So it finally occurred to me that I really don't like Facebook

[KDJ]

Hello from beautiful Virginia. I'm Karen - formerly of Boston - and no, we all don't say Pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd. Just sayin.

I'm a mom of 3 grown kids - and, sigh, our youngest passed 3 years ago, so this time of year is pretty rough - and married for 25 years and counting - and lover of critters - we've got 3 here with us -- and year round members of our local zoo -- and honestly I'm just trying to sum up here, I'm 50 and there's lots of stuff -- and a trained CIA chef, but haven't cooked professionally in years, because that was in the 80's and kitchens (strangely enough) were a man's domain and it was rough, really rough, getting a shot... so I went back to school and got a couple of degrees and I work for a big-ass computer company and I traveled all over the globe until just recently - and suddenly I'm working from a home office and traveling just once in a while, and all of a sudden I get to cook again - I mean *really* cook because I don't have little kids at home anymore (but that sweet little thing eating my vanilla biscuit in my profile pic is my new grandbaby), and I can experiment and do what I want... and I'm loving it. I can, I bake, I cook, I don't do much cake decorating anymore cuz my hands just can't handle it like they could a few years ago... and since I traveled to Istanbul in 2012 I have discovered a lasting love for Mediterranean cuisine. Still striving for falafel perfection....

And what else? I have started dabbling in making my own cheese- experimented with Feta right before the holidays and it came out pretty darn good... then I got cocky and made a quadruple batch and screwed the whole thing up. sigh. Go figure. And I can't stand fish. I don't mind cooking it, but you can't make me eat it. I think it has something to do with Uncle Joey's annual 4th of July bash on Boston Harbor.... he lived right on the harbor and the smell, oh the smell. Combine *that* with the smell of steamers and lobstah - and there you have it. It's probably when I developed my mantra "Nothing from the sea." Period.

I'm 50% Sicilian with a garlic allergy. Developed the allergy when I started traveling, believe it or not... and every time I ingest garlic, the reaction gets worse -- so I can't abide restaurants and cooks who can't seem to figure out that there's a whole world of herbs and spices out there, and because it's such a strong flavor, I think poor cooks use it so they don't have to learn how to flavor food. Is that too big a stretch? Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong with that.

Actually feel free to correct me on anything I get wrong. I'm Sicilian - we love to voice our opinion... the other half is French Canadian, which means I can be wrong too and won't take offense when it's pointed out to me!

That's all I got. My husband's been bugging me for a couple of years to join a forum... so here I am.

 

[GotGarlic]

Hi, Karen. Welcome to Discuss Cooking. I'm also in beautiful Virginia and fell in love with eastern Mediterranean food in Turkey It's such a wonderful country - eating the food and seeing the textiles, ceramics and architecture are great memories.

We're glad you're here.

 

[creative]

Welcome KDJ to this cookery forum!

I enjoyed reading your warm/friendly introduction to yourself. You sound lovely and I feel sure you will find much here to interact with e.g. to share and learn and, hey, even have some fun along the way!

 

[Dawgluver]

Welcome to DC! That's quite a resumé you've got there!

 

[cinisajoy]

Hi Karen.
One of my uncles couldn't eat garlic either.
Side note, I have noticed most poor (as in lousy not money-wise) cooks don't even own garlic or onion for that matter.
Welcome to DC.
Though your last line left me a bit confused. Why did your husband want you to find a forum?
As to your thread title, Facebook has its uses. I look at mine maybe once a week.

 

[Andy M.]

Welcome to DC. How could you ever leave Boston???!!!!

 

[KDJ]

Hi Karen.
One of my uncles couldn't eat garlic either.
Side note, I have noticed most poor (as in lousy not money-wise) cooks don't even own garlic or onion for that matter.
Welcome to DC.
Though your last line left me a bit confused. Why did your husband want you to find a forum?
As to your thread title, Facebook has its uses. I look at mine maybe once a week.

Hi Cin --

I'll trade my lousy cooks for yours.

Why did he want me to join a forum? Simply to be able to talk with people who share the same interest. I failed to mention in the original (and couldn't find an edit button to fix it), that I don't like Facebook because 1. I hate memes 2. I hate the court of social networking and 3. I can't stand all those ridiculous pinterest-type recipes that get shared a million times over... case in point, I think I have seen no less than a dozen friends post that they are making those stupid crescent roll apple roses for Thanksgiving. Kill me now. Or the rainbow cake. Or the gag-worthy turkey/stuffing/mashed postato egg rolls. I think Facebook is the perfect place to post pics of my grandbaby so my family back home can see, but I can't find it a worthy venue to discuss cooking.

And Andy...where are you in MA? Dad grew up in the North End, I have relatives all over Boston from Medford to Hyde Park. I grew up in Brockton, the husband in Easton, and we raised our kids in the Berkshires (where I was also the Director of Sales & Catering at a gorgeous resort). Why did we move? I drove off the mountain one year and that was it for me and Winter.

 

[KDJ]

Hello Garlic -

Where are you in Virginia? I refer to myself as a perpetual tourist because for the last 12 years I have driven up and down Rte 360 from my house to the airport and back. That's it. Now I occasionally drive up 95 to our corporate office in Columbia, MD, but even then I'll fly if I can. It's quicker - even with the layover. The train is a nice option to get from here to Maryland - but the delays are enough to drive a man to drink. lol.

Where did you go in Turkey? Steve (the husband) studies Byzantine history, thus we were in Istanbul, and Sultanahmet specifically. The only problem was we went just a few months after losing Oliver, so we lasted only 5 days before throwing in the towel and coming home. Still, the change of scenery was good, and we developed a love for the area and the cuisine. We're going back in April. Can't wait.

 

[Katie H]

Welcome to DC, Karen, Glad you chose our site. You'll find it's filled with all manner of foodie folks. I've been here a long time and have no plans to go anywhere else to discuss all things food...along with assorted other interests.

Columbia, MD? I'm very, very familiar with that area after having lived just south of it just down Route 29. Been gone from there for over 20 years so I imagine it is barely recognizable now. Nothin' like progress!

Jump in with us and have a good time.

As for Facebook, it's a tool I use to keep up with my children who are all over the map.

 

[cinisajoy]

I seem to have missed the crescent rolls on Facebook.
Like you, I find most memes stupid.
I tend to give my granddaughter life lessons on Facebook. She is 13.
I do agree it is hard to talk cooking over there. Now I do tend to look there for books. But except for family, most of my facebook is either authors or crafters.
I hung out at a book forum for a while.
Found this one when my husband brought me home a kitchenaid stand mixer.

 

[KDJ]

I seem to have missed the crescent rolls on Facebook.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gos1JWIPHrQ/VRNcVmEmy1I/AAAAAAAAGYs/sTRV2iUQm6I/s1600/2015-03-13+140+p.jpg

 

[cinisajoy]

Why would anyone torment a crescent roll like that?

 

[creative]

KDJ - you say you have a love of Mediterranean cuisine. That's interesting! Although I live in UK my mother is Italian so I am very familiar with Italian cooking. I have childhood memories of her making pasta by not even using a bowl but piling up the flour directly on the formica table and working the eggs into the centre of that....then hanging the long noodles over the backs of chairs.

You will find some great recipes here - I hope you enjoy trying them out!

 

[creative]

Why would anyone torment a crescent roll like that?

Well, I will confess to making tomato roses for entertaining occasions...I rather like doing so (quite easy). Maybe it's not quite the same thing though.

 

[KDJ]

Creative, did you make that? That's art, it's not the same thing! It's beautiful! I admit that newbies who post a gazillion times annoy me, so I'm sorry for doing the same - except I'd feel really rude if I didn't.

Creative, I am embarrassed to admit that I've never made my own pasta. Without getting too long-winded about it (I've actually given this quite a bit of thought over the past few years), I think it's because my French Canadian mother was a terrible (I mean really really horrible) cook, and we ate pasta a minimum of 6 times a week when I was young. Nothing was seasoned... usually just plain, undercooked Prince Spaghetti (Anthony!) with lukewarm Ragu straight out of the jar. I can't eat pasta. BUT, all the women on my dad's side were amazing cooks, and that's what led me to CIA. So there. Something good...

 

[creative]

Creative, did you make that? That's art, it's not the same thing! It's beautiful! I admit that newbies who post a gazillion times annoy me, so I'm sorry for doing the same - except I'd feel really rude if I didn't.

Creative, I am embarrassed to admit that I've never made my own pasta. Without getting too long-winded about it (I've actually given this quite a bit of thought over the past few years), I think it's because my French Canadian mother was a terrible (I mean really really horrible) cook, and we ate pasta a minimum of 6 times a week when I was young. Nothing was seasoned... usually just plain, undercooked Prince Spaghetti (Anthony!) with lukewarm Ragu straight out of the jar. I can't eat pasta. BUT, all the women on my dad's side were amazing cooks, and that's what led me to CIA. So there. Something good...

I just googled a tomato rose image but they are very easy to make i.e. will look like that! Here is a link - over several pages but easy peasy

How to Make a Tomato Rose

Well I confess I have never made fresh pasta either or own a pasta making machine! You can buy good quality fresh pasta quite easily these days. Sad that you got put off it by your early experiences....which must mean you have never tried a good lasagna then? Missing out kid!

Oh, incidentally, re. being able to edit a post. I think we are allowed about 30 mins after a post is sent; after that the edit button disappears.

 

[salt and pepper]

Welcome KDJ, I like playing with food as you will see in my pic's & posts so come on in and enjoy. Oh, by the way I never made apple rose's!

 

[GotGarlic]

Hello Garlic -

Where are you in Virginia? I refer to myself as a perpetual tourist because for the last 12 years I have driven up and down Rte 360 from my house to the airport and back. That's it. Now I occasionally drive up 95 to our corporate office in Columbia, MD, but even then I'll fly if I can. It's quicker - even with the layover. The train is a nice option to get from here to Maryland - but the delays are enough to drive a man to drink. lol.

Where did you go in Turkey? Steve (the husband) studies Byzantine history, thus we were in Istanbul, and Sultanahmet specifically. The only problem was we went just a few months after losing Oliver, so we lasted only 5 days before throwing in the towel and coming home. Still, the change of scenery was good, and we developed a love for the area and the cuisine. We're going back in April. Can't wait.

I'm in the southeast corner, near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. I've been here 30 years now

Re: Turkey, I went on a 10-day vacation with my mom, aunt and uncle and some friends of theirs. We spent a couple days in Istanbul - we had a private guided tour of the city for our group - then flew to Izmir on the Mediterranean coast. If I remember right, our hotel in Istanbul was right across the street from the back of the Hagia Sophia mosque. It had previously been a house along the palace wall.

From Izmir, we drove to Kusadasi and visited Ephesus, an ancient Roman ruin. That was spectacular! We also visited a ceramic factory and a museum.

Then a van took us to Marmaris, where we rented a sailboat that came with a Turkish captain and we sailed along the coast for several days. We bought provisions at a local grocery store, so we had breakfast and lunch on the boat and dinner in a different town where we stayed in a marina each night.

It was a great trip. I didn't know all the details before we went - my mom and aunt arranged everything. I hope you have a good time when you go back.

 

[cinisajoy]

I cannot eat macaroni and cheese by itself but it is nice as a side dish.
That tomato rose is gorgeous.
No worries about the newbie posts. You are doing good and responding.

 

[Andy M.]

We're in a northern suburb near Lowell and the NH border.