Day 3 : Thanks for Home cooking

When I was a teenager , my Mother said something to me that really irritated me..
" You have to learn how to cook; how are you going to cook for your husband when you are married ?"
I remember grumpily answering something in the lines of " I'm not getting married ! ".
And Mother walked away with her truth( Moms are often correct)
And the daughter fumed...

Well, what can you expect when Mom brings home a lot of microwave or frozen foods ?

Convenience foods that are good when we were strapped for time.Despite occasional slow bake dishes like stews,meatloaf or a few family classics, we were a convenience food family.
Typically American.
A memory has come back to me ... when I was I kid, I just LOVED TV dinners. My fav was the Salisbury steak dinner, with the tater tots and the little cake.
Today, I'm thinking ; Yuck That totally disgusts me !

And that didn't make me learn much more than how to prepare these store baked goods and how to program the microwave/ or use the oven to heat them up.

What opened me up to new skills and eating habits was moving to France .

Yes; to the contrary to what a sassy 15 or 16 year old said to her Mom, her daughter did get married.Hey hey; that's life !
And, I started my "hands on" experience of French home cooking.

I need not to explain that France has an extensive culinary tradition. There are a lot of restaurants here which can serve some sophisticated cooking.Cooking is considered an art form here, which I agree with. It is an art to cook and serve excellent food.But, in my everyday life, I have never been interested in copying the great chefs, like Monsieur Bocuse. (This image is borrowed...I'm not at all a groupie of his ! )




But,seeing where I started from ,I'm pretty happy with cooking basic & simple meals.

Although working Moms in France are also tending to fall into the convenience patterns, many French still enjoy preparing homemade dishes, such as on the weekends.The French also use a lot more fresh veggies in their preparations than we ever did at my house.Going to the market is a deep rooted tradition here, and you can find beautiful fresh produce.

I did a lot of learning on my own, for better or worse.I also used books,newspaper or mag recipes or the occasional advice from MIL.Now, the last source was as scarce as snow in July.MIL did install a few tips, but she was not the type to pass on favorite family recipes.
So, I basically got on by myself...

And through the years, I have learned many things.

That salad is much more than bits of iceberg lettuce topped with goo... I make my own vinaigrette and vary the greens. Or potatoes not ice hard bits to be soaked up in oil... I can bake potatoes in the oven, or make my own mashed potatoes.
Homemade Mayonnaise too, which I learned how to do from my husband ! It's nothing like the white and rather bland industrial Mayonnaise back in America.
It's tangy and very tasty.

One of my favorites is cooking stuffed veggies. By taking taking out the pulp of tomatoes or zucchini & filling them with meat, onions & seasonings, you have a complete meal.You can serve accompanied with rice.



I also steam bake some veggies like chicory,broccoli or artichokes until they are tender.
I have also done some homemade desserts, even if my husband's diabetes tends to make me tone down this part of cooking.A very simple homemade favorite of mine still has to still be apple pie with cinnamon !

No ; I don't think I'm gifted at all...
I just try things and do them over if needed.It's all trial and error...And yes,I have learned to enjoy cooking.Even if I can't cook everything and I still have some preparations that I would like to try.
So, after 18 years of hands on experience I do heartily say,:

"There's nothing like home cooking ! "