Stressed out
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I’ve found I’m probably my toughest critic, something that isn’t up to my standards others will think it is great!
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twilliams Another one thing that always pops up is did I actually add the cure? “I did right” then Ill check the trash find a cure package and still want to question myself!
Get more help with your processing questions and learn more about processing meat by subscribing to our waltonsinc.com youtube page at https://wltns.link/waltonstv I am a Gorilla, love yourself
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twilliams Another one thing that always pops up is did I actually add the cure? “I did right” then Ill check the trash find a cure package and still want to question myself!
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I did back when I started this sort of cooking, but I left the stress behind a long time ago. Some of that is due to experience with what might happen during a cook, but most of it is having made peace with the fact that things will happen. Just take it as it comes and move along. If you have any idea what you are doing, you’re going to make something far beyond what just about anyone normally gets.
Time is the greatest luxury, so give yourself plenty of it. Anything smoked holds well. Anything smoked also reheats well, so make it in advance and reheat, if you can get away with that. On that, you can reheat on site and make it look like you are “cooking.”
As for large events, choose your audience wisely (i.e., know you’re dealing with someone who won’t ride your butt about everything). Be confident in your knowledge and ability. Be humble, and accept comments graciously (no matter how they may be intended). In all likelihood, the negative comments sound louder than the positive, but that’s just because folks with negative comments tend to make much greater efforts to get them across. A lot of folks that like what you did may never say so to your face. If you know you delivered what you promised, then, you delivered what you promised.
Know that you never, ever can please everyone with everything you do, so never be disappointed when you don’t. Learn any lessons that are there to be learned, and then drive on.
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This is what I do for a living. Cook. I know my food is great, I offer the best service and anyone with a complaint frankly I just don’t worry about it. I always give myself plenty of time, never in a rush and as TexLaw states, surround yourself with positive people. Cooking and feeding others is a great gift, embrace it as a gift that you give others. Breaking bread with friends and family is one of the most precious things we can do. The only thing I am very conscious of is keeping things consistent. Once I have a recipe people enjoy, I maintain that recipe very precisely. The day I stress over cooking is the day I go to my grave. LOL
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twilliams I am with the others in this thread. This C19 craziness has caused our son and fiancee to cancel their wedding and reception and with the help of my better half decided to hold the event at our place and I can cook.The ace in the hole is that I have a brother that is a chef and is going to show up early and get things rocking.
Things are going to happen, you just need to power through them. I appreciate the folks that enjoy the food and not worry much about those that don’t. Folks have different tastes and expectations, e.g. Chicken Express or KFC.
YooperDog My son & his wife had to do the same thing back in March as the venue cancelled, etc. because of this Corona Business. We offered to just do it all here at the house & we could cater to & save everyone a lot of money. I had just bought a ton of food for everyone to eat before & after the wedding while folks were in town for several days. They cancelled though, because the venue would not refund them & only allowed a reschedule. We could not freeze all the food & had to cook a lot of of it & just eat it, unfortunately. Then the meat shortages & high prices have now come, so I don’t know if I will be able to afford doing it all over again in June, as business has been down a lot in some ways, but up in others. Weird, but we are thankful & we are not stopping. we will have to play it by ear. We hope that everything goes really well for you, your son & his wife. Just do the best you can & put a lot of sincerity & creativity into it all & go for it! Have fun too. You will find some that think it all is better than you know it is & others, well… Not everyone likes every style of cooking & I will leave that all alone.
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Anyone else get anxiety when processing or smoking. You want everything to go smooth and perfect but yet run into snags in the process? Cant find this or cant find that, other family members in your way, didnt have what you needed that you thought you did, smoking schedule going faster or slower than what you had planned, doesnt taste like you expected, here is a big one, cooking for a wedding, graduation, or other public party? Will you get it done on time? Will they like it or is it too salty? The stress we put on ourselves are endless
twilliams PS: Refer to the drink of choice section as needed! Just have fun & give it your best. Some will like it & always come running & even offer to help. Well, the others…Well, I say that all that, but I understand.
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YooperDog My son & his wife had to do the same thing back in March as the venue cancelled, etc. because of this Corona Business. We offered to just do it all here at the house & we could cater to & save everyone a lot of money. I had just bought a ton of food for everyone to eat before & after the wedding while folks were in town for several days. They cancelled though, because the venue would not refund them & only allowed a reschedule. We could not freeze all the food & had to cook a lot of of it & just eat it, unfortunately. Then the meat shortages & high prices have now come, so I don’t know if I will be able to afford doing it all over again in June, as business has been down a lot in some ways, but up in others. Weird, but we are thankful & we are not stopping. we will have to play it by ear. We hope that everything goes really well for you, your son & his wife. Just do the best you can & put a lot of sincerity & creativity into it all & go for it! Have fun too. You will find some that think it all is better than you know it is & others, well… Not everyone likes every style of cooking & I will leave that all alone.
calldoctoday I appreciate your insight. Yes it is going to be a busy six weeks with lots to get done. We will work through it and make it happen. Family will come together and make it happen. That said my wife and I are looking forward to the day after the wedding though. We are going to have to do our own get away to recover from it all.
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Anyone else get anxiety when processing or smoking. You want everything to go smooth and perfect but yet run into snags in the process? Cant find this or cant find that, other family members in your way, didnt have what you needed that you thought you did, smoking schedule going faster or slower than what you had planned, doesnt taste like you expected, here is a big one, cooking for a wedding, graduation, or other public party? Will you get it done on time? Will they like it or is it too salty? The stress we put on ourselves are endless
twilliams Do remember this: If you do it from your heart, the stressed feeling will always be there. Even the best athletes/cooks in the world have that fuzzy feeling in their gut before any event. They’ve realized it comes from caring. When they lose that feeling, so does their game. Also, your worst efforts are usually the best for 98% of others. So, go out there and enjoy yourself. It will promote a bunch of quiet around the table. That’s what you’re after in the end.
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Anyone else get anxiety when processing or smoking. You want everything to go smooth and perfect but yet run into snags in the process? Cant find this or cant find that, other family members in your way, didnt have what you needed that you thought you did, smoking schedule going faster or slower than what you had planned, doesnt taste like you expected, here is a big one, cooking for a wedding, graduation, or other public party? Will you get it done on time? Will they like it or is it too salty? The stress we put on ourselves are endless
twilliams I make spaghetti sauce in big batches and can it for personal use, I have to have my wife taste test it because my taste buds seem to take a vacation and I can’t taste anything. After opening a jar later and eating it tastes good and a lot of family members request it from me. Still haven’t figured out why my sense of taste goes away.
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bocephus How long have you lost your sense of taste? That’s could be a sign of coronoa apparently! Just kidding, I can’t imagine how bad that must suck, not being able to taste things would A0 put me out of a job and B)take away my favorite hobby!
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bocephus How long have you lost your sense of taste? That’s could be a sign of coronoa apparently! Just kidding, I can’t imagine how bad that must suck, not being able to taste things would A0 put me out of a job and B)take away my favorite hobby!
Jonathon That is exactly what I was thinking when I first read this, “It’s the Corona Business”, but I figured I had better keep my mouth shut. Dave
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Jonathon That is exactly what I was thinking when I first read this, “It’s the Corona Business”, but I figured I had better keep my mouth shut. Dave
calldoctoday This has been going on for a long time. Just seems to be when I make spaghetti sauce. Taste comes back and I don’t lose it when making sausage or other foods. I think just the effort in making the sauce over two days and trying to get it right does something to me.
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calldoctoday This has been going on for a long time. Just seems to be when I make spaghetti sauce. Taste comes back and I don’t lose it when making sausage or other foods. I think just the effort in making the sauce over two days and trying to get it right does something to me.
bocephus Maybe it is so good & full of herbs & spices that it just stuns your taste buds for a bit. Spaghetti sauce can be very powerful & lots of tomato of course. Maybe it is the high acid content, unless you tone it down with some secret ingredients. I wish I could help you out there as the experience must be terrible, I cannot even imagine.
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twilliams I make spaghetti sauce in big batches and can it for personal use, I have to have my wife taste test it because my taste buds seem to take a vacation and I can’t taste anything. After opening a jar later and eating it tastes good and a lot of family members request it from me. Still haven’t figured out why my sense of taste goes away.
bocephus If you’ve had it for a long time, then you can remove the C19 edge. There’s actually science behind your dilemma. Bottom Line: It’s all in your taste receptors and it’s in your DNA. As an example: It’s the same reason some people hate cilantro and others are wild about it. It’s not good or bad. It’s just different for some and it appears you own it. Here’s one of many articles explaining the phenomena. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cocktail-party-physics/tasters-choice-why-i-hate-raw-tomatoes-and-you-dont/ . Note: Our little group researched “taste differences” because of a dividing line in the amount of heat that one can tolerate. Since we discovered the reason (outside of any medical issue), we only pick on others in the group because we like them. Not to be mean.
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bocephus If you’ve had it for a long time, then you can remove the C19 edge. There’s actually science behind your dilemma. Bottom Line: It’s all in your taste receptors and it’s in your DNA. As an example: It’s the same reason some people hate cilantro and others are wild about it. It’s not good or bad. It’s just different for some and it appears you own it. Here’s one of many articles explaining the phenomena. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cocktail-party-physics/tasters-choice-why-i-hate-raw-tomatoes-and-you-dont/ . Note: Our little group researched “taste differences” because of a dividing line in the amount of heat that one can tolerate. Since we discovered the reason (outside of any medical issue), we only pick on others in the group because we like them. Not to be mean.
zbigjeff I am also one that does not like cilantro. If it is in salsa that is all I taste.
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My Dad could not stand Cilantro. You do not want to hear what he thought it tasted & smelled like. On the other hand, & you could hear him rave about how an uncle that he was very close to, absolutely loved it. He could not understand it.
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My Dad could not stand Cilantro. You do not want to hear what he thought it tasted & smelled like. On the other hand, & you could hear him rave about how an uncle that he was very close to, absolutely loved it. He could not understand it.
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My Dad could not stand Cilantro. You do not want to hear what he thought it tasted & smelled like. On the other hand, & you could hear him rave about how an uncle that he was very close to, absolutely loved it. He could not understand it.
calldoctoday So, there you have the rest of the story that’s scientifically supported. The bottom line is “know your audience”. Note: I just used cilantro as an example. There’s many other flavor enhancers that create the same reactions. Just adjust flavor profiles to meet YOUR or YOUR GROUP’s likes/dislikes and enjoy the journey.
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Cilantro is a good example of crowd considerations. I’m fine with it, but friends of mine have described it as soap, freezer burn, and some things I don’t care to repeat in mixed company.
I don’t use it much, so it’s not a big deal. However, when I do, it’s usually pretty easy to have a no-cilantro option. Just add the cilantro last, and reserve some of whatever you are making before adding the cilantro.
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