People who don't really care about food..... (frozen, cookies, bread)

[maciesmom]

Just got back from vacation and I wanted to see what you all thought....
Have you ever run into those people who just see food as a necessary evil? They truly just find preparing and eating food to be a chore to be dealt with..While visiting a relative, I heard how much she dislikes cooking and entertaining; when I suggested a couple of simple recipes I have had luck with, then I just heard about what a mess it would make of her kitchen (flour you know....). I just cannot imagine feeling like this. Do you know people like that?

[PA2UK]

Yep - me! Well, I've learned to enjoy the eating part more but there was a time when I just found eating to be a nuisance. And I still just don't get any enjoyment out of cooking - I've tried but I just don't get why some people enjoy it so much.

My pop used to tell me "You eat to live, I live to eat".

[maciesmom]

I enjoy some cooking more than other - just depends on the food and the occasion etc. I don't think this person cares at all. She was even griping about a social event where food was served (she was an attendee not the hostess so it wasn't that she was having to do the cooking) because it distracted from the main reason for the social gathering (cards/games/puzzles)....

ETA - I guess, to me and most of my friends, preparing food for people you care about is not necessarily because you love the process of cooking (although that can be interesting), it is about generosity of spirit. A gift of homemade food or an invitation for a meal represents so much more than the food itself. It is about the gathering of people who you care enough about to deal with the "hassle" of cooking and cleaning up after it. When I prepare my friends favorite dessert for her birthday, I do it because I know it is something she would never go to the trouble of making herself and her mother (now deceased) used to make it for her. I do it because I know she appreciates it. Same with cookies and breads at Christmas time. Making dozens of baked goods is exhausting, expensive, messy and time consuming. But I do it because I care about the people I do this for. They are worth the effort.

[highway29south]

I don't know anyone like that, thankfully, but I do find cooking a chore. If I didn't have a family to feed, I would eat salads and sandwiches almost everyday!

Now when it comes to baking it's a whole different story. I could bake all day if I had the time. Around Christmas I'm absolutely awful. I make way too many cookies then I want to eat them all, so I give them away so I don't!

[PA2UK]

Originally Posted by highway29south

Now when it comes to baking it's a whole different story. I could bake all day if I had the time. Around Christmas I'm absolutely awful. I make way too many cookies then I want to eat them all, so I give them away so I don't!

That's true, baking cookies and cakes is the one type of cooking I don't mind.

ETA - I guess, to me and most of my friends, preparing food for people you care about is not necessarily because you love the process of cooking (although that can be interesting), it is about generosity of spirit. A gift of homemade food or an invitation for a meal represents so much more than the food itself. It is about the gathering of people who you care enough about to deal with the "hassle" of cooking and cleaning up after it. When I prepare my friends favorite dessert for her birthday, I do it because I know it is something she would never go to the trouble of making herself and her mother (now deceased) used to make it for her. I do it because I know she appreciates it. Same with cookies and breads at Christmas time. Making dozens of baked goods is exhausting, expensive, messy and time consuming. But I do it because I care about the people I do this for. They are worth the effort.

I think there are other ways you can make an effort for the people you love though. If cooking is the way you prefer, that's great but I prefer to make the effort in other ways. Plus, we don't have kids and we don't have a home big enough to invite friends and family over. So I'm never "the host" and I have less reason to be the "homemaker", I only have a husband to look after and he actually enjoys cooking so it works out.

[gr8doglove]

My husband is like that. He eats because he has to. There are a few dishes I make for that that he enjoys eating if I fix it for him but he rarely craves a particuliar food or relishes in the taste.

[maciesmom]

Originally Posted by PA2UK

That's true, baking cookies and cakes is the one type of cooking I don't mind.



I think there are other ways you can make an effort for the people you love though. If cooking is the way you prefer, that's great but I prefer to make the effort in other ways. Plus, we don't have kids and we don't have a home big enough to invite friends and family over. So I'm never "the host" and I have less reason to be the "homemaker", I only have a husband to look after and he actually enjoys cooking so it works out.

Of course there are other ways to make efforts...my point was that traditionally, breaking bread with people has significance. And I didn't understand why one would complain even if they were not the ones "put out" by being hostess.

BTW - you don't need a large home to have people over. Reciprocate in small groups. I have a very small home but I still have people over. Just not all at once. When people have you over for repeated meals/funtions it is polite to reciprocate in some way. Even if a person enjoys cooking/entertaining, it is still an effort and by always being the guest and never the host that effort is always on someone else. Reciprocity can take many forms - one could also take people out or bring food you purchase or prepare to someone else's home.

[nomoresnow]

Originally Posted by PA2UK

Yep - me! Well, I've learned to enjoy the eating part more but there was a time when I just found eating to be a nuisance. And I still just don't get any enjoyment out of cooking - I've tried but I just don't get why some people enjoy it so much.

My pop used to tell me "You eat to live, I live to eat".

Are you my long lost child I don't remember having?? I ask because that's EXACTLY what my first husband used to say to me!

Originally Posted by highway29south

I don't know anyone like that, thankfully, but I do find cooking a chore. If I didn't have a family to feed, I would eat salads and sandwiches almost everyday!

Now when it comes to baking it's a whole different story. I could bake all day if I had the time. Around Christmas I'm absolutely awful. I make way too many cookies then I want to eat them all, so I give them away so I don't!

Maybe we can work something out...I do not bake often or well. HATE making cookies and Hubster insists on them every Christmas.

Originally Posted by maciesmom

Of course there are other ways to make efforts...my point was that traditionally, breaking bread with people has significance. And I didn't understand why one would complain even if they were not the ones "put out" by being hostess.

BTW - you don't need a large home to have people over. Reciprocate in small groups. I have a very small home but I still have people over. Just not all at once. When people have you over for repeated meals/funtions it is polite to reciprocate in some way. Even if a person enjoys cooking/entertaining, it is still an effort and by always being the guest and never the host that effort is always on someone else. Reciprocity can take many forms - one could also take people out or bring food you purchase or prepare to someone else's home.

I agree completely, maciesmom.

[case44]

I love both cooking and eating, whether it's homemade or out of a frozen box. The part I hate?? The cleanup.

[SXMGirl]

I agree with case44. I love to cook and eat but hate the cleanup. I wish that I thought eating was a nuisance and only ate for sustenance. However, most foods call out to me.