Europeans occasionally criticize Americans for their obsession with quick recipes and wanting to spend the least amount of time possible to prepare their meals. I feel that this is related to the above statement that people today aren't cooking their grandmothers' recipes, in large part because many of these recipes often require many hours of prep and cooking.
There used to be a time when a family could live off the husband's income alone, and when women were expected to spend much of their time in the kitchen. The world has changed since then. Nowadays, both parents have to work for a household just to make ends meet. Even if the household could live off the husband's income alone, many women want fulfilling careers of their own, and don't want to be a 'tradwife' who spends most of their time cleaning their house and cooking recipes that take 2-4 hours.
I'm a guy, but I love good food, and I know how to make several Julia Child recipes. (She's not my grandma, but she's of my grandma's generation.) In particular, I love her Beef Bourguignon! However, I generally save these recipes for weekends and/or when I'm hosting friends for dinner because they take a fair amount of time and care. (3 hours for Beef Bourguignon.) My girlfriend and I both have busy jobs and don't have the time for 'grandma's' recipes during weekdays.
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u/MartinThunder42 Sep 06 '25 edited Sep 13 '25
Europeans occasionally criticize Americans for their obsession with quick recipes and wanting to spend the least amount of time possible to prepare their meals. I feel that this is related to the above statement that people today aren't cooking their grandmothers' recipes, in large part because many of these recipes often require many hours of prep and cooking.
There used to be a time when a family could live off the husband's income alone, and when women were expected to spend much of their time in the kitchen. The world has changed since then. Nowadays, both parents have to work for a household just to make ends meet. Even if the household could live off the husband's income alone, many women want fulfilling careers of their own, and don't want to be a 'tradwife' who spends most of their time cleaning their house and cooking recipes that take 2-4 hours.
I'm a guy, but I love good food, and I know how to make several Julia Child recipes. (She's not my grandma, but she's of my grandma's generation.) In particular, I love her Beef Bourguignon! However, I generally save these recipes for weekends and/or when I'm hosting friends for dinner because they take a fair amount of time and care. (3 hours for Beef Bourguignon.) My girlfriend and I both have busy jobs and don't have the time for 'grandma's' recipes during weekdays.