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Me and my wife cook meals with fresh ingredients every night and it takes between 20 and 40 minutes. Do you order takeout for every single meal? Did your family

Me and my wife cook meals with fresh ingredients every night and it takes between 20 and 40 minutes. Do you order takeout for every single meal? Did your family spend every day cooking all day growing up? I'm curious how someone can have this take.

SamoyedFurFluff 3y ago
I think it largely depends on what’s being cooked. My mother used to make bone broth at home, which is definitely an all day affair, but it became the basis for noodles and stew dishes for the rest of the week which took much less time…
- corinroyal 3y ago
  I've recently figured out that I've been looking at long cooking tasks wrong. Instead of blocking the whole time for that task I block out that time for another task and take breaks where I prep the next cooking step while the pot boils unattended. I had a big mental block on making sourdough starter, as it requires attention every day for three days, which I didn't figure I could manage. But now it's just something to do while I'm making coffee. Throw some more flour and water in there and mix it up. I don't actually have to sit by the counter for three days waiting for fermentation to happen. I can't believe it took me so long to realize this.
  - SamoyedFurFluff 3y ago
    I noticed that’s something people don’t pick up on when they cook also, but some things really are all day affairs. Meaning my mom couldn’t leave the house for most of the day. Baking, certain stews, etc. function this way.
    - brewdad 3y ago
      Saturdays are frequently spent with me watching sports and my wife puttering in the kitchen a few feet away. I’ll pop in to help with retrieving ingredients or prepping later steps so things are ready when she needs them but it’s her way to decompress after the work week. It can certainly be an all day affair though. Mid-week meals involve one of us prepping steps during the day depending on who has free time at the right moment. We do the final steps together while catching up on each other’s day. Maybe an hour of total prep time but usually less than half of that time requires active involvement.
Spivak 3y ago
I'm now realizing that I'm an elitist of a kind because when I say cooking I mean something totally different from "making something to eat" and more akin to dinner service. And that's what most of Alton's recipes are aimed at, not desperation dinners. And when you're doing this kind of thing for family dinner you and up using shortcuts like bagged premixed salad, bottled dressing, rolls from the bakery, premade desserts, jarred sauces and gravies which all hide the real time it takes to put something like that together by outsourcing it. I think the miracle of modern logistics being so normal makes people forget how much of home cooking is shortcuts that weren't always available and were marketed toward homemakers who labored over a hot stove and needed a break.
- xormapmap 3y ago
  > shortcuts like bagged premixed salad, bottled dressing ... At what point is something no longer a shortcut? Do you also consider the time it takes you to track, shoot, carry, & butcher an animal? Or do you take the shortcut of buying your meat? Do you grow your own wheat? Grind your own flour? Or are those shortcuts too?
  - Spivak 3y ago
    No, obviously. Are you being deliberately obtuse or do you really not know what ingredients are considered culturally to be atomic and what is considered composite and therefore a shortcut? Like there is a floor and it's not very far down. * A cut of meat is atomic, that cut pre-marinated isn't. * Flour is atomic, a Jiffy box is composite. * Oil is atomic, bottled dressing is composite. * Potatoes are atomic, frozen french fries aren't. * 5 spice powder is atomic, but cinnamon sugar is composite. * Cream is atomic, bottled Alfredo isn't. * Hidden Valley packets are atomic, but bottled ranch isn't. But when bottled ranch is used as an ingredient in a larger dish it becomes atomic again. * Rice is atomic, Uncle Ben's isn't. Same rule as ranch when it's used in a larger dish. * Bread is composite until you make a sandwich with it. * But this rule doesn't apply to jarred pasta sauce when made into spaghetti. But it does apply to jarred pizza sauce when made into pizza. Like sure the rules are organic and messy as all cultural norms all, but if you cook with any regularity you just "know" them because it defines when you're allowed to say "I made this" when presenting the dish to others.
edgarvaldes 3y ago
My wife is a great cook. Breakfast and dinner can be 20-40 minutes. But the main dish of the day (lunch) takes us between 45 and 120 minutes.
darth_avocado 3y ago
It really depends what you’re making. For example, some cuisines like asian food can take a very long time if you make it from scratch. Then there’s also a matter of balance, cooking a steak and sautéing some veggies can take minutes, at the same time if you’re trying to get a healthy balance of protein, carbs and veggies in all of your meals, then it can take forever unless you meal prep. An added component is how many meals we are talking about. Making breakfast, lunch and dinner can be very painful unless you meal prep or get quick and easy items (readymade salads, overnight oats, frozen food etc.)
- hgsgm 3y ago
  What's the difference between "cooking a steak and sautéing some veggies" and "trying to get a healthy balance of protein, carbs and veggies"? OK, sure, baking bread takes a while.
- mbg721 3y ago
  I always thought of Asian food as being relatively quick to prepare--a stir-fry can be done in the half-hour it takes to cook a pot of rice. It really does depend on the dish.

SamoyedFurFluff 3y ago

I think it largely depends on what’s being cooked. My mother used to make bone broth at home, which is definitely an all day affair, but it became the basis for noodles and stew dishes for the rest of the week which took much less time…

corinroyal 3y ago
I've recently figured out that I've been looking at long cooking tasks wrong. Instead of blocking the whole time for that task I block out that time for another task and take breaks where I prep the next cooking step while the pot boils unattended. I had a big mental block on making sourdough starter, as it requires attention every day for three days, which I didn't figure I could manage. But now it's just something to do while I'm making coffee. Throw some more flour and water in there and mix it up. I don't actually have to sit by the counter for three days waiting for fermentation to happen. I can't believe it took me so long to realize this.
- SamoyedFurFluff 3y ago
  I noticed that’s something people don’t pick up on when they cook also, but some things really are all day affairs. Meaning my mom couldn’t leave the house for most of the day. Baking, certain stews, etc. function this way.
  - brewdad 3y ago
    Saturdays are frequently spent with me watching sports and my wife puttering in the kitchen a few feet away. I’ll pop in to help with retrieving ingredients or prepping later steps so things are ready when she needs them but it’s her way to decompress after the work week. It can certainly be an all day affair though. Mid-week meals involve one of us prepping steps during the day depending on who has free time at the right moment. We do the final steps together while catching up on each other’s day. Maybe an hour of total prep time but usually less than half of that time requires active involvement.

Spivak 3y ago

I'm now realizing that I'm an elitist of a kind because when I say cooking I mean something totally different from "making something to eat" and more akin to dinner service. And that's what most of Alton's recipes are aimed at, not desperation dinners. And when you're doing this kind of thing for family dinner you and up using shortcuts like bagged premixed salad, bottled dressing, rolls from the bakery, premade desserts, jarred sauces and gravies which all hide the real time it takes to put something like that together by outsourcing it. I think the miracle of modern logistics being so normal makes people forget how much of home cooking is shortcuts that weren't always available and were marketed toward homemakers who labored over a hot stove and needed a break.

xormapmap 3y ago
> shortcuts like bagged premixed salad, bottled dressing ... At what point is something no longer a shortcut? Do you also consider the time it takes you to track, shoot, carry, & butcher an animal? Or do you take the shortcut of buying your meat? Do you grow your own wheat? Grind your own flour? Or are those shortcuts too?
- Spivak 3y ago
  No, obviously. Are you being deliberately obtuse or do you really not know what ingredients are considered culturally to be atomic and what is considered composite and therefore a shortcut? Like there is a floor and it's not very far down. * A cut of meat is atomic, that cut pre-marinated isn't. * Flour is atomic, a Jiffy box is composite. * Oil is atomic, bottled dressing is composite. * Potatoes are atomic, frozen french fries aren't. * 5 spice powder is atomic, but cinnamon sugar is composite. * Cream is atomic, bottled Alfredo isn't. * Hidden Valley packets are atomic, but bottled ranch isn't. But when bottled ranch is used as an ingredient in a larger dish it becomes atomic again. * Rice is atomic, Uncle Ben's isn't. Same rule as ranch when it's used in a larger dish. * Bread is composite until you make a sandwich with it. * But this rule doesn't apply to jarred pasta sauce when made into spaghetti. But it does apply to jarred pizza sauce when made into pizza. Like sure the rules are organic and messy as all cultural norms all, but if you cook with any regularity you just "know" them because it defines when you're allowed to say "I made this" when presenting the dish to others.

edgarvaldes 3y ago

My wife is a great cook. Breakfast and dinner can be 20-40 minutes. But the main dish of the day (lunch) takes us between 45 and 120 minutes.

darth_avocado 3y ago

It really depends what you’re making. For example, some cuisines like asian food can take a very long time if you make it from scratch. Then there’s also a matter of balance, cooking a steak and sautéing some veggies can take minutes, at the same time if you’re trying to get a healthy balance of protein, carbs and veggies in all of your meals, then it can take forever unless you meal prep. An added component is how many meals we are talking about. Making breakfast, lunch and dinner can be very painful unless you meal prep or get quick and easy items (readymade salads, overnight oats, frozen food etc.)

hgsgm 3y ago
What's the difference between "cooking a steak and sautéing some veggies" and "trying to get a healthy balance of protein, carbs and veggies"? OK, sure, baking bread takes a while.
mbg721 3y ago
I always thought of Asian food as being relatively quick to prepare--a stir-fry can be done in the half-hour it takes to cook a pot of rice. It really does depend on the dish.