An Accidental Sitcom: Secret Subject Swap

 

Welcome to a Secret Subject Swap. This month 2 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. Read through mine and at the bottom you’ll find links to all of today’s other Secret Subject participants.

My subject is: Do you think the dynamic of most sitcom families has had an affect on how we view families and gender roles? How so, or why not?

It was submitted by: Jenniy of Climaxed.

I'm finding this a little difficult to address, mainly because I really don't watch mainstream sitcoms. There just aren't any on right now that appeal to me. I watched quite a few of them growing up, enjoyed many, even found some of them humorous which, I thought, was supposed to be the point. Now, I'll watch Young Sheldon every now and then but, really, that's pretty much it. 

The current crop of sitcom offerings are neither relatable situations nor comedic. Yeah, they come up with a premise for the show, but for the most part they are so contrived, they're absurd. And comedic? I haven't laughed at a sitcom since the 80s.

I know, I'm not answering the question.

For me, it's kind of a chicken and egg kind of thing. Which came first, the pervasive perception of what a family is and the roles within that societal microcosm, which was then mirrored in sitcoms? Or televised perception of family dynamics put up as a model of perfection for us to watch, idolize, and hope to achieve? 

There was a time in both sitcoms and in our society, when men went to work and women spent their days in a dress and nylons, often in the kitchen cooking and baking and doing all things wholesome and domestic.

Triple Onion Roast (crockpot or not)

Slowly, our view of families broadened, and as we as a society became more open and aware, it was reflected in some shows, snuck in the back door where you had to look for it in others. But it did start to infiltrate.

Men had the overt power, but women had power too, they just had to be cunning about it, it was a more covert, at times passive/aggressive use of power. Men made decisions openly, women sort of had to play them, make it seem as though her decision was his idea. If you look for it, it was reflected in sitcoms. Edith Bunker comes to mind.

Now, I think that our society is so compartmentalized, we are all so entrenched in our tribes and staunch in our beliefs, that we no longer view shows as an idealized view of the family and gender roles.

Our forward movement into freedom of expression and acceptance of familial fluidity has been stopped cold by a trip in Mr. Peabody's WayBack Machine, seized by the republican party. Destination: 1960s. 

Maybe we'll start seeing Leave It to Beaver, Dick Van Dyke, and The Brady Bunch (unless a divorced couple with a blended family is just too avant-garde) revisited. Sorry, The Jeffersons, you're probably out.

Currently, I see a few types of sitcoms in the mainstream:

First: those that try (too hard) to reflect societal trends. These are the shows that try to be current, but by the time they identify the trend, write a script, get the episode made . . . it just comes off as lame, boring, yesterday's news. They are neither reflective nor progressive. They're kind of the white noise of sitcoms.

Second are shows that do try to push the envelope, are written with at least a passing nod to a social conscience. For the most part, if you look into the financing, the producers are successful, independent, and due to their previous successes, have a built in audience. But although these shows make a statement, I don't think they have the power to mold how we view families or roles within them. Just like in politics, those who have an open mind already get it, and those who don't will reject it.

On the flip side are the shows that pander to the opposite audience. Last Man Standing comes to mind. It specifically has a conservative viewpoint, conservative actor portraying the main character, and ended up on a conservative channel. Again, they attract those who concur with the views portrayed, and don't change the minds of those with a more inclusive view of families and gender roles.

But in the end, it's not about reflecting society, molding familial structure, making a statement, or reinforcing audience beliefs. Make no mistake, it's all about the money. 

Ask Fox (supposedly but not really) News, which, if you think about it, could be reclassified as a sitcom. They create their own absurd situations and, if so many people didn't think they're an actual newscast (or maybe televangelism), they have the capacity to be pretty damn funny. 

With their skewed family values and archaic gender roles, the Fox propaganda station could be considered an accidental sitcom, if you will. Or even if you won't. They don't really care. 

I know, I know, tell you what I really think . . .

 

 

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

Climaxed 

Triple Onion Roast (crockpot or not)

                                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

1 packet dry onion soup mix

1 can (10.5 oz) French onion condensed soup

1 can (14.5 oz) beef broth

1 cup canned beef gravy

1 cup red wine

2 cups frozen chopped onion

8 oz fresh mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

2 1/2# beef chuck roast

salt, pepper, garlic powder

3 medium sized red potatoes

1/2# baby carrots

Directions (crockpot):

*Lightly grease the crockpot bowl. Whisk together the dry onion soup mix, condensed soup, broth, gravy, red wine, onion, and mushrooms. Turn the crockpot on to low.

*Season the roast on all sides with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder. In a very hot skillet, sear all sides of the roast and add to the crockpot. 

*Cook for 5 hours, turning the meat now and then.

*Cut each potato into about 6 chunks. Add to the crockpot with the baby carrots. Cook for another hour. Remove the meat, slice, and return to the crockpot for 1/2 hour.

Directions (Dutch oven):
*Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

*Heat the Dutch oven on the stove top until very hot. Season all sides of the roast with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Sear all sides of the roast. Remove. 

*Whisk the dry onion soup mix, condensed soup, broth, gravy, 1 cup of water, and red wine into the Dutch oven, scraping the bottom to get up the caramelized bits. Add the onions, mushrooms, and meat.

*Bake for 1 1/2 hours. Turn the roast over, add water if the sauce has started to dry out. Add the potatoes, each cut into about 6 chunks, and the carrots. Cook for another hour.

*Remove and slice the roast. Return to the pan, cook for another 30 minutes.

Ho Bread and Me

 

 

Spoiler alert: Although today's post is about a recipe, the recipe included is not the one I'm talking about. That probably only makes sense to me, but here's my reasoning (and you should probably have a psychiatrist on call in case you are actually able to follow what I loosely like to call reasoning). The thing is, I'm writing about the experience, because it certainly was one. I'm not sharing the recipe mostly because it's not mine to give (and there are other reasons too, which will become apparent as I tell my story). But the recipes I post on this blog are my own. Whether it's an interpretation of an existing recipe or not, it's either mine, developed from the dark recesses of my brain (or maybe my stomach), or my own spin on something I've seen or made. 

 

This was someone else's recipe, their family recipe.

 

I was reading my friend Mimi's blog, Messymimi's Meanderings, and she mentioned Hojaldras. In my comment on her post, I mentioned that I was off to google Hojaldras. The next thing I knew, she had emailed me a recipe. And oh my, did that sound good!

 

I know that since I write a semi-recipe blog, there's a lot that Mimi took for granted when sending me the recipe. One was that I know how to work with bread, you know, kneading, resting . . . but the truth is that I don't. Yeast and I do not get along. There have been battles, and I've lost all but one or two, so I avoid it like the plague. Kneading and resting (other than the personal kind) were not something I was familiar with (successfully, anyway). 

 

I read through the recipe and did a lot of googling and worked it all out in my mind. I was going to make one ingredient substitution, and if it didn't come out, well, my fault.

 

There were 2 problems in terms of making it. First, it had to be when at least one of my boys were here (so Hubs and I don't eat it all ourselves). And second, I wasn't sure I could do it. There's no yeast, but you have to knead this dough for at least 45 minutes (not a typo), then let it rest, then knead another 45 minutes. And that's before you roll it out. Yikes. I may have to go to the gym for a year to have the strength and stamina for this one.

But that recipe was calling to me. And one snowy morning, when College Boy was here, I decided to try it.

I mixed up the simple ingredients, moved the dough to a floured counter, and set the timer for 45 minutes. Let the kneading commence!

At first I was concerned. The dough was not sticking together, chunks were falling off as I tried to knead. I kept at it but at what felt like about halfway through my time, my arms were tired and the chunks were still falling off. I looked at the clock. It had been 5 minutes.

At the 10 minute mark, fewer clumps were falling off. That's progress, right?

 

At the 15 minute mark (yes, I was looking at the clock that often), my shoulders started to burn. 

At the 20 minute mark, Hubs came down for coffee. Maybe he'll offer to help. He grabbed his coffee and left.

At the 25 minute mark I was sweating. No dough clumps were falling off, but it wasn't really holding together either.

At the 30 minute mark I considered going outside and standing in the snow to cool off.

At the 35 minute mark, Hubs came back in. I started groaning ("I'm suffering" cues).

Hubs: What are you doing.

Me: Honestly? I think I'm being punked.

No offer to help, he left the kitchen.

 

At the 40 minute mark, I wondered if people would laugh when they read my obituary "had a heart attack while kneading."

 

I know, from google research, that I was going for shiny and elastic. At the 45 minute mark, I decided that shiny and elastic was in the eye of the beholder.

Now it needed to rest. It needed to rest? I needed to rest.

And get the soup started for dinner. Comfort food. I was going to need it.

 

 

Chicken and Orzo Vegetable Soup

 

 

I knew where I was going to rest, but the dough? Where? For how long?

I put it in a greased bowl, covered with plastic wrap, in the fridge for 2 hours. I'd seen that done with bread so it sounded good to me.

Nope. What came out of the refrigerator was hard as a rock. And I thought kneading was difficult the first time . . .

 

Not one to ever be a giver upper (note to self: rethink that), I pressed on. Or kneaded on. Or tried to.

 

At the 5 minute mark, clumps started falling off of the dough. Again.

 

At the 10 minute mark, my wrists started turning red.

 

At the 15 minute mark, I think my shoulders dislocated.

 

At the 20 minute mark, I could barely see the clock through my tears. Then wondered what that added moisture was going to do to the dough. Then decided it couldn't be any worse.

 

At the 25 minute mark, clumps stopped breaking off and I started to think maybe we should officially add tears to the recipe.

 

At the 30 minute mark, I was groaning, not for show but for real this time. College Boy came into the kitchen and suggested I use a mallet. Hubs left the house. Completely. Out into the snow.

 

At the 35 minute mark, I think I started to get delusional. I knew I had done something very wrong, but convinced myself that the all powerful Hojaldras g-ds would reward all my hard work by making them come out right anyway.

At the 40 minute mark, I started the next step, rolling the dough into balls. Rolling it in my hands and kneading are pretty much the same, right? No? I said I was delusional.

Next you let it rest. For how long? I was thinking maybe 3 days sounded about right.

While they were resting (on the counter this time), I'm coming up with a strategy for dedicating my life to the goal of never kneading again. In fact, I'm petitioning Mirriam Webster to have the word removed from the dictionary.

{{sigh}}

Next you roll them out very, very thin. Mine weren't as thin as I'm sure they would have been had my wrists and shoulders been functional. 

All that's left is to slit them and fry them.

 

 

 

I knew immediately they were not as light as they should be, but eternally hopeful, we tried them. Dry. Very dry.

 

How could I have screwed up this badly? A debacle of this magnitude is not the result of one ingredient substitution. Let me look at the recipe again:

 

flour? ✔

sugar? ✔

salt? ✔

eggs? ✔

water?  

water? Ummm . . . water? Did I add the water?

Ahh, so that's why the tears were helping. If only I'd added 1/2 cup of them . . . 

Of course, I couldn't let the whole day's work go to waste, so I slathered some garlic and oregano butter on them and served them as garlic rounds. 

 

Actually, they were good. Dry, but good. 

 

 

 

Nonetheless, I think we all know what the bottom line is here, I owe Mimi an apology for making such a mess of the family recipe she had so graciously shared with me (that'll teach ya). And while I'm apologizing, I may as well add one to the Colombian people, the Panamanians, all of their ancestors, and their future generations. 

 

And my wrists, and my shoulders.

Chicken and Orzo Vegetable Soup   

                                                       ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

NOTE: This recipe can be cooked in a slow cooker or on the stove.

Ingredients: 

6 cups vegetable broth

1 can stewed tomatoes 

1 tsp minced garlic

1 small onion, chopped 

1 large carrot, chopped

2 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp basil

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper 

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

about 1 1/4 cups cooked chicken, chopped or shredded

1 cup zucchini, quartered

1 cup broccoli florets

3/4 cup sliced mushrooms

1 cup fresh spinach

3/4 cup orzo

Directions:
*Coat the slow cooker with non-stick spray and turn it on to high. Add the broth and tomatoes to the slow cooker. Mix in the garlic, onion, carrot, Italian seasoning, basil, salt, pepper and cayenne. Cover and cook for 1 hour.

*Add the chicken, stir and cook for 2 hours.

*Add the zucchini, broccoli, and mushrooms. Stir and cook for 1 hour.

*Mix in the spinach and orzo. Cook for one more hour, stirring now and then.