I wish I had access to free fresh produce and real vanilla extract. That would be great!
No kidding! Those numbskulls! So I watched 'Julie & Julia' last night. All I can think of is making boeuf bourguignon. Where oh where is that drooling emoticon??
I've been reading the recipe over and over again. I'm thinking for maybe New Year's Dinner. Possibly Lobster Thermidor...market price will be determining factor! 
Mastering the Art of French Cooking-ah yes-taught me how to poach a delicious fish and roast a goose. French onion soup-the BEST!
For a few years I have had a subscription to Cuisine at Home magazine and the recipes are interesting and they have always turned out great. They really test them before publishing.
This year my students gave me a book of their family's favorite recipes. I was surprised that every recipe started with a box or can of something. Not one single "scratch" recipe. Our culture has really changed. My young friends were even amazed one evening when I whipped cream to top off the dessert I made. Like there was something magical about pour heavy cream in a bowl with sugar and vanilla!
I once had a roommate stare at me like I was insane when I started whipping cream for a pie I had made. She asked, "What are you DOING?!" When I told her, she said, "Really? You can do that?" She still likes Cool Whip better, though -- it's what she grew up on.
I scrolled through the comments so forgive me if someone else has said this, but the way cookbooks are written now could have alot to do with the fact that alot of the younger generations are not taught how to cook any more.
I'm lucky in the fact that my mom taught me youing and by 8th and 9th grade I could cook dinner for the whole family. Starting young with the basics has helped me because I can create my own things now with out having to have recipes. But my best friend and even my SIL weren't taught to cook like I was. Families eat out so much now or go with quick and easy packaged meals that the art of cooking is getting lost.
I'd rather see more simple cook books that get people cooking again, than some that aren't realistic food that people would actually make.
Nah, can't do that. There are some major Sandra Lee & R.R. fans here.
Ya have a thread here about how bad cook books have become.
How about a thread bashing RR, and Sandra Lee. HMMMMM
Ironic isn't it?
Mike
I'm the OP, and the difference to me is that cookbooks like Southern Living had a long-standing reputation of having really good recipes, not stuff made from a mix. On the other hand, Rachel Ray and Sandra Lee have always marketed themselves as cooks who take shortcuts to quick, easy meals. It's not like they started out doing gourmet foods, then switched to what they do now.
I just started a thread about making a family cookbook. However when my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer my sister had sat down with her and made her write down all of her recipes. the book is written in her handwriting and its extremely precious to us since she has now passed away. I am typing them up and publishing them through tastebook.com for out entire extended family who are also contributing family favorites of their own.
Good point JGMB. But I think the reason why some people are taking the easy route is cause of the popularity of cooks like Sandra Lee and Rachel Ray. They don't promote themselves as "gourmet", but they have defiently influenced the way people view cooking.
And I still can't get over a cookbook such as "Southern Cooking" doing the all-time Southern cake, Red Velvet, starting with a mix. 
Good point JGMB. But I think the reason why some people are taking the easy route is cause of the popularity of cooks like Sandra Lee and Rachel Ray. They don't promote themselves as "gourmet", but they have defiently influenced the way people view cooking.
And I still can't get over a cookbook such as "Southern Cooking" doing the all-time Southern cake, Red Velvet, starting with a mix.
Exactly my point. Here comes the lashing of my life. The dreaded green bean casserole. YUCK, just look at it OMG that stuff is GROSS. I keep asking my wife, c'mon dear let me fix it LOLOL
Mike
Exactly my point. Here comes the lashing of my life. The dreaded green bean casserole. YUCK, just look at it OMG that stuff is GROSS. I keep asking my wife, c'mon dear let me fix it LOLOL
Mike
OMG I am SO with you! The only time those nasty canned crunchy onions are even advertised is during the holidays. And yes, that whole thing looks just nasty. Especially the one commercial where it look like they just dumped a can of beans in a dish then laid those nasty onions in a circle around the edge. No butter, no bacon, no evidence of cream of anything soup. I can't even BEGIN to imagine how people can eat this stuff.
Nothing tops my green beans with bacon and onion, I dont' care you are! As I tell my brides, in my Paula Deen accent, "They are so good they will make your southern gramma CRY with envy!"
Psst! Started my new job at the hotel last night and one of my new co-workers said to the other 3 gals, "Do you know who she reminds me of?" and all 3 of them said, in unison, "Paula Deen!"
Please give my young friends a break. I just found the recipe cards I had to write out with recipes from my 7th grade home ec. class. OMG I had a recipe for cinnamon toast and tuna salad. How pathetic!
I love to bake and cook. When I was growing up all our moms stayed at home and their job was to cook, (and my mom wasn't that good at it) clean and take care of others. So, cooking was a priority. Now they are corporate exec. and don't have cooking as a priority. It seems to be a lost art. Maybe it will come back into vogue-who knows?
This thread is so funny. I'll never forget the time I baked macaroni and cheese for my young nieces and my kids. Well my neices just looked at theirs, they were not eating. First, I made the mistakes of thinking they eat with
forks (lol) like everybody else. Well, they wanted spoons ( 10-12-14 yr olds) So after they got the spoons they still didnt eat. So I asked what was wrong, they said the mac-n-cheese wasnt orange enough and they didnt see the blue box. I said you want Kraft mac and cheese they said yes like their mother make. My kids laughed so hard, they ate their portions. I made them Kraft and they were happy. Go figure.
I have lots of these hilarious stories.
green bean casserole *shudder*, goop with crunchy things scattered around.
Have any of you seen the show on food network that comes on late at night about caterers in Beverly Hills. How horrible. In one episode I saw so many things wrong I actually was talking back to the TV about how stupid they were. They made RR and Sandra Lee look like gourmet chefs. My DH was cracking up saying he never seen me yell at the TV like a man watching football.
I was just given a cookbook about chocolate for Christmas and this one was a good one. Had measurements in cups as well as by weight (which I prefer).
I have to say that I like Green Bean Casserole, but made with caramelized onions instead of the canned crunch ones.
And, I tend to agree with a PP, the cookbooks are being geared more towards today's lifestyle's of two working parents, and very little time to get dinner on the table.
This thread is so funny. I'll never forget the time I baked macaroni and cheese for my young nieces and my kids.
I'm laughing so hard because this was ME when I made my first baked mac-n-cheese! I was about 19 or 20, went to work and was telling everyone how bad it tasted. I kept adding cheese and adding cheese and it was just all gummy! One lady said, "You were adding cheese to try to get it to turn orange, weren't you?" I stopped in my tracks, my mouth dropped open as I realized that's EXACTLY what I was trying to do!
The next batch tasted MUCH better!
And here I thought cooking was supposed to be trial and error. Society has this concept that its always supposed to be easy and perfect ! I have made some great screw ups in the kitchen but that is what I like is trying to figure out what went wrong then do it again to see if it turnes out better!
This past summer I was given some fresh okra so I thought I would boil it for DH he loves okra and I was trying to be nice guess what I learned you boil it before you cut it!!! DH was sweet and tried to eat the mess but in all honesty he looked like he was eating snot it was sooooooooooo bad he immediately called his mom and told her to NEVER send over fresh okra agin LOL but now I know trial and error is entertainig to say the least We laugh about the now infamous Okra incident 
I love my cookbooks but they are all old and well used they were wedding gifts passed down from parents and grandparents and well there are quite a few that I have had to figure measurments out my self that why we have a tasting spoon on hand
Well I am off to make Lobster Thermidor, from an actual cooking cookbook, Julia Childs style!
Let's see, we will be having Lobster Thermidor, Herbed Mustard Encrsuted Rack of Lamb, Poached Halibut, with olive oil & garlic cooked string beans (fresh of course), and herbed potatoe cakes. Dinner will be ready at 5PM Eastern Standard Time. And of course dessert will be made from scratch, not a mix.
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