Cooksister | Food, Travel, Photography

Food, photos & faraway places

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • About me
    • Contact me
    • Work with me
    • Legal
      • Copyright notice & Disclaimer
      • Disclosure
      • Cookies and Privacy Policy
    • Press and media
    • Cooksister FAQs
  • RECIPES
    • Recipe Index – by course
    • Baking (savoury)
    • Braai/Barbecue
    • Breakfast & brunch
    • Christmas
    • Dessert
    • Drinks
    • Eggs
    • Fish
    • Gluten-free
    • Leftovers
    • Pasta & rice
    • Poultry
    • Pulses
    • Salads
    • Soup
    • South African
    • Starters & light meals
    • Vegan
    • Vegetables
    • Vegetarian
  • RESTAURANTS
    • British Isles restaurants
    • Dubai restaurants
    • France restaurants
    • London restaurants
    • Montenegro restaurants
    • New York restaurants
    • Pop-ups and supperclubs
    • Serbia restaurants
    • Singapore restaurants
    • South Africa restaurants
    • Sweden restaurants
    • Switzerland restaurants
    • USA restaurants
  • TRAVEL
    • All my travel posts
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Canada
      • Dubai
      • Cruise ships
      • France
      • Germany
      • Greece
      • Grenada
      • Hong Kong
      • Hotel reviews
      • Italy
      • Israel
      • Jersey
      • Mexico
      • Netherlands
      • Norway
      • Portugal
      • Singapore
      • Ski & snow
      • South Africa
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • UK
      • USA
      • Wales
  • PORTFOLIO
    • Freelance writing portfolio
    • Speaking and teaching
    • Photography portfolio
    • Buy my photos
You are here: Home / Memes / Skeletons in the pantry

Skeletons in the pantry

by Jeanne Horak on December 18, 2007 7 Comments in Memes

Cooksister-tomato

The lovely Katie over at Thyme for Cooking understands that the holidays can be a stressful time for us all.  In fact, a friend of mine called me one year at about 18h00 on Christmas day after a full day of family, and explained in detail how next Christmas he would like to immolate his entire extended family and maybe toast marshmallows on the resulting blaze as he enjoyed the peace and quiet! (Don’t worry – the entire family is still alive and well…). So Katie has decided that what we all need is some light relief, and she has provided it in the form of Skeletons in the Pantry. All you have to do to play along is provide a true confession about food that you love that no self-respecting foodie would ever admit to – disaster stories also welcome 😉

The first story that springs to mind is actually a confession on behalf of my father, seeing as it was his idea in the first place. To set the scene, bear in mind that my father was born in 1922, a time when men didn’t cook and there were no such things as convenience foods. Obviously he must have learned to cook SOMETHING once he was away from home at university and before he got married. But whatever he learnt was soon lost after he married my mom and she took over all the cooking duties for the rest of their married life. Well, almost the rest.

At some stage in the early 1980s, my mom was really busy lecturing radiography as well as playing an active role in the Society of Radiographers of South Africa, and her time was at a premium. To make her life easier, my father suggested that he cook dinner and wash up one night a week, assisted by me and my brother Anton. So far so good. What we didn’t count on was:

a) my father’s fascination with convenience foods that didn’t exist when he was a child;

b) my father’s love of routine; and

c) my father’s taste for foods without much of a texture.

I can tell you’re scared now. You probably should be.

And so it came to pass that we gathered in the kitchen on the first Wednesday night of this arrangement, ready to chop, prepare or do some other pre-cooking chores. Wrong! The pre-cooking chores started and ended with boiling the kettle and fetching the can opener. Why? Because my dad’s idea of a balanced dinner was tinned ravioli in a spectacularly red tomato sauce, not unlike the matrix in which tinned baked beans are suspended. And because we needed something to mop up the sauce (and just because we didn’t already have enough carbs on the plate), this culinary feast for the tongue and the eyes was served on a bed of Smash instant mashed potatoes (“just add water!!”). Granted, the Smash was dolled up a bit with liberal lashings of margarine (!), salt and pepper. But it still had the consistency of wallpaper glue. Top it all off with a sprinkling of grated cheddar cheese and we’re good to go!

The first week it was novel and exciting. By the 4th week it was familiar and comforting. Two months later it was just dire. And yet I do believe that if my father had his way, we would still be having that exact meal every Wednesday night. But at some point my mom stepped in and headed off her children’s incipient attack of scurvy by taking up the cooking reins again on a Wednesday night and the carb-fest came to an end. So now you know my family’s culinary skeleton in the pantry!

As for me, I have only one really disgusting weakness. I haven’t eaten McDonalds in years; I have never eaten a stuffed-crust, deep-dish pizza; and the only thing I really like at Burger King are their fries.

But let me catch one whiff of KFC and I am a drooling madwoman. Yes, folks, those very-un-free-range chickens, those secret spices, that oil-on-oil crispy skin – I’m a sucker for all of it. I eat the pieces with my hands, tearing off the skin in order to save the best for last. I get greasy up to my elbows. Sometimes, I dunk the meat in Hellmann’s mayonnaise too.

Because, of course, their chicken pieces don’t already contain enough fat, and I do love the sound of arteries slamming shut in the morning.

:o)

More deliciousness for you!

  • Saturday Snapshots #162Saturday Snapshots #162
  • Saturday Snapshots #239Saturday Snapshots #239
  • Ping Pong – a dim sum feastPing Pong – a dim sum feast
  • Saturday Snapshots #241Saturday Snapshots #241

Never miss a Cooksister post

If you enjoyed this post, enter your e-mail address here to receive a FREE e-mail update when a new post appears on Cooksister

I love comments almost as much as I love cheese - so if you can't leave me any cheese, please leave me a comment instead!

« Blinde vinken braised in Grimbergen beer
Roast duck with pancetta and potatoes – an alternative Christmas meal »

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. Katie says

    December 18, 2007 at 8:21 pm

    My mother (who had never worked) decided to get a part time job after my youngest brother was in middle school and my father (about the same age) took over cooking when she was working. He discovered frozen T.V. dinners… and you’re right, the first month was fun…the second, not so much….
    We had a KFC/Pizza hut in Andorra… (I love Pizza hut – but not the stuffed crust). I could get a combi dinner of chicken wings and a slice of pepperoni pizza….Funny, even after 7 years I never got tired of that….
    Thanks for playing!

    Reply
  2. Gill says

    December 19, 2007 at 4:45 pm

    A hysterical post Jeanne! When my hubby and I were students we used to make this mixture that we called “Hash” it was a combination of tinned veg curry, baked beans and corned beef – euuuuww! No wonder we only lasted a year being students…..

    Reply
  3. Ley says

    December 20, 2007 at 5:19 am

    Haha- my dad would get stuck on things, too. He had three (yes- three) different meals he could prepare, though, so at least we were able to change it up. 😉

    Reply
  4. Robert says

    December 23, 2007 at 3:01 pm

    Have you tried the onion rings at Burger King? Very good. Can also recommend the chicken popcorn at KFC!
    My dad was on a par with yours I think. He only had to cook once for us when my mom was in hospital and I recall it being baked beans heated in the can on the stove (as per what he learned in the army) and that was it.

    Reply
  5. suzi-k says

    January 10, 2008 at 8:02 am

    this is a great post! My dad and yours are clearly of the same ilk, he is now 89 and still turns down the delicious balanced meals i try to make for him in favour of a tin of vienna sausages and spaghetti gloop in revolting aforementioned bright red sauce, shovelled onto toast, eeeuuuw! And we share the KFC gene too, i think our local branch is still wondering why sales have plummetted so drastically in the past few weeks, since we were forced by the arteries having actually slammed shut to amend our lifestyle… I still have to convince myself that a plate of baby spinach and rosa tomatoes is a fair substitute for that decadent oily secret spice crust!

    Reply
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Never miss a Cooksister post!

Get my latest recipes delivered by e-mail!

Search over 500 recipes

Recently on Cooksister

  • Masalchi by Atul Kochhar – Indian street food in Wembley
  • Barbecued salmon with blood oranges and capers
  • Roasted Brussels sprouts with feta, pomegranate and pine nuts [GF, V]
  • Love Yourself healthy meal delivery [Review]
  • Antillean
  • Festive roast lamb with pomegranate glaze
  • Rustic blood orange and pistachio galettes
  • Cauliflower steak Welsh rarebit

Archives by month

Archives by category

Popular posts

Peppermint Crisp fridge tart - a South African treat
Oxtail and red wine potjie
Gem squash 101: how to find them, how to grow them, how to eat them!
Nigella's Bakewell slices & the Big Bakewell Taste-off
Roosterkoek - a South African braai essential
My big, fat South African potato bake

Featured on

Also available on

Anybody for South African chocolate-studded malva Anybody for South African chocolate-studded malva pudding? Think a lighter version of sticky toffee pudding with melted chocolate chunks drenched in a  creamy syrup... heaven 😍🇿🇦 #malvapudding #southafricanrecipes #southafricanfood #southafricandesserts
🌸🌸🌸Waltz of the cherry blossoms 🌸🌸🌸

#cherryblossomtree #londoncherryblossom #cherryblossomseason #sakuraseason #cherryblossoms2022 #floweringcherry #prettylondon #londoninbloom #springinlondon #blossomwatch #blossomseason #pinkpinkpink #mydarlinglondon
London cherry blossom season 🌸🌸🌸 My favou London cherry blossom season 🌸🌸🌸 My favourite time of year! 

#londoninbloom #springinlondon #blossomwatch #sakuraseason #blossomseason #londoncherryblossom #londonsbest #floweringcherry #explorelondon #mydarlinglondon #prettycitylondon #pinkpinkpink #londonbylondoners
🌷🌷🌷 It’s tulip season in London! Every 🌷🌷🌷 It’s tulip season in London!

Everywhere you look, these long-legged floral supermodels are adding a splash of colour to parks and gardens and I just can’t get enough of them! It’s easy to see how they inspired a collective buying frenzy in 17th Century Holland, called “tulip fever”, but today there are less dramatic ways to enjoy them. Here are a couple of suggestions of where to see them at their best:

🌷 The ultimate tulipalooza is the annual opening of Keukenhof gardens outside Amsterdam where 7 million (!) bulbs burst into life each Spring. This year the gardens are open 24 March-15 May (click on the link in my bio for FAQs and my top tips for visitors)

🌷In London, Kew Gardens always has spectacular displays of tulips; but you can also see excellent and free tulips in most of the Royal Parks such as Regents Park. 

🌷The Hampton Court Palace tulip festival is on until 2 May and the Hever  Castle’s Tulip Celebrations until 24 April - both within easy reach of London.

🌷The Morges Fete de la Tulipe in Switzerland takes place every year against the spectacular backdrop of Lake Geneva - it is on until 8 May this year.

I spotted these spectacular red frilly parrot tulips beside St Paul’s Cathedral yesterday 🌹 Where is the best display of tulips that you have ever seen?
Spring daffodils in London parks - can there be a Spring daffodils in London parks - can there be a happier sight?? 🌼 

#daffodil #daffodilseason #isitspringyet #yellowdaffodils #colourfuflowers #springbulbs #londoninbloom #springinlondon #narcissus #colourmylife #colourmehappy #colourinspo #spring2022 #londonparks #londonpark #blossomwatch
MASALCHI BY ATUL KOCHHAR - pan-Indian street food MASALCHI BY ATUL KOCHHAR - pan-Indian street food restaurant in Wembley

Remember to save this post so you can find it later! 🔖

[Invited] If you thought Brick Lane and chicken tikka masala or madras were all there is to know about the food of the Indian subcontinent, think again! In the shadow of the Wembley arch,  @chefatulkochhar has opened his first casual dining restaurant,  showcasing the rustic, spicy, diverse street foods of India. 

Highlights when I visited included:
1. Carrot halwa
2. Papdi chaat
3. Chicken 65
4. Tandoori broccoli
5. Smoky aubergine chokha
6. A snap of all our mains - you can read all about these and more in the full review on my blog - click the link in my bio or go to:
 https://www.cooksister.com/2022/04/masalchi-atul-kochhar-indian-wembley.html

What is your favourite dish from the Indian subcontinent? Let me know in the comments 🌶🌶🌶
Join me once again at my favourite (and London's b Join me once again at my favourite (and London's best!) supperclub 😍 #luizhara @thelondonfoodie

Last night we had an excellent 8 course Japanese comfort food menu, largely from Luiz's second book The Japanese Larder. Here's what was on the menu:
1. Grilled scallop on sushi rice with to wasabi tobiko, nori & Tobanjan spicy sauce
2. Mentaiko spaghetti with a spicy chilli, sake and cod roe cream sauce
3. Dango Jiru - Japanese chicken & dumpling miso soup with winter  vegetables 
4. Okonomiyaki, Osaka style - japanese pancake with cabbage, squid, pork belly, kimchi and bonito flakes
5. Kakiage & pickles - tempura of coriander, crabcakes, burdock & carrot tops, with pickled mustard greens
6. Iberico pork with a teriyaki butter glaze on nori blackened cauliflower
7. Nikkei Tai Goham - steamed sea bream rice with a yuzu & jalapeño dressing, cooked in a donabe clay pot
8. Apple tarte tatin with star anise, rosemary and almonds

At £60 per head, incl. a welcome cocktail and canapé, in Luiz's beautiful home, it is superb value and always super special ❤ Thanks for an amazing evening Luiz! 

#nikkeifood #londonsupperclub #londonsupperclubs #thelondonfoodie #japanesecomfortfood
🍒🌸 It’s cherry blossom season! 🍒🌸 T 🍒🌸 It’s cherry blossom season! 🍒🌸

There is no season in London that I love more than cherry blossom season! From March through to April, trees in various parks and gardens in London put on an amazing display of delicate pink and white blossoms - and everything in the city seems a little more magical. This particular tree near St Pauls must be among London’s most photographed, and it’s not hard to see why 💕

Did you know that...

🌸cherry blossoms are Japan’s national flower and are known as Sakura 

🌸In 1910, Japan sent the USA some cherry trees as a goodwill gesture… and the Dept of Agriculture inspectors nearly caused an international incident by burning them as they were carrying insects and diseases! But in 1915 Japan sent more cherry trees that survived the inspectors, and these marked the start of cherry trees in the USA.

🌸 Peak blossom season is usually only two to three weeks in March/April but is hard to predict as the weather and the subspecies of tree influence the timing.

🌸The cherry blossom capital of the  world is Macon, Georgia with 300,000 - 350,000 Yoshino cherry blossom trees.

🌸 There are over 200 different varieties of cherry blossom and some are purely ornamental (meaning they produce no cherries)

Where is your favourite place to see cherry blossoms in London or around the world? Let me know in the comments and happy blossom hunting! 🌸🍒🌸

#pinkpinkpink
A wonderful lunch in at Masalchi - the new street A wonderful lunch in at Masalchi - the new street food restaurant by Atul Kochhar in Wembley. Highlights included the amazing kiwi fruit mojito; chicken 65; lamb chops; chargrilled broccoli; and carrot halwa. [INVITED]  #masalchi #masalchiwembley #londonrestaurants #atulkochhar #atulkochharrestaurants
Load More... Follow me on Instagram

Follow Jeanne Horak-Druiff's board Recipes by Cooksister on Pinterest.

Cooksister

The South African Food and Wine Blog Directory

The South African Food and Wine Blog Directory

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

Latest Recipes

Salmon with blood oranges dill and capers
Brussels sprouts with feta and pomegranate
Roast lamb with pomegranate glaze
Blood orange & pistachio galettes
Cauliflower topped steak with melted cheese
Plate of potted smoked salmon with slaw and a glass of champagne
bowls of pistachio pomegranate bircher muesli
Brussels sprouts with chorizo & hazelnuts

SITEMAP

Home

Contact

About me

Recipe Index

Restaurant Index

Copyright & Disclaimer

Cookies & privacy policy




blog counter

© 2004 - 2022 · Jeanne Horak unless otherwise stated - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may not reproduce any text, excerpts or images without my prior permission. Site by RTW Labs

Copyright © 2022 · Cooksister on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Cooksister cookie consent
We use cookies to ensure you receive the best experience on our site. If you continue to use this site, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions. Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT