I’m picky with steak as well, and usually only order filet mignon (rare) when I do eat out. I love meats cooked on an outdoor BBQ, but I live on the 3rd floor of an apartment building, and have no place to cook out. I love hamburgers with everything on them: onions, dill pickles, mustard, ketchup, lettuce, tomato, bacon. I also like hamburgers with blue cheese either mixed in them or placed on top. I make a special meat sauce for my hotdogs. Years ago I frequented a hamburger/hot dog joint where I lived. They eventually went out of business, and for years I tried to find the recipe for their hot sauce. My sister-in-law discovered it in a newspaper article and sent it to me. I make it occasionally, freeze it in small containers, and use it when I get on a hot dog kick. I also like hotdogs with beans and/or sauerkraut. Like I said, I have pretty simple tastes.
As mentioned before, my father was a great cook. We weren’t Italian, but he made spaghetti sauce every Saturday, and it was delicious. He’d make his own meatballs, plus brown the Italian sausages, and use either pork hocks or pork steak that he had browned. He’d add all those ingredients and cook it most of the morning. On Sundays he’d make a big meal like roast ham, roast chicken, pork roast, pot roast, etc. We had mashed potatoes & gravy every weekend. We never had lamb, fish or seafood when I was growing up, which is probably one of the reasons I don’t eat it now. I’ve tried all three, but do not enjoy the tastes. My Dad ate anything. He used to fry himself up calves brains, or other stuff. My mother would make tuna noodle casserole or salmon patties on Fridays (Catholics), or she’d fry liver during the week, but I wouldn’t touch any of it. I eat canned tuna fish, but only in a sandwich.
My father put ketchup on just about everything. He’d put in on his eggs in the morning. I used to put it on my fries, but usually don’t do that anymore. My youngest son will eat anything. It was nice when he was living with me because nothing was ever wasted. He enjoyed having leftovers. Occasionally I’ll cook him something special so he can take it home with him. At Thanksgiving, I usually have to cook a 20 lb. turkey and extra side dishes so both sons have leftovers to take home with them. At Christmas I cook Prime Rib, and have to order 6-7 ribs in order to have leftovers. My oldest son tends to be a picky eater. The only vegetables he eats are peas, corn and snow peas. But he loves dishes cooked with curry, eats Chinese and Indian food. He won’t eat fresh onions, use ketchup, mustard or mayonnaise, yet has no problem finding food to eat when he goes to Europe each year. He spends most of his time in Germany when he does travel.
Last summer I was in London for a little over a week. The one weekend I was there, friends of mine from Liverpool came in and stayed at the same hotel as me. They had wanted to eat at Convent Garden and asked if they could make reservations at TGIF, as they had eaten there the last time they were in London and enjoyed it. I had to laugh, as TGIF is an American restaurant chain. I had no problem eating there as I knew the menu and what I’d be able to get. I ended up having a Caesar Salad with grilled chicken on top.
I’ve heard of Shepherd’s Pie. My ex-husband used to buy canned Steak & Kidney Pies. I used to even cook chicken livers and regular calves liver for him, but wouldn’t eat it myself.
You haven’t bored me one bit. I’m a big fan of England, and Scotland. I love both, and their history. I download a lot of programs from a UK website. My favorite program is Time Team. They used to show old episodes on the History International Channel here, but then stopped. I managed to find a website run by a fan, and have kept up with the series ever since. As I write, I’m watching a series of programs on Medieval Britain.
My biggest wish would be to tour the countryside in a rental car. There is so much to see, and you certainly can’t do it on a tour bus. On my first trip to London in 2006, I had a week to myself before taking off on my 3 week bus tour. I had a list of places I wanted to see, and managed to complete the list. Last summer I had 9 days. I revisited some of the previous places I’d been to (British Museum, Tower of London & Hampton Court), plus some new ones: Bletchley Park, Buckingham Palace, Petrie Museum, Sir John Soane’s Museum, National Portrait Gallery, etc. Last August, it rained the whole time I was there.
Timeteam has done a couple of programs in my area and they of course were of special interest to me.
When you listed your oldest son dislikes I immediately thought that he would have no problem finding food to eat in Europe and Britain in particular Germany and the read on to see you confirm that. The only problem he might have in Britain would be onions as a lot of our dishes seem to automatically have onion as a base often you fry off the meat with flour and onions to make a gravy. The other problem he might encounter is mayonnaise it seems a growing trend that every premade sandwich containts mayo.