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Help! I've lost my cooking mojo and I want it back!


ElsieD

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42 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@heidih 

 

I understand this completely :

 

consider torching the Dogs after the Micro w a ' torch '

 

dont use your GrandMa's chine for this 

 

keep the torch not as close as you thing

 

if you like toasted generic buns , fine

 

I like mired ( steam'd ) buns , and the micro does this fine

 

the rest you put on this deliciousness  

 

is up to you

 

but simple stuff  ' Before '  is so much more tasty now.

 

 

Almost daily for a few months I put a bamboo skewer down the length of a hotdog, spiral slice it and char over the gas flame.

Very nice.

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1 minute ago, rotuts said:

 

[ed.:  probably not the Dog  nor the Cheese . Kraft Slices ?]

 

 

I get the "willies" every time I see cold grated generic "cheese" on a taco or salad here - BUT - many would cringe at some of my stuff. 

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4 minutes ago, gfweb said:

 

 

Almost daily for a few months I put a bamboo skewer down the length of a hotdog, spiral slice it and char over the gas flame.

Very nice.

 

I had a room mate that practically kissed my feet when I showed her that one could in fact put food directly on the gas grills like eggplant and tortillas.nAhe adopted your dog method as well. 

Edited by heidih (log)
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9 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

You mean wearing shoes?

 

 

 No, naked cooking! LOL :laugh:

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~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

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Timely post yesterday on Epicurious: https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/how-to-battle-kitchen-burnout-cooking-exhaustion-article

One of the times when I just couldn't face deciding what to cook, I grabbed a stack of printed out recipes and asked my husband to pick 3 things he wanted to try. Probably once a week my fallback dinner is to defrost some grilled chicken breasts, chop them up, and put them on a salad. Can use up odd bits of veg, too. The variation is in the dressing, I throw together whatever tastes good. No great creativity, just basic food and healthy.

Its the forced nature of the task, rather than the task itself, that I think is driving a lot of us crazy. Not to mention the never ending cycle of dish washing that it spawns. The lack of spontaneity...meals have to be planned out because you are buying your weeks groceries and that's what you have to work with. Is it any wonder many don't feel "inspired"?

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"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast" - Oscar Wilde

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13 hours ago, CeeCee said:

I can totally relate, although it's not due to the pandemic. Except for the negative impact on roaming freely for travel and shopping, it actually helped us with more time and energy on our hands.

We had some stuff going on, so I lost track of this forum for a few years and I didn't cook so elaborately as I used to do. Getting back here has been inspiring, but I don't recommend you all stay away for such a while. It would be very quiet and less informed here!😋

 

What is it that holds you back?

It can differ greatly if you just need a break from cooking, a new routine or new inspiration.

 

 

 

I don't know.  That's what I am trying to figure out.

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2 hours ago, BeeZee said:

Timely post yesterday on Epicurious: https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/how-to-battle-kitchen-burnout-cooking-exhaustion-article

One of the times when I just couldn't face deciding what to cook, I grabbed a stack of printed out recipes and asked my husband to pick 3 things he wanted to try. Probably once a week my fallback dinner is to defrost some grilled chicken breasts, chop them up, and put them on a salad. Can use up odd bits of veg, too. The variation is in the dressing, I throw together whatever tastes good. No great creativity, just basic food and healthy.

Its the forced nature of the task, rather than the task itself, that I think is driving a lot of us crazy. Not to mention the never ending cycle of dish washing that it spawns. The lack of spontaneity...meals have to be planned out because you are buying your weeks groceries and that's what you have to work with. Is it any wonder many don't feel "inspired"?

 

@BeeZee  Thank you so much for the link to that newsletter.  It describes how I feel better than I ever could.  Lots of good advice on there. Thanks to all of you who have chimed in so far.  I'm going to think about the advice offered and try out some of the suggestions.  Also, it sure helps to know I'm not alone.

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14 hours ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

 

 No, naked cooking! LOL :laugh:

 

That's something I'm not doing ever again. I don't eat pork myself, but once fried up some nice pancetta for my lover at the time. Naked except for wearing sky high stiletto heels.  He deemed me not romantic enough. 

 

I have trouble standing up as well at times. Bought an ironing chair and it now lives in my kitchen full time.

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Also, for people who are cooking for just themselves. Have you thought about food swapping? I trade my asian food for some homemade meatballs with my mom. It's one of the few dishes she still makes from scratch and I generally don't make that. She enjoys asian food, but her roommate doesn't (except for Dutch style Indonesian and Chinese) and when she cooks it for herself she will get complaints about the smell.

 

I cook in bigger batches and stick some portions in my freezer. Then I forget all about it and get surprised when rummaging through my stash😂

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1 hour ago, CeeCee said:

 

That's something I'm not doing ever again. I don't eat pork myself, but once fried up some nice pancetta for my lover at the time. Naked except for wearing sky high stiletto heels.  He deemed me not romantic enough. 

 

Try chicken wings next time.

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5 hours ago, CeeCee said:

 

That's something I'm not doing ever again. I don't eat pork myself, but once fried up some nice pancetta for my lover at the time. Naked except for wearing sky high stiletto heels.  He deemed me not romantic enough. 

 

I have trouble standing up as well at times. Bought an ironing chair and it now lives in my kitchen full time.

 

4 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

Try chicken wings next time.

 

3 hours ago, CeeCee said:

What next time?😂 

 

You GO, girl!

 

If I wore sky-high stiletto heels to cook, no matter if I were wearing them with a snowsuit, I'd damn well expect appreciation for it. 

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10 minutes ago, kayb said:

You GO, girl!

 

If I wore sky-high stiletto heels to cook, no matter if I were wearing them with a snowsuit, I'd damn well expect appreciation for it. 

 

I might have to give it a try...talk about doing the unexpected!

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Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

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Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

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1 minute ago, weinoo said:

 

I might have to give it a try...talk about doing the unexpected!

 

With the popularity of RuPaul's Drag Race, it might not be as unexpected as it used to. 😋 It should definitely be easier and safer to get a nice pair of stilleto's suitable for men though. Promise you make us a little film of your first walk?😁

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1 minute ago, CeeCee said:

 

With the popularity of RuPaul's Drag Race, it might not be as unexpected as it used to. 😋 It should definitely be easier and safer to get a nice pair of stilleto's suitable for men though. Promise you make us a little film of your first walk?😁

 

With all the friends (and relatives) I have in Provincetown...

 

Evidently, when I was a young lad (at least so I was told), we lived in a 2-family house - with nana and grandpa in the lower level, and us upstairs.  Seems like I enjoyed dressing in some of nana's clothes. Don't tell anybody.

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Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

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1 minute ago, weinoo said:

 

With all the friends (and relatives) I have in Provincetown...

 

Evidently, when I was a young lad (at least so I was told), we lived in a 2-family house - with nana and grandpa in the lower level, and us upstairs.  Seems like I enjoyed dressing in some of nana's clothes. Don't tell anybody.

 

Why not? Don't you want to hop on that bodypositivty train and post some of those pics? You should be showing off to the world just how modern you were back then!

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My ex had large feet by female standards ("a perfect 10!") and struggled to find pretty, "glam" shoes in her size until a gay friend told her which shops the local drag queens patronized. Problem solved...

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“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

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3 minutes ago, chromedome said:

My ex had large feet by female standards ("a perfect 10!") and struggled to find pretty, "glam" shoes in her size until a gay friend told her which shops the local drag queens patronized. Problem solved...

 

I've had this size since I was 12ish, but we tend to be bit taller in the lowlands so I never had to go to a drag queen shop. You have a choice until at least size 12 I think, although the selection will be smaller when you go past size 10/10,5 generally.

 

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2 minutes ago, CeeCee said:

 

I've had this size since I was 12ish, but we tend to be bit taller in the lowlands so I never had to go to a drag queen shop. You have a choice until at least size 12 I think, although the selection will be smaller when you go past size 10/10,5 generally.

 

My current GF has the opposite problem, with feet at size 4 1/2. She often has to go to the girls' section to get something pretty, and then they wear out quickly because they were never meant to support an adult's weight.

“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

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1 minute ago, chromedome said:

My current GF has the opposite problem, with feet at size 4 1/2. She often has to go to the girls' section to get something pretty, and then they wear out quickly because they were never meant to support an adult's weight.

 

That's a pity when you finally get to find something nice and it degenerates so quickly. 😩

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