What is it about food???
As many of you know, I hated the movie SIDEWAYS. I hated it for many reasons, while recognizing it was a "fine film."
But one of the reasons I hated it had to do with food and wine. Watching it made me feel like my generation is too focused of food. (If not my generation, at least the part of my generation I happen to know and talk to) I worry that we are turning gourmet cuisine into our raison d'etre. I worry that we can't just eat good plain food and enjoy it. That we are snobs. That we are substituting food for family. Food for other kinds of satisfaction.
This does not mean that food isn't amazing, or that I'm not right there with everyone else thinking too much about food... It's just that I worry. Just that I don't think anything is worth living on credit cards for, or getting obese for. And I don't think "gourmet" is for "everyday."
I love everyday food too.
It should be stated that I know I'm a little weird about this. I think because I grew up in a house where we LOVED food, but most nights we ate "normal" food. My parents were hippy-ish, so our "normal" often involved lentil soup or leek soup or dandelion salad or something... but it was simple fare. Tacos. Casseroles. A plain roasted chicken. My dad could make a meal out of a hunk of brown bread, a sardine or two, and a handful of radishes. No shit.
But a few times a year, my grandpa would visit, or we'd go out to celebrate something at Tio Peppis or the Chart House or the Brass Elephant... and we'd eat "well" and we'd talk and think about food. And it was a treat! Artichokes. Flaming desserts. Spicy sauces. It would sustain us for months after. Food like that was an event.
Now my parents eat "well" everyday (becasue they are done raising kids and have the time and money to focus on refining their tastes... and good for them! They aren't going into debt over it)... Butwhenever I'm home there is wine to be decanted and there are little marinated things and tapenade and steaks for the grill. Or we are tasting lambeks or we are trying a new au poivre vert. Which is amazing, but in a way everything is a special treat and so nothing is a special treat. I feel a little sad, lonely for the mac-n-cheese casserole. (Though if you're reading this, Mom, please know that I do LOVE your food, and you shouldn't by any means stop feeding me. LOL)
I know people who take cooking classes to learn how to make fancy Thai food, but they don't know how to cook a simple roux. They don't know that vinegar will counteract too much salt in a soup. They never learned to pay attention to "regular" food.
Why do I bring this up?
Because last night I had some friends over, Drew and Ivy. And Ivy is a vegan who doesn't eat wheat. Which challenged me. I didn't know how to make something "special" without wheat or dairy".
The meal I ended up with was so SIMPLE and so fresh and so cheap and so good. It didn't involve a cookbook even. I simply made corn on the cob, a huge salad, veggies and bison burgers for the grill, and guacamole for an appetizer. With peach melba for dessert (tofutti for Miss Ivy).
But it really got me thinking, about how much our culture plays with its food, talks about its food... in an unnecesary way. How many of you, living with credit card debt, have ever seriously thought about getting rid of that debt by putting yourselves on a grocery budget? Could you do it? Could you give up nice wines and fancy cafe's? Could you give up fresh salmon and expensive cheese? Could you give up the convenience of not having to cook each night? Could you do it on $50 a week?
Right now we live on a budget of $80 a week, and we can just make it work, though I admit I buy processed crap (that costs a lot) so I can easily pack my husbands lunch each morning. This is part of the "housewife" experiment.
We used to eat out at least 3-4 times a week, dropping at least 20-30 bucks each time. Plus, hubby used to buy lunch every workday, averaging about 6-8 bucks a day. In a week, that's about $150 a week, or $600 a month. On TOP of groceries.
How much do you have on your credit card? How much do you spend on groceries each week? How often do you discuss the matter coursing through your intestines?
I'm obsessed.
But one of the reasons I hated it had to do with food and wine. Watching it made me feel like my generation is too focused of food. (If not my generation, at least the part of my generation I happen to know and talk to) I worry that we are turning gourmet cuisine into our raison d'etre. I worry that we can't just eat good plain food and enjoy it. That we are snobs. That we are substituting food for family. Food for other kinds of satisfaction.
This does not mean that food isn't amazing, or that I'm not right there with everyone else thinking too much about food... It's just that I worry. Just that I don't think anything is worth living on credit cards for, or getting obese for. And I don't think "gourmet" is for "everyday."
I love everyday food too.
It should be stated that I know I'm a little weird about this. I think because I grew up in a house where we LOVED food, but most nights we ate "normal" food. My parents were hippy-ish, so our "normal" often involved lentil soup or leek soup or dandelion salad or something... but it was simple fare. Tacos. Casseroles. A plain roasted chicken. My dad could make a meal out of a hunk of brown bread, a sardine or two, and a handful of radishes. No shit.
But a few times a year, my grandpa would visit, or we'd go out to celebrate something at Tio Peppis or the Chart House or the Brass Elephant... and we'd eat "well" and we'd talk and think about food. And it was a treat! Artichokes. Flaming desserts. Spicy sauces. It would sustain us for months after. Food like that was an event.
Now my parents eat "well" everyday (becasue they are done raising kids and have the time and money to focus on refining their tastes... and good for them! They aren't going into debt over it)... Butwhenever I'm home there is wine to be decanted and there are little marinated things and tapenade and steaks for the grill. Or we are tasting lambeks or we are trying a new au poivre vert. Which is amazing, but in a way everything is a special treat and so nothing is a special treat. I feel a little sad, lonely for the mac-n-cheese casserole. (Though if you're reading this, Mom, please know that I do LOVE your food, and you shouldn't by any means stop feeding me. LOL)
I know people who take cooking classes to learn how to make fancy Thai food, but they don't know how to cook a simple roux. They don't know that vinegar will counteract too much salt in a soup. They never learned to pay attention to "regular" food.
Why do I bring this up?
Because last night I had some friends over, Drew and Ivy. And Ivy is a vegan who doesn't eat wheat. Which challenged me. I didn't know how to make something "special" without wheat or dairy".
The meal I ended up with was so SIMPLE and so fresh and so cheap and so good. It didn't involve a cookbook even. I simply made corn on the cob, a huge salad, veggies and bison burgers for the grill, and guacamole for an appetizer. With peach melba for dessert (tofutti for Miss Ivy).
But it really got me thinking, about how much our culture plays with its food, talks about its food... in an unnecesary way. How many of you, living with credit card debt, have ever seriously thought about getting rid of that debt by putting yourselves on a grocery budget? Could you do it? Could you give up nice wines and fancy cafe's? Could you give up fresh salmon and expensive cheese? Could you give up the convenience of not having to cook each night? Could you do it on $50 a week?
Right now we live on a budget of $80 a week, and we can just make it work, though I admit I buy processed crap (that costs a lot) so I can easily pack my husbands lunch each morning. This is part of the "housewife" experiment.
We used to eat out at least 3-4 times a week, dropping at least 20-30 bucks each time. Plus, hubby used to buy lunch every workday, averaging about 6-8 bucks a day. In a week, that's about $150 a week, or $600 a month. On TOP of groceries.
How much do you have on your credit card? How much do you spend on groceries each week? How often do you discuss the matter coursing through your intestines?
I'm obsessed.
7 Comments:
there was nothing fine about Sideways. It just simply sucked. Sucked real bad.
Scott
within the last year i knew i needed to make a budget. with fear and trembling, i sat down at my computer and printed out two months of bank statements and went at it with a highlighter. pink was for legitimate, real expenses like utilities, rent and groceries. blue was for eating out. orange was for everything else (books, new shoes, netflix, etc). i had avoided doing this for so long because i knew once i did it, that knowledge was the point of no return. i was apalled to see that between 1/4 to 1/3 of my income fell "out of the pink" category. i was aghast at how much i should technically be able to be saving, while still having spending money.
so: to answer your question. you bet your bottom dollar i'm on a budget. i sit down and plan a menu once a week, and i get one meat night and one fish night. when cooking for two, i manage to stay within $80-100 a week. and sometimes it's a part of the food budget and sometimes it's not, but there's always $$ for a couple bottles of wine a week (all under $10 ea.). i take leftovers to work, and i can still have fancy cheeses because i'm staying within this reasonable budget (and because i buy, like 1/4 lbs of fancy cheeses at a time. just a taste). and i don't drink coffee, so there's no $2 a day habit. and while i fall more into the "fancy cooking food" category, it has done this wonderful thing for me in a snob sense, because if i ate out very seldom would what i ate be better than what i'd make at home. so eating out is still special, 'cause when i do it's usually when traveling and it's something i planned to splurge on.
your obsession is understandable. i'm likewise.
Hello dear one, here's a comment from "an old family friend" in Seattle.
This is the first time I've checked your Web site in awhile, and I had to laugh that you are obsessing (in your words) about one of my obsessions: eating healthy, simple, and low-cost. It will never be cheap, because we eat fresh and organic. No alcohol and no coffee (took me a year to kick the latte habit, which is a challenge in the birthplace of Starbucks) saves money and time. I LIKE the simplicity of it all.
Butch (spouse) was able to retire at age 56 in part because we cooked at home, took bag lunches to work, and ate out rarely (and we drove beaters for years after all our friends had new SUVs).
Laurel, I applaud your thoughtfulness (and envy the good meals you get at home!).
"simple roux"? How about a simple Frisco Burger? Americans at large don't obsess enough about what they consume, myself included. We stuff our faces with anything we can score on the run. Admittedly, my food aesthetic is fairly underdeveloped but, about the only cuisine I recognized on your post were m&c and casserole. I applaud a considered meal...I continue applauding for your penny-pinching. I do not applaud corn on the cob - I've got the wrong teeth for it or something.
LOL!
Barry, you're right about the fast food issue... but that's a whole other problem. Oddly, it isn't mutually exclusive. I know foodies who, when they aren't eating pate', are scarfing down Krystals.
(It should be noted that when I was working at the Blue Angel, I think you were working at Little Caesar's... so we may have gotten slightly different educations in formative years... but come to Atlanta and I'll cook you dinner)
And Janet!!!!!
Hello, and welcome to jewishyirishy!
Laurel,
I guess I'm in the minority here, but I am obsessed with food. I love it. If I didn't have food to be obsessed with, I'd probably be REALLY depressed.
So maybe that makes me a jerk.
I also thought Sideways was okay. I didn't love it, didn't hate it. Thought it was way overhyped, but not horrible.
Oh well.
TR
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