since when do we need to prepare "dishes" for dinner?

[Nettie]

My mum called that 'Hotch-Potch'. That's it's name! She called that anything that she chucked together.

I still cook Mum's Hotch-Potch today and it's different every time!

[AnyDream]

Hotch potch - I like that. Sounds like something my Nan would say

[Trillian]

"Rissole's Darl" is what we jokingly call stuff. We don't name our food either, it's just sausages/chops/steak/chicken and veg, sometimes with gravy. our staples are meat and veg, so nothing fancy that needs a name LOL. But I will admit to saying to the kids when I've been asked for the millionth time what am I cooking for dinner "its poo" and they usually stop asking

[LimeSlice]

DHs is "S*** on Toast"

[Trillian]

DHs is "S*** on Toast"

That's what we got told as kids. That or 'bread, sugar and duck under the table' and it took me YEARS to figure out what that meant.

[~Kim~]

But I will admit to saying to the kids when I've been asked for the millionth time what am I cooking for dinner "its poo" and they usually stop asking

Me too!!

DD just rolls her eyes and walks away now

Occasionally I will whip out a 'named' dinner, but I rarely use a recipe.

[Kazbah]

I guess that it just seems that (having watched) BH&G everything seems swish. Spag bol was special when I was a kid, a real treat. I tried to make what my mum called chow mein the other day, and it's nowhere near as nice or tasty as hers, she doesn't have a recipe and the only ingredient i know other than the mince & cabbage is curry powder. Magazines are full of menu plans and everything taking ages to prepare, but little time to cook. (and it's a "quick meal" - only needs 20 mins of veggie chopping prior!)

I wonder how much is being lost from our kids' future? I do roast lamb/beef every week cause it's dead easy, yet to my husband it's a special high-effort meal. Mum would make what she called "racehorses" which I think are a kind of fritter ...

I want to get to a point where I can grow stuff in the veggie patch, and not stress cause it doesn't fit a recipe, yet still have a filling meal. I'd love to be true "fork to fork" in my efforts. I feel our meals are so "named" and "recipe led" that the simple skill of knowing what goes together is lost - chicken tonight isn't a treat any more, but a staple. (sorry, I'm not trying to offend anyone, just trying to get my thoughts in order)

And it's not just in the kitchen I think these skills are being lost - I had a housemate once who didn't know the basics of fixing a door latch, of household repairs like a hole in plaster. I taught him all these things. We're moving to a society where everyone has a role, and the jack-of-all-trades is being lost.

Mind you, I wish I knew how to throw stuff in the slow cooker and for it to work!

[Rouge]

Once you've cooked enough you don't need a recipe, you know what goes in certain dishes. I can make a lot of things just by the eye. And I think that's important. If you cook something with multiple ingredients it's a recipe. Whether you're counting the tablespoons or not it's still a dish and it's Kazbah's recipe

I won't lie I love recipe books, but these to me are like small courses. Unless I'm baking I very rarely follow a recipe, but they give me great ideas I can work on. Unless I'm making a classic dish iykwim?

[Indadhanu]

LOL savory mince and mashed potatoes If you'd had baked it with potato and cheese on top, I'd say its a shepards pie!



Just make something up Mummy's secret is a good name, I think every family needs a 'Munnys seret' meal!!

[Trillian]

LOL savory mince and mashed potatoes If you'd had baked it with potato and cheese on top, I'd say its a shepards pie!

I did that the other night for the kids and I and then used the leftovers and made shepherds pie for DH's dinner.

I completely understand what you mean Kazbah and Rouge, I love recipe books too but like you Rouge, I only follow a recipe for baking but everything else I bastardise to suit our tastes LOL. I guess I prepare lots of meals that techincally have names, but I don't sit everyone down for dinner and say tonight we are having xyz. We rarely buy food specific for a meal all the time, it's only if we want to try something new kwim?