TRACY TALKS

IT’S COOKING TIME!

BY TRACY SIMONE

What’s for dinner? That age old question that everyone asks. If you are old enough and used to watch the TV show ‘Hee Haw’, it came in the form of, “Hey Grandpa, what’s for supper?” Then the actor who played ‘Grandpa’ would respond with some cute or funny answer. It was a regular feature on that show, and it was fun to watch. Unfortunately, a regular feature in a lot of real homes is not being able to decide what to eat.

Some folks cook mostly on the weekends and make enough to last for the week. That sounds like a great idea, but many people work full time and while that approach may work for a while, people who only have the weekends open do not want their precious free time eaten up….no pun intended. Another pizza ordered.

As for me, I must admit that for a while, I had one of those food services where the pre-measured ingredients and a recipe was delivered each week. This was convenient, but it did get a bit pricey. In the end, the truth was that it also started to be a little repetitive. The meals were easy to prepare because they already had things ready to go. Food never got wasted and it was quick. I may have had to chop up some vegetables or something, but this was a no hassle way to be eating within 30 minutes and not have to worry about what to prepare. What was for dinner was whatever was in the box! I grew to really like some of the meals, but those failed to reappear as often as I would have liked. Of course, some of my least favorite (but still good) ones started showing up over and over again. I loved this service in the beginning, but

when I didn’t get my favorites enough, my whole attitude about it changed, my inner control freak took over, and I GOT TIRED OF THESE PEOPLE DECIDING WHAT I SHOULD EAT! Food delivery plan cancelled. Back to rattling the pots and pans and busting the suds.

The good news was that I got to keep the recipes so, from time to time, I do still make some of those dishes. If you have a busy lifestyle, not taking up real estate in your head just thinking about what to eat is welcomed. However, if you cancel the plan, you get more rounds of thinking about what to eat and back in the pantry you go.

We all know that cooking at home is what we should be doing. Easy to say yes, but lots of people would just prefer not dealing with the mess, the time it could take, or the associated grocery shopping. Having said that, there is still nothing like a home cooked meal. So, try to find the time to do it when you can.

Most people have a favorite meal. Whether or not they know how to prepare it may be a different story, but we like what we like and we tend to gravitate back towards our favorites. Those who can cook and have their preferred recipes tend to guard them with their lives. I have literally seen people share a recipe with someone and leave an ingredient out, or ‘forget’ to tell the actual special secret that makes the recipe amazing. Not that I would ever do that, but I may have to admit being a little stingy about sharing some recipes in the first place. I promise to try to

“I will try almost anything once and I am not afraid to delve into something new..”

do better. Really. No, really.

Once we get in the routine of cooking regularly, it really takes less time than we think. Then, fast foods and convenient meals just never seem to taste as good anymore. Many of us have fond memories of a certain dish that we would get from our mother or grandmother, or somebody. Similarly, we can also recall the slop we would get at school in the food line. Yuck.

There is nothing like having a big pot of something tasty making the house smell wonderful. That, I can do. Baking from scratch? Not so much. However, no shame in my game so, in a pinch, Betty Crocker and I make a heck of a team!

I love to use fresh ingredients as much as possible. What a difference having a little herb garden makes when it is time to season something at home. Those bottles of dried spices from the store work at crunch time, but the flavor they bring just does not do justice to the dish. As much as possible, I try to use real, organic ingredients and to avoid the ‘franken foods’ that are for sale. A quick trip to the farmers market is usually helpful too.

I will try almost anything once and I am not afraid to delve into something new. I even tried making bread from scratch for the very first time last summer…… the yeast decided not to cooperate. Let’s just say that maybe I should have called Betty again. Oops. Tomorrow is another day. I say never give up. Let’s get cooking!