As it's quiet on here at the moment, who's up for a bit of a discussion.
I only saw part of Jamie Olivers new series but am confused, or maybe it's just me. Do people really live on takeaway/ready meals every day of the week? Are people not eating together at the table every night as a family? Jeez, one 8 year old didn't know how to use a knife and fork properly.
I learned to cook from my mum, who learned from her mum etc etc etc. My daughter learned from me and my son is learning from me too. I remember standing next to my mum in the kitchen with her explaining what she was doing, or I was just watching her.
I know that people lead busy lives, often with both parents working, i've done it myself for many years. But, to my way of thinking, that is no excuse not to cook fresh food for dinner. A meal for 4 can be prepared, cooked and ready to eat in half an hour. There are thousands of receipes out there.
So why, in your opinion, are people not cooking their children proper food? Is it laziness, they don't know how to do it (one woman of about 30 years of age didn't know what boiling water in a pan looked like).
What are your thoughts?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... ink.oliver
New Jamie Oliver series
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter, Chief Spud
Hi Lizzie
I haven't seen the programme - fortunately, because it would have made my blood boil!
Your description of it reminds me of peoples reactions a few years ago when there was a contaminated baby-food scare. Indignant (or should that be 'ignorant') mothers being interviewed on TV were asking what on earth they were supposed to do, how could they possibly feed their little darlings if the tins / jars weren't safe to use. I remember one of them saying something along the lines of "maybe our grandmothers would have known what to do, but in this day and age ....." I was a young mother myself at the time, happily mashing up 'normal' food for my two sons, and couldn't believe what I was hearing.
Those must be the same women who today still struggle with anything more challenging in the kitchen than using a can opener! Not much chance of their children learning to cook from them.
I often wonder what would happen now if some kind of disaster meant that ready-meals and takeaways weren't available. Would these people starve to death?
I agree with you that a good healthy meal can be made really quickly - in less time than it would take to go out to get a takeaway for those of us who don't have these things on our doorstep, and for a fraction of the price.
I don't know what the answer is, unless proper cookery classes are reintroduced in school.
At least your children, and mine, still know how to cook. Let's hope they teach the next generation.
I haven't seen the programme - fortunately, because it would have made my blood boil!
Your description of it reminds me of peoples reactions a few years ago when there was a contaminated baby-food scare. Indignant (or should that be 'ignorant') mothers being interviewed on TV were asking what on earth they were supposed to do, how could they possibly feed their little darlings if the tins / jars weren't safe to use. I remember one of them saying something along the lines of "maybe our grandmothers would have known what to do, but in this day and age ....." I was a young mother myself at the time, happily mashing up 'normal' food for my two sons, and couldn't believe what I was hearing.
Those must be the same women who today still struggle with anything more challenging in the kitchen than using a can opener! Not much chance of their children learning to cook from them.
I often wonder what would happen now if some kind of disaster meant that ready-meals and takeaways weren't available. Would these people starve to death?
I agree with you that a good healthy meal can be made really quickly - in less time than it would take to go out to get a takeaway for those of us who don't have these things on our doorstep, and for a fraction of the price.
I don't know what the answer is, unless proper cookery classes are reintroduced in school.
At least your children, and mine, still know how to cook. Let's hope they teach the next generation.
My daughter started university a few weeks ago and the topic of food has come up there. She was amazed at peoples lack of knowledge. Out of 40 students on the course, only 3 know how to cook basic healthy food. She realises now what I have been doing all these years and just how fortunate she is.
What is worrying me more is that she is studying nursing.
I am seriously considering giving them lessons on how do cook easy, nutricious cheap meals from fresh produce. I reckon that I can charge them £200 each (around 20 students) for an 8 week course, covering main meals and puds and still be quids in
What is worrying me more is that she is studying nursing.
I am seriously considering giving them lessons on how do cook easy, nutricious cheap meals from fresh produce. I reckon that I can charge them £200 each (around 20 students) for an 8 week course, covering main meals and puds and still be quids in
Lots of love
Lizzie
Lizzie
Sounds like a good business opportunity!
I have a stepdaughter who is a nurse, and she says they are have the unhealthiest lifestyles you can imagine - a case of 'do as I say, not as I do'! Always popping out for a cigarette, snacking all day on chocolate bars etc.
I know my eldest son was going to be ok when on his second night at university he phoned to ask me how to cook a trout Not your average student fare!
I have a stepdaughter who is a nurse, and she says they are have the unhealthiest lifestyles you can imagine - a case of 'do as I say, not as I do'! Always popping out for a cigarette, snacking all day on chocolate bars etc.
I know my eldest son was going to be ok when on his second night at university he phoned to ask me how to cook a trout
Not your average student fare!-
oldherbaceous
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Dear Lizzie, i think it has a lot to do with the constant brainwashing the clever advertising people bombard people with, the so called better living.
Just as they are starting to get on the bandwaggon, that fresh fruit and veg are now so good for us, as if we dont already know this, we have been eating it for years
Just as they are starting to get on the bandwaggon, that fresh fruit and veg are now so good for us, as if we dont already know this, we have been eating it for years
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.
There's no fool like an old fool.
There's no fool like an old fool.
I was thinking good business opportunity too. I have an expensive trip coming up next year. With the proceeds, I could go to a few more gigs, and stay in 5* hotels too That would make me one seriously happy bunny 
My daughter is still living at home but takes her lunch to uni with her. She went to get a chicken sandwich and they wanted £2.50 for it. She asked them if it was free range and they didn't know, so she told them to stuff it.
As you say, it's a case of do as i say, not as I do. But Sian believes you have to practice what you preach. She has to be careful what she eats anyway cos she's dairy intolerant.
I remember mashing up my kids food in a little magimix when they were babies. They didn't have jars at all. I don't see why people HAVE to be told to eat fruit and veg................surely it's common sense. My late Nanna (who lived till she was 95) always said a bit of what ya fancy does ya good.
It's great to have the odd fish supper out the chippy, or the odd chinese. But who knows what's in it. I know that, after anything out of the chippy, it always starts my guts off and i have cramps for days afterwards cos i'm not used to eating the fat or the MSG.
I'm going to talk to Sian later about my little idea and see what she thinks. I don't mind teaching them cos they have to learn somewhere.
One woman on the show didn't know how to peel a spud
That would make me one seriously happy bunny
My daughter is still living at home but takes her lunch to uni with her. She went to get a chicken sandwich and they wanted £2.50 for it. She asked them if it was free range and they didn't know, so she told them to stuff it.
As you say, it's a case of do as i say, not as I do. But Sian believes you have to practice what you preach. She has to be careful what she eats anyway cos she's dairy intolerant.
I remember mashing up my kids food in a little magimix when they were babies. They didn't have jars at all. I don't see why people HAVE to be told to eat fruit and veg................surely it's common sense. My late Nanna (who lived till she was 95) always said a bit of what ya fancy does ya good.
It's great to have the odd fish supper out the chippy, or the odd chinese. But who knows what's in it. I know that, after anything out of the chippy, it always starts my guts off and i have cramps for days afterwards cos i'm not used to eating the fat or the MSG.
I'm going to talk to Sian later about my little idea and see what she thinks. I don't mind teaching them cos they have to learn somewhere.
One woman on the show didn't know how to peel a spud
Lots of love
Lizzie
Lizzie
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Shallot Man
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Did |Jamie have to swear so much, or is it the in thing these days 
When my daughter was at uni she shared a house and one girl turned up with a term's worth of frozen meals. I wonder if her mother provided her with a freezer as well!
My husband works at the local university and takes his own lunch - sandwich, home grown tomatoes, apples etc. Students turn up at lunchtime meetings with an M&S sandwich, bag of crisps, cake and bottle of orange juice - and then say they've got no money!
When he was a student he bought bread, butter and cheese and made his own lunch even then. They didn't have communal kitchens then.
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Granny
My husband works at the local university and takes his own lunch - sandwich, home grown tomatoes, apples etc. Students turn up at lunchtime meetings with an M&S sandwich, bag of crisps, cake and bottle of orange juice - and then say they've got no money!
When he was a student he bought bread, butter and cheese and made his own lunch even then. They didn't have communal kitchens then.
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Granny
when we were looking at apartments here (new york city) i was horrified at the kitchens (or lack thereof). the realtor (in very patronizing tones) told me new yorkers don't cook, they eat out for every meal. (??!)
up until i became pregnant with #2, i made hubby lunches. his co-workers noticed one day... but instead of teasing him, they were jealous.
i have a 40 yr old friend here who didn't know how to cook. anything. ...i taught him how to read a cookbook. that helped. he still occasionally calls me in a panic. i just bought a cast iron 6 inch skillet. i'm going to teach my 4 year old how to make scrambled eggs as his christmas present.
up until i became pregnant with #2, i made hubby lunches. his co-workers noticed one day... but instead of teasing him, they were jealous.
i have a 40 yr old friend here who didn't know how to cook. anything.
...i taught him how to read a cookbook. that helped. he still occasionally calls me in a panic. i just bought a cast iron 6 inch skillet. i'm going to teach my 4 year old how to make scrambled eggs as his christmas present.oh, and to discuss your question in original post... i'm self-taught, mostly. my mom could only cook (badly) from a cookbook. i think her mom was too tired to teach her. that, or it was a brave new feminist world, where women could be more than housekeepers. rah!
problem is, someone has to cook. but as long as it's "women's work" and anything that is labled "women's work" is disrespected, anyone who seeks respect from others is going to avoid it.
i think a lot of people take pride in saying i'm too busy/important to cook/clean/ watch the children... so they pay others to do it... or it doesn't get done.
i'm a great cook, but i can't clean. i hate it, and i'm not good at it, and i delight in being able to afford to pay others to do it. but it's also a little embarrassing that i don't know how to clean my bathroom (well).
problem is, someone has to cook. but as long as it's "women's work" and anything that is labled "women's work" is disrespected, anyone who seeks respect from others is going to avoid it.
i think a lot of people take pride in saying i'm too busy/important to cook/clean/ watch the children... so they pay others to do it... or it doesn't get done.
i'm a great cook, but i can't clean. i hate it, and i'm not good at it, and i delight in being able to afford to pay others to do it. but it's also a little embarrassing that i don't know how to clean my bathroom (well).
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Chantal
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I saw this for the first time last night, or at least I saw half of it, 'cos I was so fed up with the swearing, mainly from Jamie, that I turned off and went to bed. I asked Tim why he thought there was so much swearing, was it because Jamie thought that's how people talk up North and he said it was the "Gordon Ramsey effect". Ramsey has made a name for himself by being foul mouthed and Jamie is (sadly) following.
As for the trainees on the show, what a surly bunch they all were!
Not impressed and not watching again.
As for the trainees on the show, what a surly bunch they all were!
Not impressed and not watching again.
Chantal
I know this corner of the earth, it smiles for me...
I know this corner of the earth, it smiles for me...
What do you folk think of Valentine...Thingy (can't remember his name)? I saw his series advertised and thought 'Noooo, not another f*****g celebrity TV chef, this time telling what is in season to eat, as if we didn't already know, grumble grumble'... I only watched the prog because I was semi-comatose at the time and couldn't find the remote 'off' switch. 
But actually I find his apparently genuine enthusiam rather engaging, and I like his no-faffing-about style of cooking.
Some of the fancy fiddely camera work annoys me though.
But actually I find his apparently genuine enthusiam rather engaging, and I like his no-faffing-about style of cooking.
Some of the fancy fiddely camera work annoys me though.
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PLUMPUDDING
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I also like Valentine's programme. He's a bit blood thirsty though, blasting all those poor creatures. It did cross my mind that the Wood pigeon on my bird table might be quite tasty though after watching him cook one. It is nice and tame too so shouldn't be too hard to shoot. No really I couldn't.