Week 96: What do you cook?
Texas_Gem
8 years ago
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beachem
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Do You Love To Cook? Cook A Lot? Multiple Cook Family?
Comments (27)This thread, which I didn't catch the first time around, made me think. In general, I cook to eat and feed my family. However, I do enjoy baking for special occasions. I think that if I didn't work outside the home I would cook more...and be more adventurous. But, I work and have a long commute so by the time I get home I have to make fast meals with little time for creativity or major prep work. So, we eat a lot of frozen veggies--as is out of the bag, pre-cooked meats warmed up, pasta, soup, occasionally waffles/pancakes/eggs, potatoes, etc. I.e., for the most part things that I can cook fast. One up side to this is that our meals haven't changed that much w/o a kitchen since we do have a MW, Toaster Oven, and hot plate to cook with! One very big downside to this, though, is that my children are not learning to cook like I did from my mom. Back on topic... After finding this site and reading about zones, I realized that one thing that I really wanted was a baking center. So when my kitchen was being designed I had it in the back of my head that whatever we ended up with had to have an area I could designate my "Baking Zone", preferably near the ovens--with room to roll out dough, spread out cookie sheets, and have cookie cutters spread out all at the same time! The other thing I got from this site was our window...having the window down to the counter (OK, not cooking-related, but a very important design element!) Our very first plan that our KD came up with had input from us...but a very naive/ignorant us! (Before GW...BGW!) Then....I found this site.....and the changes began. Actually, I posted that original plan and asked for help (and also asked my KD to start over w/no island) Many, many people here helped me come up with a plan over several weeks (months?). We finally came up with a plan that has changed little since then. Interestingly, when I took away the island "must have", my KD came up with a plan very similar to what we came up with here. The only 3 differences were (1) no mini peninsula, (2) a 36" pantry cabinet rather than a corner pantry, and (3) no separate Message Center cabinets. My KD wasn't completely happy w/our differences, but she, wisely I thought, told me to go home and mock up what I wanted to see how it would work (same advice I got here!) Well, the mock up was great! It proved that I did indeed want the mini peninsula (I liked it so much I left the mock up in place until demo and used it!) When I told her the results, she didn't argue, she accepted it telling me it's my kitchen, so ultimately it's up to me. So in the end, my design was/is based on what I wanted, not what the KD wanted. [If only someone else had measured my kitchen and she was given more authority, I think a lot of subsequent problems would have been avoided.] Our kitchen isn't done yet, but it's close...so I can't yet tell you how it is going to work for us...but we are so......See More96 degrees in the shade...what do you all do.?
Comments (64)I dont mind the hot weather as long as strong wind isnt with it. I put up umbrellas and shade cloth over small potted plants or move them under trees. I have a friend who teaches history to kids at Rileys farm near Riverside CA and they wear 1770s clothes there even in 90+ temps. What they do is to soak the white cloth "tucker" that goes around your neck at the top of the bodice before they put it on and then wring it out. When its dry, they just wet it again. I do the same thing with a bandanna or a light cotton blouse and wear it over a swim top. I can do all kinds of things in the shade and when the sun moves, I go to another spot thats shady. We were at Los Encinos State Park for a Victorian Picnic during the last heatwave. Everyone in bustle dresses and suits sitting in the shade of a 98 F day. I cheated and wore an Edwardian white lawn/lace dress. Thats an interesting place and has a very old adobe from the Mission times. It has its own spring water source ( now a duck pond with fountain ). The drought of the 1860s caused the ranchers to start raising sheep instead of cattle. I did feel a lift in my spirits when the weather cooled in to the 70s for a time. We even got some morning mists and cloudy days. The cool temps and humidity brought on some lovely roses with good perfume. PJPII is having a flush of near perfect blooms and yesterday there was a very fragrant Rouge Royale. It's nice to have a break from the heat and the plants think so too....See MoreWeek 95: How often do you cook?
Comments (67)Texas_Gem, great QOTW! Kudos for teaching your kids to cook, clean, do laundry, etc. My parents also did that with us and I did it with my two boys and girl. About a decade ago, I was in the market for a new tool kit and Sears had a basic one on a great sale. I ended up buying one for my son too, who was about 22, and added in some things it didn't have, such as a hammer, duct tape, picture hangers, etc. I sorta swelled with pride, when Joe told me about a year later that it was one of the best presents he'd ever gotten and that he used it on a very regular basis. OTOH, neither he nor my daughter ever mastered my clean as you go cooking technique. When I cook, by the time dinner is served, the counters are clean and cooking dishes at a minimum are rinsed and stacked neatly in the sink. When they cook, it looks like a category 5 hurricane has swept through the kitchen, lol! :-) Depending upon your definition of "cooking," I cook almost every day. It was just myself for the past few years, but now my daughter (age 30) lives with me. I do really enjoy cooking and puttering around in the kitchen, but it's hard to cook for one, and even two is not as ideal as cooking for a larger family. So I categorize a lot of what I do as "heating up" or "assembling" a meal. Breakfast is cold cereal, juice, and coffee most days, and something like eggs and hash browns and toast about once a week. Joy and I both work mostly from home. I'd say we heat up or assemble lunch 3-4 days a week--sandwiches or canned soup, a simple salad, maybe some tortilla chips and salsa. Another 2-3 days we eat breakfast really late and skip lunch, or we skip breakfast and do brunch. The other day or two we eat lunch out while running errands. We cook dinner, on average, six nights a week. Sorry Texas_Gem, but Hamburger and Tuna Helper do count as entrees, but only once a week. Mainly due to time and budget constraints we cook simple meals. Once a week or so we do something in the crock pot like chili, a chicken, soup, etc. We probably do tacos once a week. One or two meals are more elaborate, such as eggplant Parmesan, lasagne, spaghetti with either home cooked marinara or Alfredo sauce, babooti, etc. One to two nights are leftovers, and one day is either take out or a "lazy day," which means a frozen pizza or frozen dinners, lol. We steam veggies every day with dinner and rice when the entree isn't pasta. We make salads every day with dinner too. Fruit lives in the fruit bowl or fridge, and is our go-to for snacks. Now that I've bought the house, we are going to have a veggie garden! We're very excited about that! Although our cooking isn't gourmet, a well designed kitchen would be really, really helpful. It's not so much the design, as it follows the ice, water, rock, fire flow, it's simply the lack of counter space, because everything is packed in so tight in this small eat-in kitchen! I don't need a "chef's kitchen," just some basic, hard working appliances and a decent amount of prep space. Ample storage and pantry space would be icing on the cake! I think I've got it figured out, but it will be a couple of years before the kitchen remodel, so lots of time to change and learn! Great question! I enjoyed reading everyone's answers! Have a great day! :-)...See MoreWhat do you cook the week before TG?
Comments (7)I'm in a pickle. I usually buy salads so I don't have to store bulky veg. They take up room, themselves, and through attrition make room for containers as things get finished. There's no lettuce. With the romaine thing, I guess other outlets outbid the salad purveyors for the iceberg, salad bowl, red, curly, etc. I did buy a sad little iceberg since there was a single spinach salad, which was more stuff than spinach. With some arugula and other veg, I should be able to make salads for the rest of the week, but I still have to make Thanksgiving, so it's not really helping. I'm not sure I want to do all that cold work. My mother would stock the freezer and pull off marvelous pre-holiday meals in no time....See MoreDebbie B.
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