Cooking/Home-cooked meal withdrawal

[larry_stewart]

So, the past few days I've been away at a convention.
I love going to new restaurants, trying new foods. Im always looking to expand my culinary / palate experiences and knowledge.
What I've notices, is that there comes a point ( at least for me), where I crave being back in the kitchen, cooking, experimenting or just whipping ups familiar home cooked meal. For me, after about 2 or 3 days, I start missing it. When I visited my son in Montana last year, it wa a 10 + day stretch without a home cooked meal, It almost drove me crazy. Ive also been known to get a hotel room with a small kitchen, hit up a local grocery store, and make something home made , on the road.

Just curious if anyone else experiences the same , or can you go on an on eating out, with no desire to get back into the kitchen and get your hands dirty.

 

[buckytom]

I'm right there with ya, El Aurens of Lawn Guyland.

My wife begged the guys demolishing our kitchen to reinstall the stove so we could just cook something...anything.

And afterwards, I've been hauling the used pots and pans into work to wash them there.

Even if I still had my apartment on West 72nd, or better yet on 9th Ave, we'd still get sick of eating out everyday.

And it's only been 2 weeks. 5 or 7 more to go.

Btw, if you're in the city tomorrow night, stop by CBS. You can watch the Super Bowl from the studios, and there'll be catering everywhere.

 

[Andy M.]

Larry, I've experienced the same thing though not to the extent of renting a kitchenette so that I could cook for myself on the road. When we going away on vacation, there're always lots of great restaurants, but towards the end of the trip I long for a home-cooked meal. Something like pot roast or my own pasta with meatballs and sausages. I guess we're just not cut out to be world travelers.

 

[Addie]

Craving a "home cooked" meal is the same as craving any certain food you love. There are times when Pirate and myself just don't feel like cooking. Yesterday was one of those days. Today there will be chicken legs in the oven along with baked potatoes. We both have just been picking what ever we found in the fridge. No pickings left. So thank heavens Pirate took the chicken out of the freezer.

 

[Kayelle]

I hear ya Larry. SC and I have done a lot of traveling and one of the best things about coming back is home cooked food. We enjoy cruising, but with the rare exception, the food is always beautiful but bland and tasteless to us.

Even the spectacular looking desserts taste like nothing. Unlike some, I actually loose weight on a cruise, so that's a good thing.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

I can relate, larry. At least our annual vacation is at our timeshare down on Fort Myers Beach, FL. We have a full kitchen there, so I can cook whenever I want. When we first would go down, I cooked all of the time to save money; Himself had just been laid off, he wasn't getting Social Security deposits, and I was holding the purses strings close together. Once money started back into our bank account, we went out all of the time - for a vacation or two. Now we dine out most of the time, but I have to cook one or two suppers just to keep from getting nervous.

When we spend any time with our kids, we stay with our daughter in her condo. I take over the kitchen and cook lots of big family meals. Even then, when I've spent most of the nights cooking for people I love, I really enjoy getting back home to my kitchen. It's comfortable, like a perfectly fitted pair of shoes.

 

[caseydog]

As some of you know, I travel for weeks at a time. I spent most of the month of December on the road. And yes, eating out gets old. Plus expensive and fattening. A salad can cost fifteen bucks, and have 1,500 calories.

Now, if I am meeting up with a bunch of old friends, like I did for the SEMA convention last year, it is different. The meal out is more about talking, laughing and eating... in that order.

CD

 

[Kayelle]

I'm right there with ya, El Aurens of Lawn Guyland.

My wife begged the guys demolishing our kitchen to reinstall the stove so we could just cook something...anything.

And afterwards, I've been hauling the used pots and pans into work to wash them there.

Even if I still had my apartment on West 72nd, or better yet on 9th Ave, we'd still get sick of eating out everyday.

And it's only been 2 weeks. 5 or 7 more to go.

Btw, if you're in the city tomorrow night, stop by CBS. You can watch the Super Bowl from the studios, and there'll be catering everywhere.

What a total PITA Bucky!! Doesn't that gorgeous house have a laundry service porch with a big wash tub for those dishes? That's what I used when my kitchen was torn up. It's so miserable to be without a working kitchen and I can't imagine WEEKS of that!!

 

[Rascal]

I'm with you larry, before I worked for myself, I worked as a rep on the road. It involved 1 week every month away, so meals at the local pubs were every night, good grub, but not the same, by the following week I was hanging out for home cooked. My faves to this day are cheap meals, like I was raised with. We never had a lot as a kid. My kids are the same now, they love cheap cuts of meat as well.

Russ

 

[buckytom]

Lol, unfortunately not, K-L. Our laundry room is small with direct plumbing to the waste lines, and our basement was blasted out of solid rock up here on the mountain. Since the basement is below grade, I can't have normal, gravity affect plumbing to have a utility sink down there. I'd have to install a powered pump.

I'm probably going to pick up a standalone utility tub and Jerry rig it where the old sink would have been. Gotta figeure out how to run water lines, though. Duct tape won't hold for long.

Then I have to clean out the trap in the downstairs bathroom now that it is starting to get clogged up.

Fun fun fun.

 

[larry_stewart]

When I visited my son last year in Montana, The hotel we had in Montana had a small kitchen. He hadn't had a home cooked meal in months, so I prepared 2 of his favorite dishes for him in Montana. I kinda brought home to him. It was also a break for us from eating PBJ, Subway, and whatever else we could eat on the go ( it was a road trip) .

 

[Kayelle]

I must have missed the why your new kitchen is taking up to nine weeks Bucky.

If it's not too painful, clue me in. I don't get it. Maybe your kitchen saga would be best on a new thread. I know everyone is interested.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

I must have missed the why your new kitchen is taking up to nine weeks Bucky.

If it's not too painful, clue me in. I don't get it. Maybe your kitchen saga would be best on a new thread. I know everyone is interested.

+1 BT

I'd love to be that fly on the wall so to speak, through a separate thread...

We did a re-do of the kitchen in our SoAZ house and it only took a week or 2 maybe... but then we didn't have a total gut job either.
Ours was countertops, backsplash, sink, faucet, range and under cabinet lights... you've got to over this already

 

[buckytom]

Oh, I'm sorry to be so mysterious. No biggie. We had a leak, some mold, and now are redoing the kitchen under the auspices of our insurance. We have to get bids on each thing while making sure the insurance will cover it. My wife is teaching contractors what it means to be in business. Many of them show up at our house expecting to talk to the man of the house.

Then she rips them a new one.


I'm not sure if I'm supposed to talk about it anymore. Here.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Larry, we do Road Trips anywhere from 2-4 times a year,
not including a month in Hawaii some years.
We enjoy eating at restaurants to a point.
What makes it better when traveling is having at least a `fridge and micro in our hotel room,
I can work with that to make meals that we like.

But then I also take along with us:

a good sharp (cheap) knife
a flexible cutting board
long-handled togs (in case there's a grill at the hotel)

S&P

granulated garlic in a shaker bottle
paper plates and bowls/plastic forks & spoons
zip-top baggies in assorted sizes
coolers
a small bottle of dish soap

coffee makings, along with mugs (we don't really care for the paper cups they offer in hotels),
we like a coupla cups of joe in the late afternoon to wind the day down,
this makes it much easier, comfortable and convenient in the hotel rooms.

I keep all of this in a plastic milk crate in the back of the CRV, handy, yeah.

I like that we can stop into farmers markets, supermarkets, specialty shops, whatever and make a meal that we want to eat.

So long story short, no, I don't really miss cooking/home-cooked meal... they may not be as elaborate as I'd do in my own kitchen, but sometimes its WAY better than an over priced-salty as all get out-not really what I want to eat-I'm too tired, its been a long day-don't feel like sitting and waiting to eat-restaurant.

 

[caseydog]

Btw, if you're in the city tomorrow night, stop by CBS. You can watch the Super Bowl from the studios, and there'll be catering everywhere.

Can I eat for free, and not have to watch the game?

CD

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Oh, I'm sorry to be so mysterious. No biggie. We had a leak, some mold, and now are redoing the kitchen under the auspices of our insurance. We have to get bids on each thing while making sure the insurance will cover it. My wife is teaching contractors what it means to be in business. Many of them show up at our house expecting to talk to the man of the house.

Then she rips them a new one.


I'm not sure if I'm supposed to talk about it anymore. Here.

That's ME!!!

DH is our company's (household) CFO/Chief Financial Officer,
while I am the COO/Chief Operations Officer... you gotta go through me first! And I don't take no guff, let me tell you boy!!

 

[larry_stewart]

Larry
What makes it better when traveling is having at least a `fridge and micro in our hotel room,
I can work with that to make meals that we like.

paper plates and bowls/plastic forks & spoons
zip-top baggies in assorted sizes
coolers

I like that we can stop into farmers markets, supermarkets, specialty shops, whatever and make a meal that we want to eat.

We're in the same boat on the above. When its a long road trip ( more than just a long weekend, Ill try to get a room with the fridge and microwave. The only time I went for the mini kitchen specifically , was when I was in Montana, as I knew id be cooking a full blown meal. As mentioned in other threads, I love the local farmers markets, and also the different grocery stores ( especially when traveling through significantly different regions). I like seeing the different brands, and different products offered in different areas of the states.

Many times when traveling ( for me), its not only just eating out every night, but also the boredom of what we can eat while driving. After a few days, we either have to get really creative, or we get really bored. We always know what we're getting ourselves into, so it comes at no surprise, but 2 weeks away from home, and home cooking can take its toll.

My wife thinks Im crazy when we get home from such a long trip, and I go right to the kitchen to whip something up. Also, often while away, I keep note of the different things we may have eaten. I always come back with several new dishes I want to try and recreate before I forget the specifics. When I eat at a restaurant and try a new dish, or just had something that tastes really good, I kinda jot down the basics ( ingredients, and how I would go about making it). in my phone, and then come home and do the best I can to duplicate it. Sometimes Im right on, sometimes im close, and sometimes it just aint right .

 

[Vinylhanger]

Oh, I'm sorry to be so mysterious. No biggie. We had a leak, some mold, and now are redoing the kitchen under the auspices of our insurance. We have to get bids on each thing while making sure the insurance will cover it. My wife is teaching contractors what it means to be in business. Many of them show up at our house expecting to talk to the man of the house.

Then she rips them a new one.


I'm not sure if I'm supposed to talk about it anymore. Here.

I'd say 80 percent of the time it is the wife I deal with on remodels or repairs. There are some jobs where I dont even see the husband more than once or twice.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

I'd say 80 percent of the time it is the wife I deal with on remodels or repairs. There are some jobs where I dont even see the husband more than once or twice.

And here DH thought he was the odd man out, not dealing with this sort of business and leaving it to me!