Article about needlework etc

I liked the subjects ;-) My guess is that the artworld likes them too.

Subject was ok - it was the execution...

I have to agree with Lucille here - there are some things that it *is* cheaper to buy - spaghetti sauce is a very good example. And, as she points out, there isn't enough time to do it all - homemade potato salad is a real treat in my house - I don't often have the time to peel and boil potatos, then wait for them to cool, chop the onion, pickle, etc. Even (conservatively) estimating the value of my time at minimum wage, we're talking $10 of my time to make it. Versus 2 cents of my time to pick it up when I'm at the store anyway.

I do actually cook sometimes, but far too often, just don't have the time.

Linda

When my kids were little, for a while Mark stayed home with them. There was NO ONE in the neighborhood for them to play with - everyone else was either in daycare or at activities. . .

linda

I just asked someone I know in the industry to buy some Aunt Bessies roast spuds when he is next in the UK and then get his company to duplicate them. At least in the UK you have some very nice convenience foods.

I am glad someone else has noticed - I recently drove through a suburban area at a time when formerly one would have seen lots of kids out playing and lots of family dogs running loose. Not a one!

I don't like myself much for noticing it but it is clear that most of these carts are pushed by people on welfare! They aren't working and could take all day, every day, to make potato salad non-stop.

Well I'm firmly on the side of cooking and baking from scratch - but I really enjoy it and consider myself a "foodie". Yes there are times I don't and I have a few staples such as canned soups or corn or jars of pasta sauce in the cupboard. I work full-time (and more with my job lately) and it takes some time but it's worth it to me. I try to make double quantities of things when I can and freeze one batch for later - very helpful on a busy night. Let's not even discuss baking - my fave - homemade cookies, breads, biscuits, scones - always available in my house :)

I can buy pasta, some veggies and a bit of sausage and have enough for several meals instead of paying double for something that's full of salt and other things and don't taste as good. Not to sound like a snob but I don't really like the taste of a lot of "pre-made" stuff - it seems very artificial to my tastebuds. I do have some snack stuff like crackers for my kids after school but we are not a big soda, chips, frozen pizza kind of house. I'm lucky to have the room for a nice sized veggie garden too so come summer I use even better ingredients!

Not everyone likes or has time to cook and that's fine - but there are simple quick healthy meals that take the same or less time to prepare as all the pre-packaged expensive glop. My sister takes some time every weekend to prep ingredients - like chopping up carrots, onions, etc. and stores them in the fridge so they're ready to go when she's trying to get dinner going on a weeknight after work and that system is great for her.

Anyway - rant done - Bon Appetit!!

MelissaD

Yep - The dog is leashed - leash laws abound. Or is behind an invisible fence.

The kids are in front of the TV or other screen.

In the bookstores, there are at least two books on "how to cook for a day and eat for a month". I bought two of them to send to ds when he and his wife were both working - before kids, that is.

The basic idea is that you spend a Saturday cooking all day; chicken, beef etc. etc. in various ways then freeze it all in specific size portions in freezer bags to save room. Then, on weeknights, you stop off for fresh veggies a couple of times a week, and assemble healthy, tasty meals from your own pre-prepared meats plus nice fresh fruits and veg.

Myself, I am more likely to spend a day cooking just two or three meals

- at least four servings of each, and putting goodly amounts in my chest freezer.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

But - as Cheryl can attest - weekends with kids means no time to cook. How often have you seen me or Cheryl posting about spending our weekend sitting on bleachers someplace? I leave on Friday, get home late Sunday. So there's no time even then to prep etc.

When I *am* home, we do it - grill a bunch of stuff, precook, marinate (then the kids can throw it on the George Foreman), chop, make mashed potatoes, etc. It's just not always possible.

Even when I was growing up (okay, that WAS 30 years ago now), there was a lot less competition for parents' time - kids didn't participate in as many club sports that took up every weekend.

linda

I used to cook a lot for my family, but not very much for myself. For one person, making things from scratch might taste better and I'll even give you the fact that it takes about the same amount of time, but tell me? Do you happen to have a self cleaning kitchen.

Do all those mixing utensils, pots and pans and chopping boards clean themselves? If they do, please let me in on your secret.

I understand cooking and I did my share of it over the years. I don't enjoy cooking for one, but I do it on occasion. Would you be willing to rent some freezer space. I have a very limited amount of space in my very small, very inadequate side by side and zero space for a chest freezer.

Big news is, nothing much has changed ! In addition to both of us working, having three kids, David set up and ran the first youth soccer league here, referreed, did the lot. He started with a team and ended up the next summer with a league of ten teams. We had soccer up the ying yang because inevitably I was involved by extension.

The only time we had any 'fast' food was Thursday nights when we went for groceries, on the way home we usually picked up some KFC, but not always.

Plus remember - pay cheques were pay cheques, no auto deposits no ATMs, no Sunday shopping (here anyway) it took a lot of juggling and effort, but we did it.

Sounds like my mum too--well, the cooking part. She was quite prepared to allow me the unskilled labour of washing dishes, putting clothes through the wringer, and scrubbing the floor!! Otherwise she wanted no one underfoot. Hers was an interesting mix of the Scots frugality she grew up with on a farm (I liked the oxtail and managed the beef liver--but not the stuffed beef heart--gag) and 50s canned soup cooking.

I think cooks have always looked for ways, at least on some days, to make things quick and convenient. I imagine canned soup, pudding mix and custard powder, canned salmon and jello were all gratefully received by busy mothers when they hit the shelves, no matter how some might turn our noses up at them now.

I sometimes thing nostalgically of my grannie's woodstove though. After it was lighted in the morning, it was on all day, and so she always had something going on, whether it was bread rising in a drawer, frying leftovers and potatoes for the dogs, or just the perennial coffee tar-ifying itself on the back burner. No gadgets to hunt out. She would make a batch of her very thin Swedish pancakes (pretty much like crepes, only never so regular in shape) at the least hint of a hungry grandchild. However, I would not want to have the cleaning of that thing on a regular basis. I did put in my share of mornings when I visited splitting wood and lighting the stove though.

Dawne

Some people on welfare live in circumstances that make cooking really difficult. They might not have a working oven; sometimes they are cooking on hotplates. Microwaves are pretty cheap compared to electric ranges. One of the great things our foodbank does is offer kitchen facilities, so people can actually cook with proper working stoves and good pots and utensils. They also have the help of the local Home Economists organization, as some people, especially if they are from several generations of welfare, had no one who had skills to pass to them. Many are glad to learn how to take the assortment of vegetables they might get and turn it into a good soup that will last several days.

Dawne

Chortle. Sure, I could probably rent you about one cubic foot - no more. But, it's a long way to come to collect it!!! Have you checked into small size freezers? I have seen some tiny ones advertised for apartment dwellers, dorm rooms etc. Alternatively, when I lived in Florida, a number of people kept their (locked) freezers in the carport

- right next to the washer and dryer.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

Occasionally it's not just time/expense, but boredom! We have our stock recipes, and some days I just don't feel like the same-old, same-old and don't have time/energy/imagination to go buy that one special ingredient to do something different. DH and I work from home, and usually eat both lunch and dinner at home, but sometimes it's "what-the-heck, let's get out of the house for a change of scenery" time.

Sue

We have a programme too (for those who will take it) to basically teach them how to cook good, nutritious meals made much more cheaply. They are not exactly lining up to take the course though, it's depressing.

I know it is not pc but some of these are second and third generation welfare cases; they have grown up with role models who displayed no work ethics and no basic housekeeping skills. It's not realistic to think they will develop those skills from thin air.

I am not condemning, just stating and totally at a loss to know how to remedy it.