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I cook every day...can't remember the last time we ate in a restaurant....I cook because I like to know what's going in my food....I know that my hands are clean....I know that the food is fresh....and I guess I'd have to admit...after all these years, I'm afraid to eat out.
I'm not opposed to restaurants at all, but I tend to prefer them for things that I know I'm just NOT gonna make at home, either because I'm not equipped with the appropriate utensils or ingredients, or because the ingredients are costly or not things I would typically have onhand or available. Mostly various ethnic dining that somebody who really knows it is gonna do better than my own creative approximation (which also has its time and place, of course).
To those that say "I eat out because I don't have the time to cook", have they ever really timed it, how much time they spend getting dressed properly, driving to the restaurant, waiting to be served, waiting for the check, paying the bill, driving back home? That's my roommate, has never cooked anything in my kitchen the 6 months he's been here! One roommate, likewise, who lived here 2 years, never used the stove once! Every meal eaten out!
And to those that say "My mother, grandmother never taught me how to cook", well, my mother, grandmother, aunts, no one ever taught me how to cook, or were there to supervise me. I accomplished it all out of curiosity, experimentation, adventure. Start out with a hamburger, or chili, and go from there!
I had a major surgery last month and I'm slowly getting back into the kitchen. With all the rest I've had to do I've been watching The Cooking Channel and Food Network nonstop. There are so many things I want to try that I don't see us eating out much. Right now the only time we eat out is if we are both too tired to cook or if it's an ethnic food we don't have a lot of experience cooking like Thai, Chinese or Indian.
Before the surgery I cooked whenever I wanted which was often but we still ate out more than I liked. It adds up quickly and it's not always satisfying. We don't cook super healthy at home. Dessert is wonderful even if it's not an every night thing and so are dishes like scampi and etouffee, which call for plenty of butter.
I live in a small, rural town, not known for culinary expertise. We go out, and just realize we could have had better food at home. Eating out is not that greatn around here.
And when I lived in Miami, I was not impressed with the cleanliness of the restaurants there.
I live in a small, rural town, not known for culinary expertise. We go out, and just realize we could have had better food at home. Eating out is not that greatn around here.
And when I lived in Miami, I was not impressed with the cleanliness of the restaurants there.
I've never been to a nice restaurant in all of Florida, sadly.
I've never been to a nice restaurant in all of Florida, sadly.
Oh my, I have been to some very nice restaurants in Florida, no, maybe not on the same plain as San Francisco, New York City or even Vegas, but some nice ones.
Now, as for the question of eating out, quality and cost: I have a perfect example; yesterday, we had a $25 gift card we got at Christmas so while out for the day we went to Chilie's. It has never been a favorite of mine, but what the heck. Well, we opts for the 2 dinners for $20. I know, not expensive, but what the choices were and what we got convinced me, there has to be a better way to enjoy eating out: We got an appitzer to share: fine, we did the onion and jalapeno strips. Actually, other that having a couple hundred, thousand calories, it was pretty good, just way too much. Then came the meal: hubby chose 1/2 rack of ribs and I got the quasedena salad (spelling) If the dressing hadn't been made out of pure sugar water it might not have been bad, but it was way too sweet and again, way to much, plus the salad was almost wilted due to the dressing. Hubby got nothing but french fries with his, no veggy, no salad, nada and we couldn't request any substitutes or changes. Otherwise I would have had another dressing, ordered on the side. Now I know why we eat at home 90% of the time....
Nita
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