One for the oldie cooks amongst us....

[shaneystar2]

We had a Chicken Korma Curry for our evening meal made and doctored by mei courtesy of a jar of Korma sauce from Morrisons .Boil in the bag Basmati rice .
It was very tasty .But we just ate it and that as that .
I've been cooking for my family for nearly forty years, although it's now just us two mostly and I also used to cook for a living .I used to enjoy cooking but I find it a total chore these days .
I'm of the generation that can stretch a chicken or joint of meat for a week yet these days I have no motivation and I buy all sorts of ready chopped veg etc . Mainly due to fumble fingers although I'm not an advocate of the ready meal culture either .
Do any of you people of my age (64) get cheesed off with cooking every day and wondering what to cook ? I wish I could win the lottery and not have to worry about it :)

[woofgang]

If Mr ask doesn't like ready meals, Mr ask should learn to cook.....

[mazie]

Hi shaney. I retired last year so I'm now enjoying having the time to cook, bake., make ice cream and jams at my leisure which is always a bit of a luxury. The bog standard evening meals are a bit of a pain in the harris though

[Bambiagain]

Guten Abend Shaney. I'm with you on this one. I have a limited repertoire of recipes I can cook without thinking, and the rest of the time I'm just lazy. We eat German style breakfast and similar for lunch (I'm used to an evening meal for the main meal of the day) but when I'm on my own, which is often as the OH is working away, I have a freezer full of Soljanka and similar. Cooking for myself is so boring. It'S only when I have guests that I can be bothered.

[ladyalex]

I'm with Mazie.
Everyday cooking (and deciding what to cook) is a bore. Baking or cooking for special occasions is enjoyable. Sadly have had to cut down on the baking as we just eat it and put loads of weight on.
Not too many special occasions coming up now since we're on our own. (Everyone else in the family either emigrated far and wide or sadly passed on.)

[askyourgran]

Mr ask can tell me how to cook a meal to perfection, but somehow he never manages to do it himself. I think I've got it a bit wrong in the past 50 odd years.

[mazie]

LOL alex I'm the same the old man's on a diet so I'm not allowed to bake cakes and stuff..My poor neighbour as asked my not to bring any more cakes round has her freezer is full!

[shaneystar2]

I like a bit of baking too Mazie especially in the winter months .I'll often make a cake or do a crumble and various puds ,mainly because I like them !
Mr S. hasn't got a sweet tooth like me .
And I still love to feed a child when they turn up .
But it's true ..the daily main meal is a pain .Mr S. is a meat ,veg and spuds man and I don't always want a big meal .

[shaneystar2]

Guten Abend Bambi ...I'll be back ......just going to watch tele for an hour .

[mazie]

Yep....that's the thing shaney mines the same. A farmers son and likes his traditional grub....Sometimes I'd rather have a boiled egg for dinner.

[ladyalex]

Many, many moons ago, when dinosaurs roamed the plains, lordalex worked for a catering company.
This meant that he got a full 2 or even 3 course lunch every day plus as many filled rolls, sandwiches, biscuits as he could eat through his working day.
I used to eat lunch at work too (works had canteens then, can you believe it ?) so for a number of years before the son-and-heir was born I really only cooked at weekends or for special occasions.
I did not realise how lucky I was. Do now.

[mazie]

My best time in the kitchen is in the Summer (fat chance!) making Ice cream, I love thinking up new creations.

[Bambiagain]

Many years ago my father used to eat a full lunch in his works canteen, then he came home and expected a full evening meal to be served up. My mother cooked what she decided to cook, since he never told her what he wanted. The last time he said to her "That's what I had for lunch" he ended up wearing it on his head.

[owdhamer]

As i do not enjoy the best of health,i must be a nightmare to cook for,Mrs Owd will say its lamb chops or sirloin for tea,but i cant face meat these days,i have odd meals like a small tin of soup with a pie in it or a crab and caper fishcake,the local chjppy also has me as a regular,cake and blscuits are also popular and i am advised by the macmillan nurse that all this is fine,BUT

[owdhamer]

When we find a tasty recipe the delia recipe book comes out,and the result mouthwatering.

[askyourgran]

We eat less as we get older owdhammer. Just lately mr ask has been fancying soup and toast, or a peice of haddock or poached salmon with a slice of bread instead of the usual new potoatos and veg. or chips.

[boxtops]

We seem to be lucky - nibble does nearly all the routine weekday cooking when he's home, he likes best stuff which takes no longer than 20 minutes - pasta, stir fry, or something from the freezer.

[LyndaB]

No - I'm only a bit younger than you (56) and there are only two of us - and I love to cook every day. I prepare everything from scratch and love making things out of leftovers. Even if I did win the lottery - I would still do it!!

[pastafreak]

I'm another one who cooks for a living-though I drifted into it about 15 years ago.
Same age as shaney and a few others.
I always cooked from scratch-and tried lots of different ethnic cuisines.I'm on my own now-and have been for a few years. I went through a stage where cooking was the last thing I wanted to do for just me-so I ate a lot of rubbish. But I 'woke up' about a year ago...and decided I had to treat myself better,and eat proper food. What I cook at work is very basic and boring. I cook for a charity-so a lot comes out of tins. It's the exact opposite at home. Always has been. I'm not a fan of ready meals or pre-made stuff. It never tastes right to me. I still like searching out new things-that keeps it interesting.
I don't know if I'd still be enthusiastic about cooking at home if I had to please others though.

[diddlydo]

If you can just grow lots of veg and then what you put with them is largely irrelevant - just enjoy the wonderful taste of home grown veg with a couple of slices of bacon or a bit of grilled fish and you're in heaven with very little effort.

[shaneystar2]

Hi again folks ..I've just been watching a programme called Turn back Time and I don't think I would have wanted to be an Edwardian wife ..Rich or poor .

Owdhamer I think you are in same boat as my husband healthwise .He eats and eats because he is always hungry since his operation because his food goes through him quicker and he has to eat mostly stodgy stuff .I hope you are coping with it though. It's so life changing. Take care xx

Oh yes bambi I know all about the German style breakfasts .I sit there with a bit of toast and a boiled egg while Mr S ploughs through pickled herrings ,cheese ,ham and schwartzbrot :) Then it's a mid day snack then it's the 4pm coffee .Then a meal in the evening.
We eat a balanced diet and what we have is fine ..it's just such a chore at times as to what to have .
Mr S has just gone to bed ....his passing remark to me was on his way was

" shall I get some of those little potatoes on my way back from the barber in the morning ..we could have those with salad and cold cuts "....Haha...Nite nite folks x