Janet Bostwick wrote:
> "Steve Calvin" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > Today is seems as though the number of people who routinely cook
from
> > scratch is dwindling. People are migrating to canned stews,
spaghetti
> > sauces, sauces in general, soups, etc. I know quite a few people
who
> > don't cook, period. They either do take out, go out, TV-"dinners",
frozen
> > stuff like pot-pies, and even premade and frozen PB&J sandwiches
for gawd
> > sakes! Now I admit that I don't routinely make bread but I pretty
much
> > make much everything else "the old fashioned way."
> >
> > Anyone else noticing a decline in folks like us who enjoy cooking
and make
> > the time necessary to indulge ourselves?
> >

Many have noticed this - see Marion Cunningham's recent cookbook, Lost
Recipes - she talks about this in all her work, but that book is really
a polemic against this phenomenon.

> We went to look at ranges at a owner-operated appliance store--the
kind
> where they have stuff on the floor but also have books that you can
order
> from. I was asking about a range and the first thing the owner asked
me was
> "Do you cook?" I must have looked startled, because he explained
that he
> had different ranges that he recommended to people that really cooked
things
> instead of those people that used them for heating foods. I had
never
> considered that concept before.
> Janet

Another reference - the New Yorker magazine profiled the Viking stove
company last year, and one thing they noted was how many people putting
in $50,000 kitchens don't actually cook in them. Kitchen as trophy, I
guess.

I was reading a women's magazine in the doctor's office this morning
and saw yet another one of those "save money on your grocery bill using
coupons" articles. Of course I didn't read it. I save money on my
grocery bill by not buying sodas unless we're having a party; baking
the birthday cake from scratch; buying whole foods and cooking them
from scratch; making sandwiches for lunches instead of buying
"Lunchables"; and so forth. No I don't bake our bread regularly but
maybe after chemo is done I'll consider it. We keep plain rices and
pastas in the pantry, and can whip up interesting dishes with them in
no time - no need for boxed mixes with freeze dried herbs and weird
canned sauces.

In fact, our every day food is not all that fancy, but it's every bit
as tasty (ok, tastier) than the pre-cooked stuff in the supermarket
freezer or box.

Is it rocket science to people to figure out that eating this way is
not only cheaper, it's healthier? But it must be news to somebody,
because I keep seeing it everywhere. My kids' teachers at pre-school
and the babysitters think I'm pretty weird because I ask them to limit
sugary snacks and chips. I don't say they can't have any, I just say
they shouldn't have huge quantities. Weird, huh? And my kids don't know
about soft drinks. They just don't know about them. What a bunch of
pinko agitators we are.

Meanwhile -- My five year old Kenmore gas range with the self cleaning
oven, high BTU burner, and the low simmer burner is serving me quite
well, thank you. I'm not sorry I saved myself $1,000 over fancier
models when I bought it. If I won $50K in a contest to remodel my
kitchen, I don't think I'd upgrade much higher than what I've got
already, although six burners could be useful, and who wouldn't want a
griddle and a stovetop grill, etc. No, I would still probably use $15k
on the kitchen (cupboards, flooring and replacement appliances) and
spend the balance elsewhere in the house. I can cook just fine in the
kitchen as it is, thanks.

Leila