Brought to you by too many cooking shows that say "the difference with me/my culture is 'we cook with love.'"
I'm pretty sure when you bother to feed others you do it with love, even if it's kraft mac n cheese.
So, the question is how do you show love through food (if you do)?
Do you cook revered family recipes? Do you let people in on your experiments? Is it a last minute invite or something planned months in advance? Do you research or use established recipes? Is the best way to show love taking them to your favorite restaurant rather than cooking?
Post by BlondeSpiders on Jun 2, 2015 19:26:51 GMT -5
I know that if I'm dating someone new, one of the first things I'll do is cook for them. It's a combination of "let me show you how much I like you" and "be impressed with me! Like me!"
I love having people over for dinner, and my mom was not the best cook, so I don't have any revered family recipes to speak of.
I usually try new things for friends and loved ones, but I've learned to try them out first by myself before attempting them for guests.
I'll answer my own question. I do a mix, generally with the exception of taking someone out. I don't do that terribly often. But, I've lived in cultures where that's the highest accord, so that's why I included it in my poll.
If I plan a dinner party, often I'll do a ton of research and include new recipes. I like experimenting, showing off, stretching myself. Even if it fails. If I'm willing to fail in front of you, I value you as a friend. But an in advance invite means it's special, whether special tried or special new.
If you're in my inner circle, you might get experiments without too much research or else tried and true recipes. The inner circle gets my favorites and my potential failures but always as an impromptu invite.
I know that if I'm dating someone new, one of the first things I'll do is cook for them. It's a combination of "let me show you how much I like you" and "be impressed with me! Like me!"
My bf in college called his mom the first week we met b/c I made pesto pizza. I always knew that was the first of him loving me.
I didn't know until last week that my H, almost 15 years ago, fell for me b/c I made him shrimp scampi in a dorm kitchen.
I guess I know the secret to getting men in my bed
I mostly cook because I like to cook. I don't know if I cook out of love for other people. If I'm being completely honest here, I cook out of love for myself because I'm pretty good at it, and I like an audience for my talents.
ETA - I should have read the other responses first. Glad to see I'm not the only show off.
I know that if I'm dating someone new, one of the first things I'll do is cook for them. It's a combination of "let me show you how much I like you" and "be impressed with me! Like me!"
I love having people over for dinner, and my mom was not the best cook, so I don't have any revered family recipes to speak of.
I usually try new things for friends and loved ones, but I've learned to try them out first by myself before attempting them for guests.
Post by ChillyMcFreeze on Jun 2, 2015 21:21:14 GMT -5
Food is my love language. I love to cook with my girlfriends, and trying new recipes is the best way to bond whether they turn out good or bad. For DH, I make his favorite foods. For my parents, I make family recipes. For friends, I make comfort food.
I take people out or bake for them. Cooking isn't really how I show love on account of I hate doing it.
Ditto this. Minus the baking part lol.
I told my boyfriend on our 2nd date that I hate cooking. I like to be honest! He took that to mean that I suck at it so he was pleasantly surprised when I cooked for us the first time.
I only cook out of necessity and am happy I've always been with guys who do the majority of the cooking.
I show my love to friends and family in other ways!
I am teaching a friend how to cook because she was never taught and is afraid of making mistakes (I let her know just how many awful meals I've produced over the years while learning). My mom was an adequate cook but we don't have any great family recipes other than banana bread (which I love). But as she did make me start cooking meals for the family at 14 with a very limited budget, I felt that cooking showed love for family and friends. And now, I love having people over, cooking for my husband, etc. I like finding out what sorts of foods people enjoy and then making them as best I can with my own little twist. I love surprising my H with a new recipe or ingredient. In some ways, it's how I show myself love cause I feel good after I've made something lovely.
The only reason I cook is because I like food. DH is just lucky I share with him. Like last night, he suggested filets, twice baked potatoes, and roasted vegetables. That is not something I would ever make on a weeknight and I would normally laugh at him for such a suggestion on a random Tuesday, but it actually sounded good, so I made it.
I used to cook and bake for people and we had big dinners all the time. It kind of became unfun to me after a few years. I think because it almost became expected from some people and they started putting in requests and suggestions.
Post by MixedBerryJam on Jun 3, 2015 5:50:21 GMT -5
I love feeding people, although I rarely have people over unexpectedly. But I do love baking for people, too, and pretty much always bring cookies when I go someplace.
Special recipes, special ingredients, things made from scratch that take a lot of work, and recipes I think the other person will really like combined with my specialty recipes.
I cook tasty food because I want to eat it. Plus, I think it's one of the few things I do fairly well and I enjoy positive feedback. My family loves food too so it is a big part of how we celebrate together.
I like cooking for friends and family because it gives me an opportunity to try new things that are either too much work just for 2 people or that MH wouldn't particularly enjoy. Regular weeknight cooking feels like more of a chore.
The planning process and looking for recipes is part of the fun to me as well. I rarely follow them exactly but they act as inspiration. I don't bake because it requires exact measurements and ain't nobody got time for that.
I do cook for people as an act of love, I think. I'll rework recipes so I can have enough to feed anyone who happens to be in my house at that time. I'd rather cook for everyone than go out for dinner somewhere.
My generation of my family is the first to get adventurous with food. We all grew up eating very simple, traditional "American" meals. I still make some of my mom's recipes like her coffee cake and apple crisp. You cannot beat her apple crisp recipe. For the most part though, I make tweaks to make things a little healthier or get some variety in there.
I also love baking. I make birthday cakes for everyone in the family every year. I try not to randomly bake because I'll eat it all myself so I try to reserve it for gift giving and holidays only.
I like to cook when it's out of boredom rather than necessity. Sorta like "hey I really feel like making _____ today." Then when everyone gobbles it up I am happy. But daily cooking has become more of a chore than the happy thing it used to be. I think it's because I've just been too busy the last few years.
But I love to bake more than anything else. It's fun when the kids get involved and want to help too. Although I learned the hard way to keep the mixer off when they are helping me add ingredients. Ever see a metal measuring cup fly across the room at high speed? I have.