Does anyone buy fresh potatoes?

[Mr. P]

I think prepare might even be a stretch... they heat/re-heat... and sometimes assemble 2 or 3 prepared components into a meal.

True.

 

[Abbey Normal]

I think prepare might even be a stretch... they heat/re-heat... and sometimes assemble 2 or 3 prepared components into a meal.

Well you know me; I just take all my meals at the club.

 

[Annie]

I think that's VERY true! Most people just "cook", they're not even cooks or amateur chefs. They simply prepare. Simplicity is THE KEY for most folks.

I agree with you about gas over electric. I know how to 'cook', but I would say prepare comes more down to it, though I do use mostly fresh ingrediants. As for the potatoes, well I always hated 'real' mashed potatoes, if I get even one 'lump' I gag, so instant were a godsend.

I think many women by the age of 40, if they started their families in their early/mid 20's, have had enough 'buying, washing, cooking, cleaning up' 3 times or more per day, to go for the easy.

Holidays? I 'cook.'

 

[nt250]

Electric stoves are the lazy man's cooking tool. Problem is, most people have a bad gas stove that they base their experiences on. That, and it's not as easy as setting the dial to medium.

Gas is just not as convenient/idiot proof to the average joe.

Well, you got me there.

But I really, really, really, REALLY hate peeling potatoes.

You're right about the bad stove. My first house had natural gas. I bought it in 1988 and the stove was yellow, so that should tell you how old it was by then. Probably 1970's. It worked good, except I had to light the burners with a match. I had a lot of control with that stove. I could get the flame down really, really, low. I could get it to almost a flicker.

My second house was on a cul de sac and the gas line didn't come all the way down the street so I was stuck with electric. My kid was a little less than a year old at the time and it was like a revelation. I could boil water for her formula in half the time it took me on the old stove. That electric stove was the old type with the coiled burners and it did take a long time for them to cool down. But, boy, I could get high heat a lot faster on that electric stove than I could on the old gas one. Also great for cooking a steak.

My sister bought a house around the same time I did and she got your basic gas stove from Sears. I make a mean gravy so that's my job on the holidays. I hated using her stove. You could not adjust the flame. It was probably some safety feature or something, but the knobs clicked. There was low, medium, high. You could NOT adjust the flame between those settings. The low was way too high.

So, yeah, bad stoves are probably my problem. That and propane scares the shit out of me.

 

[nt250]

LOL...and to think these same ladies were bragging about all the time, effort and money they put in on their remodeled kitchens in another thread...now they are talking about instant potatoes! Go figure...My kitchen is simple...yet I go for fresh foods everytime...once in awhile frozen...and gas is way better as cp and mr p said...as is bbq!:cof:

Instant potaoes are good, though. And they're real potaoes. That you don't have to PEEL.

I go for fresh stuff, too. But frozen pearl onions are a great thing. It's just me an my kid and she won't get anywhere near an onion, so it's nice to have those in the freezer. And they really roast up nice.

I refuse to by canned or jar mushrooms. I've tried them and they are not worth it. Might as well just throw some tasteless rubber in a pan.

But a lot of the good stuff you can buy already prepared. Like canned tomatoes. I bought a jar of roasted red peppers and they were fabulous. Some things I buy prepared because I would just end up throwing most of it out before I had a change to use it otherwise, and others because it's just a hell of a lot easier. Like canned potaoes and artichoke hearts in a jar. You ever tried to cut up an artichoke? It ain't fun.

I do draw the line at the prepared pasta dishes they have whole isles for at the supermarket. Hamburger Helper. All that kind of thing. Aside from Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, which my kid loves, I would never buy any of that stuff. You can make it all from scratch in the same amount of time. And cheaper. Fettucine Alfredo? Butter, cheese, half&half. Beef stroganoff? cream of musroom soup, milk, sour cream.

I'm pretty lazy, but some things just aren't worth it.

 

[-Cp]

Well, you got me there.

But I really, really, really, REALLY hate peeling potatoes.

You're right about the bad stove. My first house had natural gas. I bought it in 1988 and the stove was yellow, so that should tell you how old it was by then. Probably 1970's. It worked good, except I had to light the burners with a match. I had a lot of control with that stove. I could get the flame down really, really, low. I could get it to almost a flicker.

My second house was on a cul de sac and the gas line didn't come all the way down the street so I was stuck with electric. My kid was a little less than a year old at the time and it was like a revelation. I could boil water for her formula in half the time it took me on the old stove. That electric stove was the old type with the coiled burners and it did take a long time for them to cool down. But, boy, I could get high heat a lot faster on that electric stove than I could on the old gas one. Also great for cooking a steak.

My sister bought a house around the same time I did and she got your basic gas stove from Sears. I make a mean gravy so that's my job on the holidays. I hated using her stove. You could not adjust the flame. It was probably some safety feature or something, but the knobs clicked. There was low, medium, high. You could NOT adjust the flame between those settings. The low was way too high.

So, yeah, bad stoves are probably my problem. That and propane scares the shit out of me.

Yeah - had you provided that backdrop to your original post on Gas vs. Electric - that would've made sense in the context...

Truthfully, some of the newer electric cook-tops - those w/ a ribbon-type burner - heat up very fast and are quite superior to the older coil-type burners...