British Expatriate Network

I am an enthusiastic cook, I cook all the time, I'm always looking for new recipes or for new ways of preparing and cooking the same old same old. Tonight my wife and I actually ate out at a place called Bertucci's- it was close and I needed to get out. Unfortunately the food was crap, but then I wasn't expecting anything spectacular. We were talking about eating out and the Mrs told me about the people she works with and how some of them never cook, not just a few times a week, but not at all. We were in a certain overpriced cookware store the other week and both overheard a young woman telling her friends how she loves Rachel(30 minute meals)Ray on the food network, but would never have half an hour to cook dinner.
Gathering our sides and hiding behind a display of gourmet olive oil we wondered aloud how cocking difficult is it to set aside a couple of minutes to make a good salad, a sandwich or even to nuke a bag of processed pus in the microwave? I guess i've a few things to learn, and i must keep my culinary snobbery concealed, but please, people, food should be a joy, not a chore thats best left to somebody else..
What say you, oh wise and faceless oracle? ? grin

it's a chore. But one best done at home ;)

Eats to live (or pass time) regards......
;)

It can be a pain sometimes trying to think what to make, that been said i do actually enjoy cooking (most of the time) roll
We like to eat out sometimes too, i think if we did it every night it would spoil it and we wouldn't enjoy it as much JMO grin

I hate, loathe and detest cooking! That said, I'm not too bad a cook (not too good either though mrgreen ) as long as I stick to plain and simple fare. I dread having to plan our daily meals to ensure we have a varied diet. I could happily survive on fruit, chicken and bread every day (with the odd bar of chocolate or Scottish tablet thrown in, now and again! razz ), however, I suspect my husband and son would soon have something to say if that's all I fed them!
On average, we eat out two to three times a month, most months. It's good to escape the kitchen now and then. My husband is a good cook, however he insists on using wads of butter in his recipes; I hate butter, so I do all the cooking in our house....except when we BBQ - then my husband takes over. grin

We're a funny mixture. I like cooking but I used to be a vegetarian and still like making a lot of veggie things. I like making stir fries, salads, (including Greek salads and Salad Nicoise) veggie chili and different kinds of roast chicken.

My partner's a total carnivore and also likes things that are drowned in cheese, cream sauces etc. I'm less keen.

We actually agree more when we eat out and Toronto's full of great multicultural restaurants. We both like Indian, Thai, Italian, Ethiopion, French, Sushi and Chinese to name a few. We both also like fish. So we tend to eat out quite a bit. When we do eat in, I'll usually make the salad and vegetables and like cooking steaks, (I love the George Forman Grill the nearest thing to a barbecue in an apartment) chops etc. She's really good at pasta.

But we do eat a fair amount of instant food as well. One of our supermarket chains Loblaws is the home of President's Choice brand food and they do excellent and cheap curries, fish pies, pizzas, nagi goreng, shepherd's pies etc. We also like sardines on toast or take away pizzas. I'm sometimes happy just dipping bread into taramasalata or homous. Or sometimes I'll go to Chinatown and pick up a cooked duck and some bok choi.

So as I say, we're a funny mixture.

I've been here over 3 years now and I've never seen my friend cook anything, she is handy with the tin opener, that stuff that looks like dog food I believe. What's that called, Mary Stew or something? I hate cooking, he can't cook won't cook, it's usually pasta stuff for us, eat out occasionally but kids are getting bored with the usual 3 choice kids menus - tenders, burgers or hot dog.

I love to cook - I cook 3 or 4 times a week.

/king of hamburger helper and a salad

I generally speaking like cooking. Get fed up when the kids decide to be fussy and won't eat stir fries and the boys are are constantly hungry and the only way to fill them up is to do large meals with a good mixture of different foods like a starch, protein and veggies. and also some type of pudding at least 2 to 3 times a week. Doesn't do my weight any good at all! evil

We rarely eat out and rarely get take-out. Do buy some convenience foods but try to limit that type of thing as much as possible.

the people who used to live next door to us never cooked at home. when our new neighbours moved in, they had to clean cobwebs off the hob and oven, and the built in microwave hadn't worked for years! The new neighbours do use their kitchen but they also get take-out a lot during the week, and cater to the individual tastes of the children roll

I love cooking. We eat at home mostly, unless we go out for an Indian meal, which is rare as I cook authentic Indian food and the local place has employed a chef who doesn't know the difference between Indian and Creole. (it's the amount of salt folk, the huge amount of salt.)
I rate myself as a plain cook. No cakes or trifles or such, though i do make sorbets and stuff. I also cook in bulk to make meal size portions for him indoors to take to work. At the mo the indoor freezer is stacked with one dish meals, chick pea dahl, white bean and hot sausage, catalan sausage and bean, saffron bean and chicken. Oh yes, i cook in colors, it's easier when you open the freezer. At the mo the choice goes from bright red to lemon yellow with a green dish which i can't remember making.
I eat mostly raw veggies and meat of some variety. mainly organic.
My favorite cooks are Martha Rose Shulman, the Indian lady from the old country who acts as well, and recipes I've collected over the years.
We have strict dietary rules to obey, ie low salt, no cholesterol, or a minimum, no false sugars, and low real sugars.
My fave thing at the mo is getting the mouth feel of a high fat meal without using butter and olive oil together. It is possible and just takes a few samplings as you cook and a bit of this and that.
Prepacked, processed, prepared meals scare the hell out of me. Especially the imported meals, especially since the e-coli outbreal in Wales, traced partially to imported ready meals from Thailand.
Him indoor cooks Chinese and Thai, I do Indian, Italian and old fashioned comfort food.
I can't imagine not wanting to cook. I love shopping for food, especially produce, working out what could go with what. What would be good for what. At the mo, as the temp drops we're into roasted onions, ginger, hot peppers and all things green, especially savoy cabbage, or Batvian endive, wilted with garlic and olive oil. All the foods to keep warm for the coming winter.
Mind, there's nothing better than growing your own peas and picking them and trying to get some left to cook. never picked peas and gotten a full pan on the stove, most get eaten in the shelling procedure. lol lol

I cook all the time, and when we do (occasionally) go out, we have some pretty fine and dandy restaurants here in Santa Cruz/Capitola, so it's a treat I look forward too.

Andrew )

I think it's all round annies

I'm not surprised. I bet the local eateries ban James on account of him leaving no food for the other diners.......

:lol: true.

I just hope you are saving up ready for him coming over in November - otherwise there is no hope for the rest of us :wink:

Cooking's great. I can't believe that someone doesn't have half an hour every now and then to knock something up.

Indian's my favourite but my range is a bit limited. There's an indian supermarket round the corner from me and the woman there gives me some tips. Fave at the moment is lamb mince with potatoes, peas and fenugreek.

Any indian recipes would be welcome. Nothing too challenging.

I cook sometimes, eat TV meals sometimes eat out sometimes and get take out sometimes.

That deal of the half an hour isn't true. It doesn't allow for the fact that it needs to be planned so that the right ingredients are to hand, time to bone up on the recipes and to schedule the order of operations without a prompter and producer. If one kept enough stuff around for the flexibility one needs, an awful lot would be thrown away each week.