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ResQgeek

May 2024

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This post started out as a reply to a post by [livejournal.com profile] martisman with a link to recipes from the 1950's, but got so long, I thought it would be better as a post in its own right.

It is interesting to explore how the tastes of a culture can change over time. I think the Americans have (as a whole) become much more adventurous and sophisticated in their food preferences in the last several decades. The number of different types of ethnic foods that are readily available both in restaurants and in the grocery stores is mind boggling, and these choices aren't limited to ethnic population centers. You can find a surprising diversity of food choices available in almost any community anywhere (though the quality can vary rather dramatically in some out-of-the-way places).

I got a reminder of just how simple and bland American tastes used to be a couple of years ago, when my wife bought a set of old Southern Living cookbooks at a yard sale. These books were from the late 60's or early 70's, and most of the recipes were very simple and didn't include a great number of "exotic" ingredients (or even much in the way of strong seasonings, either). There are some recipes for classic dishes, but by and large, I find myself drawn to more recent cookbooks with recipes built around stronger flavors.

However, when I do use recipes from these older cookbooks, I've learned to make some modifications. Americans apparently used to eat a LOT of salt. I automatically reduce the salt in any recipe I use from these books by at least half, often by much more. Otherwise, the food is far to salty. I would much rather flavor my food with pepper, garlic, or herbs...I rarely add much salt when I'm cooking.

Not everyone has developed more diversified tastes. I have some cousins who won't go near Chinese (or probably any other Asian) food, and consider Italian cooking to be exotic. One of my co-workers has similar attitudes about his food. However, the majority of the people I know routinely include Chinese, Thai, Indian and Hispanic foods in their diets, and wouldn't consider any of them particularly exotic.

Of course, now that I've been sitting here thinking and writing about food, I find myself hungry, so I think I'll have to go find a snack. Anybody got any Wasabi peas?
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Everyone has had weird parent-child moments with their parents. When my parents were here a couple of weeks ago, my mother surprised me by asking for a couple of recipes. Something about a mother asking her son for recipes struck me a strange. Anyway, this week I received an e-mail from my mother. She'd used the recipes to prepare dinner for my Grandfather's birthday. Apparently my aunts and uncles absolutely loved the dishes, and the recipes are now making the rounds through the family. I never expected to be the originator of new family recipes!

Here are the recipes:

Drunken Steak )

Black Bean Fiesta Salad )
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My darling daughters seem intent on driving me crazy. It doesn't seem all that long ago when they would eat anything I made for them. Lately though, the only thing I hear when I put the food on the table is "Eeeewwwww!" or "I don't like THAT!" It doesn't seem to matter what I cook, either. It can be something that they absolutely devoured the previous time I made it, but suddenly they don't like it. Its enough to make me scream!

I really love to cook. Its fun trying new recipes, looking for new flavors and combinations. I love digging into a stack of cookbooks, putting together a menu for dinner, buying the groceries required, and pulling everything together. After all that work, sitting down and eating a wonderful meal is very satisfying. Its even better when you get an appreciative response from everyone else at the table. Unfortunately, I'm not getting much in the way of positive feedback lately. I still like the process, and get a great deal of satisfaction from making a great meal, but I just wish my girls weren't so finicky.
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