Kitchen

[kittymomNC]

My family is from the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, and if that doesn't spell good old meat and potatoes down home cooking, I don't know what does. My mother was a good cook, but it was plain and simple. I do love to read cookbooks, and I've got a box full of recipes I cut out of magazines, but I've accumulated certain favorites throughout the years, and that's mostly what I make. Once in a while, I will try a new recipe, but nothing exotic. Sometimes a new casserole, mostly new desserts! If you and your husband are happy with your style of cooking and the types of food you like, what's wrong with that? I'm sure there are a lot of good foods and flavors out there that I'm probably missing out on as well, but since I don't have a lot of people to cook for, I stay with my more simple dishes-besides, I'm older now and I don't always feel like standing in the kitchen for hours figuring out a new recipe! I do really enjoy watching the Chopped competitions on the food network - mostly for the laughs at some of the things they're asked to cook!

[Boehm Collector]

I also enjoy watching the cooking shows on the Food network and on Create TV. But I do not have the desire to prepare most of the recipes. I cook the way my Mom did... My Mom was a phenomenal cook. She was born and raised in a city in Italy approximately 125 miles Northeast of Rome ... on the Adriatic Coast (Most, but of course not all, of the Italians in this country are from Southern Italy). Every region in Italy has its own style of cooking and specialties. Everything I know about cooking I learned from her. Many of her recipes are time consuming.... but oh so worth it! Her cooking was definitely not bland but not too overly spicy. To give you just an idea of what her cooking was like ... think Mario Batali (at least the Mario Batali of over 5 years ago). Mom used to love watching him because he prepared many dishes almost exactly like she did. I HATE to cook. But I do cook any where from 5 to 7 days a week. And most of what I prepare I learned from Mom. The biggest compliment she ever paid me was to say that many of my meals turned out even better than hers. Since she passed away almost five years ago, I have been trying to maintain many of her holiday traditions.. because if I don't no one else will. And those recipes are especially complicated. I love hearing from my brother... "this is just like Mom's". My brother is also a great cook. He loves buying cook books (mostly Italian food) and try out new recipes. So recently I have been getting some new recipes from him.

[terrier3]

There are lots of shows on Food Network that are simple to make.

The Pioneer Woman for one...Trisha Yearwood...Ina Garten.

Many feature simple cooking...in fact Ina has a book on that subject.

[house cat]

On 3/8/2014 Boehm Collecter said:

I also enjoy watching the cooking shows on the Food network and on Create TV. But I do not have the desire to prepare most of the recipes. I cook the way my Mom did... My Mom was a phenomenal cook. She was born and raised in a city in Italy approximately 125 miles Northeast of Rome ... on the Adriatic Coast (Most, but of course not all, of the Italians in this country are from Southern Italy). Every region in Italy has its own style of cooking and specialties. Everything I know about cooking I learned from her. Many of her recipes are time consuming.... but oh so worth it! Her cooking was definitely not bland but not too overly spicy. To give you just an idea of what her cooking was like ... think Mario Batali (at least the Mario Batali of over 5 years ago). Mom used to love watching him because he prepared many dishes almost exactly like she did. I HATE to cook. But I do cook any where from 5 to 7 days a week. And most of what I prepare I learned from Mom. The biggest compliment she ever paid me was to say that many of my meals turned out even better than hers. Since she passed away almost five years ago, I have been trying to maintain many of her holiday traditions.. because if I don't no one else will. And those recipes are especially complicated. I love hearing from my brother... "this is just like Mom's". My brother is also a great cook. He loves buying cook books (mostly Italian food) and try out new recipes. So recently I have been getting some new recipes from him.

My family is from that region, Terracina, on the coast near Rome. I do enjoy some of those traditional recipes, but I prefer American dishes.

[Boehm Collector]

Hi house cat ... if I am not mistaken, Terracina (beautiful area of Italy BTW) is actually south of Rome and on the Mediterranean Coast. Of course, everyones tastes are different and theres nothing wrong with that. I too like many American dishes but still prefer Italian cooking.

[Zhills]

Being Southern, I love simple comfort foods. Can't beat meatloaf and mashed potatoes with a veggie and/or salad. I like my food tasty. I'll add peppers and onions to meatloaf and put garlic in my potatoes. I like to cook Ethnic foods, but usually cook the comfort foods from that region.
When I have my ingredients FIXED for me and sitting in little bowls, ready to use, and someone to clean it all up for me......I will use 15 ingredients. Not until!

[house cat]

On 3/8/2014 Boehm Collecter said:

Hi house cat ... if I am not mistaken, Terracina (beautiful area of Italy BTW) is actually south of Rome and on the Mediterranean Coast. Of course, everyones tastes are different and theres nothing wrong with that. I too like many American dishes but still prefer Italian cooking.

Yes. That's it. My grandparents left that spectacular place, crossed the ocean and spent the next 80 years in Long Island City. I've never quite figured that out.

[Boehm Collector]

Hi house cat .... my paternal grandparents left Italy and moved to Pennsylvania (my grandfather worked in the coal mines) then to Brooklyn then to Dix Hills in Long Island (near Huntington). They were quite poor and left Italy to make a better life for themselves and their children. My maternal grandparents never left Italy. They were definitely not rich ... but better off than my father's family. My maternal grandfather was a very talented carpenter. In fact he was so good that he was commissioned to make one of Mussolini's bedroom sets. He was not a Fascist but in those day he could never have even dared to refuse an order from Mussolini. My aunt and cousins are still there.

[house cat]

On 3/8/2014 Boehm Collecter said:

Hi house cat .... my paternal grandparents left Italy and moved to Pennsylvania (my grandfather worked in the coal mines) then to Brooklyn then to Dix Hills in Long Island (near Huntington). They were quite poor and left Italy to make a better life for themselves and their children. My maternal grandparents never left Italy. They were definitely not rich ... but better off than my father's family. My maternal grandfather was a very talented carpenter. In fact he was so good that he was commissioned to make one of Mussolini's bedroom sets. He was not a Fascist but in those day he could never have even dared to refuse an order from Mussolini. My aunt and cousins are still there.

I apologize to the OP for taking these off topic comments, but I can really relate to this. My grandfathers were both artisans in Italy, arrived here just in time for the Depression to derail them. Their brothers who stayed in Italy did just as well as my grandfathers did here in America. Those years were devastating to everyone.

But speaking of plain food… my mother's family is from the Abruzzi region of Italy. They lived in a teeny-tiny mountain town called Salle. Most of their recipes have two ingredients, and rarely any meat.

[Cyndog]

I'm like the other poster in that I didn't have a lot of different foods until I got older. I never even ate a piece of fish until I was in my thirties, wouldn't touch an onion or a mushroom. My mother would make two of everything for the kids and my dad, one with onions, one without. My dad would make Romanian dishes like goulash or chicken paprikash, but we wouldn't touch them. My mom lived on steak and salad. We did eat Chinese food. Compared to my childhood, I'm an adventurous eater now ,ha, ha, but compared to my husband I'm not.