christmas eve dinner... Everything but the shrimp platter will be from scratch.

Yeah, we were married for over 20 years before we built our own kitchen. Sheesh, what took us so long?! We used all of it (plus the Weber charcoal grill for the turkey) at Thanksgiving with two of our sons and their S.O.s were in; DW got called away for a delivery, which destroyed our timing. Endded up having 4 cooks in the kitchen for the last hour!

Objectively, the wide walkways and multiple work areas/sinks might be overkill, but when you need it, it is nice to have.

 

[Chuckanut]

With all the prepackaged foods, who makes anything from scratch? They are mostly cheaper than buying individual items to make anything.

Yuk!

That stuff mostly clogs my insides with inferior tasting digestible product.


Fwiw, I try to make my food from ingredients that are as near to the way nature made them as possible within reason. The problem with many prepackaged and convenience foods is their lack of flavor (other than sugar and salt) and nutritional composition. But, there is a time and place for convenience foods and restaurant foods. To each his/her own.

 

[Midpack]

BTW, I had to eat at Olive Garden when traveling the other night (long story - was the only thing open nearby when I arrived late night). That stuff is SWILL! Totally inedible. Reminds me of how nasty some restaurant food can be. Manager asked me how my meal was and I politely told her. Guess cuz I was nice about it she wound up comping my entire meal..pretty thoughtful!

We won't eat there either. I did eat there once or twice when traveling for work. But now that Frank and I are retired, with all the time in the world, we try to avoid national chains like that because our experience with them is always pretty substandard.

And yet it's one of the most popular restaurants chains around. The one near us is crowded every day/all day. In 20 years, we've probably eaten there 3 times, 2 of them because of a gift card. Robot service, only moderately clean, huge portions of mediocre quality food, and not surprisingly enormous customers (and I don't mean tall). We've noticed the latter is a characteristic of several restaurants we don't care for, Red Robin is another example...

 

[Chuckanut]

I would rather
my Italian friends think I was a Mafia hit man who cheats little old ladies out of their social security dollars than somebody who eats at Olive Garden. Same goes for all of those fake Italian pizza places and such. Ugh!


The worst decisions are made when angry or impatient.

 

[Ronstar]

I'm not a cook - I grill and smoke. DW can cook when she wants to. We've been gluten free for the past few months, making meals a challenge. I generally eat oatmeal and toast for breakfast, and chicken, steak, fruits and vegetables the rest of the day.


Sent from my iPhone .using Early Retirement .//82339)

 

[24601NoMore]

And yet it's one of the most popular restaurants chains around. The one near us is crowded every day/all day. In 20 years, we've probably eaten there 3 times, 2 of them because of a gift card. Robot service, only moderately clean, huge portions of mediocre quality food, and not surprisingly enormous customers (and I don't mean tall). We've noticed the latter is a characteristic of several restaurants we don't care for, Red Robin is another example...

DW and I used to eat there fairly regularly. Macaroni Grill, too. Back "in the day" they USED to make edible / fairly decent food. But, like everything seems to be nowadays, it's all about maximizing profit (sadly) and serving things you wouldn't feed your dog with.

I'm far from a food "snob" though I AM a foodie. I don't even have WORDS to describe how bad this meal at Olive Garden was. I mean - who in the world eats this stuff?!

Maybe I'm just spoiled from all of the "from scratch" meals we cook (eg: we can our own pasta sauce from fresh grown Roma tomatoes, onions and lots of spices, grind our own wheat, cook amazing, "Ruth Chris" quality steaks on our BGE, etc), but the quality of restaurant food has become just north of things we feed our animals, IMHO. Really disappointing and just another example of how "cheap" our entire society has become - hey, it's all in the name of "maximizing PROFIT - quality be damned!". (I could make a KILLING if I opened a restaurant that served food like we eat at home..)

Good to know where I'll be saving money in RE..if we go out, it's going to be small, local, family run businesses. No national chains. Blech.

 

[24601NoMore]

PS: Amazingly, I have found a few "Lean Cusine" meals that are basically edible (and FAR north of Olive Garden quality) for a couple of bucks per serving that are pretty decent..

The Penne Chicken and Pasta with the apples is actually edible. And about $2.50 per serving, a decent value.

Sad to say, the $2.50 Lean Cuisine DESTROYED the Olive Garden meal at 10X the price (had I needed to pay).

If I had more cajones, I'd open an amazing restaurant in Retirement. National chains wouldn't scare me one iota, as I'd be serving (actually edible) food at a good value..

To that point - has anyone eaten MOD pizza? One opened near us, and this was my #1 idea.."build your own pizza" from fresh ingredients. They have a good price point, but WOW is that bad food. STAGGERINGLY bad. Makes Olive Garden look like Ruth Chris by comparison.

It truly is amazing what people will shell out hard earned $$s for. I think I'm on to something here. Time to open a restaurant that actually serves gourmet food at a fair price point..

 

[haha]

If I had more cajones, I'd open an amazing restaurant in Retirement. National chains wouldn't scare me one iota, as I'd be serving (actually edible) food at a good value..

Wow! I bet no one else has thought of that idea!

 

[ERD50]

I would rather my Italian friends think I was a Mafia hit man who cheats little old ladies out of their social security dollars than somebody who eats at Olive Garden. Same goes for all of those fake Italian pizza places and such. Ugh!

The in-laws will gather there once or twice a year. Definitely not my idea of 'fine dining', but I guess I've been lucky - I've had a few entrees that I actually thought were reasonably good. My expectations were low as well, but still, it was OK. But nothing like a 'real' Italian restaurant.

We also went to a Red Robin recently - heck, I thought their burgers were very good. Again, just a simple burger, not 'fine dining', but I don't think they claim to be anything but. I'd definitely go back, though we don't go to places like that often.

Most meals at home. Lunch is almost always leftovers. One, maybe two meals a week can be made from leftovers, sometimes transformed into a different dish.

-ERD50