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Southern food (?) questionnaire
Aug. 10th, 2020 08:09 amI got this from Sovay. Some of the spacing problems are because I cut and pasted it at least twice, including in and out of Word. I've spent a long time already, and won't bother to fix it.
I did not become a vegetarian until I was 19, so I have a foundation of traditional (sort of) southern cooking. It can't actually be about southern cooking, though, because there is no question about barbecue. I have added that (it's #41).
Have you ever:
1. Made biscuits from scratch?
Not the UK kind. US, sure, many variants, including using self-rising biscuit flour, and in the 1970s, the whole wheat ones from the NYT Natural Foods cookbook. I am not going to buy an air fryer, but I really like this food video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU57AjK2fA4
2. Fried fresh okra?
Once or twice. The last time I ate it was probably February, from the cafeteria near my parents.
3. Made sourdough bread?
I don’t think so. My vague recollection is that I couldn’t get starter to start.
4. Fried chicken?
Doubtful, although I did have to do some some sort of pan sautéing for a dish for the French Club dinner in about 1973.
5. Made spaghetti sauce from scratch?
Sure, many times, many ways, although for years it was just the recipe on the back of the tomato paste can. In the 1990s we made my mother-in-law’s recipe that includes ground vegetables, made in a blender, but decided that it’s too much work. I like plain tomato puree just as well, although Arthur prefers commercial sauce.
6. Made any kind of yeast bread?
Many times.
7. Baked a cake from scratch?
Yes.
8. Made icing from scratch?
Glaze, a long time ago. Not buttercream, I don’t think.
9. Cooked a pot roast with all the veg?
Never cooked any meat in a pot.
10. Made chili from scratch?
Yes, although meat eaters might not consider vegetarian chili as chili.
11. Made a meatloaf?
Oddly enough, yes, about a month ago. I was visiting my parents and was unwilling to get food from the cafeteria out of virus fears, so I bought ingredients and made meatloaf, one of the things they like.
12. Made scalloped potatoes
Yes.
13. Made mac/cheese from scratch?
Yes, both the quick-and-dirty way (make the cheese sauce in a pan, pour it over the noodles) and the baked in the oven way.
14. Made a jello salad?
Might have helped, when I was little.
15. Made peanut brittle?
No.
16. Made fudge?
Don’t think so. I think the only candy I’ve made that requires a candy thermometer and pouring out onto a marble slab is butter mints.
17. Made cookies from scratch?
Yes, including every few weeks during the late unpleasantness.
18. Started from dried beans?
Yes. Sometimes soaked overnight, sometimes quick-soak plus pressure cooker.
19. Cooked a pot of greens?
Yes, including making it fake southern by using vegetarian bacon substitute, but that's been a long time. There are Kenyan and Ethiopian recipes I took up with when I was reading books about their marathoners.
20. Made cornbread from scratch?
Yes. Cornbread to me has little or no sugar, but I also love the corn muffins that are sweet. They are just in a different category for me.
21. Made a pie dough from scratch?
Yes. For years I used a Fannie Farmer recipe, but the recipe I like best is from a web site that feels a little creepy to me. By any sensible definition I *am* a housewife, and I don’t object to joy, but there is something about the vibe that worries me. It is good crust and pretty easy, though. For the apple pie in question, I use a lot less sugar.
https://joyfilleddays.com/perfect-apple-pie-using-an-oil-crust-pastry/
22. Cooked a whole turkey?
No
23. Snapped green beans and cooked them?
Yes, but now I usually cut them instead of snapping them.
24. Made mashed potatoes from scratch?
Yes. Regular or sweet.
25. What's the most people you have (alone) prepared a whole meal for?
Maybe eight?
26. Poached an egg?
Don’t think so, but I’ve done the weird thing in a microwave.
27. Made pancakes from scratch?
Yes, but one of the coronavirus discoveries has been instant pancake mix, which I don’t think I had ever used before.
28. Roasted vegetables in the oven instead of boiling them?
Yes, but I hardly every boil vegetables except for a few specific items for my parents. Steam, most often.
29. Made fresh pasta?
I have watched it in a friend’s kitchen.
30. Made croissants from scratch?
Can’t even imagine.
31. Made tuna salad?
I don’t think so, but I’ve made a tuna casserole in the distant past, so maybe?
32. Fried fish?
Been in the room where it happened.
33. Made baked beans?
Yes, vegetarian ones.
34. Made ice cream from scratch?
Does that mean with a churn? Yes.
35. Made jam or jelly?
Once with my grandmother (blackberry), once with apartment mates in Somerville in about 1977, because we had a grapevine behind the triple decker. I don’t know if the cranberry sauce I make counts.
36. Zested an orange or lemon?
I’ve grated the peal for recipes. I don’t have a zester.
37. Made grits from scratch?
Cooking slowly and stirring? Yes. A friend of Arthur’s was telling him the other day that one can make polenta in a pressure cooker, and the constant stirring is not required. Friend added cheese. Arthur pointed out that it was just cheesy grits, not a fancy dish. At the other extreme, I’ve made grits in a microwave (not the quick kind, but it was quicker than stovetop).
38. Made an omelet?
Yes, but not for decades.
39. Lived in a house without a dishwasher?
Most of my life. My mother had a portable dishwasher for a while (it rolled over to the sink and attached by a hose), but when it broke down, it became a flat surface in her kitchen, and was not replaced. Never lived with one since. There was a defunct dishwasher in the kitchen when we bought this house. After a while, we had it removed and replaced it with a bookcase for the cookbooks.
40. Eaten a bowl of cereal for supper?
Yes. The comic Adam once had a strip in which the kids felt sorry for the mom, who was out at a business dinner, because she missed the night
they had cereal for supper.
41. Vinegar or tomato-based sauce (this is the barbecue question I added)
Vinegar http://www.houseofswankclothing.com/north-carolina-bbq-shirt/
I did not become a vegetarian until I was 19, so I have a foundation of traditional (sort of) southern cooking. It can't actually be about southern cooking, though, because there is no question about barbecue. I have added that (it's #41).
Have you ever:
1. Made biscuits from scratch?
Not the UK kind. US, sure, many variants, including using self-rising biscuit flour, and in the 1970s, the whole wheat ones from the NYT Natural Foods cookbook. I am not going to buy an air fryer, but I really like this food video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU57AjK2fA4
2. Fried fresh okra?
Once or twice. The last time I ate it was probably February, from the cafeteria near my parents.
3. Made sourdough bread?
I don’t think so. My vague recollection is that I couldn’t get starter to start.
4. Fried chicken?
Doubtful, although I did have to do some some sort of pan sautéing for a dish for the French Club dinner in about 1973.
5. Made spaghetti sauce from scratch?
Sure, many times, many ways, although for years it was just the recipe on the back of the tomato paste can. In the 1990s we made my mother-in-law’s recipe that includes ground vegetables, made in a blender, but decided that it’s too much work. I like plain tomato puree just as well, although Arthur prefers commercial sauce.
6. Made any kind of yeast bread?
Many times.
7. Baked a cake from scratch?
Yes.
8. Made icing from scratch?
Glaze, a long time ago. Not buttercream, I don’t think.
9. Cooked a pot roast with all the veg?
Never cooked any meat in a pot.
10. Made chili from scratch?
Yes, although meat eaters might not consider vegetarian chili as chili.
11. Made a meatloaf?
Oddly enough, yes, about a month ago. I was visiting my parents and was unwilling to get food from the cafeteria out of virus fears, so I bought ingredients and made meatloaf, one of the things they like.
12. Made scalloped potatoes
Yes.
13. Made mac/cheese from scratch?
Yes, both the quick-and-dirty way (make the cheese sauce in a pan, pour it over the noodles) and the baked in the oven way.
14. Made a jello salad?
Might have helped, when I was little.
15. Made peanut brittle?
No.
16. Made fudge?
Don’t think so. I think the only candy I’ve made that requires a candy thermometer and pouring out onto a marble slab is butter mints.
17. Made cookies from scratch?
Yes, including every few weeks during the late unpleasantness.
18. Started from dried beans?
Yes. Sometimes soaked overnight, sometimes quick-soak plus pressure cooker.
19. Cooked a pot of greens?
Yes, including making it fake southern by using vegetarian bacon substitute, but that's been a long time. There are Kenyan and Ethiopian recipes I took up with when I was reading books about their marathoners.
20. Made cornbread from scratch?
Yes. Cornbread to me has little or no sugar, but I also love the corn muffins that are sweet. They are just in a different category for me.
21. Made a pie dough from scratch?
Yes. For years I used a Fannie Farmer recipe, but the recipe I like best is from a web site that feels a little creepy to me. By any sensible definition I *am* a housewife, and I don’t object to joy, but there is something about the vibe that worries me. It is good crust and pretty easy, though. For the apple pie in question, I use a lot less sugar.
https://joyfilleddays.com/perfect-apple-pie-using-an-oil-crust-pastry/
22. Cooked a whole turkey?
No
23. Snapped green beans and cooked them?
Yes, but now I usually cut them instead of snapping them.
24. Made mashed potatoes from scratch?
Yes. Regular or sweet.
25. What's the most people you have (alone) prepared a whole meal for?
Maybe eight?
26. Poached an egg?
Don’t think so, but I’ve done the weird thing in a microwave.
27. Made pancakes from scratch?
Yes, but one of the coronavirus discoveries has been instant pancake mix, which I don’t think I had ever used before.
28. Roasted vegetables in the oven instead of boiling them?
Yes, but I hardly every boil vegetables except for a few specific items for my parents. Steam, most often.
29. Made fresh pasta?
I have watched it in a friend’s kitchen.
30. Made croissants from scratch?
Can’t even imagine.
31. Made tuna salad?
I don’t think so, but I’ve made a tuna casserole in the distant past, so maybe?
32. Fried fish?
Been in the room where it happened.
33. Made baked beans?
Yes, vegetarian ones.
34. Made ice cream from scratch?
Does that mean with a churn? Yes.
35. Made jam or jelly?
Once with my grandmother (blackberry), once with apartment mates in Somerville in about 1977, because we had a grapevine behind the triple decker. I don’t know if the cranberry sauce I make counts.
36. Zested an orange or lemon?
I’ve grated the peal for recipes. I don’t have a zester.
37. Made grits from scratch?
Cooking slowly and stirring? Yes. A friend of Arthur’s was telling him the other day that one can make polenta in a pressure cooker, and the constant stirring is not required. Friend added cheese. Arthur pointed out that it was just cheesy grits, not a fancy dish. At the other extreme, I’ve made grits in a microwave (not the quick kind, but it was quicker than stovetop).
38. Made an omelet?
Yes, but not for decades.
39. Lived in a house without a dishwasher?
Most of my life. My mother had a portable dishwasher for a while (it rolled over to the sink and attached by a hose), but when it broke down, it became a flat surface in her kitchen, and was not replaced. Never lived with one since. There was a defunct dishwasher in the kitchen when we bought this house. After a while, we had it removed and replaced it with a bookcase for the cookbooks.
40. Eaten a bowl of cereal for supper?
Yes. The comic Adam once had a strip in which the kids felt sorry for the mom, who was out at a business dinner, because she missed the night
they had cereal for supper.
41. Vinegar or tomato-based sauce (this is the barbecue question I added)
Vinegar http://www.houseofswankclothing.com/north-carolina-bbq-shirt/
