This article is dedicated to some very good friends who inspired the conversation. Something different and fun! Lets talk about food! Especially when making food in bulk! Also, how we survived and strived with so little. This isn't your average nonsense post about the old days and how everything is different, because, it isn't. The only thing that ahs changed is our idea of consumption, and which fast food place has the best deals. We no longer make meals that last because we don't have the right mind frame anymore. Consumers have taken over. KFC says you can feed your family a few pieces of chicken and some sides for around 30 dollars and call it a bargain. We call the people that avoided this, Boomers, because they were smarter and learned how to thrive? Well, we will find out here! This is dedicated to all of my Grandparents, my Mom, and all of you who ate my food when we didn't have much to work with and inspired my fire for creation.
I'm here to wreck the idea of food!
Our common idea of a fine night is to be surrounded by junk, especially my idea of a common night! I smoke lots of reefers, its to be expected... there... happy? However I always appreciate how I got here. All my life we have had chips, and snack cakes in this house, not in abundance like I choose to hoard these days, but there was always 'treats'. Of course I was always told to appreciate it, and made to understand why. There were 8 of us living here, still... is to this day, but add a few small mouths and more family and, tada, you have more. I know... logical. This whole conversation started over Pot Pie, and evolved into so much more love. So here we go!
Before I get to the logic of soup in pots, a little further background. I started in the kitchen when I was 7, making homemade soup noodles, piles, and piles of them that would last us only a few days, because we had 1 gallon Ice cream buckets full of soup, I mean like, actual soup, not chicken noodle, broth, with all waste of turkey or chicken cooked in with some veggies for added flavor, I still eat it to this day. One carrot, an onion, and some greens, all you need to make Gallons of water taste great! It also fed people for days when we were at our roughest as a Nation. In countries across this Earth, its still logical to cook in bulk, simple meals with what you have, and some have nothing, and still learn how to adapt. The story of food is sometimes heroic. Something that has always been the inspiration of fuel for life, since the dawn of life. Its is not art, it very well can be with enough discipline, but as this story goes, we aren't all that classy, some of us had to be trained our entire lives to outsmart the man that turned a natural art into something only few can do. As much as I love how food can be presented, it is an option for class and stature, my goal is feeding people as a whole.
My Grandfather came here and made a life for us all, lots of people have, but we all have so much to learn from each other
Did you catch that soup recipe?! That's it..... that's... broth man... Ahem, this is the simple stuff I learned to do, and how far a little can go when thinly spread. WHICH if you have not caught any of our episodes on the Geek Den, is where Pot Pie comes in. Pot Pie..... or.. as some call its "Puh pie" or "Popeye", its our PA Dutch answer to Chicken N Dumplin's. The difference you ask? Dough formation... Pot Pie Dough? Squares, Dumplin's? Well... pay attention to the name . I am going to put a recipe up after this, because, they are both delicious, and identical! They also both tell our story of survival as a Nation. We didn't really create either per se', we just knew how to work with what we had. There are folks out there *cough Mad Mage cough* that don't consider this OG struggle dish pie... I still say Heresy is it pie? No... But is it PIE? Yes!! Slow down though Colonel Banquet, we aren't talking the frozen crusty things with no meat and some peas and carrots, and processed into nothingness. You are gonna learn!
Now that we cleared the air there I can continue! Why have 8 slices of pie, when you can create something new to last more meals? I am sure we all eat leftovers once in a while, why not have a meal for a few days? Are we all spoiled? Kind of. I know I am, I love to create, and creating for a load of people can become expensive to make it happen almost three times a day. Back to the pie discussion for a perfect point, you can either have a slice of pie for a day, or transform into into something to adapt for food to last a few days. The choice is simple for me. Making food for a small army is the only way I know. It fed most of my friends in our 20's for days when we slept on couches and floors. We adapted to what was cheap and easy, and doctored it up cheaply into levels of unreal foodage! I learned real young that, chip steak can make a whole lot of sandwiches when roasted in the oven. I also learned that all part of an animal can be used, and there's lots of things that cost a few cents, but take time to grow, what's more important? Time or money? I guess that always kind of stuck with me food wise.
Over 200 years old, still serving purpose
We can find whatever token names we want for a generation of people, but letting their traditions die out of having more advantage is silly, that generations parents thought the same thing. I was always taught to be prepared for whatever may come, saving money, and providing badass meals with what I have. As creative as I get, I never stray far from traditional meals, I just amp them up. All my recipes here? They can easily be adjusted to size, cheaply. Wanna enjoy smoking meat? Well first, use pork loin instead of some dumb old ribs for thinly sliced delicious lunch meat. Don't have a slicer? Carve it silly! Instead of smoking 4 pounds of brisket to rip into at dinner time, SLICE IT! Don't pay the deli... DIY, and you have much more to work with. Want Jerky? Its real easy to make, and I have a great recipe! Tired of Tired of boiling Sausage? Smoke two rings for future meals! Anyone catch my drift? We all ate sliced up hot dogs and baked beans because it was quick, easy, and lasted for leftovers, why are we doing so much different now? We appreciate presentation, instead of value. We want to make 21 different meals a week that are photo worthy and meet all pyramid regulations because... the same people that celebrate the rebirth of Dunk A Roos, say funny words like Keto and Gluten.
The actual truth is, not a whole lot of us know how to correctly live for ourselves. We were born into the consumer boom, we had less kids, but more to give them, we smartened up to the idea of parenting. 17 kids is great, for people with lots of time and money, and in todays age... Not gonna happen. However, what is happening more often than not these days is generations raising others together, so, we haven't really changed that much. In homes all around the world at this very moment there are families living and growing together, I know because I carry the legacy here. So adapting to all my favorite food, in bulk form, became a passion. Impressing people, making enough for them, and making it last became my goal instead of presentation and making things I knew people wouldn't try. The battle here is simple, we cook simple, we cook lots, and we make it very fun. I may use single batch recipes to present them to you, but be sure of one thing, I double at the very least, all that I share. I would like to start a revolution above all, that we can once again plan ahead.
That's right Pie man! Take that!!
Ok, so, in closing. Why is Pot Pie pie? Well, the secret is.. it isn't but it is, a pie of a new generation. A pie of struggle and survival. A pie of historical value to the progression of America. A story of Immigrants and tradition before we became reliant on consuming. It's adaptation of something that meant so much, and used so little. Lets get to this recipe! I have mastered my own version that works for both dumplings AND POT PIE depending on how you prepare your noodles, and show you exactly what makes it different, and why. Money means so much, and the men who control it all live in one chaotic room where they all scream, yell and gamble on our future. Don't think it wont happen again, technology is not infinite, its still in baby steps. Stop being so reliant on how much of a bargain it is to buy massive amounts of food to feed you for one night, when 10 dollars can last a week. This isn't talk of a generation, this is logic, we have adapted to convenience rather than survival. The conversation goes far beyond pie, but as always, I hope I stayed coherent. Now head over to the Recipe Section! See ya soon!
Soup Pie... Delish!
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