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Thursday, October 20, 2016

Cooking Advice

When I served exbf his meal of carrots, potatoes, onions and pork loin, I was turned away when I heard him moan with pleasure. I thought it was the pork loin and the bbq sauce he had chosen. No, it was the carrots he was moaning about.

He said they were delicious, so much better than carrots from a can. Poor guy. I had given him an extra large portion and was glad I had cooked so many. He was so happy when I sent home a bag of carrots, potatoes, and pork loin. Yes, I put it all in a storage bag as it was not going to run all over each food.

I got the hen (plus clove of garlic and an onion) out that I cooked and strained the bits out and put the broth back in the crock pot to fill with potatoes and carrots. There were only three of the free potatoes and they were starting to turn green under the skin. So, sadly my tired body had to peel them. I washed and trimmed three pounds of carrots and added to the pot.

When I told him just now (Thursday night) that I was cooking three pounds of carrots and three potatoes, he eagerly asked me, "Did you put in an onion? Well, make sure you put an onion in!" It wasn't that he had NEVER mentioned what I am going to cook. It was how eager he sounded, excited about an onion.

Usually, I just slice and sometimes dice the onion so we get the flavor and the onion floats around and sort of disappears. When he was here Monday, I peeled the onion and quartered it, and carefully placed the quarters in the places with no carrots, pushing them down. That way, I could actually dip out onion. He obviously loved the huge hunk of onion, too.

These are Vidalia onions that have been sitting here in a bag since July.  Of course, I bought them on sale. The garlic is in a tall and skinny jar in vinegar. I bought it from the sale rack at Publix. Carrots were $0.49 for 2 lbs. They are so much more delicious than baby carrots!

When I get the carrots and potatoes out of the crockpot, I will put a head of cabbage, zucchini, and yellow squash in to cook....and another onion.

The hen cost me $2 on sale and had huge breasts and little tiny thighs and skinny legs! What is with that? Some sort of starlet?

So, this is as close as he has ever come to giving me cooking advice.  I am glad I keep the crockpot going for about four days straight, just adding stuff to the chicken broth. When I told him how long the crockpot had been going on Monday, he remarked that was what people did long ago, just keep adding food each day to a pot over a fire.

I thought I had more potatoes, so I will look for those for tomorrow's pot, too. Plus, I may make bean soup in the pot with broth when the cabbage comes out.

Your turn
Does your SO or anyone suddenly like what you cook so much that he or she starts eagerly requesting you cook things a certain way? Have you ever left the crockpot on for four days, adding things each day?


10 comments:

  1. Hubby often asks me cook things 'the way you did last time' but since I rarely use recipes it's hard for me to remember what I did.

    Baby carrots: my understanding is that baby carrots aren't really baby carrots but are the carrots that are misshapen or otherwise unsaleable that are made into baby carrot sized pieces. Just take a close look at how almost exactly alike they are compared to a bag of regular carrots. Bellen, Tom's wife

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    1. I don't use a recipe, either. But, if I do two things differently, I might not know what made the difference.

      There was a story on TV about how "baby carrots" came about. The carrot grower could not sell all the odd shapes and sizes, so invented baby carrots. Now people will pay more for sad carrots, "sad" in the eyes of some. Thanks.

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  2. I know baby carrots are just peeled funny looking carrots, but I think carrots start losing flavor when they are peeled and exposed to air. I prefer to buy the unpeeled for that reason, but I will buy baby carrots when they are super cheap and use the for cooking.

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    1. Anne,
      Yes, I think so, too. I started buying them when my hand could not use the carrot peeler/scraper thing. Now, I have a new, sharp one.

      Delete
  3. One ds is taking culinary arts in h.s. (I was never allowed to take electives like that, by the way.) He is now FULL of cooking advice and suggestions. He loves my Tuna Cheddar Chowder" (from "The Tightwad Gazette," and requests it often, but lately, he's suggested variations: Use Gouda instead of cheddar, mussels or clams instead of tuna, add a crumbled bit of bacon, etc...
    I like when my family gives me menu suggest, as that is the part of cooking I find difficult. I don't like, nor allow, however, complaints at the table. We are a strict "eat what you want, leave what you don't" family. If they can't say anything nice, they say nothing. After the dishes are done, they are free to critique. I don't mind hearing then that they found the steak too overdone for their tastes, or prefer bleu cheese dressing to vinaigrette, etc. If I serve something I know someone dislikes, I try to make sure there is a side that person likes. After dinner, that person is free to make peanut butter and jelly. That said, I truly enjoy it when the whole family is enjoying, really enjoying a meal.

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    1. Meg,
      Is that home ec? With all those suggestions, maybe you can turn a bit of the cooking over to him. It is great he is interested! That is a good family rule! I NEVER served something else.

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  4. lol! I love the starlet comment!
    When we were first married, we did that. A new soup every day just by adding a new can or new veggie or new meat to the crockpot. Every day at my bank job, my co-workers would be wondering what new thing was added to my soup that day. I think there was a pool going on behind the scenes...

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    1. McVal,
      Thanks. I should have taken a picture of her parts. A pool....funny. This adding something else is a great way to cook and no continual pots. But, I never thought of it until now.

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  5. Alas, my SO has never once gone into gustatory ecstasy over anything I have made.

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    1. Urspo,
      He rarely does, so that surprised me. You know I will cook carrots often for him.

      Delete

Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.