Ever feel like a snob...

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

VB; I am a better cook than most of my freinds. As stated earlier, that's jsut an observation born of experience. I also stated that I don't hold others to the same cooking standards that I hold myself to. I don't complain about their cooking and am truly thanksful to eat whatever is put before me, be it a humble potted-meat sandwich, or a perfectly prepared pasta dinner. The only time I'm critical of food is when I go to a restaurant and pay for it. My response is still courteous as the wait staff isn't responsible for bad food. I just don't go there again if I don't like the food.

I have eaten burnt rabbit, overcooked on a spit over an open fire when camping with freinds and we all still had a heck of a time. On the other hand, there was an individual that messed with my cooking fire as I was roasting chikens for a group of young men. His meddling left us with chicken burnt on the outside and raw in the middle. I did command him to stay away from my fire.

There is a time to be critical, and a time to be gracious. To know that I can cook better than another doesn't mean that I am a snob. It just means that I know I have a further knowledge of a prticular skill. It's the same as knowing that I can maintain and operate telephone systems, or given the right tools, troubleshoot electronic circuits to the componant level. It doesn't make me a snob to be able to do these things. It just makes me well trained and experienced.

Cooking is a skill based upon knowledge and experience, like any other. We all ahve apptitudes for certain skills, while lacking aptitudes in others. Cooking came easily for me, while math had to be worked at ferociously. It's the way my brain was built. I wish I could paint or sculpt or builld as well as I can cook. I wish I was a genius at piano, or organ, or guitar. But I'm not.

To appreciate your skills is to be able to improve them. To understand that we all have strengths, weaknesses and varying degrees of both is to be humble, teachable. I am a very accomplished cook. But there are those on this site who put my skills to shame.

And as said, just knowing that ones skill is greater than another's, is not in itself snobbery. How that knowledge is used determines whether or not one is a snob.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[VeraBlue]

VB; I am a better cook than most of my freinds. As stated earlier, that's jsut an observation born of experience. I also stated that I don't hold others to the same cooking standards that I hold myself to. I don't complain about their cooking and am truly thanksful to eat whatever is put before me, be it a humble potted-meat sandwich, or a perfectly prepared pasta dinner. The only time I'm critical of food is when I go to a restaurant and pay for it. My response is still courteous as the wait staff isn't responsible for bad food. I just don't go there again if I don't like the food.

I have eaten burnt rabbit, overcooked on a spit over an open fire when camping with freinds and we all still had a heck of a time. On the other hand, there was an individual that messed with my cooking fire as I was roasting chikens for a group of young men. His meddling left us with chicken burnt on the outside and raw in the middle. I did command him to stay away from my fire.

There is a time to be critical, and a time to be gracious. To know that I can cook better than another doesn't mean that I am a snob. It just means that I know I have a further knowledge of a prticular skill. It's the same as knowing that I can maintain and operate telephone systems, or given the right tools, troubleshoot electronic circuits to the componant level. It doesn't make me a snob to be able to do these things. It just makes me well trained and experienced.

Cooking is a skill based upon knowledge and experience, like any other. We all ahve apptitudes for certain skills, while lacking aptitudes in others. Cooking came easily for me, while math had to be worked at ferociously. It's the way my brain was built. I wish I could paint or sculpt or builld as well as I can cook. I wish I was a genius at piano, or organ, or guitar. But I'm not.

To appreciate your skills is to be able to improve them. To understand that we all have strengths, weaknesses and varying degrees of both is to be humble, teachable. I am a very accomplished cook. But there are those on this site who put my skills to shame.

And as said, just knowing that ones skill is greater than another's, is not in itself snobbery. How that knowledge is used determines whether or not one is a snob.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

Not disagreeing with you at all, my friend. My point was that I could never criticize my friends, even in jest, about something they may have prepared for me.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Not disagreeing with you at all, my friend. My point was that I could never criticize my friends, even in jest, about something they may have prepared for me.

I'll agree with that. Well, maybe I'd complain if they put boiled earthworms in front of me. I mean, we have to have standards.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[jpmcgrew]

I make a pretty good carne Asada, and good chili, both green and red. Beans, Tostadas, Burritos, and Enchiladas are also things I make. But I have never had teh opportunity to try Sopaipillas, Posole, or Carne Advovada. Care to share? And even with the things I can make, I'm eager to learn new recipes for the same. Maybe we can do a recipe swap. I can make almost anything I set my mind to. from pastries, pies, cakes, and deserts of all kinds, to tempura chicken balls, to Phillipino Lumpia. Let me know what you want to learn.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

I would be happy to share but I don't have any real written recipes except for the sopaipillas. So I guess you will need to fly out as well. Maybe I should write down what I do and get the measurements then test out recipe. Sure would make things alot easier.

 

[Constance]

Most of the time no one would know the difference unless they saw you open the boxes or jars. I add stuff to everything so it never tastes like it's boxed.

So true. I love to cook, but I have reached a point in my life where I have only so much strength, and if I can take a short cut without sacrificing taste, I will do it.

My friends don't seem to mind. In fact, they brag on my cooking...as long as they don't see the box.

 

[PastaKing]

Gosh PK, you have opened up a can of worms for me.

Toss any of us into a wilderness and the two things we will try to find are shelter and food. Those are the fundamental issues of life.

Cooking, and eating meals together, as a family or group, was a custom until recently.

My sister and I were not taught to cook, we learned from watching Mom and Pop.

Now there is day care and places like that.

And Mom and Dad bring in take out.

How children today can learn the most basic of survival skills, i.e. cooking, I have no idea.

I hope I am over reacting.

No, I think you are right on. As for my family, we sit down each night and eat together. It never fails, when we sit down the phone rings, and it is always one of my daughters friends. I say it each night
"don't they sit down and eat dinner?".

In this world we live in now, we have more crime and teens getting into drugs and gangs then ever before. I really think that family time is the reason. We need to get back to the days of a parent at home whne the kids come home from school, family dinner, church on Sunday, and family night out. But how can they? The cost of living has gone up. This goverment has made it that way. Thsi si why I'm running for President...........ah.........wait a sec............

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I would be happy to share but I don't have any real written recipes except for the sopaipillas. So I guess you will need to fly out as well. Maybe I should write down what I do and get the measurements then test out recipe. Sure would make things alot easier.

That's what I had to do to make my cookbooks, quantify everything. It was quite a task. But, it can be done, and then you can share your recipes and techniques. And that's a very good thing.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[darlenemt08]

Just be happy you've been invited to your friends' place for a meal. Enjoy the visit. Then when they come to your house, show them a little bit about preparing food from scratch. Share a few tips about what you do with certain foods.

My sister & I do have boxed food and jars of sauces in our cupboards. Every once in awhile, a box of Hamburger Helper or Tuna Helper is faster & easier to fix. I don't make boxed foods too often but it's there when I need it. The Helper boxes aren't made for company, only when our mom & dad come. I like making cake mixes instead of making cakes from scratch. I've only got a one chocolate cake recipe that I make from scratch. Other than that, I haven't found a good cake recipe for other cakes for me to make yet. I use cake mixes in various recipes. I like making boxed cornbread but when I don't have it, I make it from scratch by using bacon grease in it. Refrigerated biscuits & crescent rolls are usually in our fridge, except they've rarely been bought since early Dec.

I've spent a lot of time in our kitchen since I quit my job last July. Since Dec., I've really spent so much time in there making all sorts of things. I now make bread which I hadn't done since the late 1980's or early 1990's. I now make wheat bread, wheat biscuits, and have found a recipe for wheat crescent rolls. With my sister working 12-hr. days 5 - 6 days each week, I try to make sure she's got plenty of food for 2 meals and, possibly some leftover for the day after. My casseroles are made from scratch. I've added my own stuff to boxed food and jar of sauces to give them my own touch. My soups are made from scratch. My puddings are made from a box but but my graham cracker & pastry shells are made from scratch. I don't have any homemade pudding recipes, except a butterscotch recipe.

I'm a great cook and my sister's friends envy her 'cause she's got her own personal cook. Many of them are good cooks but they don't have the time to cook due to their long work schedules.

When I was growing up, my mom was a stay-at-home mom. She did all of the cooking until my oldest sister was a teenager and learned how to cook. I only learned how to make cookies & cakes when I was a teenager. I chose not to take cooking classes during high school. In my senior year, I had a Home Ec study hall and it was then that I learned how to cook. I wrote up my schedule each week and I picked out the recipes that I wanted to make. One of my recipes used a pressure cooker. The teacher told me that I may as well learn to use one and not be afraid of it. She gave me the instruction book to read. It was one of the best things I learned from cooking that semester. My mom is deaf in one ear and wears a hearing aid in the other. She would never use a pressure cooker 'cause she couldn't hear the whistle too well. Also she was afraid to use one due to all of the stories about people getting hurt from them...people not using them right and they've exploded. Now many years later, I've got my own pressure cooker and I like using it. After my sister & I moved out of our mom & dad's house 21 yrs. ago, she did most of the cooking but taught me how to cook a little. I'd call our mom to ask how to cook certain things. Then I learned to cook for my various babysitting kids for 17 yrs. Thanks to my former cafe job, my cooking experience became better. My mom's a great cook but she doesn't experiment with things like I do. So, she likes to eat my cooking 'cause it's different than what she makes. My mom's mom was a excellent cook! My mom's sisters are also great cooks and I've learned from them along with my 2 older sisters. My dad's sisters & sil's can't/couldn't cook too well and the same with a few of his late aunts. There was never enough food at the family reunion on his side of the family...haven't had a family reunion since the early 1990's. My mom's family fills 3 long tables with great food every year. I've got aunts on both sides of the family who can't fry chicken too well and so, there's always under-cooked chicken. UGH! I'm not perfect at frying chicken pieces (legs & etc.) but since I've worked at the cafe, I've learned about using a thermometer and use that for cooking my meats, casseroles, & etc. My chicken, pork chops, & steaks are now cooked till the correct doneness.

I like sharing my cooking ideas & tips with our family & friends or, even strangers I meet somewhere, such as a grocery store. I like talking food talk with others. Sharing recipes is fun and every time I take a new food item to my mom's side family reunion, I have to take copies of my recipes to share.

I know of people who can't cook too well. I just eat what I like or can (have chocolate & tomato allergies but can eat a little sometimes). Depending on whom I'm visiting, I try to enjoy the visit or, count down to the time when I plan to leave. After I leave, then I talk to my sister or whomever about the food, whether good or bad. When my sister & I go somewhere, we usually take something with us. We usually ask what we can bring and are usually allowed to bring something. It's nice to know that there's at least one thing we would like to eat at the meal.

Darlene

 

[AMSeccia]

Auntdot, you might be overreacting (to use your words) just a wee bit. I agree that there's too much going out and take out food. But I choose to work and my girls were in day care. I also grew up in a restaurant and learned to cook out of necessity. I teach people to cook. My girls can cook. So it's not ALL bad. There are lots of people who love to cook out there, hence the popularity of the food network, fine living, and the like.

But everyday life has changed, and a mom's role has changed in some cases, some of us are still raising our family around the table.

PastaKing, great topic --- as for your question, I try hard not to seem a snob, but I do think that people who are uncomfortable in the kitchen are either uninterested, intimidated, or think I am one. I don't understand not enjoying cooking, so I just continue to encourage and inspire and hope that someone is listening. I know my kids are!

 

[Fisher's Mom]

I don't know if "food snob" is exactly the right word. It seems to me "passionate about food" might really describe it better. We all have things we are passionate about, and usually we develop some proficiency or expert knowledge about those things because we love them! Obviously, we can't all be passionate about everything - it would take away from our uniqueness.

As I said, I was truly a horrible cook. I didn't grow up in a home where food and cooking was a priority - it was more a daily chore. I had the same approach to food as an adult. I would enjoy eating a delicious meal but it just wasn't a big priority. Because I chose to be a mother, feeding people has been a big part of my daily life for many, many years. I viewed it as part of my job, but nothing I got really excited about. We always gathered at the table to eat, but it was definitely the company that everyone enjoyed. The food was really secondary because it wasn't well prepared.

I have always had friends who were good cooks but I never felt insecure about it. I have other skills and passions I excel at. I am always grateful for my cooking friends because I can all on them for help. (Another reason why I value all of you here at DC so much.) And in return, they can call on me for help with sewing, carpentry, computer problems or any of the other things I'm skilled at. For me, I never based my self-esteem on any one particular thing so I'm not upset about the things I'm not good at.

It's been a blast learning some basic cooking skills this last year and I really enjoy serving a yummy meal now. My cooking friends are delighted and encourage me, even though my food is never as good as theirs. Still, they love me and they know how far I've come!

Vera, I'd love to invite you to dinner. I know you are really a gourmet chef and before I read your post, I would have been intimidated about feeding someone with your talents. Your post put a smile on my face.

 

[buckytom]

i'm either really lucky that my friends and family are all decent cooks, or i just really like to experience the food that someone else has prepared for me, to taste things their way, because i can't recall more than 1 or 2 occasions that i thought the food sucked.

i can remember one time, at my sil's house in rural virginia, a special "treat" of her vesion of a southern breakfast was served. even though it was , i still enjoyed it in a way for the novelty and experience. and the biscuits saved the day.

my eyes must have been like dinnerplates as she poured a half bottle of corn oil into a skillet (a bottle lasts me a year), poached the eggs in it, then fried crumbled sausage in it, adding flour and milk to make a gravy. i mean, none of the fat was poured off. it was all just incorporated. the eggs were served floating in oil, and i was afraid i'd have a heart attack if i had too much gravy.

but her homemade biscuits were just out of this world. a little butter, and i was elbows deep in oily eggs.

so, all in all, it was a meal shared with family. that makes up for a lot.

(as long as there's good bread, too.)

 

[YT2095]

Happily the only meals I get invited to are by my mates, and I taught ALL of them how to cook!
(we were all single at one time and my place was the place to get the grub! (and Beer)).

Now we`re all Hitched and with kids each, I can be in their kitchen helping out and giving tips and ideas still with no offence taken, and I`v never once had a problem with their food Bar Once, when it came to BBQ! Frozen Middle black outside!
(soon corrected and explained, and never repeated).

oddly, it`s all the Lads that do the cooking most of the time now too, I`v never once been invited when their Wife has cooked summat?

Snob... naaah, we`re all the same now man

The Lads from the Black Country!

 

[B'sgirl]

This thread reminds me of a dinner I had awhile back. We invited one of DH's coworkers and his wife over for dinner. We had a turkey in the freezer that had been there awhile so we decided to have a Thanksgiving-type dinner. The whole time the wife was acting so amazed that I cooked all that. (Boxed stuffing, Rhodes rolls, it really wasn't a very "homemade" meal). I was just wondering what her idea of a home-cooked meal was, exactly. I can picture her putting a Stauffers lazagne in the oven and calling it home-cooked. I must say I was pretty amused by it all.

 

[expatgirl]

Some of my favorite pasttimes are cooking and sharing with friends. Even if I nearly slice off my fingers in the process. This weekend I showed a coworker's 15 year old daughter how to make American chocolate chip cookies. Nadzhda is from Russia and was just amazed and the whole purpose was to give her more experience in speaking English--sorry I can't just sit down and talk--I need something to do--so I did what I do best---everyone was so happy with the cookies and they brought Russian pancakes stuffed with so many wonderful things (mushrooms, vegetables, meat) We had so much fun and delighted in each other's company. I don't think I've had such a fun time in a long while. Nadezhda also brought her beautiful cat, "Josephine" whose original name was Joseph until the vet had to break the news to them.

 

[suziquzie]

I'm not sure itf you'd call it a snob, but I tend to show people I care for them thru spending time on a nice meal. Then if someone just slaps something together when we go over I take offense because in my head, I think they don't give a crap enough about me in return to spend any time making any effort.
I've come to realize tho that some people would rather spend the time talking and hanging out with you. I like to do both I guess!

 

[PastaKing]

I agree with all of you. You are all right. I really shouldn't look at it any other way then time with friends. They are cooking, and doing the best they can, because they care about me.

In my head though I will always be saying "I could have done this better".

 

[Little Italy]

In my college everyone at the dorms have a full blown kitchen in their rooms, but what i have come to find out is that people do not really use them. I learned to cook about 7 months ago and feel in love with it. I have always liked cooking when I did, and every time I do cook i invite as many people as possible over. Tonight i have to charge them 6 bucks, but being in college i cant keep buying food for 4+ people. I enjoy cooking and they do not or do not know how.

 

[mudbug]

my eyes must have been like dinnerplates as she poured a half bottle of corn oil into a skillet (a bottle lasts me a year), poached the eggs in it, then fried crumbled sausage in it, adding flour and milk to make a gravy. i mean, none of the fat was poured off. it was all just incorporated. the eggs were served floating in oil, and i was afraid i'd have a heart attack if i had too much gravy.

that's not the way we all cook here in Virginny, buckeroo. You need to have you a nice Smithfield ham biscuit. Just a little of the ham juice on the biscuit to help it go down..................

 

[Claire]

I'm firmly in the camp of those who believe that if it is made with love for me, I don't care if it is instant mashed potatoes.

 

[Barbara L]

I'm firmly in the camp of those who believe that if it is made with love for me, I don't care if it is instant mashed potatoes.

I agree wholeheartedly.

Barbara