zeroptzero

My wife and I had that exact same relationship for a good 25 years when I did all of the cooking. My wife was convinced that she did not know how to cook, so she always did the clean up duties with me cooking. About 5 years ago she started cooking up a storm, so I think she tricked me for the first 25 years, lol. But we ate well either way, so I can't complain..

zeroptzero

I agree whole heartedly. I think some of the younger generations are finding higher rates of certain cancers that were not widely found in older generations.

boltonblue

I have recollections of my grandmother talking about food on the farm.
Breakfast started early at 3:30 or 4 o'clock in the morning before milking.
Then came full breakfast when the morning work was done, followed later by lunch and dinner.
It sounded like a massive amount of calories but then again they were putting in a really long day of hard manual work.
Our calories today are cheaply won. I can earn enough in a morning siting at my desk to pay for groceries for the week.
I expend a dozen calories "earning" the 21,000+ calories for the week and wonder why I'm Fat. or is it really 25K cal or 30k or more?

zeroptzero

I also have a different take on the Mediterranean diet everyone talks about today. The way Europeans eat today is no more healthy than the way we eat here. The Mediterranean diet and way of life that was healthiest was the one that existed 100 years ago when much of Europe was an agrarian society. People ate what they grew on their property, they walked up and down the land constantly rather than driving vehicles or motorcycles or tractors, and engaged in a lot of physical activity. They ate a varied diet which often included olive oil, fish, nuts, vegetables and the meat they ate usually came from sources close to their lands. That was the Mediterranean diet and lifestyle that worked, not exactly what you find in Europe today.

dlq04

We went to the best steakhouse in our area, the old fashion upscale type, that have always served great food and great pours! You'll never guess what I ordered . . baby caves liver and onions. OMG, it was so good. Of course, everyone turns their nose up at the table when I ordered it. What do they know. It is the only restaurant that I would ordered at and it has been a few years since I had it there.

Lainey

My mother used to love liver. Not me...can't stand the smell. Rick made a big pot of chicken vegetable soup. It's been my lunch just about every day. For a change I'll have chicken for dinner.

cosmomiller

I will give you the diet may have changed over a century in Europe. That being said, I respectfully disagree, generally speaking. The kind of food you find in supermarkets in Europe and street "farmers markets" are superior to what we have in the USA. The food there is almost always is locally sourced with the producers taking great pains to be organic, free of anything GMO and produce using older, albeit inefficient, means of production. Most of the meat, poultry and seafood are to die for just walking through markets. The birds are whole, the scallops are complete and the hams are spectacular. Take a look at restaurants. Look at our Applebees, Olive Garden, or any other usual chain restaurants with pre-prepared food to be heated and served. Did you ever see a menu from BJ's Brewhouse with the chef's selection of the day with fresh produce or meat? Nope. You get a plastic menu that is the same all over the country. Chefs in Europe actually create dishes with local ingredients and you can taste the difference between establishments of the same kind of dish. Personally, I became very picky about Carbonara in Rome and found a few chefs that made the best, IMO.
I just saw an advertisement for dinner food here from some brand (I don't recall I was so mortified at the garbage they were selling) that billed everything as the same temp (325), same time (30 minutes). The mother has four plastic dishes sealed in plastic that go into the oven. There is a vegetable, side, main course and something else to boot. Super processed and cooked in carcinogic plastic. You will not find that in Europe. I am forever shocked how many Americans eat processed garbage. Very few seem to make food from scratch.
I have to admit I am blessed with a wife who does do pretty much everything from scratch. The line is drawn eating our chickens as they all have names!

Frankly, I really miss eating in Europe and bringing back some of the food I could at the time. Airline crews are under different rules for bring certain items back home.

These are all from Europe with a few shots of stores in there as well. You get the idea. Not stuff you find at most restaurants you see in the USA. In addition, the prices are half what there are out the door for this stuff.

zeroptzero

^ Wow you have the best pictures Jim, that is making me very hungry. I do agree with all of that. I learned long ago how "food service" has ruined most restaurants in the US and Canada. One day I tried to order my pasta "Al Dente" at a chain restaurant and they told me it only comes one way - which is over-cooked. lol. I almost never eat Italian food outside of our home, it is not worth chancing.

I know there are many food ingredients that are banned in Europe which still get sold here in North America. I also like how many special food regions in Europe still have strict production regulations (even though the Mafia has tried to very hard to produce contraban goods) We use a lot of those imported products here when we eat and cook at home, we also have family in southern Italy who send us their home-grown products. My mother has a friend who has an olive grove in Greece and she sends us 5 gallons of olives and oil oil every fall that is out of this world, we just got our delivery a few weeks ago. They have some great food products in Europe, far better than we can get in many cases

cosmomiller

Our kids absorbed the culinary talents of their mother so we are quite a crowd of foodies. I usually take discreet pictures of food, especially overseas, to let my kids/family on group texts know what I have to put up with on my trips. On a typical month I would do 4 trips to Europe or less if the layovers were longer. I liked the multiple day layovers and usually was able to to snag them with my seniority. What a job!

zeroptzero

Funny, I came across this article today , discussing food that has been regularly eaten by those families who tended to live longest. It is basically a form of minestrone soup, much like my mother made often while we were growing up. A soup that was very much considered peasant food from the old country, in southern Italy where my parents' families lived in an agrarian lifestyle. I enjoy the soup and I think of it as comfort food, it is also considered very healthy food.

Doctor hails soup recipe that 'world's longest living family' ate regularly (msn.com)