Typing with the Ladies: A High School Adventure

[Evo]

My mother made all of her breads from scratch and was an excellent cook, but being French, she had no idea what to cook for Thanksgiving, so pulled her menu probably from a Good Housekeeping magazine.

Thanksgiving was the worst meal of the year. We always felt it was a time of culinary punishment to remind people of the Pilgrim's plight.

We had no friends or family in the area, it was just us, but she felt she needed to "Americanize" us.

 

[ZapperZ]

It's 7 pm Central and Good Eats on Food Network (regular, not HD) this very moment is on turkey!

Edit: And he's going to DEEP FRY 'em! :)

Zz.

 

[turbo]

Thanksgiving was the worst meal of the year. We always felt it was a time of culinary punishment to remind people of the Pilgrim's plight.

We had no friends or family in the area, it was just us, but she felt she needed to "Americanize" us.

That is so sad. Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday as a kid. We didn't get many gifts at Christmas anyway, and Thanksgiving was a chance to hang out with all my cousins, and my aunts and grandmother would all try to out-do each other in the food department. My grandmother always made lemon chiffon pie that was light and slightly tart with lemon zest on the top, and her youngest daughter made mincemeat pies that were wonderful, and took at least 1/2 pint of rum to season. Food was always a HUGE thing at our family get-togethers. When we'd get together with one aunt and uncle and their family, his sister would always bring a goose-liver pate that was to die for. She knew that I was a fool for that stuff, and she would always find me and tell me where the pate was. I'd try not to make a pig of myself, but it was tough!

 

[Evo]

It's 7 pm Central and Good Eats on Food Network (regular, not HD) this very moment is on turkey!

Edit: And he's going to DEEP FRY 'em! :)

Zz.

My free cable doesn't have the Food Network!

 

[Moonbear]

To be fair, the aunt that always brought the green bean casserole was the poorest cook in the family, so she may have something to do with my disdain for the dish.

I've had really awful green bean casserole, and some pretty decent stuff. The worst are the ones where people use canned green beans. I've made it with frozen green beans instead (because my guests expected it), and that was pretty decent. Notice, I'm not saying any of it was great, just decent. Reading Evo's recipe, I could imagine it being a ton better, even very good, if it were made with fresh ingredients rather than the canned cream of mushroom soup. That's always been one of my least favorite soups on the planet, so it's hard to overcome that. Though, I'm perfectly content with just plain green beans and a little butter and salt, so only make the casserole for guests who I know consider it part of the traditional T-day dinner.

 

[turbo]

I've had really awful green bean casserole, and some pretty decent stuff. The worst are the ones where people use canned green beans. I've made it with frozen green beans instead (because my guests expected it), and that was pretty decent. Notice, I'm not saying any of it was great, just decent. Reading Evo's recipe, I could imagine it being a ton better, even very good, if it were made with fresh ingredients rather than the canned cream of mushroom soup. That's always been one of my least favorite soups on the planet, so it's hard to overcome that. Though, I'm perfectly content with just plain green beans and a little butter and salt, so only make the casserole for guests who I know consider it part of the traditional T-day dinner.

I've never had any of this stuff that I considered edible. My aunt's version was nasty, and my friend's mother's version was only marginally better, but I usually managed to "need" to get home if he wanted me to stay for supper and that stuff was on the menu. How did a "traditional" T-day dish arise from a confluence of crappy-tasting canned onions and Campbell's cream of mushroom soup? That is perverse!

People whose recipes call for cans of Campbell's soup or Lipton Soup mixes are not cooks. They probably have Hamburger Helper in their pantries. It's really sick to watch people like Alton Brown or Rachael Raye calling for a quart of chicken broth (from a paper carton) in a recipe. How can these idiots not bother to do shows on how to build super soup stocks from turkey carcasses, meat bones, etc? Cooking is in the details, and the best food does not result from a blind result-oriented short-cut attitude.

 

[hypatia]

You had to ask...

Green bean casserole was invented in 1955 by the Campbell Soup Company test kitchen under the leadership of Dorcas Reilly
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_bean_casserole

 

[turbo]

You had to ask...

Green bean casserole was invented in 1955 by the Campbell Soup Company test kitchen under the leadership of Dorcas Reilly
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_bean_casserole

Thanks for the link, though I wish I had not grown up during that culinary nadir.

 

[Math Is Hard]

DON'T LISTEN TO TURBO!

He's just jealous 'cause he can't eat the stuff the rest of us can.

Ok, for turbo, a HOMEMADE version of the classic.

Best Ever Green Bean Casserole

Gosh, that sounds sooooo good!

 

[Math Is Hard]

You had to ask...

Green bean casserole was invented in 1955 by the Campbell Soup Company test kitchen under the leadership of Dorcas Reilly
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_bean_casserole

Well, how about that!

I had no idea you could get a B.S. in Home Ec.
http://www.campbellkitchen.com/SpecialtyHolidayDorcasReilly.aspx?specialty=holiday

Deemed the "mother of comfort food," Dorcas Reilly led the team that created the Green Bean Casserole in 1955, while working as a staff member in the Home Economics department of the Campbell Soup Company.

Mrs. Reilly grew up in Camden, New Jersey, and received her B.S. in Home Economics from Drexel University. She began her career at Campbell in 1949, where she was one of two full-time staff members in the department. She says the inspiration for the Green Bean Casserole was to create a quick and easy recipe around two things most Americans always had on hand in the 1950s: green beans and Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup.

She's a legend!

In 2002, Mrs. Reilly appeared at the National Inventor's Hall of Fame to donate the original copy of the recipe to the museum. The now-yellowed 8 x 11 recipe card takes its place alongside Enrico Fermi's invention of the first controlled nuclear reactor and Thomas Alva Edison's two greatest hits: the light bulb and the phonograph.

 

[Moonbear]

Well, how about that!

I had no idea you could get a B.S. in Home Ec.

Yep, the college I attended still offered a Home Ec. degree, though considerably different from what it was back in the 50s. It was one of those early degrees offered to women to placate the men who thought they didn't belong in college. It's now more of a cross between Nutrition and Food Sciences. Needless to say, it's not a very popular major since most people see the name and think of their junior high school class where they learned how to bake cookies and operate a sewing machine.

 

[Moonbear]

I've never had any of this stuff that I considered edible. My aunt's version was nasty, and my friend's mother's version was only marginally better, but I usually managed to "need" to get home if he wanted me to stay for supper and that stuff was on the menu. How did a "traditional" T-day dish arise from a confluence of crappy-tasting canned onions and Campbell's cream of mushroom soup? That is perverse!

Shhh...when I make it, I leave out those canned fried onion things.

People whose recipes call for cans of Campbell's soup or Lipton Soup mixes are not cooks. They probably have Hamburger Helper in their pantries.

Not probably, they DO. Though, I do like a few of the Lipton Soup recipes. They're just really quick and easy to make, so on those days when I get home dead-tired and just don't want to think about assembling ingredients, or when the cupboard is starting to look bare and I don't have time for shopping and I just want to toss something in the oven while I hit the shower...basically, it's a step above ordering take-out. But, I'm not someone who uses that for every night's dinner, maybe 2 or 3 times a year. Any soup mix is very salty, and I'm not fond of that much salt all the time.

It's really sick to watch people like Alton Brown or Rachael Raye calling for a quart of chicken broth (from a paper carton) in a recipe. How can these idiots not bother to do shows on how to build super soup stocks from turkey carcasses, meat bones, etc? Cooking is in the details, and the best food does not result from a blind result-oriented short-cut attitude.

Alton Brown has done shows on making your own stocks, but I think he adapts his recipes to an audience who doesn't have hours and hours to make stock. I don't blame Rachel Raye at all...her whole point is quick meals to get people to stop making excuses not to cook, so if she started telling them to spend hours simmering a stock, it would entirely defeat the purpose of her show. I use a lot of chicken broth. I'd be buried in chickens to make enough stock to supply enough broth (I'd rather make chicken soup when I have leftover chicken than just stock).

 

[ZapperZ]

Yep, the college I attended still offered a Home Ec. degree, though considerably different from what it was back in the 50s. It was one of those early degrees offered to women to placate the men who thought they didn't belong in college. It's now more of a cross between Nutrition and Food Sciences. Needless to say, it's not a very popular major since most people see the name and think of their junior high school class where they learned how to bake cookies and operate a sewing machine.

Little did they know that if they learn how to bake cookies very well, they could be as filthy rich as Mrs. Fields!

:)

zz.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Yep, the college I attended still offered a Home Ec. degree, though considerably different from what it was back in the 50s. It was one of those early degrees offered to women to placate the men who thought they didn't belong in college. It's now more of a cross between Nutrition and Food Sciences. Needless to say, it's not a very popular major since most people see the name and think of their junior high school class where they learned how to bake cookies and operate a sewing machine.

When I was in high school, I did one quarter of home economics and one quarter of needlework. I know it was to fill some requirement but I can't remember what. I remember the captain of the football team sat next to me in class, and it was funny to watch him doing a delicate little cross-stitch with his beefy paws.

 

[turbo]

Back in HS, a couple of other guys (close friends) and I signed up for a typing course. I wanted to be able to type my own papers when I got to college, but perhaps the most compelling reason was that the teacher was drop-dead gorgeous. There were enough electric typewriters to supply all the girls in the class, so she equipped her three male students with old manual typewriters. After a week or two, she seemed to take some perverse pride in us because we routinely out-scored the females in speed and accuracy, and sometimes swept 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in our tests. Typing helped us satisfy a requirement to take some non-core course outside of our "track" and it seemed a good idea to hang out with a room-full of females a few times a week instead of heading out to the woodworking shop.