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How do you guys deal with family that are super picky eaters? I get to be in charge of Christmas this year and I would really love to do a fantastic dinner but my family are really lovely about what they eat. Examples: One of my aunts refuses to eat meat at all if it has even the teeniest bit of pink to it, to the point where she refused to eat a meatloaf that was a bit pink (even after I showed her the temperature with the kitchen thermo) and microwaved it until it was grey.  My sister will eat what you give her as long as none of the ingredients sound "weird", but the moment she hears an ingredient she "doesn't like" (even though she has eaten and enjoyed that ingredient before) she gets really sulky about eating it. 90 percent of my family absolutely refuse to try ingredients that they haven't had before, as well. If it's not the same meatloaf recipe, same tinned sauce in a can and grey ground beef recipe or shoe leather hamburgers, they tend to get lovely. There was even a point where some of them refused to eat chili that was exactly the same as the chili I usually make with the exception of substituting chicken for beef. I don't want to make the same ham with potatoes and green jello that we have every year.
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Dec 5, 2012 16:19
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I just hate having to cook the same loving honeyed ham and stupid green jello and potatoes every single time there's a family gathering. I'd love to cook something that's still simple but would at least be different, like chicken or stew or something. I wish I could just shake them and make them understand that kid foods are not the be all end all of food. It's like trying to feed a bunch of sheltered four year olds. Ham and potatoes it is E: I could do that, I guess. It's just really frustrating because if I don't tell them what it is, they'll eat it happily and not question it as long as I just slap it on a plate and don't make it look "threatening". Although how a simple cheese bread looks threatening is beyond me. FluxFaun fucked around with this message at 16:43 on Dec 5, 2012 |
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Dec 5, 2012 16:40
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Gourd of Taste posted:Find out what they like. My father in law is kind of picky but after a while I figured out that it was mostly that he struggled with things that he couldn't identify with. So he'd default to meat and potatoes because he knew those things were filling food-meals. My problem is that they order the exact same thing in every resturaunt we go to. My sister will always get either hamburger or popcorn shrimp. My mom will get some sort of steak and potatoes or boneless bbq wings. My mean aunt will get some sort of either chicken sandwich or the blandest thing on the menu. My grandmother will get anything that's either been smothered in poorly cooked onions or grease. If we go to an "ethnic" (read tex mex or bland Chinese buffet) everyone will get a burrito or fried rice and beef/broccoli stir fry. My sister might be adventurous and get sushi if she can find a salmon roll. They also will not eat anything if it differs even slightly from what they're used to, such as when I made chili using chicken instead of ground beef, or when I made grilled garlic chicken instead of breaded fried garlic chicken. They will not try ingredients they do not recognize (like nutmeg or ginger). I'm honestly not trying to make anything fancy because I'm not that experienced, I'm just trying to make healthier choices as far as ingredients and I'm also trying to wean them away from the same three recipes over and over and over again. Also no, the potatoes do not get put in the jello. The jello is green jello with canned pears in it and covered in cream cheese. The potatoes cannot have any skin at all and must not contain anything other than potatoes and butter. The one time I put bits of bacon innit no one ate it.
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Dec 5, 2012 18:07
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^^^^ It is just as gross as it sounds. You should also see the lovely "salads" they make. My mom isn't that bad, but she also doesn't really go out of her way to try things, either. I should eventually make a thread of the poo poo my family makes, and then do my improved versions once Christmas has happened and school isn't too busy. Stuff my family makes for special occasions: -Green jello with canned pears and cream cheese -Fruit "salad" with whipped cream mixed innit -"Cucumber salad" which is just chopped cucumbers that are cut and then put in a bowl that is half tepid tap water and half lovely apple vinegar from walmart two minutes before dinner is served. -Chicken that is dropped without seasoning into veggie oil and water first thing in the morning and cooked all day without any sort of interaction at all until spooned out in glistening grease globs. Luckily I had my mom and my nice aunt to teach me how to cook non grease soaked foods.
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Dec 5, 2012 18:27
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Mrs. Gunderson posted:Well the jello sounds fine. But you have to be careful with the cream cheese or else you'll end up too heavy for a bathing suit by the time the lake thaws out. Of course at my age you don't have to worry about that, hahaha!  I wanna make you cookies all the time forever. Clavietika posted:Oh, the stories I could tell. My grandmother is also fond of boiling noodles until they turn to mush and just eating them with a full stick of butter. I have also caught her eating just a stick of butter unwrapped like a banana straight up. She also cooks eggs in a lovely stainless steel pot and lets it burn to the sides where she scrapes it off with a knife and eats it. They also eat sour cream on crackers. As for meat, chicken isn't the only thing that suffers. Pork chops get the same treatment. "Soup" is veggie oil, water and ketchup with leftover meat thrown in and vinegar added "for flavor". She also makes a "lava cake" that she makes without sugar and with double baking soda so all you taste is bitter. My sister, thank god, likes helping me in the kitchen when she visits. She's still got a lot to learn but she gets excited learning about new things and is super proud when she makes tasty foods. My mom is very meat and potatoes, but she's fond of seasoning and will at least try foods she isn't terribly sure about if I ask her. Usually she likes them, but will not cook them for herself.
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Dec 5, 2012 19:07
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That would explain so much. On another note I made cookies with star anise for the first time. They turned out super good, but I think next time I'mma try pairing them with some sort of citrus. Suggestions?
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Dec 5, 2012 19:44
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Filboid Studge posted:Nerdy, not to cross the streams forum-wise but you brought your family up yourself, so... I hope you're not getting sucked back to them? No, I'm firmly independent still. My mom and sister are both getting themselves to better places mentally and in life, too, so we've been trying to work through our issues. The rest of my family is temporarily going to visit for Christmas, after which they'll leave or get escorted out by the very nice police people. I'm doing really well for myself. I'll be heading to culinary school this January and I'm getting medical help and I have a relatively well paying job. Life is/was pretty hectic for now/for a while, but it's definitely better. No worries, dude. Thanks for being concerned, though! What pairs well with anise? So far it seems like orange and vanilla goes pretty good with it, but I'm not sure what else.
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Dec 6, 2012 01:08
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Read through the industry thread, still feel crazy enough to desire culinary school and bust my rear end. In other news, I made my first few artisan breads today. They turned out loving awesome and I am so pleased.
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Dec 7, 2012 20:42
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 cattepicscattepicscattepics
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Dec 15, 2012 02:17
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Anyone have a really good recipe for an orange ginger glaze? I'm kind of winging it at the moment but it needs... something. My recipe right now is 1 cup packed brown sugar, about 1 tsp honey, 2 tsp ground ginger, approximately 1/2 cup grated orange zest, and then the drippings from the ham to bind it together. I don't know what the hell I'm doing. Help?
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Dec 18, 2012 23:38
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The citrus did the trick! I used about 1/2 cup of orange juice with a splash of lemon and now it tastes how I want it to. I'm almost wanting to use it with a duck or chicken instead, though. Next time. Thanks!
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Dec 19, 2012 00:17
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TenaciousJ posted:I think I'm addicted to making stock. It's 3 AM and I just finished a big batch of chicken stock, about 6 quarts. I did that because I'm out of homemade stock and I wasn't tired at 11. A batch like that is lasting me about 2 weeks nowadays. I just... have to put it in everything. 420 use stock erryday. I know what you mean, guy. Almost every meal I cook uses stock in some way, shape, or form. In other news, I have melted my own chocolate for cookies for the first time and hot drat, it makes a difference. These are the fuckin' bomb. HH, glad you dun have to turn on the red light.
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Dec 19, 2012 18:15
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Squashy Nipples posted:Yeah, I used to be that way... and then I started dating a vegetarian. Er... veggie stock? Not quite as tasty as chicken/beef stock, but still good.
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Dec 20, 2012 03:12
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Made my very first chocolate mousse, convinced the family to let me do something other than a ham, and life is good. Happy Christmas, all!
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Dec 25, 2012 04:31
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I am also very glad that I managed to convince my family to branch out. Instead of the same spiral ham, green jello monstrosity, mashed potatoes and lil smokies we've had every year since I was a kid, I made ribeye, twice baked potatoes, cucumber bread and pigs in blankets. Different enough to make me happy, not so different that everyone got scared of food. One day, I will even convince them that pink does not mean raw. One day.
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Dec 26, 2012 03:28
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Oh god, cheese. Cheese is an instigator to many fights during Christmas time at my home. Grandmother (GM) and Mean Aunt (MA) were told again and again and again not to touch the cheeses in the fridge, because I needed them to make various things for dinner. Well, both GM and MA were both still pissed that I didn't want to make the same lovely ham, taters and green jello monstrosity that we've had every year since the beginning of time, so they decided that by god they were gonna show me. The way they did this was to eat all of the creamcheese. Whole. Like a banana.  Luckily, all my cheese that I needed for dinner was still fine, so we ended up having what I was going to cook to begin with and they sat there gagging on cream cheese and angry that there was no ham, just steak. I don't even know.
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Dec 27, 2012 22:22
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Happy Hat posted:Shape it like a dick, and roll it in chocolate springles for added comedic value ... they leave tomorrow, I still have time. Maybe they won't come stay next year if I do that.
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Dec 28, 2012 01:26
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Thank gently caress for the GWS wiki. I am absolutely in love with most of the recipes on there. Hoooo mans.
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Dec 28, 2012 19:34
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Jesus christ, Mr. Wiggles. Hope you get back the rest of your stuff.
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Dec 30, 2012 08:04
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Happy Imminent End of the World (Again), everyone!
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Dec 31, 2012 22:09
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I go in today to finalize everything for school and get all my poo poo. I am both excited, anxious, and slightly queasy. The queasy may be because I had a coffee and it doesn't really mix well with me. Hope the people I have to wait in line with don't mind nervous coffee poots. In other news, I am an idiot who stays up all night when they have to be up in the morning. That is all.
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Jan 2, 2013 14:38
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No worries, I'm not under any delusions that I'll get to be sous right out of cooking school, I'm just going because I really need the skills, and it's a nice, quick little package. I know I'm gonna have to work my rear end off to get anywhere, degree or not.
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Jan 2, 2013 15:59
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Aww, brown. I'm sorry things are lovely for you right now. Here's hoping 2013 is better for you. Only a few more days till school starts! I'm basically sitting here vibrating with a combination of anxiety and excitement. If that particular emotion made a noise it would be aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. E:People keep changing my avatar. I wonder who I pissed off this time? FluxFaun fucked around with this message at 11:43 on Jan 3, 2013 |
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Jan 3, 2013 11:23
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This, basically. Never ever ever touch an animal you don't know. If you must touch, ask it's owner first. Although they can also lie like bastards and their "super friendly"dog is really some hellbeast with a taste for blood. On topic, I found the perfect nutmeg to cinnamon ratio in my homemade cocoa mix. Awww yes.
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Jan 4, 2013 00:00
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I go to school tomorrow oh god oh god aaaaaa 
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Jan 7, 2013 06:39
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I made an animal bread in the shape of a crocodile. Then it was devoured for its sweet, sweet flesh.
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Jan 8, 2013 04:32
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Obvious solution is to duct tape the kid to the wall until you feel better.
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Jan 14, 2013 20:30
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Scientastic posted:Not in that gown. I've always seen myself as a Ravenclaw. NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRD. ironyyyyyy
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Jan 16, 2013 18:23
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I was NerdyNautilus.
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Jan 16, 2013 18:33
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My nice aunt got me a set of really nice pots and pans for my new apartment! I christened them by making chili, some fresh bread and some chocolate strawberry mousse.
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Jan 20, 2013 21:56
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I burned the piss out of myself frying wings last night. Not fun.
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Feb 3, 2013 22:12
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Made my first ever lava cake tonight!
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Feb 24, 2013 01:24
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Hey dudes, I was gonna make some bacon rice stuffing for the bird I'm cooking for dinner tonight, but then my roomie chucked out the bacon fat I'd saved. I have fresh basil and chives. Suggestions?
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Mar 1, 2013 21:14
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I... What? How? Why?  On a less mindfucky note- I just made my very own tomato sauce for dinner from scratch tonight! It tastes loving amazing, but I think next time it probably needs a bit of salt or something in there. Maybe some chicken stock?
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Mar 3, 2013 04:34
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I hadn't thought of that! I usually don't use fish oil because I'm not fond of fish in general, but I'll give it a shot next time. Tomorrow night I'm either gonna do some shrimp stir fry or some rice stuffed chickens.
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Mar 3, 2013 04:40
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Ahhh, right, then I'll try it the next time. I'm just really not fond of the fish taste.
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Mar 3, 2013 04:52
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Rad! I'll go get some at the store tomorrow. Thanks, dudes!
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Mar 3, 2013 05:39
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Stomach flu = nothing but soup forever. Easiest thing to make, so I can spend the days performing the technicolor yawn and wishing for death. Also tasty.
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Mar 12, 2013 00:30
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^^^ Glad to hear he's okay, dino! Just make sure he keeps drinking lots of liquid. Does anyone have a good recipe for noodle dough? The recipe I'm using keeps making these gummy rear end noodles and I don't like it.
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Mar 15, 2013 17:46
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I'm craving Alfredo. The eggs are prolly why mine keeps coming out gummy- the recipe I found only uses like, two egg yolks. Maybe I should try adding some more egg yolks to it... E: NUR NUR NUR HOW BOUT I ANSWER QUESTION NUR NUR NUR. I'm hoping to make a linguine analog.
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Mar 15, 2013 18:16
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