Kitchen

[Sammijo10]

On 3/3/2015 chickenbutt said:

I never had a grandmother and my so-called mother was a dreadful cook. That was probably why I had to start cooking when I was 6, but I digress.

Anyway, needless to say, I don't have any family recipes. Everything I have I either wrote myself or I found in books or online over the years.

But I was thinking about the aspect mentioned of trying to replicate and I think there is something to the fact that you can have the recipe and not necessarily come up with something as good as the original.

My husband ex-MIL used to make minestrone from her own recipe that he just loves. One time when he was down there to visit his daughter (he usually stays with the ex-MIL because she's about the only mother he's known since his mother died young) and, as usual, she made the minestrone for him. She gave him the recipe and I tried it once. Now, mind you, I've been cooking for eons so I know my way around cooking. But he said something was not the same. He said it was good and all, but not the same. I never made it again but I always hope that she makes it for him when he goes to visit.

I know she didn't sabotage the recipe or anything because she's a very nice lady and we get along very well. We have the same birthday, so that's always a fun little thing to share.

I just think sometimes there is a 'thing' about the original person making the recipe, that makes it not always come out the same for somebody else.

ETA - geez, it won't take the post if there is a word ending in 's' and then the next word starts with 'ex'. REALLY QVC?? That's why some of it looks stupid. yikes

Sometimes its as simple as the water is different in different parts of the country. They say that's why 'NYC pizza' tastes so good. I read somewhere that a pizza joint in Arizona actually imports water from NYC to get that specific flavor.

[spix]

On 3/3/2015 betteb said:

On 3/3/2015 Legal Secretary said:

Are you lucky enough to have your favorite family recipes written down? My Mother and Grandmother were really good cooks but never used recipes so unfortunately I have to try and recreate family favorites by trial and error. When I was first married I would call Mom and asked about a dish and it was a smidge, dash or pinch of whatever.

My mother was a wonderful, intuitive cook and baker....and she never used a recipe or a cook book, even baking bread.

She did welcome me into the kitchen from an early age, so I know how to make a lot of her specialties.

Baking bread, my Mother did every week, 5 loaves, no recipe, I finally watched her one day & took out the "dump" of flour, etc, & measured, finally got to making my own, then eventually could do the same thing, also I learned from her 1 loaf was always given to someone, family member, neighbor, etal, I also did this. Don't do it now, my arms are not that strong anymore to knead all that dough, one of these days, still have her mixing "tub", & loaf pans. Thanx for memories ladies.

[AuntG]

I can't even make bread in a bread machine, but I remember watching my mom make bread. It involved a huge bowl with a kitchen towel placed over it and several large black bread tins. I'd guess she made at least three loaves at a time.

[dex]

The bird...I bet those old polish recipes are amazing.My mom was Polish but not a cook...she liked canned stuff because I guess it was new wave cooking in those days.She lived to find ways to hide that spam in all we ate.

[Tigriss]

I tend not to measure either. I just seem to be able to eyeball thints and get consistent results, like Justin Wilson. I learned from my mother and grandmothers and from their mistakes. I guess I just started at an early age learning how things looked and felt. The only thing go I really do measure is when I'm baking, but that isn't cooking.

[sfnative]

On 3/4/2015 RespectLife said:

On 3/3/2015 bichon_emma said: My mother is a terrible cook sadly I have several of her recipes. Boneless skinless chicken breasts breaded and baked for 1hr at 350F. Pork chops done the same way. Corn on the cob boiled for an hour. I'm not sure why but she seems to think everything cooks for an hour

That's so funny! My mom boiled all veggies for an hour! No wonder I wouldn't eat them!

The Bird...you nailed it for my family. My gram cooked from scratch and it was 'all in her head'.

My mom was the 'convenience' cook you mentioned! Everything had Campbells soup in it...or came from boxes with pouches of 'powdered' chemicals in them! I love ya mom...but NOT your cooking! Her cookbook has tons of recipes from the magazines or newspapers of her day that use 'boxed' items....not real cooking...just combining. No offense, but Hamburger Helper is NOT food in my house! Bleecchhh!!!

I try also to do everything from scratch including all desserts!

With few exceptions, if my mother couldn't slap a piece of meet in a skillet and dump a can of vegetables in a saucepan to heat, we didn't eat. LOL! We rarely had starch with our dinners. Isn't that curious? OH, but wait - once in a blue moon we had those little white, peeled potatoes that came out of a can and I loved those!

Once in a while she did throw in slices of liver and onion, which I gagged on, but was made to sit there and eat or got spanked and sent to my room. Can you imagine? I would never do that to my child!

But! She did make one mean chicken and dumplings which she only made twice a year(??????) I begged her for it all the time, but I suppose it was too labor intensive for her.

Edited to add that because of the above, I made an oath to become as good a cook as I possibly could and set about doing just that.

[FastDogWalker2]

Some of the recipes are written down, but many are just "in my head!"

[LadyAmara]

When I was growing up, pound cake was the driest thing I ever tasted so I would steer clear. One holiday, my mom commented that I never eat her pound cake and asked why. My reply was "all pound cakes are dry - even smothered in ice cream." Of course she said, "not mine." Yeah, right. She made her's from scratch. Well after much encouragement from her on another holiday to at least take a bite without ice cream, well let me tell you how amazed I was. After that, every time she had pound cake I was front and center. So when I asked for the recipe, she said there was no recipe; she just toss in flour, butter, blah blah blah. I said wait. Next time you bake one, let me know so I can come over and write it down. That recipe is copied and stored in various places for safe keeping and I love tossing in flour, butter, blah blah blah and baking it up. Melts in your mouth.

[gkelly]

My mom was a "self taught" cook & I would bet her cooking against anyone else!! She did have some of her recipes wrote down but most was "in her head". She taught my oldest sister how to cook and now when I visit her, we sit down at the kitchen table & she will tell me what she does(how she cooks) as I write it down the different recipes!