A contradiction, it seems...

[Sparkey]

Greetings Foodie's Hearthstone, et. al.

The thread title mentions a 'contradiction' and that would be me. You see, I would like to make a confession here. Yes, it's about my skills in the kitchen. Perhaps there will be somebody who may come along and say, "Yes. I understand. That's similar to a problem that "Martha" had and what she did was...

Long story shortened? Well, I was a child of the 60's and my mom, although a great cook, may have figured that I would grow up and marry somebody who knew how to 'properly take care of a man." Pardon the vernacular. That is the way they thought back then.

Imagine my surprise when my wife and I divorced much later. I was, by then in my 30's but I hadn't learned more than how to be 'functional'. Maybe I overstate my ignorance but my choice seemed to be be between three important things

Close relationships with my sons.
Become a workaholic as an escape mechanism (there was a significant amount of stress) -or-
Learn house keeping, laundry, cooking, cleaning, shopping, budgeting, and etc.

One was easier and I took the path of least resistance. My sons and I played together frequently and it was fun. No regrets. Well, except my cooking skillset was sacrificed (again) but this time for a good cause. I recall once, going to work on Halloween with a name tag, "Single dad of two children. NO CABLE TV." It was voted, "Scariest Costume," that year. /ha!

More later. I'm gonna get some sleep but when I get back I'll probably remember to bring some pictures of some of the meals that have gone across my table. Still learning, I'd give myself an "C" as a cook, mostly for the expenditure of effort. The cooking is in general okay, room for improvement. I guess that's why I'm here.

!Sparrowf

 

[JohnDB]

Since most couples have both spouses working these days... mothers still have child care at the top of their priority list so often the cooking falls to the dad's.

Especially if it is something special or labor intensive. BBQ and grilling was once the only outlet for food arts for men...but not anymore. Men are picking up the slack in family's busy lives and fast food just doesn't provide solid nutrition.

Then single men trying to survive on something more than ramen noodles also need to cook...of course a guy who can cook is a definite way to impress any potential girlfriend. (Worked for me)

As I became professionally trained... and gained game and fortune as a chef I found my own talents increasing.

These days though I usually just do special occasions...my child is grown.

 

[Sparkey]

I'm so low on the stack here that my thought is to listen in and let it start to rub off.

I'll glean a couple tips here and there and then? I'll taste them and be hooked. At least that the way I imagine it going. Could be that I'll burn it? That's probably okay. I don't mind eating my own, what choice is there?

Thanks, John.

My sister (now deceased) taught me how to do a full meal roast beef. Her secret was to steep the water in very strong tea to help tenderize the meat. We would take about 8 packs of Constant Comment tea and brew some strong stuff. The potatoes were a little brownish but the whole result? It tasted like I was a chef. She was 12 years older and has since passed from complication of diabetes to be with Christ whom she also loved.

Thx again. I'll try to keep up.

I do know certain things. How to keep the counters clean while working? My son is a Process Technician. I chat with him and he walks me through making a safe water/bleach solution and we have met my criterion too. Broke as a church mouse me, wants it cheap.

I will need to clean and deep scrub my kitchen on the process from Bachelor 1 to Bchlr3 skills and then? Maybe we can progress from there to a new category. I can do lunch and would call myself skilled at breakfast(s).

Here's a quick made for me by me bite:

Winner-Winner-Chicken Lunch

That was made three years ago (I think). I could make the chicken breast again easily... Costco bag of Skinless Boneless - it's frozen but a lot of what I will talk about in the beginning (before the magic of osmosis happens) is gonna be in bachelor speak. No, not the TV dinner kind although I do eats them occasionally, it's not my habit. Chicken and Salmon is.

That side dish intrigues me. Probably started with a wild/brown rice and quinoa mix. I can guess at other things but can't figure it out. This is a compressed and scaled image. But even the straight out of the camera HUGE file that I can't / won't upload doesn't give me a clue (yet).

Your guess is welcome.

 

[Sparkey]

I'm also type II diabetic so I constantly balance carbs and fats and sugah's when I put anything into my mouth. Getting obese doesn't help either, but that's what doctors are for. --- enuf from me for now. I await your convenience and thought(s). Welcomingly. /hah!

 

[Sparkey]

I'll /PM you a shot of my kitchen work area...

This is my little kitchen workstation. Foil, wrap, convection oven, storage containers. Stuff that I don't use often -- effecient work station means save steps and reaches too. I will be reworking my whole design soon enough, or so I imagine. No promise.

Oh, I just shot the mini-vid on the camera, uploaded to cloud, edited and posted here.

In the meantime, Popped some fish sticks into the convection oven, selected some birdseye microwavable veggies (steam) and popped a cup o' Joe. I'm also a bit hypoglycemic at the moment, hence the eating so I'm a bit off balance as I type. But I'm not drunk. /lol It's been more than 25 years.

Nice to be getting to know you.
Sparrow

 

[Sparkey]

I couldn't do the /PM, please pardon me.
Sometimes I get very busy. That's okay. We all do. But here's the quick bachelor meal that's before me now:

Microsoft OneDrive

 

[Sparkey]

Another Bachelor-Food concoction.

1. Baked Chicken (convection oven - 400°F / ~209°C) for about 20 minutes
2. 1c Wild-Rice, Quinoa off the shelf pre-mix + 1c water. 1100 watt microwave.
   5 minutes on high
3. Birdseye® Steam-able Broccoli & Cauliflower.

The side dishes got a little cold because I got distracted by my computer and didn't stay busy nearby in the kitchen at the end. I did get a load of dishes going. The first bite of the chicken was delicious. And I did nothing, almost in prep. Patted it with a little canola oil. No salt. It didn't brown up but I was hungry and I didn't switch the oven over to the top element. My tummy doesn't mind.


I do love color and when I go shopping that's mostly what I think about. What the meal will look like. Brown gravy on brown chicken with brown rice and brown vegetables like mushrooms makes for a very dull meal. And it's simple to vary it up.

Yes, I got a long way to go. But I'm over 60 in WA state...
Wa State Senior Citizen Tuition Waiver doc
The Google says, "Washington state residents 60 years of age or older, may use the waiver to register for two state-funded classes on a credit or audit basis starting from the sixth day (fifth day for summer) through the tenth day (eight day for summer) of the quarter. A five dollar ($5) processing fee will be charged per class."


One Quarter I was at the Cashier's desk at the local community college. I had signed up for two classes that quarter. I pulled out my $10 to pay and was told, "Nope! Seniors are only charged $5 per Quarter, not per class." The Registrar was wrong but I only mentioned that I thought she was wrong and said, "But who am I to argue?" in my best New York accent.

Also! They give out college ID cards as well as access to the school library and boy! Do they have a bunch of subscription codes or what? It was a researcher's dream. Did I mention that in Whatcom County they also have a contract that gets all students free bus pass? It's built right into the current year student ID card itself. Now, I've never tested if it was good outside of the county because who wants to sit on a bus for that long but goodness, wasn't that a mouthful. Yeah. And so was my chicken!!

Thanks for joining me if only in spirit. I love to chat low-key while munching on grinding, to quote Pauly Shore of MTV fame from yesteryear.

A scene from movie, 'Son-in-Law' w/ Paulie Shore

 

[Edward]

I used to eat spam and cheese on crackers but recently have began stocking it again because it is canned and has a shelf life of prolly 5 to 15 years and is a decent pantry item for prep.

But I guess my dad had little imagination with spam cuz I discovered that it's good for more than on crackers, lol! It can be diced and fried up with eggs or into a sandwich, added to a rice side dish or other dishes. And the word is that many restaurants in Hawaii use it now and even a few chefs, but perhaps not Gordon Ramsey because he's a little high strung from all those millions, lol! But it's a pretty good bachelor food and very versatile.

 

[Sparkey]

Greetings, my friend.

Pardon my Green-ness. It's not permanent.

SPAM:
There are whole dishes based on cooking meals with spam. And not only in Hawaii either. Of course islanders are famous for their love of it but I think my tastes are more inline with my white-bread ways (I've switched over to whole (cracked) wheat) but then? Zealot arrived and said, "Why eat bread at all," and I stopped my self from screaming, "Go tell it to Oprah," because I wasn't listening to me anyway. I too love bread. I loved cigarettes once. Things change.

I can't remember where exactly the article about the lunch-meat came from but maybe the Bellingham Herald (local fish-wrap). It was about the widening use of spam (the meat product). Since we may have both read the same article /small world isn't it? It appears that the article was syndicated nationally. My guess.

I liked watching Gordon Ramsey. Them were the days, right? In any case, thanks for stopping by. I've been meaning to catch up sometime, ask you about your sons and all that, but it would be better in a /PM. As you know. I'm still protective by nature.

/BFN

 

[Edward]

We had a power outage last year and I lost some meat which was discouraging for a poor man, lol. So I started exploring canned meats and it snowballed from there. Spam. canned ham, corned beef and so forth. Not only does it not need refrigeration but has a good shelf life and in todays world it may just pay to have extra food on hand. Besides, spam, steak, what's the difference eh? (sic!)

Yes Sir, Brother, PM's better for many things, lol. I can't believe that I'm retired but have so much going on. Kids, new testimonies, learning to budget by the month instead of the week, keeping house, wow. But more and more it is shown to me that...prayer works! It's weird too, my flesh is disabled but my mind hasn't caught up with that fact yet, Lol!

 

[Edward]

The texture of SPAM says that it isn't real meat, so...it's Something Posing As Meat?

 

[JohnDB]

Spam is real meat...
Certified Pork.
It's a difference in how the animals are treated and fed vx normal pork production resulting in the possibility of selling it fresh vx canned.

 

[Edward]

Oh, I know. I was just kidding. Trying to figure out what SPAM really means. I've heard that it is pork shoulders.