It looks delicious. But it is not breakfast food. Which does not mean it cannot be eaten as breakfast. But why did you make it as a breakfast food? Pre-swimming carbs?
Eggs, bacon, and starch? Sounds like breakfast food to me!
"You pirate movies!" is a hilarious response. But do you really want to admit that on the blog, hmm?
it is not breakfast food
Expand your mind, young Cala. A doobie, perhaps?
Damn, that looks very good. So, ogged, did you not make the red-wine sauce reduction thingy like in the recipe?
what's all that green shit on top? that's not carbonara.
did you not make the red-wine sauce reduction thingy like in the recipe?
I added a tiny bit of wine, so not really.
I have no trouble with pasta for breakfast personally and that looks lovely. Not vegetarian, but lovely.
(May I mention, since the weekend is the topic, that I got my hair cut short this weekend? (It was well below my shoulders, very thick and perpetually in a Deleuzian state of becoming-dreadlocks.) Now it's in a sort of androgynizing neo-bowl-cut that I really, really like and that has been met by absolute blankness at work. I can tell that everyone thinks it's a terrible mistake because I've gone from being "feminine" to being not. But actually, that was the whole point of the exercise--no more subconscious cues that since I am feminine-ly secretarial I will do lots and lots of unpaid affective labor.)
I know we've had a breakfast thread here before, but I'm trying to figure out something that I can eat every day that's tasty, relatively healthy, and doesn't require me to think too hard. Why is breakfast such a pain in the ass?
Where was that breakfast thread, anyway, where ogged decided to stick with the chicken salad?
8: Instant oatmeal. Not glamorous, but it works.
And ogged, I'm very disappointed in you.
Thinking of pasta and breakfast, you can make excellent things from left over past and a bit of egg in the morning. I'm sure there's a proper name for this.
And the last breakfast thread we had one of the requirements was that it be portable.
And the last breakfast thread we had one of the requirements was that it be portable.
Which seems like an emergency-only idea to me. If there is food, you should sit and enjoy it imo.
13: The pasta burrito has a lower profile than perhaps it should.
And ogged, I'm very disappointed in you.
It was a baseless accusation, of course, borne of desperation and confusion.
16: It's the perfect entre to pair with a chaco-taco for dessert.
tasty, relatively healthy, and doesn't require me to think too hard.
Eggwhite omelette.
You know what else is surprisingly good? Breakfast `sushi', by which I mean rice & nori with slices of (essentially) omlette rolled in them, etc.
The yolk is the best part, Tim. What are you, on crack?
12-somebody once made me something like this, and called it a spaghetti pancake I think.
The yolk is the best part, Tim. What are you, on crack?
This is your Barbary barbary speaking. Step out of the Old and into the New.
omelettes aren't particularly unhealthy made properly, SCMT. (assuming a reasonable number of eggs)
If quick and even (shudder) portable is needed, I'm a fan of fresh fruit and cheese.
23: Was it good? I've had a couple of really impressive ones. I'm not sure how fragile it is wrt type & quality of the leftover pasta.
22: Most people don't eat second breakfast these days.
Becks's thread about exercising in the morning reminded me of a breakfast question that I've been meaning to ask. I should really eat a little bit before exercising in the morning, but it's got to be just the tiniest and lightest thing, and it wouldn't substitute for eating afterwards. What would be good for this purpose? A nutrition bar? Actual powerbars are gross. Assume also that I want to avoid creating too many dishes and that I won't be awake.
28: Banana's are good for this if you like them.
Soup is reminding me a bit of Leon Kass here.
I actually really like eating a Clif bar before my workout, but some people don't like Clif bars. I find them delicious, especially my preferred flavor which is I think Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch?
8: Oatmeal. NOT instant. Regular oatmeal and water, three minutes in the microwave. Maple syrup and milk. Not half bad. If you want to get fancy, add shit like dried fruit or half a mashed banana or nuts or something.
Alternately, throw yogurt, juice, and a banana in the blender.
Not that I ever do these things, mind you. I sit and drink coffee for at least an hour or two.
28: I find that Luna bars are the tastiest of the nutrition bars. A banana would be a good choice, too.
28: I tend to have yogurt and some nuts before I workout and then something like a Cliff bar and a bagel afterwards.
B's right, instant oatmeal is a sin.
Soup is reminding me a bit of Leon Kass here.
I thought the very same thing.
m. leblanc, I've solved the breakfast problem by considering it my best meal of the day. A two-egg omelet with a little cheese and veggies on toast is not going to kill you, especially if you think about lighter meals for lunch and dinner. I'd much rather have something delicious and satisfying in the morning than be starving when I get home at night and end up chowing a bunch of takeout or whatever.
38. Sounds like a sensible fellow then. (I have no idea what you two are talking about)
when i was a kid i couldn't eat egg's yolk if boiled
and tomatoes and carrots also if boiled
i separated all of that from the plate
i don't eat breakfast i just drink soy milk
Instant oatmeal is a sign of the decay of our culture. There is also an important difference between Quaker 5-minute Oats and the store brand. The heart has reasons that reason cannot know.
The nutrition bar that I like from Cliff is the Mojo bar; I didn't love the Luna bar that I had, and I haven't tried the regular Cliff bars.
42: Ah, ok. Not a sensible fellow though. My complaint is from an entirely different direction. Mostly 'cause I just really like food.
39: I do do this sometimes, but I can't seem to keep it up every day. For a couple days, last week, I was making the following sandwich: Toast two pieces of whole-grain bread. Fry two eggs over-easy. Break the yolk of each egg onto a slice of the bread, and spread it around so it's like a condiment, laying the egg on top. Slice of cheese between them so it melts a little, couple slices of avocado, lettuce, tomato, and sprouts. Holy shit, that's good. But I'm lazy.
26-it was pretty good actually, certainly much better than I expected when I saw what was going on. Not entirely unlike matzoh brei, if that's familiar, with the addition of some nice seasonings and I think a little cheese, don't recall details.
Googling suggests this is less uncommon than I'd have thought. The pictures here are nice.
I got some rolled oats, ostensibly noninstant, and was surprised to discover that they're basically edible ten seconds after being plunged into water and heated, so I don't see the need for instant at all.
`though' s/b `then' in 2nd sentence of 45
I think it's good to have a few hard-boiled eggs in the fridge. I can skip the yolk, and I think that they make my brain a little bit more focused. This only works with hard-boiled eggs which fill me up in a certain way that other kinds do not.
leblanc, in her commitment to the yolk, shows herself to be insufficiently pro-choice. Must we make use of the fetus somehow? It's OK to just discard it.
46: Oooh, that sounds wonderful.
48 is exactly the reason for 37.
convenience foods are almost certainly a tradeoff of something else, so if they aren't actually more convient, what's the point?
You non-yolk people have lost your minds. If living well means eating eggs without yolks, I'll die young.
This only works with hard-boiled eggs which fill me up in a certain way that other kinds do not.
Does this come down to where you put them, or what?
Oh, and leblanc is exactly right about the yolks.
That looks really yummy. My first ever chicken carcass boiling went well, thanks for asking.
The amount of yolk-skipping evinced here is also bizarre to me.
Don't worry m.leblanc, living well does not mean avoiding yolks. Quite the opposite.
46: That sounds really good.
Not good for when you're lazy, but tasty all the same. Thin-sliced ham with swiss cheese and granny smith apple in a sandwich dipped in an egg milk mixture with nutmeg and grilled. The healthier version of this involves buying low-fat cheese, using egg whites only and cooking it in the microwave instead of grilling it.
13: one of the requirements was that it be portable.
There is a reason that God gave us Pop-Tarts, aka the white man's* breakfast burrito.
*And I mean real jello-loving white people, not latte-sipping coastal faggots.
Oh, and leblanc is exactly right about the yolks.
Posted by: ben w-lfs-n
I rest my case.
58: Yay for proper stock. Store bought stock (of any kind) almost universally sucks. Not saying everyone has the time or inclination, but stock is actually pretty easy to make.
Leftover spaghetti fried for a bit, scramble some eggs into it (chorizo optional), serve with pickapeppa, tamarind, or yucateco habanero sauce.
Thesis: breakfast defines ethnicity and even microethnicity. Which bread with which salami matters a lot in Europe, eg, and style-of-breakfast cereal is a subculture marker in the US. How many of you temple-of-my-body types know which is more chocolaty, cocoa pebbles or cocoa puffs? Traditional Japanese breakfast is unspeakable (Natto), and most imitation western there is, well, a surprise in the morning. With the exception of the sadly closed Catital Tokyu, where they served real, properly flaky croissants.
enjoy your breakfast peoples. I always feel sick in the morning and can't stomach much. My breakfast is coffee, maybe yogurt. Sometimes I force myself to eat a banana, but that's difficult.
I will admit that I sorted of hated the way it made my house smell. Sort of game-y or something.
Which is why we need more of a brunch culture, by the way. I'm OK by brunch.
Egg whites are gross; the only reason to *eat* an egg is the damn yolk.
(Also, poptarts are a guilty pleasure.)
I have a theory that one is either a sweet breakfast person or an egg breakfast person. I tend more towards the sweet. I could eat french toast with bacon on the side every morning, if I weren't too damn lazy to make it.
I contain multitudes and prefer both eggs and sweet with every breakfast.
latte-sipping coastal faggots
This is definitely the name of my next band.
Michael's right. Brunch is awesome. Breakfast is merely functional, if one can be bothered at all.
Sometimes I force myself to eat a banana
This is a very unpleasant visual image. You, frowning, trying to look away, etc.
Oranges and grapefruits come prepackaged and portable, create no dishes, and create the illusion of a flu-fighting prophylactic.
65: I married one of you people. I've spent a decade trying to feed Buck breakfast, because I wake up hungry. He wakes up nauseated.
He's developed defensive pancake-making skills: if he makes an elaborate breakfast on the weekend mornings, I'm distracted by eating it and don't try to feed him.
Some sort of homemade dip or spread on whole grain toast? That way you only have to do the work once a week or so. I'm content with cereal breakfast, but I like doing this as a snack or appeitzer--right now I have a white bean puree & a toasted almond-garlic-shallot paste in the fridge.
66: Tried veggie stock? Very easy, much faster, and also yummy.
Even throwing some vegetables into a pot of water makes for better stock than store-bought, I think. Couple weeks ago I made my I'm-sick-where-is-the-soup-of-my-childhood orzo and chicken broth soup, and man, that shit was delicious.
For anyone who's wondering, it's a great simple soup based on some seemingly standard Egyptian recipe that I couldn't find any mention of online. Chicken broth, cooked orzo, and lemon/lime. So fucking good. It's like Egyptian pho.
Which is why we need more of a brunch culture, by the way. I'm OK by brunch.
White people are OK by brunch. White people hipsters.
There is no hard and fast distinction between "sweet breakfast" and "egg breakfast". Consider: pancakes, waffles, matzo brei, even, depending on how you make it, french toast. All sweet. All eggy. All the time.
71: That probably depends on a) when you actually get up, and b) how long between then and breakfast.
Even throwing some vegetables into a pot of water makes for better stock than store-bought, I think.
Exactly right.
There's definitely a divide between the sweet-tolerant and sweet-intolerant breakfast people. I can't stand sweets in the morning. While on vacation with Mom, we went to Denny's for breakfast and she made me exchange one of my pieces of wheat toast for one of her pre-syruped pancakes, and I did so very grudgingly, and only out of respect for my elders.
Snark usually makes us a quesadilla and coffee. There is some completely unfancy supermarket tortilla brand that makes a "whole grain" version that I find surprisingly extra tasty.
The real thing I need is a ba;ance of sweet and savory. If I am having French toast I must also have hash browns or sausage or bacon. If my eggs have savory things in them, I must also have fruit or fruity yogurt. Balance in all things.
(this is of course idealized breakfast. Today I ate the toaster waffle scraps my kid didn't finish and a banana)
I like them both, but they are very different, and the protein-heavy breakfast is clearly better in terms of getting stuff done for the rest of the day.
I am definitely a savory, eggy breakfast person. Although I can incorporate a little sweet in the right places. My breakfast over the summer when I didn't have to be anywhere in the morning was scrambled eggs with pecorino romano and scallions, this asiago-peppercorn sourdough bread from TJ's, and fancy greek sour yogurt with honey. Mm.
matzo brei
My family's matzo brei is the savory kind, and I prefer it that way. I could go for some right now.
Yesterday I had cake for breakfast.
scrambled eggs with pecorino romano and scallions, this asiago-peppercorn sourdough bread from TJ's, and fancy greek sour yogurt with honey
Yup. I think you already know what to have for breakfast, you coy thing, you. That doesn't take but five minutes to make.
I rarely eat breakfast, but when I wake up with a growly stomach and a nasty mouth, I find that pickled herring is just the right thing.
The matzo brei itself isn't sweet. But then you put sweet sweet fruit preserves on it.
Although my "breakfast" in 85 was usually consumed at 11 am, which made it more like brunch. And then I would get hungry at 4:30 pm, which was a problem.
88 There's lots of fast stuff like that, if you've got the fridge & pantry stocked for it. Maybe not 5min, but 10 or so.
89: You're like a bear, Emerson. GROWR! NOM NOM!
88: You know what actually bugs me about this? Whenever I buy scallions, I almost always end up throwing most of them away. Because I never use more than a couple stalks or so. I feel bad. Does anyone know a good way to use up a bunch of scallions?
The matzo brei itself isn't sweet. But then you put sweet sweet fruit preserves on it.
You do, but I don't, because there is garlic.
real jello-loving white people, not latte-sipping coastal faggots.
Brilliant.
The trouble with French toast is the required planning. We generally don't have suitable bread in the house (crusty artisan bread makes shit French toast), and are even less likely to actually have more than a couple slices left by the weekend anyway.
With a modicum of planning, I buy a loaf of challah on Saturday and slice half of it up right away, so it stales sufficiently by Sunday morning.
Can anything be done with day-old baguette?
Keep them around despite wiltiness and throw them in the pot anytime you're making soup?
Yes! Throw them in soup (many kinds of soup will happily absorb quite a number of chopped scallions) or mashed potatoes.
94: Well, you can subs for onion in lots of things, which will use them up fast. You can use a bit of the green for garnish on loads of stuff, which is a nice touch if you'd otherwise just throw them out. We use tons in potstickers and some other savory mixes like that. I'll often throw 1 or 2 in a salad (not much by volume)
94: You can always put them in stock. I like them in salads, couscous, with tofu, etc. But the nice thing about making stock is that no veggies in the house need to die without having nourished you.
Pirate porno movies?
"Put it in my arrrse!"
kobe would like soup, but AWB got there first.
96: Day-old-baguette makes great french toast. Cut it at a sharp diagonal for bigger slices, and soak in the custard for quite a while, to make sure the bread's really saturated, then fry slowly, not too hot, so the outside isn't burnt before the inside's set. Mmmm.
old bread of many kinds can go in a yummy savory bread pudding.
Store bought stock (of any kind) almost universally sucks
Some is okay; there was a comparison of store-bought chicken stocks in Cooks Illustrated a year or so ago. Helpful to know, because it's easy to use way more stock than you can easily make.
I'm totally stealing the carbonara-for-breakfast idea. Happily I note that there are prosciutto ends in the fridge, for some reason.
My weekend? 15 loads of laundry. Fuck.
I chop them up and put several pieces in each compartment of the ice cube tray, and then make scallion ice cubes. When I'm making miso soup I can throw in one of the cubes and voila! just a couple of scallion pieces for my one serving of soup.
Miso soup is good for breakfast, actually.
Does anyone know a good way to use up a bunch of scallions?
You can cut the white and light green portions into inch-long sections and use them as a veg in stir-fry. Garnish with the dark green parts, sliced thin
You can use a bunch in some yogurt-ey dip/tzatziki/raita type thing and serve with a simple piece of grilled/broiled chicken or fish.
Cook up some frozen gyoza and make your own dipping sauce, with excessive amounts of scallions.
Use as a substitute for onions/garlic in guacamole.
That said, it's almost inevitable to throw away scallions: you most often need the dark green part, which go bad first. My salvation is buying them at the Chinese grocery, where they're $0.33; I can live with throwing away 16 cents' worth of scallions each week.
106: I saw the CI article, and tried some of them. It's good information to have, because some store boughts are damn near inedible. But still, the best store bought stocks top out at mediocre, in my opinion, where as the worst home made stocks start there. Your right about volumes though, unless you have a habit of freezing etc.
I also just noticed that Ogged's recipe doesn't include any pepper. Isn't that pretty much one of the defining ingredients of carbonara?
15 loads of laundry.
Is this your new prison job, or what?
I also just noticed that Ogged's recipe doesn't include any pepper.
Sorry, forgot to list it. Used a bunch of pepper.
I'm stealing 107 too. Excellent!
Is this your new prison job, or what?
Feels like it. It was either do all the goddamn laundry or file for divorce.
damn. I can't envision having 15 loads worth of clothes.
Children wear and dirty an astonishing amount of clothes. And each garment is small, so a load of wash means four times as much folding as an adult load of wash.
Yay! I came up with the idea all by myself!
I'm a bit of a fanatical freezer.
107: Blume, do you put any water in with the scallions? Also where do you buy your miso stuff? dashti or whatever it's called.
savory bread pudding.
I never think of this.
Part of my problem is that I plan most of our meals for the week, leaving maybe Thursday and Friday unplanned. But at least one of those nights will be straight leftovers, and the other gets an activity. Even if they don't, I may have a pretty motley collection of ends to conjure into a meal - I may be able to use up the rice and scallions, but dried-out baguette can't fit in there as well.
I was actually proud of some odds-and-ending I did just last week, but have already forgotten what it was.
At the moment my kitchen is utterly disassembled, so I'm relying on reheated soup and eating out to get us to Saturday, when, plumbing and drywall willing, we will be mostly-functional again.
Perhaps I should go now.
Yeah, I believe it. I just can't see it in my minds eye, if you follow.
Then again I got through most of my twenties with about a load or a load and a half total, excluding a couple of rarely worn things.
You do, but I don't, because there is garlic.
Tell me more.
83: The real thing I need is a balance of sweet and savory.
OK, pop-tarts with salsa then.
(Actually pop-tarts are an unlikely poster child for data warehouse vendors. Supposedly, Wal-Mart used data mining techniques to determine that they are one of the most sought for items after hurricanes and have stocked stores accordingly when circumstances warrant.)
Jesus also irons and starches everything, including the underwear, because his girls get only the best. Jesus is not like you and me. We are mere mortals, but Jesus is The Jesus.
Happily I note that there are prosciutto ends in the fridge, for some reason.
Would this work for carbonera? My experience with proscuitto ends has been that they're way too fatty with too chewy of meat for anything but soup making or stewing. Also, even if you can super-thinly slice it, I have been well informed by my bacon-loving Italian friend that proscuitto does not fry up well.
After I moved into my own apartment almost two years ago now, I made a two-egg omelette, bacon, a bagel and juice something like five days out of seven for breakfast; and cereal, a bagel and juice the other two days. Since then, though, the novelty of cooking has worn off, and sleeping in and/or having more time to read or whatever in the morning has become more attractive. Now it's more like cereal etc. five days a week and an omelette the other two.
I only need food in the morning if I'm actually doing stuff. If I tried to go to work on a completely empty stomach, I think I'd be completely non-functional until I get lunch. OTOH, if it's a weekend or vacation and I can just spend the day reading or playing computer games, I probably won't bother eating until afternoon.
Jesus also irons and starches everything, including the underwear, because his girls get only the best. Jesus is not like you and me. We are mere mortals, but Jesus is The Jesus.
Please, y'all, join my food wiki and put this stuff up. The address is linked from my name and the pass is wmybsalb (easy to remember).
129: I've been meaning to do this, really. I'll make a note for self.
speaking of bacon: I was at the Tampa Bay airport last week & got served a club sandwich with raw bacon. They were all: "no, it's been cooked already"--meaning, I think, that they saw "pre-cooked" on the package & decided their work was done. What the hell is that? I did not actually eat it, obviously.
It's fun! I've put up a couple of favorite recipes, and people have said they liked them! And I have my eye on some to make once I start making dinner more often.
131: Like, limp pink and white fatty uncooked bacon? For real? That's absolutely disgusting.
Breakfast is very optional for me: if I start working before I arrange eating, I'll just keep going til noon, no problem.
I have found no truth whatsoever to the story that a good breakfast is key to weight loss. I suppose it's possible that metabolic things are happening that I don't know about, but if my first meal is lunch, I eat a normal or even small lunch, then the same afternoon snacking I always do (but shouldn't), then dinner and bed. I have trouble believing that fewer calories can translate into less weight loss.
That is really disgusting, Katherine. Did you get something else instead, send it back or leave in indignation?
131: And it probaby cost $18 and they were like, "That seems reasonably priced to us, why do you ask?"
I signed up, but haven't actually followed it at all, just been meaning too. I have been pretty busy.
120: BG-- I fill them up with water, so it's ice cubes with little scallion pieces suspended in them. The miso I used to buy at the Japanese grocery in Central Square, but it's closed now. I don't have any particular kind to recommend or anything, though - I usually just go for something golden tan looking, not too dark. I rarely use broth or seaweed or anything; it's a convenience food for me, somewhere between a soup and a hot beverage.
I have found no truth whatsoever to the story that a good breakfast is key to weight loss.
Me too. I think it varies from person to person. But I'm really not built to eat in the morning.
131: Oh my God. Oh my God. Like, accidentally undercooking? It happens! But not cooking? People who have never seen or eaten bacon should not be in charge of preparing bacon.
somewhere between a soup and a hot beverage.
And it's convenient, you say? I am going to the japanese grocery soon, I think.
m. leblanc: you can also chop all the scallions and freeze them in baggies. Bonus: when you're ready to use them, they're already chopped.
This entire conversation is making me miss the days when I was single, and could be all picky about food and had time to do shit like make shallot ice cubes, and room to store all these expensive yummy ingredients.
It's making me miss the days when I had eggs, 'cause I want pancakes.
143: I'd have to guess it's the kid-ness, not the single-ness that usually changes that. True in your case?
I find I cook/eat much better on average when I'm living with someone, because it's easy to not bother on your own.
I was inspired to make myself cornmeal pancakes and bacon just now, I confess.
And it's convenient, you say?
You can even get the instant kind in a bag, I think. Just add water!
I like the red miso too. I find it's better with the seaweed & tofu, but as said above it's not exactly needed if you're lookign for something quick. Adding a little mirin is nice, to.
BG, you should be able to find dashi at any Asian market, certainly any Japanese market. It's what you use for making the stock into which you put the miso paste. Wikipedia entry on miso soup here. When I lived in Japan, usual breakfast was miso soup, rice and a couple of little grilled fish, I'm not sure what kind. God, I crave that right now.
145: It's actually the coupledness, for me. Mr. B.'s German, remember, and comes from a large family. His idea of shopping is to buy a bag of potatoes, a bag of carrots, a lot of meat, maybe a bag of apples, white bread, and a lot of canned tomatoes. Whereas mine (if I'm single) is to poke around and buy small amounts of different cheese, a couple pieces of seasonal fruit, etc. Once upon a distant past I'd make shopping lists with recipe ideas jotted down on the opposite side. Now it's meat, starch, and maybe a vegetable if there are any in the house that aren't already rotting.
Sigh.
You can even get the instant kind in a bag, I think. Just add water!
You can. And it's better than most instant soups, for sure. But the `real' thing is very easy to make anyway, so maybe not a big win for the packets.
151 continued: Oh, plus, I really *like* cooking for myself.
I'm going to ask my godparents who are Japan fanatics where they get theirs. Theirs a large Asian (Chinese) supermarket down the street from me, but it's hard to find things in there. I think that there are some Japanese-specific stores which are smaller, but I don't know where they are exactly. Cambridge used to have almost a Japanese mall at one point.
141: FWIW, if you keep that tetrapak tofu in the house, you can make it more soup, less beverage. Also, the suitable tofu (kombu?) is dried, of course, so that's a pantry staple. Apparently actually eating the kombu is optional, but I like it - it's a bit thick, so biting into it is almost meaty.
When I'm single, I cook glorious things. When I'm dating, my partners either prefer to do all the cooking themselves or they insist on going out to eat. Friends let me cook for them, but boys I'm dating rarely do. The guy I dated last summer would just lie in bed until I was done eating the breakfast I'd made for us, and then he would get up and go home.
I am extremely kitchen-frustrated. I'm a really good cook, too! Is it unreasonable to expect that someone who has sex with me will also eat food that I make?
151/153: Ah, that's different then. I like cooking for myself too, but find if I'm single I'll end up with lots of cheese/fruit/nuts dinners if I'm busy (still yummy). I cook a fair bit for myself, but there's also the problem of amounts and too many leftover if you want to make a lasagna or something.
We're lucky though --- both like cooking and eating much in the style you mention, so we've got lots of bits and pieces. We always shop with recipe ideas on the back side of the list.
The guy I dated last summer would just lie in bed until I was done eating the breakfast I'd made for us
Where do you find these people?
Fucking New York, man. Get me out of here.
Is it unreasonable to expect that someone who has sex with me will also eat food that I make?
Not at all. Almost a requirement, I'd say.
I think when I've been single I'm more likely to go into very elaborate weekend dishes, but for example these days I eat better on average weeknights.
Is it unreasonable to expect that someone who has sex with me will also eat food that I make?
For the love of god, no. The problem is that a lot of people are way too goddamn picky. After dating a lot of guys like this I became very shy about cooking for anyone. But with my current boyfriend, who will eat just about anything, save a few exceptions, it's nice that I can text him and say "I'm serving dinner at 7," not consult him, and we will eat it all up.
On the downside, he's not a breakfast person at all. This is tragic, because breakfast if any meal is my forte. Oh well. More food for me.
I would let you cook for me, AWB.
Fucking New York, man.
You keep on saying this. It's a big city! There's lots of uncrazy people here! You're just stuck in a particularly weird-ass social group you're pulling boyfriends from.
Me too, AWB. Actually, I really like being cooked for by anyone who's half-decent or better. Part of it is laziness; I like not thinking about what I want. Just serve me something, and I will eat it.
cheese/fruit/nuts dinners
See, that sounds awesome to me. I like that sort of eating.
Is it unreasonable to expect that someone who has sex with me will also eat food that I make?
Yes.
Tell me more.
For each person:
1 small clove garlic
1 sheet of matzoh, either plain or onion as you prefer
2 eggs
salt and pepper
butter
Mince the garlic with a pinch of salt, to the point of puree. Take the matzoh and break into slabs as for matzoh brei. Place in a bowl. Run hot water over the matzoh, as for matzoh brei, until the matzoh are softened. Drain, as for matzoh brei (that is, by putting your hand firmly over the matzoh and pouring out the water). In another bowl, beat the eggs with garlic, salt, and pepper. Pour eggs over softened matzo and stir gently to coat.
Heat butter in pan, as for matzoh brei. Fry egg-garlic-matzoh mixture, as for matzoh brei.
I haven't had sex with you, Ben.
Anyhoo, I think it's a control/romance thing. If you're dating in a not-forever way, you don't do things that will get you too emotionally involved. I can cook for people without feeling romantic about them, but I think dudes like to withhold w/r/t my cooking either because they're afraid they will start to feel romantic things or that I will. I have no such fear. I just like a nice breakfast.
Off to work!
There's lots of uncrazy people here!
Nah. Maybe before they got there. Then they change, and they fit right in, so no one notices, until it's said aloud to non NYers.
I would let you cook for me, even if you had had sex with me, AWB.
Here's a hypothesis about AWB's men. Maybe they perceive you running around in the kitchen cooking as a form of playing house, and it skeeves them? Or maybe you don't date men who are lazy enough to want to hang around all day, but instead want to get Out and About?
I like being cooked for, but I *hate* being fussed over. It's the rare person who can do the one without too much of the other, ime.
When I lived in Japan, usual breakfast was miso soup, rice and a couple of little grilled fish, I'm not sure what kind. God, I crave that right now.
My wife misses a lot of things about Japan, but I think it's safe to say that none of them are, as she calls it, "for breakfast... dinner again!"
171: I think I buy this, as at least a partial explanation. When I was dating, my cooking was always a sort of obvious selling point: Not only am I brilliant, handsome, and a great lover, but I also cook. But for a woman, it can totally give the vibe of "if you like my omelette, we'll go pick out curtains and a puppy this afternoon." I don't actually think it's common - at least among white people, cooking for each other is socially accepted - but it's a subtext that doesn't exist when the genders are flipped. (probably the negative subtext for the guy who cooks is that he's trying too hard/is too gay)
When I lived alone - both as a college student in a dorm single and as a bachelor in my late 20s - my socializing revolved around my cooking: Come over, friends and/or potential dates, and feast on my cooking, which is far too much for one person. I would cook too much for myself a couple days a week, then get really ambitious for friends on the weekend.
I have a funny (to me, at least) anecdote about having like a dozen people over to the dorm basement kitchen for an Easter feast.
165: It is awesome, and we probably do it once or twice a week anyway. However, 5 days in a row because I hadn't got my shit together or worked late and couldn't be bothered to cook for just me wasnt' so great....
Is it unreasonable to expect that someone who has sex with me will also eat food that I make?
The few times that circumstances have forced me to ask myself this question were when I was sleeping with women who were pretty much completely uninterested in dating me due to some of my personality attributes/flaws but liked the sex anyway. If you really want them to eat breakfast with you, you can up the stakes of "who wants to have breakfast less" by having your ex call you while the two of you are in bed to confirm your plans for later that day.
173 is a great way to socialize if you don't like the `scenes'. Come help me eat this ginormous stew/lasagna/whatever that I can't possibly eat by myself. With luck, someone will bring wine/salad/bread and away you go.
I knew people in college who had a standing weekly dinner night like this.
I might add that the cheese and fruit dinner can get expensive very quickly. Even if you start out with cheap cheeses, the desire for variety kicks in, and soon you're over $10/lb. It's pretty depressing to drop $15 on cheese and have it all gone the next day (not as depressing as seeing it get moldy a week later, but...).
175: sure, not every sexual relationship need be a breakfast relationship (or any other sort). AWB lament for finding someone who will do breakfast as well is fair though.
177: I don't see how it's any more depressing to drop $15 on a meals cheese than $15 on a meals meat, really.
176: Indeed. Actually, remembering back, I would often just start cooking myself something semi-ambitious (e.g., chicken in Greek tomato sauce with feta) and corral whoever was around to join me.
Having a GF at another college was excellent for my academic success, but I'm pretty sure that I missed out on a lot of action.
If what you wanted was more action, you should have had a GF or three at many colleges.
177: I spend $15 on meat for a meal maybe once a month, and even then, there's always leftovers or guests. Furthermore, I view cheese-buying as something almost staple-like: I buy cheese about once a week, and there's always something for snacking or drop-in guests. To go from cheese-poor to cheese-rich and back in 24 hours makes me sad.
182: Ah, ok, that makes sense. The only answer is to have more cheese. But I know what you mean, it's a staple for me too in that I've always got 3-5 kinds (and I'll make a special trip if we're getting low)
181: Where were you in 1990, when I needed that advice?
Actually, having the distant GF made me the "safe" guy freshman year, which was a net gain socially. And my grades really did drop once I started dating locally. But the optimal cutoff was probably sometime second year, not the middle of third year.
Does anyone do the supposedly-right thing with cheese, which is to wrap it in wax paper, not plastic? I find that it dries out too fast, although cheddar after a day or two in wax is distinctly tastier.
Since this is the food thread, I would like the remark that horchata was made by the gods to be eaten with spicy food, I swear to Allah.
When I buy the horchata, I end up putting twice as much salsa on my burrito. Yum.
I find that Glad "Press 'n' Seal" wrap is a good compromise wrapper. Cheese doesn't get all trapped and weepy as in tight plastic, but doesn't dry out as it does when I (rather than someone more adept) wrap it in waxed paper.
Does anyone do the supposedly-right thing with cheese, which is to wrap it in wax paper, not plastic?
Depends on your cheese, I find. Well-wrapped, cheddar, parmigiano, etc, will last a long time. The same cheeses wrapped in plastic go pretty nasty.
185: These girls http://www.houstondairymaids.com/ will cut to order and wrap in wax paper for you, so when I get stuff from them I always end up leaving it in wax paper. Often I'm too lazy, though I have a storage box in the fridge for just cheese.
184: Where were you in 1990, when I needed that advice? Probably best kept quiet.
I haven't had sex with you, Ben.
We all do eventually, AWB. You may as well get it over with sooner than later.
188: It also helps not to handle it (at least, not the part you're storing)
Also, I'd rather my cheese dry out than get slimy, I guess.
It also helps not to handle it
That never occurred to be. Seems like it would help.
I started caring about cooking because it's a comparatively inexpensive hobby given that one has to eat anyway.
shivbunny & I have a similar problem to B & Mr. B. He likes his meat & potatoes and could eat it every night of the week. Which is not enough variety or vegetables for me.
186: As in milk with cinnamon and vanilla, or some other version?
I am totally unaware of this, and totally intrigued.
I'm more careful with stuff like parm. reg. which will be around for a while. If it's a little wedge of manchego or whatever I know it's only going to be around a few days so I'm less worried about wrapping. Loose bag for those, often.
A trick I use is that if the cheese has been vacuum sealed in plastic, I cut off the piece I want with a sharp knife while it is still wrapped. Then, all that is exposed to air is the very end of the block of cheese.
194:
I got into cooking for much the same reason. That and the fact that the restaurants I could afford didn't cook very well. Unlike you guys and B/MrB we're very lucky in that she started off that way (limited food choices) by habit, but not really by inclination. So our food horizons eating together have been pretty much expanding since we met. This makes me very happy.
196: It's rice milk, not milk. At least the kind they serve in the Mexican restaurants I frequent has no actual milk, although it tastes milky. And it's a little sweet and cinnamony. So perfect for spicy Mexican fast food.
200 gets it right. No milk involved.
The powdered stuff in packets is horrible.
JRoth if you are ever in Oakland you can get horchata at Vera Cruz, the cheap Mexican place that used to be "Madonna M" and "Sultan's".
202: Yay. These are the sorts of weird adjustments we all make when living with someone, I guess.
175 is a totally awesome idea, though I'm no good at fighting passive-aggressive with passive-aggressive. The people I grew up around were just plain aggressive, so I tend to respond to wussiness/avoidance with disdain.
Maybe they perceive you running around in the kitchen cooking as a form of playing house, and it skeeves them?
It is true that most NYers simply don't cook and don't keep food in the house, so any amount of kitchen time beyond slapping PB on bread must look like girly-romantic fussing to them. What they don't know is that I cook a lot more elaborate things when no one's around.
probably the negative subtext for the guy who cooks is that he's trying too hard/is too gay
Really? My dream guy will be a total foodie and cook me amazing meals. He will also be smart, probably a doctor, devastatingly handsome, and good with my kid. He might also ride a motorcycle.
I like cooking for people, and don't think it's a big deal. Dude, it's just food. A guy who doesn't eat my cooking can go to hell! These guys don't deserve you, AWB!
Granted, over-fussiness is weird. But I also like being a good hostess, and I always set the table and blah blah. Then again, there are limits. My former roommate gave me a breakfast tray table for Christmas, so that that I could bring my boyfriend breakfast in bed. This is probably the worst present I have ever received in my life, if I used it for that purpose (I use it as a computer tray on the couch or to serve tea to guests). My boyfriend thinks it's a stupid idea too.
And he makes me (awesome) food all the time, and during my term paper hell will bring me home-cooked food in tupperwares before letting me go back to studying . And no, he is not closeted.
201: I just came back from biking (with Iris on the back! Awesome warm & sunny) in Oakland, and know exactly where Vera Cruz is; will try.
Breakfast in bed is a great concept; the question is, who the hell prepares it? Here we are, all loving and such in bed. There the kitchen is, all devoid of cooks.
Next generation Roomba should also bring breakfast in bed.
I hella love Oakland. I'm going running to Lake Temescal later. It helps burn off all the Bittersweet chocolate I eat.
I have been in a take-turns-making-breakfast-in-bed relationship. Love it. Whoever's awake first makes coffee, eggs, hash browns, toast, and fresh orange juice and brings it, with the paper, into bed. But you have to have a king-sized bed to make it fun, and I do not have a king-sized bed. That's one cooking thing I love doing and love having done to me with equal passion.
Sorry, BL. That's Oakland neighborhood, Pittsburgh PA. Home of the University of Pittsburgh, as well as our very own Ned (actually, he may live just outside the neighb, but he works there, so close enough).
AFAIK, no one in our Oakland ever says "hella."
My wife & I used to take turns getting up at 6:30 am with our daughter, which often involved making breakfast - does that count as romantic?
Wrong Oakland, Blettre.
No lakes here.
what bpl should have done is dare him to call the police
i would have thought of that earlier though
but aversion to boiled egg yolk blocked my mind
6 PM EST is the standard time for Pittsburghers to check their regular blogs for Burgh-related geographic misunderstandings. I was a bit early, Ned was a bit late.
Curious. I've been in two shortish-term relationships in which the guy notably declined to eat my cooking, though we were spending days at a stretch together, and it didn't occur to me that it was some resistance to romance or to the relationship moving on: I thought they were just leery of my (vegetarian) cooking, which did peeve me a little bit.
I just made this with some variations (bacon, celery, aniseed, and red chili pepper at the beginning; pecorino and comte at the end, with greek yogurt and butter instead of sour cream and buttermilk) and, loath as I am to credit Michael with anything, it's really good.
I thought they were just leery of my (vegetarian) cooking, which did peeve me a little bit.
I thought that, too, parsimon, but weirdly, it's also happened to me while I was dating a vegetarian. That might have just been his food-weirdness though, as I think the only meal I made him (other than breakfast) included vegetables he was unfamiliar with and wary of. Frankly, I'm sorry to say, that turned me off, too. He tried them, and said he liked them, but he'd prefer to eat the same things he always eats.