REAL Cooking – Part Three

 

Last post about cooking from scratch…

 

Made cornbread from scratch

Yes. But mostly use Jiffy Mix boxed cornbread now.

 

Cooked a whole turkey

Yes. And all the sides for Thanksgiving.

 

Snapped green beans and cooked them

Made mashed potatoes from scratch

Yes.

 

Made pasta from scratch

No, but one year when my favorite person in the whole world at the time, Aunt Lo Lita came for a visit she decided to make noodles from scratch. They were delicious, of course, but I knew right then and there I would never be making those myself.

 

Tortillas, tamales, fried fish, tuna/chicken salad, baked beans from scratch

Made sausage/fudge/cooked greens

No.

 

Made ice cream

Yes. Once. We had a couple for dinner years ago and the man was diabetic. I very laboriously got a recipe to make sugarless ice cream with orange juice and heavy cream. It didn’t turn out that great, but everyone ate it. Never did it again. This was YEARS before all the sugarless/lactose free options came out.

 

Made jam/jelly, grits, dumplings, churned butter

No. For dumplings, though, my daughter-in-law showed me how to use cut up rolled biscuits on top of the roast or chicken in the slow cooker. Easy and delicious!

 

Pizza from scratch

Yes. Doing it from boxed mixes that included everything was much easier. Easiest of all was picking up the phone…

 

Cut up a chicken for frying

Not for frying, but for cooking the pieces separately. And it was more like hacking up a chicken than neatly cutting. Never got the hang of it. Used to buy the chicken already cut up, except the leg was still attached to the thigh, so that’s the way I cooked it.

 

Made an omelet

No, but I’m great at doing a scramble. Throw in some leftover ham, potatoes, mushrooms, cheese. Great meal!

 

REAL Cooking – Part Two

 

More about cooking from scratch…

 

Have you ever…

 

Baked a cake from scratch

No. We used box mixes. And most of the time the cakes weren’t frosted afterwards.

 

Made frosting from scratch

All the time. When something deserved frosting, it was always made with powdered sugar and a little milk. Birthday cake was frosted. Cookies for the potluck at church were store-bought oatmeal cookies with frosting to make a cookie sandwich.

 

Cooked a pot roast with all the veggies

Yes. The mother of a friend gave me an awesome Farberware pan with a domed lid. That was what I cooked roasts in for YEARS, I still use it a lot for other things, but do roast and veggies in my slow cooker now.

 

Made a meat loaf

I LOVE meatloaf!! With potatoes and gravy. After years of making them with the middle not being cooked all the way, or trying to do one in the microwave with a pan GAURANTEED to cook it better (but it didn’t) I finally came up with what I call Meatloaf Babies. Basically a meatloaf recipe split into 4 fat burger-like patties and baked on a broiler pan so the grease goes through and the patties are thoroughly cooked all the way.

 

Made mac & cheese from scratch

Funny story. Always used whatever was the cheapest boxed mix. The only reason I can say “yes” to this one is when Lia visited one time. I was going to make packaged mac & cheese. Lia recoiled and said “Why not make REAL mac & cheese??” So she shamed me into actually making REAL mac & cheese. But that is the ONLY time I’ve done it…(don’t tell Lia)

 

Made pies from scratch

Yes. When we were first married, we lived next to an abandoned apple orchard. We were told we could have as many apples as we wanted. I made MANY apple pies. And I made the pie dough from scratch as well.

 

Made cookies from scratch

Yes.

 

Cooked a pot of dried beans

Yes. The best lentil soup I’ve ever had.

REAL Cooking – Part One

 

This was inspired by something my friend Khaki posted. It’s basically the same theme of “have you ever”…fill in the blank. So of course I stole it for a blog series. This one features REAL cooking…You can find recipes for anything on the Internet, but it’s sure a LOT easier to use shortcuts. Most of these things on the list I’ve done with shortcuts. Not many from scratch, but if I had to, I would be able to do them.

 

Have you ever…

 

Made biscuits from scratch

I don’t think so. We ALWAYS had a box of Bisquick on hand in the kitchen. Such a versatile thing. Biscuits, pancakes, coating for fried chicken…

 

Cooked fresh okra or squash

I don’t care for okra, but I do enjoy baked acorn squash. Super easy to do. Pretty much a winter only dish though. Too hot to run the oven otherwise.

 

Made homemade soup

Not really. Any time I’ve had broth from cooking meat, I usually make gravy with it. There are so many wonderful packaged soup mixes now that it’s so easy to do a basic one and just add whatever leftover meat or veg you have on hand. And boxed broth is so easy to use.

 

Made chili from scratch

Yes. Very mild. Anymore, though, I will get canned chili and add a can or two of cooked peeled tomatoes.

 

Made spaghetti sauce from scratch

No. Growing up, store-bought sauce was too expensive. (My grandmother lived through 2 world wars and the depression and could pinch a penny like you wouldn’t believe!) We always used a can of Campbell’s tomato soup.

 

Fried chicken

Not really. I have a wonderful recipe using Bisquick coating and fixing it in the oven. A lot healthier.

 

Homemade rolls or cinnamon rolls

Not these specifically, but one Easter-tide I did undertake Hot Cross Buns from scratch. A lot of work and I didn’t think they were any better than store-bought.

 

Made potato salad

Barf…no…never in this lifetime…