to bisquick or not to bisquick?
Lovely phone conversation with Natalie, Grandpa, and Uncle Phil this morning. It brought to mind another important Case family subject - boxed food. Natalie and I have been discussing the grossness of boxed mashed potatoes - the nasty FLAKES. I'll never forget the first time my dad brought home a box of potato flakes. I thought I was going to pass out (the only excuse I can come up with for it is that Dad's not an authentic Case, he just married into the family. However, he IS a Giess and Giesses are notoriously cheap. He was raised on potato flakes because 1. they are cheaper and 2. his aunt couldn't cook to save her life and hey, mashed potatoes from a box? right on! even though they ARE Irish and you'd think they'd have a little more respect for the potato...well maybe not, the potato basically abandoned the Irish during that famine thing.) because NO ONE BUYS POTATO FLAKES!!! COME ON!!!! This is something that has been crucial in my upbringing. I stand by it. Potato flakes are nasty.
However! I had never stopped to consider the possible error in using Bisquick. True, it's imitation in the end, but is it really worse? Natalie gave me a hard time this morning when I said we were using Bisquick in the waffles. Now, I think it's kinda great we were making waffles at all, but then oh! she had to go pop my little bubble of joy. Grandpa asked me if I even KNOW how to make waffles from scratch, of course I claimed I did (I mean...the Joy of Cooking knows, and if the Joy of Cooking knows, then I know).
Here comes my claim: it is completely fine to use Bisquick as a cooking tool. Now, mashed potatoes in a box is unaccepable because it is trying to imitate a food. They are in no way actually potatoes or resemble potatoes. However, Bisquick actually IS the flour, sugar, etc. that it claims to be. If it saves me time and is, in fact, what it claims to be, is this really a problem? I say no.
Ok...let the heckling begin.
2 Comments:
dude blog!!!!!!!!! its been like a million years so just blog once
As far as I can tell, hardly anyone in the Higgins family could cook. The only good meal I had at any Higgins home involved live Maine lobsters that had been caught that morning - a dish which is impossible to ruin. It may be that your Grandmother Ellen was a good cook, I don't remember the food - just the excitement and drama of a trip to cville.
Aunt Mary loved tomatoes, but would not eat them in winter, so as a substitute would make tomato aspic with tomato juice and unflavored gelatin. Did you ever have the pleasure of that taste treat? What I don't understand is why your Great Grandmother, Julia - a renowned cook did not pass this skill to any of her children (to my knowledge). I understand that even after she left their employ, she cooked the Huston Thanksgiving turkey.
My mother claims that I am a good cook - but I think her judgement is suspect at best and likely flawed to the max. She attributes this to her grandmother's German heritage...
I'm glad you are enjoying Ireland - and grateful for your updates.
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