Another rambling food post...

It's been an interesting week for recipes in the blogosphere.  First, Riley Adams posted a recipe for cornbread stuffing (dressing, I'll get to that in a minute), on Mystery Lover's Kitchen, mentioning that you can use "sweetened mix"  or not.  Well, then Cleo Coyle, whilst promoting the blog post on her  Facebook,  mentioned that the comments were causing some little discussion....(which they were, with the Southerners in the crowd advocating that cornbread is not supposed to be sweet, and the Northerners saying that's the only way they'll eat cornbread is sweetened...).  Those comments caused me to add another friend to Facebook, for the express purpose of exchanging dressing recipes *laugh*.  Love it when I make friends in author's comments...

Now, in Texas we have a saying. "Cake is sweet, cornbread is NOT!"  I brought it with me up here to Illinois, where Chris's favorite cornbread mix is *wince* ... Jiffy.  Oh. My. GAWD.  Jiffy is not cornbread, folks, it's cake with a cornmeal base. Anything that has a recipe for blueberry muffins on the box (which Jiffy does), is wayyyyy too sweet to be called cornbread. 

Then there's the stuffing vs. dressing debate.  Stuffing and dressing are the same thing, basically, it's the cooking method that differs.  With stuffing you put it inside the bird, dressing is cooked completely separately.  I've never stuffed a turkey in my life.  I learned dressing from my mom, who always cooked it separately.  I don't suppose it'd be *bad* exactly, but... I've just never done it that way.  Not sure I've ever eaten it that way, either, come to think of it...

Then Julie Hyzy got into the debate with, of all things, pumpkin pie.  She says, and I quote,

What would Thanksgiving be without pumpkin pie?

Well... for me it would be just fine. Give me the turkey, the stuffing, more stuffing, some veggies, more stuffing, potatoes, and top it all off with stuffing and I'm a happy (and well-fed) camper.

 She's definitely got a way with words! (Quite appropriate, considering what she does for a living, *laugh*).   I had to tell her that Chris definitely agrees with her - and me, I can take or leave pumpkin pie, myself.  However, also like Julie, I adore the smell of it.  On a separate but related note, I also adore the smell of fresh coffee, but I won't drink the stuff under threat of death.  

Also this week, I've had an imaginary alcoholic (at least I think it's alcoholic, the exact ingredients have never been established) beverage named after me!  Over at Mobile Read, there's a section called the Lounge. And in this Lounge, there is a virtual bar.  And in this bar, is a gibbon bartender named Adrian, and the signature drink is called a ZCD (for Zany Carter Deluxe...if you've ever read Heinlein, you'll get it).  Well, up until this week there have only been three variations:  The original, a Zany Carter... the aforementioned ZCD, and a ZCD Patricia (with chocolate).  Now there is *drum roll please*.... are you ready?  A ZCD BombShel!   I originally named it a Cranberry Spice Zebra ZCD, but the owner of the virtual bar renamed it, *laugh*.  I have to admit I like his version better!  So now, I shall live in infamy at Mobile Read... 

Philosophizing...

..which in this case is just going to be a three dollar word for "rambling on". 

A friend and I got to talking about food tonight.  Now...it seems like I've always cooked. I know I haven't, but I did start "early" I guess...when my dad died and mom went to work, she needed a hot meal in the evenings, so I took over making dinner after school.  I consider myself a good "country" cook.  Not gourmet, but good country food...chicken fried steak, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, casseroles.  Anyway, during the conversation, we got to wondering about how much the reasons you learned to cook influence what kind of cook you become. There are those who learn to cook to keep from starving, and there are those who learn to cook because they like to eat.  The two are really different things.  I like to eat.  But I was raised around good food...my mother was an excellent cook, and so were both local aunts.  My aunts on my dad's side, while we didn't see them as often, were wonderful cooks too.  My dad gardened (the man had a green arm), and fished, so we always had fresh vegetables, and usually fresh fish in the summer, too. 
My friend says that those who learned to cook to keep from starving usually only know how to make a couple of things really well, and rely on packaged foods and microwaves for the rest. They don't really enjoy eating, maybe because they never got in the habit of having "good" food at home. Maybe their moms didn't cook, maybe they came from a single parent family where no one had time.
I was the type of child that you couldn't "fob off" when I was hungry, by handing me a package of chips or a candy bar. I never did like junk food much, even as a teenager. I'm still like that. When I'm hungry, I want a meal.  I get tired of fast food pretty quickly, too, and want my own cooking. 
But I think again, that's because I learned to cook because I liked to eat.

What kind of cook are you?  And what do you think of my half-baked (pun intended) philosophy?