Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

And don't miss the silver bullet, the Lone Ranger's calling card, at the very end. It is easy to miss!!

When I was growing up, my mom never cooked that much. And she rarely baked from scratch. Neither did her mother. Or her mother's mother. So, at least for me -- knowing how to cook and bake is something important. I truly value the ability and enjoy developing it more each time I made something. And I want to pass the love of home-cooked food onto my kids (someday -- I don't have any little ones yet).

I think cooking is a fantastic way to bond & have fun!

Plus, knowing how to bake especially means knowing how to whip-up something to calm my multiple cravings.

Ashley M.
makemethod.vox.com

Stress relief, and creative outlet. I work full-time, own a business, and have 3 kids. I can't justify taking time for a lot of the other creative things I enjoy (knitting, writing poetry, other stuff I've probably forgotten I like to do after 11 years of parenthood) but I can justify feeding my family great food.

As I've read each of these posts I've nodded and Uh-huh'd @ each. But then I think of Andrew Zimmern's "Bizarre Foods" show, and I realize how much of it's cultural. (MY own childhood memories include going to Fulton Street w/ my grandfather and watching as he picked out a couple of chickens, which were then slaughtered and prepped for him - including the feet, which were a central ingredient in the flavor of the chicken stock that he made for special occasions. Most Americans consider them a large UGH! factor, but they're still a delicacy in many parts of the world - esp roasted or fried - and they still add phenomenal flavor to stock!)

And to put in my own two cents... I wonder @ the thoughts of the person who pondered the concept of bait, and then opined, "Ya know, those worms seem good enough for the fish to want to eat 'em - wonder how they taste?"

I have to admit, I love the feedback I get when I'm not really trying to impress. My teenage son told me tonight to stop "cooking so good". His female friends were going home and telling their Moms that "Mrs. Dean makes blah blah blah better than you". It's not going over well with parents. It's gonna be McDonald's for his friends in the future if he can continue to date them. Ha!

On the other hand, a swarthy male would be welcome anytime for home-cooking. (In my dreams!)

@dearrie I will have to try it that way.
@Markbb be my Santa LOL.
@Pavlov and Jerz thanks so much for the recipes these ones sound really really wonderful.

This thread made me smile, because it's the kind of questions I'd ask myself (and others) a lot when I was little (probably drove my parents mad, too), and wondering about things like this is something I never grew out of.

For instance, I use miso quite often (in soups, sauces, dressings, marinades, etc), and it's fascinating to me that it's been round for centuries - I've imagined that someone somehow made that mixture of soybeans, salt, already fermented rice or barley and water, must have forgotten about it for months, then stumbled upon it and decided that it was worth trying instead of just throwing away (I can only imagine how many people poisoned themselves in the past) -- and deemed it edible after all (as in, "Hmm, it tastes kind of funky but I bet it will make a damn good soup!"). And not just edible, but good enough to try and recreate the process.

All right, I know that it didn't happen quite like this and different elements and techniques that resulted in miso had evolved over the time, but still - a nice story to think of, and at least I can hope that this forum wouldn't consider me completely mad for thinking about it:-).

Uhh, what?

What dearrie said...low and slow. I usually use baby back ribs from Costco, strip off the back membrane, rub them, throw them in a disposable foil pan and afterwards slather on (my current favorite bbq sauce) Sweet Baby Rays. Delish!!

Eggs! Who thought of cracking them open?

@pjracz i just bake them slow. the meat falls right off the bone..and they are so tender. never dry.

@Perky, I think waaaaay too much about food. Picture them sitting around the campfire divvying up the jobs for tomorrow. You go snare some saber-toothed bunnies, you go dig for roots over by the plants with stinging spikes, you go climb a tree and poke at a beehive, and when the bees are chasing after you, the NEXT guy goes for the honey. Oh yeah, and you go wading in the water and see if you can catch any of the fish with the nasty spines or the ones that sting, or the ones with claws.

Hmmm....I think I'll stay home, start a fire, and boil some water. Yeah, the chef job sounds so much better than the hunting or the gathering.

This has to be my favorite thread ever! Kudos @carolrsfMISSESTEXAS. I think about this subject all the time and it boggles the mind.

@Madame Currie ~ I thought about the bees, but hadn't considered that once honey was discovered, they'd also have to at least investigate what wasps, yellow jackets and hornets had to offer. OMG. Hope they had their EpiPen at the ready.