Food!

[yakers]

There was this nice thread on smoke curing food and then some BBQ recipies so I got to wondering, for the retirees, how has your retirement changed in relation to food? Does having more time mean that you can now bake those scratch cakes, pies with real fruit, home grown vegetables, home made BBQ sauces? Or do those restaurant discount deals prove irresistable? Or is food less interesting, just something that takes up time better spent on something of more importance?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Absolutely changed. Used to eat out all the time with an occasional boutique dinner cooked at home.

Hardly eat out now. Have definitely worked on my culinary skills.

I've gotten lots of cooking toys like the smoker and large deep fryer for turkeys, chickens, and prime ribs. Tried and succeeded with a lot of different ethnic cuisines. Even made stuff thats a pain in the butt and cheap to buy just to see how its done. My home-made bagels looked like crap but tasted good.

We still eat out now and then, but its usually on a 2:1 coupon or if we're starving at one of the many inexpensive but decent buffet places. Theres an asian seafood super buffet place up the street thats ~$6 for lunch and ~$8 for dinner, which includes mongolian bbq, sushi and some excellent wonton and hot&sour soup.

But 95% of the time we eat out my wife says "you can make this better, i'd rather get this at home next time".

Its also nice to shop almost every day.

 

[wabmester]

Retiring means that I have fully embraced my laziness. We eat out all the time.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I'm too lazy to pack up the baby and get in the car and drive somewhere

In fact, i'm so lazy I cant believe I typed this.

 

[P.S.]

  Even made stuff thats a pain in the butt and cheap to buy just to see how its done.  My home-made bagels looked like crap but tasted good.

Wow, am duly impressed. Favorite bagel place had wonderful flavors like carrot bagel, chocolate cherry, but cost 80cent apiece. I figured, even if I buy the most expensive organic flour and use Vahlrona chocolate, could make it cheaper. As I remember, the whole evolution took something like 8 hours. And after pulling the anemic pallid things out of the oven and biting into something with a taste vaguely reminiscent of packing foam, decided to just fork over the weekly 5 bucks.

 

[unclemick]

Heh, heh, heh - step daughter in spare room - fried chicken breast - beer batter with Tony C's Creole spice/Zatarains, potato salad, baked beans. May not make it toooo far off the couch today.

ER is good.

 

[TromboneAl]

We've made a big change since you guys convinced me that we've been paying too much for food.

No more convenience foods (that is, ready-prepared).
We make all our own bread.
We make our own yogurt.
We make our own pizza.
We make our own beans.
A lot more cooking from scratch.

This has resulted in a big improvement in the quality of our food. Tastes good!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

[homer]Mmmm...bean pizza on yogurt bread crust...[/homer]

 

[Eagle43]

Mexican or Thai, local establishments, about twice a week! Occasional lunch with a pal.

 

[yakers]

[homer]Mmmm...bean pizza on yogurt bread crust...[/homer]

Add me to the "exhaling milk through the nose group". Some great posts on this board. This one was so funny I would report it to the webmaster except... it was posted by the webmaster...there goes some more milk...note to self: don't eat/drink while reading this page...

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I aint no steenking wabmester.

Oh...you said webmaster.

I aint no steenking webmaster either!

 

[Marshac]

Tony C's Creole spice

Bar none the best seasoning for corn on the cob (in addition to butter of course!)

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

And another thing! (Hey, this is fun!)

Bean pizza recipes abound. And indian Naan bread which would make an excellent pizza crust is made from yogurt...

 

[Arin38]

Bar none the best seasoning for corn on the cob (in addition to butter of course!)

Try Tony's on popcorn!!

 

[haha]

I eat anything as long as it swims. Never eat out unless I am traveling. I enjoy my cooking more. Sometimes I show up at a friend's house with some halibut or salmon and a stick of butter...

Now I have to go broil some salmon....


Haha

 

[KB]

I'm grilling teriyaki salmon tonight. I think I'll take a nap first though.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I have a brisket that I rubbed and seared thats currently bubbling in some homemade barbecue sauce

 

[haha]

I have a brisket that I rubbed and seared thats currently bubbling in some homemade barbecue sauce

Ummm-dat looks good!

 

[VoyT]

Oh, wow .. that does look good. What time is dinner?

I'm reaching the point where I'd just as soon eat in -- tired of so-so food, and very tired of crappy service.

 

[LakeRat]

Notth the brisket looks great. I could be there in about 15 minutes. Is that OK?

I have been cooking much more than before er. I am enjoying having the time to plan and prepare dishes that I have never attempted before. My hubby says he wants to try somethings in the kitchen. I hope that means preparing meals.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

You bet, all of you come on by...theres enough for at least 2 sandwiches after i'm done with it.

Dinners in an hour, right after the wife gets out of the tub. Serving with garlic mashed yukon golds and roasted corn.

 

[LakeRat]

Let me get the directions straight. Do they still include turning off the paved road?

 

[Nords]

A dissenting opinion

I don't hate cooking and I'm deemed competent at it, but I have little or no interest in it. If I was living alone I'd be standing over the sink eating a sandwich (think of Howard Hessman in "WKRP Cincinnati").

But I take an engineering approach to this art form. When I cook it's in large volumes (at least double the recipe). If the oven gets turned on then it better be full (including desserts). If it can be done in a crock pot then I start it early in the morning and let it take care of itself. If I run the barbeque (with actual charcoal!) then we'll grill five pounds of hamburger, a dozen drumsticks, and a dozen pieces of fish. I cook a 15-20 lb turkey every few months (they're amazingly cheap the other 10 months of the year) and when we have tacos I mix seasonings by the cup.

But in ER we eat out a lot less-- Costco pizza dinner every Friday and a Thai lunch every week or so. Or maybe that's just a phase; our kid's more interested in hanging out with friends than she is in being whisked away to a sit-down restaurant.

I'm looking for a good spicy tofu recipe. Hopefully without kimchee. Any suggestions?

Dinners in an hour, right after the wife gets out of the tub.  Serving with garlic mashed yukon golds and roasted corn.

Hunh, that's interesting, we usually wash our food in the kitchen sink. But then I guess it depends on how much of it you're preparing at one time!

 

[laurence]

Montreal Steak Seasoning is a staple in our house. It's cook for spicing up home made hamburgers, too.

Edit: oh, and anyone have suggestions for grilling NY steaks? I've decided these are my favorite and I would like to perfect the process.

 

[HFWR]

I often marinate steaks in beer, soy sauce, and granulated garlic and onion.
Leave for several hours, or overnight.