Have you ever said, "I'm NEVER cooking that again?!!!!!!!!"

@writersedge (22563)
United States
November 11, 2008 7:26am CST
My Mother had made plum pudding one year, during Christmastime, she said she would never make it again. I asked her why because it was fantastic. "Spent half a day cutting and chopping." "But so does minced meat?" "Yes, you haven't seen me do that again either, have you? Besides, I had jars and jars of that, just one plum pudding out of this." I was just reminising back to when she was alive and some of the neat stuff she made at X-mastime, esp. the stuff she only made once. And you? What do you plan on not making again? What do you remember others saying they won't make again? Why? I'm not making orange marmelade again because it was not only lots of work, it was lots of work to create a jar of mold (they didn't turn out). Besides, we don't grow oranges up here so it costs too much.
6 people like this
13 responses
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
11 Nov 08
Yes I do. I have a recipe for the best apple pie ever. The crust includes icing sugar so it is very crisp. I have to make it the evening before and it takes HOURS to do. It is delicious but again, I only bake it for family on special occasions and will be doing it this year at Christmas. However, the crust always gives me problems and although I got it from my sister I think that she changed the recipe slightly! she would do this so when I make it and if she is here at Christmas, she always says that she thinks that I went wrong somewhere as hers is always better. I just laugh at this!
1 person likes this
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
11 Nov 08
If it's so much better, she can make it next time. Yes, some recipes are difficult and special enough to only be for once a year. I would like to make a traditional French Canadian meat pie for X-mas, but I'm afraid if I do, they'll want it every year. They want my cole slaw every Thanksgiving as it is.
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
11 Nov 08
There are many styles of French Canadian Meat pies. I will look and provide links so you can see and decide what you would like. I cheat and use bought crust because mine never turns out. I haven't had Tourtierre or Tout Que for many years now and I will have to search for a recipe. Many things were in my Mother's head and many recipes have faded with time. So since I am searching anyway, I will put the ones that sound the most interesting here if that is agreeable to you? It is my understanding that we can't start a discussion with a recipe and that we can't start a discussion asking for recipes and that links must be only to provide information important to the discussion, but I haven't looked at the rules this month. It's also contingent on people reporting people, too. Will return shortly with some good links. Take care.
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
11 Nov 08
I am salivating! A French Canadian meat pie sounds so delicious but I am not good with pastry. My mother mnade wonderful pastries and she didn;t measure - just did it and I can still taste the texture of the crust. We are not allowed to give recipes are we? If so I would love to have that recipe.
1 person likes this
@jesssp (2712)
• Canada
12 Nov 08
I put tofu in this category a while ago. I've only tried it a few times and I just don't think it's the food for me. I found a nice sounding recipe for roasted red pepper tofu a while ago and thought I'd give it a shot. We had none of the stuff to make it so we had to go but a bunch of (expensive) stuff. It was a complicated pain to make and in the end it had all the texture - and taste - of a foam mattress. All in all it was just gross so that recipe was promptly chucked in the garbage.
1 person likes this
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
13 Nov 08
I've only had tofu twice that I've liked and I've had it served many times to me. I always try it, but usually I'm very disappointed. Deep fried tofu Middle Eastern style had a crunchy outside and a creamy inside. It tasted and felt nothing like tofu, I didn't even know it was tofu because it was at a Middle Eastern Buffet and not labeled. I went back and asked what it was because I liked it so much. Another one is pre-packaged spiced tofu to slice and put in sandwiches. Not the bologna, ham, turkey, etc. look-a-likes. This has a smokey and vegetable flavor, but more salt than I and my high blood pressure are supposed to have. I was dating a guy who hated tofu and he ate my sandwich by mistake one day. He asked what it was and wanted some more. Only our Food Co-op sells it in our area. It's a brick, but it's brownish, precooked, preseasoned, pre-everything. Your best bet is to attend vegetarian pot lucks or pot lucks that include tofu eaters/bakers and not try recipes for tofu until you find one that you really, really like the taste of. Usually the best tofus are marinated and cooked a certain way. The trick, so I've been told because I don't prepare it, is in the marinades and the cooking. Most people I know don't spend much money on tofu at all, they spend time, like press the water out, add the marinade the night before and then fry, bake, or deep fry it. But I, too, have pretty much given up on preparing it myself. When I have, it really hasn't been very tasty. So you're not alone. Silken soft with a packet of Silken pudding mix was survivable. Scrambled eggs and tofu is also survivable. Two or three eggs, milk, and crumbled tofu, stir and cook like regular scrambled eggs, black pepper, paprika or garlic, something to help it is not too bad. 3 parts egg and milk to one part tofu is the most survivable. I've used it as an egg extender when running out of eggs and needed some for two or three people before. My husband can't have soy because it interfers with the obsorption of his thyroid meds, so I haven't even had it in the house much any more. So I can see how you would be discouraged by tofu. I was/am pretty much, too. Take care
1 person likes this
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
13 Nov 08
Sorry, I got "on a roll," but when I know a little about something, I go on and on. That's an interesting belief, "Anything is good if it's deep fried." Never heard that one before, but it sounds cute. Before I knew my husband, didn't know anyone with thyroid problems. Since meeting him, seems like half of the world's population has it, even dogs and cats.
@jesssp (2712)
• Canada
13 Nov 08
Wow, thanks for all the great info! I'm a firm believer that anything can be good if it's deep fried. Unfortunately I'm in the same boat as your husband. I have hypothyroidism and have to stay away from soy.
@ronaldinu (12422)
• Malta
1 Dec 08
I always hear my wife that she will never cook meat again. It is either well done and it would be burned and hard such as wood or else it would be rare with too much blood in it. © ronaldinu 2008
1 person likes this
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
1 Dec 08
Ronaldinu, buy her a meat thermometer and a little chart that goes with it. If you can afford it. Her stuff will come out so good, she'll be proud and love your thoughtfulness! Plus you get to eat the rewards!
@annjilena (5618)
• United States
12 Nov 08
well my mother in-law fixed me a big old fat possium and skinned it and had his leggs open wide in the pan with sweet potatoes around it a long with the fat hanging off the big possium i looked at it and said to her please don,t ever fix me anything like this again his eyes still was in his head i was so sick at seeing this thing words cannot explain.SO I ASKED NEVER COOK THAT AGAIN FOR ME!LOL
1 person likes this
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
13 Nov 08
Oh my goodness, that sounds awful! You poor dear, I've heard of oppossum (believe it or not, the first o is silent, trust me, I had to find it in a dictionary and couldn't until I called someone who told me it starts with O), stew. I would think a first introduction to a possum would best be cut up, defatted, slightly precooked in a frying pan and then added to a stew. I took a cooking wild game and fish class, the instructor always wanted the meat to look like meat and to be prepared the best way and served the best way so that people might want it again. You must have been having night mares after that. Goodness, gracious, no wonder you said, NEVER COOK THAT AGAIN FOR ME! I'm with you.
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
11 Nov 08
Yes, but not because of having trouble making it, it was something that we really didn't like that well and it had sausage in it and I am trying to eliminate pork..(Though I wonder if it would be good with turkey sausage???hummm) It was sausage cake and from what I gathered a family recipe that I am suppose to keep secret or something..I don't even know if I still have it, but if I do, I might try making it with turkey sausage and see how that turns out.. Hey, I just realized something,you just got me to admit I will make something I said I would Never make again..Well I won't, if I can't make it with turkey sausage, does that count???
• United States
11 Nov 08
And I should know better because I have stopped saying never much because of saying it in another situation..
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
11 Nov 08
You are funny, just goes to prove, never say never.
1 person likes this
@catdla1 (6005)
• United States
12 Nov 08
I used to avoid recipes that had ingredient that required lots of chopping, grinding or mincing. Then my son bought me a food processor, and it has been the most wonderful thing. I can't imagine being without it. The other tool that I got is a mandolin for slicing and dicing. Both tools make it a breeze to make things that used to take hours. The one recipe I probably won't try again is shortbread cookies. I can't eat butter, and that's the one recipe I've never been able to adjust using shortening or oil. Someday I'd love to stumble across a recipe for them that worked.
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
13 Nov 08
Unless you use a ton of butter, it will go rancid. I keep mine in the freezer. I keep it in the original box and with a plastic bag over it. Then I take out one stick at a time. I put that one stick in the refrigerator and try to use it in three days. Shortbread cookies are supposed to taste like butter, so maybe you should try a different cookie that tastes like something you like. Like vanilla sugar cookies or something. Take care
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
12 Nov 08
There is a buttered flavored shortening, not sure if that will work. Food choppers/processors are great!
@catdla1 (6005)
• United States
13 Nov 08
Thanks for the suggestion. I've tried regular shortening, but it was a miserable failure. It's the butter taste I don't like. To me, butter (or margarine) tastes rancid. I don't even keep it in my house. I make up for the missing calories with chocolate tho...lol
• United States
13 Nov 08
One year I decided to make homemade cranberry sauce. It came out great! But, it was so sour that my lips were puckered for a week! Maybe I should try it again but use more sugar.
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
13 Nov 08
My Mom used to make a cranberry orange sauce that used less sugar but wasn't sour. The oranges or orange juice helped to cut the sour. I think home made, even sour, is way better than in the can. Good for you! Thanks and take care.
@cutepenguin (6431)
• Canada
12 Nov 08
I made a dessert once for my family's get together. It was a lot of work and I thought I wouldn't do it again. But then one of my relatives specifically asked my mom for me to make it, and before I knew it, a tradition formed. It's been years now, and I still get reminded to make this dish each year.
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
13 Nov 08
That's how traditions start. You're part of a tradition now, People will remember you and your food for a long time to come. Take care.
@carolbee (16230)
• United States
11 Nov 08
I had this happen last weekend. I've never made a meal for our son-in-law. He married our daughter a year ago. My daughter had a baby recently and she wanted one of my meatloafs. I agreed to make it and take to her house on Sunday. It was a big one so they could have leftovers. I am so turned off with the way it looked. The taste was great. I have a much older gas oven and they have a new electric oven. I baked it at the same temperature and time I do here. Came out of the oven looking like lumpy bread and was burned on the top and bottom. It wasn't dry but evidently I cooked it way too long at their house. Guess I should have thought about how ovens vary in time and temperature. Said I would never make another one but probably will at some point in time.
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
13 Nov 08
Different ovens do cook differently. I hate changing ovens. My husband loves meatloaf.
@brimia (6581)
• United States
11 Nov 08
I don't think I've ever tried plum pudding but would like to. My mom has said that countless times about all sorts of things she's prepared. Sometimes because it didn't turn out quite right or because she ended up baking and eating too many cookies. Still, she almost always makes the item again. I made popcorn balls one year and it was such a mess to clean up, I said I'd never make them again...and I haven't :-)
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
13 Nov 08
Popcorn balls are pretty messy, but they are sooo gooood! We had a huge long pan with medium high sides and did our best to keep it all in there. My husband's family made taffy. They had a taffy pull evening, we didn't have that. Thanks and take care.
@laydee (12798)
• Philippines
11 Nov 08
Hehehe.. It's funny how people are and how we are with cooking. We'd always love to try things once and then that was the last of it. I do that too. We actually do that here at home. We try out something, then if it doesn't work or if it took a lot of time and we figured that it was cheaper to buy it instead, then we take the recipe card and store it to the 'Never cooking again' box. hhahahha.. But there are those dishes that keeps coming back regardless how tiring it is. One example would be my baked spaghetti. It takes me a lot of time to create it, well it's actually available anywhere, but I can't help it when my family wants my recipe. Well my recipe takes around 4 hours total, yeah I know it's a lot of time. That's why I just cook it once a year, during Christmas or some special occasion. But I can't store it in the 'Never cooking again' box because everyone would miss it if I skipped a year not cooking it. The satisfaction on their faces is enough for me to go on cooking it. As for the Never Cooking Again, I have several, I'm never cooking turkey again my family isn't a fan of it and it's not really common here in my country, it was very expensive and took a lot of time to cook then most just went to waste. I couldn't remember the rest but I'm sure I have a lot of 'Not cooking anymore' lists. hehehehe
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
11 Nov 08
Thank you very much for responding, this was very interesting. Baked spaghetti, I have never had or heard of. But we have baked macaroni here and it is way, way better than regular macaroni and I love going places where it is served. Mostly it is better because more kinds of cheeses are used and because it bakes for so long that the flavors go through it better. I bet the baked spaghetti is like that, too. Thanks and take care.
@PearlGrace (3171)
• United States
17 Nov 08
Hm, this is a hard one. I'd have to look through my recipes to answer, I think. I usually jot down the date I first tried the recipe, any changes I made, and whether we liked it. Also, I jot down changes I should make the next time to make it better. If we don't like something, I jot that down too. I do remember making a sausage calzone out of Pillsbury pre-made pizza dough. It just had meat and cheese in it. It was so dry and plain, I couldn't believe a person would have published that recipe if they'd actually cooked it that way and tasted it! So that's definitely a recipe I won't cook again. Also, I love to bake cakes from scratch but because of the time, money and effort that goes into it, I rarely bake them. When they "fall" (you know, don't rise right), it just breaks my heart! At least if it's a box mix, you haven't lost that much.
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
19 Nov 08
Very good points about cakes and falling. Some people pour sauce over the calzones after they bake or maybe the sausage and cheese the person used were greasier or melted better, something. I've also noticed that some recipes are written wrong. I have a few in church cookbooks that couldn't work out thanks to typos or people forgetting to write things. There are two pineapple quick bread recipes I've tried. One comes out like heaven and the other comes out like rubber. I have noted "excellent," and "Don't make this one, " on them. Then there was a recipe that only half printed so you didn't know what the other half was, etc. You do much of the same as I do with recipes I've tried. I often use less salt or sugar or change the spice ratios and write them into the recipe. Thanks and take care
• United States
12 Nov 08
Cakes are my Nemesis when it comes to cooking. Me and cake mix never get along. :-D
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
13 Nov 08
Only once in awhile do I have a cake fall or not rise.