25 posts tagged “qotd”
Who taught you how to cook?
Submitted by Donna.
I consider myself reasonably skilled in the kitchen, and I can't say there was any one person that taught me how to cook. I didn't grow up in a house where the kitchen was a very active place; we tended to eat out most every night. To be clear, both of my parents have plenty of cooking skills, they're just very busy people[1]. My parents taste level also increased over the years, which led me to enjoy the finer things when it comes to food.
So, I chalk four things up to my learning to cook: restaurants, my father's mother (my mawmaw), living in a houseful of vegans, and the food network[2]. They all worked together in teaching me to cook. First, as I said, I've eaten the majority of the meals in my life at a restaurant, and I like to eat well. I also really enjoyed the Food Network back in the early days, and had an epiphany when I realized that I wasn't financially solvent enough to eat out as well as I would like, and that I could totally cook the things they were showing on television. So, I picked a recipe that was out of my kitchen comfort level, spent a good portion of the day shopping for ingredients, and made this spectacular meal. It was, as I recall, fresh herb and mushroom stuffed chicken breasts in a Madeira reduction.
My Mawmaw is the one individual that has influenced my cooking. Her tendency to burn the living hell out of anything meat related notwithstanding[3], the woman can cook country style. I have made it a point to learn her recipes, which has led to some disasters at baking biscuits. She doesn't have to measure anything for them to come out perfect, but baking and cooking are two different worlds. I can learn how she cooks, but I may never get the biscuits right.
Finally, spending a chunk of a year living in a house full of vegans and vegetarians was a real lesson in how to maximize flavor with effective seasoning and herbs without resorting to animal fats to add flavor.
[1]Not to mention that my mother's mother (my nana, RIP) was British and thus wasn't exactly what you would call a whiz in the kitchen, but could make a chocolate cake (red velvet) that would make you cry.
[2]Back when they had real cooking shows, and not Rachel Ray.
[3]She does terrible, terrible things to beef, but is definitely the reason I like bacon and sausage at about two levels past well-done. Bacon should crumble into dust, and white gravy should be so well-browned that it's grey.
How do you take your tea or coffee?
Submitted by Vasquez.
My coffee is black, for there is no reason to adjust the wonder that is coffee.
My tea is all hot (hi, I'm probably the only life long southerner you'll meet that doesn't like iced tea) and if it's black tea it needs milk and a little sugar, green I like plain or with a little honey.
Friends, comments, education, amusement: what's been the best thing to happen to you on Vox so far?
As pooki said, the question of the day might be the best feature about vox. I've had a blog running since December 2000 that I've let die off for the most part, because I can't tell you how many times I've opened the new post screen and sat and stared at it.
Oh, and like I said, I'm going to add some music from my top 5 albums of the year. Here's "Shakey Dog" from Ghostface Killah's Fishscale. I mentioned this song before, but it's probably the best short story/mise en scene of 2006.
I do have a little weird feeling about putting an album like Fishscale in my top 5 that coincides with all the critical blog talk about Clipse's Hell Hath No Fury. I'm not going to lie, it's a hell of a record, but I'll ask like so many have, why the hipster fascination with coke rap? Is it due to a preference for the white stuff in modern hipster culture? I guess I'm out of touch having avoided coke. I mean, I know some folks that like to have a little blowout* on the weekends--I'm not trying to hate--but I've also seen it turn out badly for someone and it's definitely shown to be a reasonably parasitic industry.
*Is "blowout" a term for getting yayed out? Shouldn't it be? Too much of a pun?
What are your top 5 CDs/albums of 2006?
Submitted by eliz. s.
I intend on adding some representative audio from these, but I thought I would knock this out while I'm thinking about it.
In no particular order.
Ghostface Killah - Fishscale
Lucero - Rebels, Rogues and Sworn Brothers
The Hold Steady - Boys & Girls in America
TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
Mission of Burma - The Obliterati
What's your favorite heartbreak song?
Submitted by esta86.
"Song of 27," the closing track on Richard Buckner's Devotion + Doubt is definitely near the top of the list for heartbreak songs, which is a different category than saddest-song. The winner of that is "Letter to a Husband at War" by I Hate Myself (surprise, surprise with a name like that).
What's your favorite Thanksgiving dish?
Submitted by Brennan.
My grandmother's cornbread dressing, which now that the recipe has been passed on to me, has become my cornbread dressing. It has been said that mine outshines hers, but I'd never say that. It is pretty damn good, though. (Hint: leave out the celery, it's a pointless vegetable. Add buttermilk biscuits and ritz crackers to the cornbread, and go heaaaaavy on the sage.)
I'm going retail job hunting today to pickup a 2nd/3rd job for now so that I can catch up on some bills. Looks like I might not be missing Black Friday after all. I'm thinking either a mall job or looking somewhere like Old Navy, because the discount applies to Banana Republic as well, and that would be sweet.
What's on your Top 5 video games list?
Submitted by mileena.
I don't really get into video games, which is surprising to many people because most tech people are. I just don't have the motivation to get involved in the complexities of the modern video game. I owned an Xbox 360 for a day, when I won it from Pepsi. It was nice, but it wasn't nicer than the $1000 I made from it.
My list:
1. Final Fantasy II, on the Super Nintendo. This was really FF4 or something like that in Japan, but it's one of the few story based video games I ever cared about.
2. Tetris.
3. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4. All of these games were great, but that was my favorite. Many hours spent back in the Commune days staring at this time waster.
4. Guitar Hero. Good lord, I've only played this at a friend's and it is the most addictive thing since Tetris (although, completely different).
5. MS Windows Solitaire.
What's the worst pickup line you've ever heard?
Submitted by ShellEy.
Oh, how I hope that no one actually ever used this in seriousness:
"Want to get some warm beer and go fuck?"
(pause)
"We can get cold beer."
I'm very, very sorry.
What's your method for calculating a tip?
2 * (cost of bill * 10%)
