Please excuse the mini rant:

As a bachelor, I do the cooking around here.

I bought a book titled, �How to Instant Pot�. Figured it would be pretty basic and have some decent things even a bachelor can cook.

For the life of me, I cannot understand why those writing cook books feel compelled to include things like 1/4 cup Brazilian leopard frog lips, or some cheese even a Frenchman has never heard of. Why cant someone just write simple recipes using things normal families have in the house?

Rant over.

I agree PH. When I'm looking at new recipes I will just pass on the ones with crazy, exotic ingredients that I may never use again, or if the amt is really small, I'll just not use it and make the recipe with everything else.

If it's something you really want to try, some supermarkets carry bulk spices and you can buy small amounts. On second thought, there may not be those kind of places in Kentucky.

Yep...it�s a 75 mile drive to Whole Foods.

I guess they figure that everyone can order that goofy stuff from Amazon.

I like YouTube for cooking...

Taste of Home was always my favorite. We use to get their year end "best of" cookbook. The thing was the best cookbook I have ever used (they have a huge selection online too, no need to buy the cookbook). They have super simple recipes that are very suitable for a single guy and for the most part, I can't remember one meal were I was disappointed in how it turned out.

Here is one as an example I use to love to make. Super simple, simple ingredients and man this stuff turns out amazingly good.

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/pork-chops-with-apples-and-stuffing/

would...

Get on the internet and find out what Brazilian leopard frog lips or cheese no Frenchman has never heard of. Replace them with something similar us normal people eat.

Bee stingers instead of frog lips, cheddar cheese for Adobera cheese.

If I don't have or don't like an ingredient that is just for flavor, I just leave it out or replace it with something similar.

so would I but She's a distant 2nd to Paula Deen

I don't know how close the nearest Whole Foods is, maybe 150 miles. 40 mile trip to closest small town H.E.B., 80 miles to Wally World. Doing without or not able to get something is common for me.

I'll ask my wife if she would like to pipe in on this conversation. But it won't be until next week as I am going fishing and hunting while drinking whiskey and beer.

You hit on something in modern cuisine that drives me nuts. I know "exotic", and I'm quite adept at using a lot of things most folks have never heard of. But there's a trend over the past 15 or so years to use these weird trendy quirky ingredients that even if you can find them, you use a pinch of and then never again.

And it doesn't really add anything.

Here is one of the simplest and best cookbooks in my library. I've yet to find anything in it I didn't like.

When I was single I would take simple things, Hamburger Helper, and doctor it up or take exotic stuff and dumb it down.

Biggest problem for me was portioning the recipe down for one person.

For every single meal you eat from this cookbook, you will gain roughly 2 pounds. You will enjoy every single bite, but you will pay for it dearly.

Thanks Kattelyn...book ordered.

butter them thighs..

Amazon has them. Only problem is you gotta buy them by the kilo.

Kilo? That sounds like something I don't want to buy.

Used to have two cook books

Probably not in print but you could find something similar

150 ways to fix hamburger

and

The Four Ingredient Cookbook

The Four Ingredient Cookbook is available used for $2-4


Found a 60 Ways to Cook Ground Beef.

Either one or both are useful

It is definitely frustrating... There are sites out there, like this one below that has a substitution list of ingredients. This has always helped me. https://food.unl.edu/ingredient-substitutions

But you're right, why put the thing you have to go to a Halal store for when you can just use XXX

Whole Foods is overpriced, Trader Joe�s is much better, but they probably are not in Kentucky.
Cactus. I though Mathis was just down the road from Corpus. Do you ever go to Swinneys Switch for fun?

Swinneys Switch for fun? What fun can be had at a stop sign? I don't eat out if I'm that close to home. Sep. of 2017 was the last time I've been threw there.

I'm on the west side of the lake. Mathis is my shopping town. I go to Corpus Christi (Calallen) about once a year. It's been about seven years since I have been proper into Corpus. Alice is a shorter drive and not as crowded, but only go there two or three times a year to Wal Mart.

You can go to Sandia for fun. We�ve closed down the 534 club several times. They love us there. Or they hate us. Either way, we�ve had a lot of fun there.

Sandia and fun should never be said in the same sentence. I guess going to the post and buying stamps is kind of fun.

Have you been to the Selena memorial in Corpus?

No. I havn't been to bay front in 18 years.

I bought this book since you suggested it. Any favorite dishes in there? The reviews were pretty good and it was only $5 so figured I can give it a shot. I like a physical cookbook for some reason vs. reading them online while trying to prep the food.

Call me crazy.

When I was stationed in Corpus the first time I saw the Selena statue I aske one of the locals why the had a statue of a hooker on the waterfront. She was not amused.

Chicken pot pie. Pecan pie. Macaroni and cheese.

I collect antique cookbooks. Oldest one in my library is 1879. I tend to avoid the most regrettable years of American cooking... 1955(ish) to the late 1970s.

At's a gooder one!

Copy & paste them to notepad, save & print. If the recipe is no good, just throw it away. Cheaper than buying a book.

No need for a book. You know what you like, just figure out what goes with it to make a meal. People love my cooking and are perplexed I don't measure ingredients or follow a recipe.

Yeah so you can cook then. For those of us without that ability we need to follow directions.

My GF is like that. She can cook like a riot but could not tell how much of anything she put in it. She also went to culinary school and worked as a cook in a fine dining place for a few years. She also grew up cooking with her Mom and aunts since she was old enough to walk. So she has level of actual formal and informal training in a kitchen.

Me... not so much. BUT I can follow directions and it usually comes out pretty well.

So, how much weight have you gained?

GRRRRRR.

So I lost about 40 pounds going back to Jan. Her cooking is cutting into that. I am up about 11lbs since she started cooking for me regularly. BUT hey, still down 29lbs! ha ha.

I don't for just every day normal cooking, but I get bored with the same thing over and over again. I want to learn something new. You use a recipe just long enough to turn it into memory and then you don't need to measure any more.

I've been getting my recipes from Pinterest the last year or so. So many good ones and pics to boot.