I had a stepmother -- it was my unfaithful father's fifth marriage, or
something ridiculous like that -- whose "cooking" was an absolute
nightmare. She couldn't eat seafood (she claimed it gave her an
allergic reaction), and her favorite food was McDonald's effin'
hamburgers -- so I never had high hopes any time she "cooked," in fact
I dreaded such occasions. Let's see, she would make "pesto potatoes"
which were raw in the middle. She would make "curry" which consisted
of an incorent mishmash of spices thrown into a frying pan. She made
vegetable "dishes" which never had any seasoning and were invariably
undercooked. It was all a nightmare. Worse yet, my father, who was
despite his numerous flaws once a great cook, began to dumb his cooking
down to accomodate my stepmother. He would omit spices and seafoods
from dishes such as "paella" and "bouillabaise." These are terrible
memories -- and the culinary aspects of them are the worst!