Staying the Course -- June 23, 2020

[Superbob]

Happy New Week, dear Stay the Coursers!

Hope you do find ways to stay chipper in these trying times. Strangely enough, I find refuge in cooking shows on TV. No, I am not much of a cook, though I do help my wife out in the kitchen. I do love to eat, though. And it is refreshing to watch chefs from many cultures prepare delectable dishes of many kinds. Being a country music fan, I particularly enjoy Trisha Yearwood's Southern Kitchen from her Nashville home. There are a bunch I like. "The Kitchen" is fun. And Bobby Flay's antics. The Pioneer Woman offers up some great recipes from out on the ranch. Do you watch cooking shows and have favorites?

That's about the happiest note I could come up with with for a thread starter. Last week, I started with dogs, and it was fun to read your posts about your canine companions -- current, former, or prospective. Any additional thoughts on doggies would be welcome, of course, or cooking, or exercise, or movies, or trips, adventures, or any avenues you pursue to keep your spirits up.

My cardiac update: I had made a July appointment with an out-of-town surgeon to evaluate my incisional hernia (which I've been whining about for months now); however, my cardiologist today advised me to hold off on that until we do a CT-Scan on the first anniversary of the UNC aneurysm surgery (September) and see how the good old aorta is doing. And I suppose that makes sense. First things first. If the heart's working well, then fix any little side issues. If it ain't, then what's the point?

Cheers,
Superbob
❤

 

[Protimenow]

Well, I like to watch Roadkill Kitchen, Gutter Gourmet, Gourmet Meals on $1.25, and shows like that. (If you couldn't tell, I was kidding about those shows - they're on a cable channel tht I don't receive).

I've developed a new appreciation of Pati Jinich's cooking show (Pati's Mexican Table -- next season, it'll be Pati's Mexican Chair), the British Baking Show (OK, baking - but there's some cooking involved, too). Jacques Pepin is good -whichever show they're playing. There are others that I'd like to see, but they've gone off the air. And there are other cooking shows that I like to watch when I have time. I like the little two minute (?) things by Mke Colamecco at the end of many shows on Food Network. There are also some pretty good shows over the air. Sometimes America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country are interesting.

As with many of us, I do more watching than actual cooking.

 

[skeptic49]

We're not much for cooking shows, but one thing that we enjoy during these pandemic days is reviewing photos from our travels. Years ago a friend suggested to me to travel while we can. We took this advice to heart and did as much travel as we could. This seems like it was a good plan in retrospect. Now we wonder if and when we will ever see some of our favorite places once again. Looking at the photos help ward off the tendency to feel sad about future travel prospects.

 

[dornole]

Not a big cooking show or cooking fan - that's actually my dream, to have one of those husbands that cook all the meals as a couple of my friends do. Unfortunately I love the one I already have. I've been thinking quite a bit about keeping up my spirits and "what to look forward to" as many vacations and treats we'd normally plan on aren't a good idea. I've been doing a lot of geocaching / hiking with my oldest son who has resumed a photography interest and is shooting film cameras, even some old box cameras. He has quite a collection acquired at Goodwill over the years and after film-testing them he's been selling them. Just sold one yesterday for $450 that he paid $7 for. Anyhow it's kinda of like having a dog, he wants to go out and explore new places to photograph so I get out also. The park we visited yesterday was gorgeous and we didn't encounter a single soul while hiking for more than 2 hours. I also have been doing a lot of kayaking on the lake near my house - learned some new wildlfowers I discovered on the shoreline, and yesterday I saw an otter which was really cool. I feel more "together" when I really know the land nearest my home. So social distancing is a good time for that.

 

[Bryan B]

I've started cooking more in the last few years since I started living alone. It's really come in handy during the pandemic as I've been able to really stretch out the times between grocery visits (thanks to a nice size freezer). I don't know if you watch YouTube much but there are tons of great cooking channels on there. I personally like to grill and my favorite 2 grilling themed cooking channels on YT are "Guga Foods" and "Pitmaster X". Although a grill is usually involved they also delve into sides and sauces. They are also wonderfully produced and edited and are in 4K. Seeing as how I have a 4K TV it's always nice to occasionally watch something in 4K. Another entertaining fella with a more general themed cooking channel is called "Cowboy Kent Rollins".

 

[Superman]

For something fun, Jim Gaffigan has created a YouTube channel. He’s a comedian. He has five kids and draws on this for material, which I find exceedingly relatable. During quarantine, he started a segment he calls, “Let’s Get Cooking”. In the style of a chef / cooking show he makes things like scrambled eggs and cut up hotdogs for his kids (with hotdogs leftover from yesterday’s dinner) and boxed spaghetti with a jar of pasta sauce. Funny stuff.

 

[LoveMyBraveHeart]

Oh my, its like something of a dream! Dogs one week, cooking the next!

I adore cooking shows, I actually taught myself how to cook one summer watching endless episodes of Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals. I still watch her occasionally, I find her to have such a joy for cooking and its so infectious! I also love Alex Guarneschelli, and Michael Symon...Chef Symon actually has a new series out called Symon Dinners that I've been meaning to watch. Another from the Network is Molly Yeh, she has a Chinese and Jewish heritage and makes some very interesting meals while intertwining both cultures together...plus she is exudes joy and is very fun to watch! such a cute girl.

I thoroughly enjoy watching Bon Appetit on Youtube, especially episodes with Sohla, Andy, Rick, and Brad. BA is in some hot water lately because of the current climate/division in the US, but I still like to watch their old videos from time to time...The chefs I named above offer quite a variety of ethnicites from which they cook...I love learning about food and the culture within.

As far as country music goes, I grew up listening to it, so am very familiar with Trisha, Garth, and another star that got her own cooking show (not sure if it still airs?) Martina McBride!

Anyway, I love cooking, Mathias (bless him) loves eating whatever concoctions I come up with, and we both love trying new things. Our 9th anniversary is this Saturday and one of the first things we asked each other is where we should go to eat, and if we don't want to go out (Hi, COVID!), what should we make together? Any suggestions?

Much Love,
Jill

 

[Protimenow]

Jill -- where are you getting the first shows that you've mentioned? I haven't looked at the FoodTV lineup lately - is this where Symon et. al are?

Chinese/Jewish sounds a bit more exotic than Mexican/Jewish. Pati Jinich (Pati's Mexican Table) is Jewish - of course, she doesn't eat Kosher, but still has a Jewish tradition that makes its way into some of her recipes.

(And, FWIW, I like cooking, and used to like baking. If I could ever get my kitchen clean, and my oven repaired, I'll probably also get back to baking. Right now, I've got a jam machine and sometimes make some jam. I make dinners and breakfasts - we usually skip lunch).

And, FWIW2, my wife and I just marked anniversary #45. That's quite a feat for a 50 year old like me.

 

[LoveMyBraveHeart]

Jill -- where are you getting the first shows that you've mentioned? I haven't looked at the FoodTV lineup lately - is this where Symon et. al are?

Chinese/Jewish sounds a bit more exotic than Mexican/Jewish. Pati Jinich (Pati's Mexican Table) is Jewish - of course, she doesn't eat Kosher, but still has a Jewish tradition that makes its way into some of her recipes.

(And, FWIW, I like cooking, and used to like baking. If I could ever get my kitchen clean, and my oven repaired, I'll probably also get back to baking. Right now, I've got a jam machine and sometimes make some jam. I make dinners and breakfasts - we usually skip lunch).

And, FWIW2, my wife and I just marked anniversary #45. That's quite a feat for a 50 year old like me.

30 Minute Meals I believe is on Food Network, but possibly the Cooking Channel? I know Molly Yeh is on Food Network, her show is called Girl Meets Farm. Symon's Dinners is also Food Network. I'm not much for the game-type, competition shows on the networks, so was excited when I could find something that was just chef's or cooks in their kitchens making what they and their families like.

I adore cooking, but please never ask me to bake! I always mess something up...it takes too much patience and science for me to enjoy. I just like to throw things together and see how it works. That methodology doesn't work too well with baking!

I'm hoping to do some pickling later this summer, I failed to make the addition of any fruits into my garden this year, so I don't think I'll be making any jams or jellies, unfortunately.

Do you and your wife have a tradition when it comes to celebrating anniversaries?

 

[Protimenow]

First off -- no tradition for anniversaries. After all these years, and with limited income, and COVID-19, I made us a pretty good breakfast, we bought some Chinese food that we both like (I think she likes it), and had a piece of a chocolate cake that we get from a very good bakery. Nothing too special. We never did a lot for anniversaries.


When I was baking, I liked to figure out the baking puzzle, and I liked to work with my hands. I've made puff pastry many times - turning it into croissants and danish pastries. It was a challenge, it took time, but it was nice to get results that everyone liked.


I've worked with dough - making some fancy stuff, but mostly breads.


I have a bread maker put away - I may use it again. One of the things that I often did was to let the bread maker make the dough - once formed, and sometimes after first rise, I'd shape it into whatever dough based shape that I was planning on. It's easy. It doesn't take planning. Making the dough is a no brainer. The results are often amazingly good.


The jam and jelly maker is practically foolproof -- put pectin in the machine and add the fruit. Turn the machine on and add sugar three minutes later, once it beeps. Then, just cover it and wait for it to turn off. At that point, you have some really hot jam or jelly, ready to transfer into jars.


(This is staying the course? Of course it is).