'Secret ingredient': was I wrong?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Offer a trade!

NP. This was my thought too. "I'll be glad to share the recipe if you'll give me the Christmas cookie recipe. How about it?"

Alas, that's the kind of thing that needs to be said in the moment and I'd wager that now the MIL wouldn't go for that trade. But OP could try.

And "secret recipes" are silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I come from a long line of women who had secret recipes they would share with no one.

Sometimes, when we gather as a family, we'll sit around and say, "gosh, I sure we we had Great-Aunt Madison's recipe for buffalo chicken chimichangas." Then we stab our forks into our sad stouffers family-size lasagna and think mean thoughts about selfish ole maddie. So, be comforted that this may be the legacy your MIL will leave behind.

Why don't you Google "buffalo chicken chimichangas," try the recipe as-is, then tweak it to approximate what you were looking for?

This is what I don't get about "secret recipes." Like, let's say you want to make red velvet cake. Aunt Bertha may have a "secret" recipe--and it might be a really good one!--but if she's not sharing, you can still find hundreds of recipes and tweak them as needed.

I always laugh in the face of the "secret keepers." Half the time, I only asked for your recipe to be polite. And it's no skin off my back if you don't give me your seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeecretttt recipe for chicken and dumplings or whatever. Honey, you're not the only game in town.

oh believe me, we've tried! but it's impossible. and now it's been so many years since we've eaten the real dish--the taste is lost forever. If I ever found it, it would be like that scene in ratatouille where the snooty food critic tastes his childhood in the ratatouille that the rat chef cooks.

DP +1 My childhood babysitter used to make an amazing caramel cake with no recipe. I'm in my 50s and have been trying for at least 20 years with no luck. I've got the frosting mostly right but the cake isn't there yet <sigh>.

[Anonymous]

Secret recipes are dumb, and your potatoes sound great, OP.

Try a whole block of cream cheese and a stick of butter! That's my secret. I usually use plain salt, but I'm going to try the seasoned next time!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Offer a trade!

NP. This was my thought too. "I'll be glad to share the recipe if you'll give me the Christmas cookie recipe. How about it?"

Alas, that's the kind of thing that needs to be said in the moment and I'd wager that now the MIL wouldn't go for that trade. But OP could try.

And "secret recipes" are silly.

I bet this MIL is the type who would deliberately change an ingredient or a step so OP wouldn’t get the cookies correct.

[Anonymous]

I've never come across people like your MIL, but I think you could have rubbed it in a little more: "Oh MIL, surely you can't expect me to disclose secret recipes!" (insert trill of gay laughter).

[Anonymous]

Oh, MY mashed potatoes???

"Secret Family Recipe"

Love it OP!

[Anonymous]

I knew this was going to be about a MIL despite no hint in the subject line. It's kind of nuts how so many DCUM ladies complain about their MILs.

[Anonymous]

I'd have said "I'll trade you for Rob's favorite christmas cookies."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MIL prides herself on her secret dishes/family recipes and does not share recipes with anyone not in the family--as in ME, who is only a "married-in." OK, whatever. It's not like there aren't 8,000 recipes out there freely available for any dish you could think up, so I don't get the secrecy.

She was at my house last weekend, and I served mashed potatoes. I use a little bit of cream cheese and a very little bit of Lawry's seasoned salt, in addition to the traditional salt/pepper/butter/cream. I also use mainly russet potatoes, but throw in a few Yukon Golds; the result is light and fluffy with a buttery taste and a touch more yellow color. They're good, but they're just mashed potatoes, and there are a million ways to make them that are tasty. So I don't think I make them perfect, or anything.

Anyway, everyone kept complimenting them, and MIL kept asking "what's your secret," which kind of got to me. The same woman who literally will not give me the recipe for her son's favorite Christmas cookies is now asking what my secret is? So I just smiled and shrugged and said, "You're probably just tasting extra butter."

Was I wrong?

If you have to ask, then you know that you're wrong. You're quite literally doing the same thing that you b about your MIL doing. Of course, you were wrong. So apologize to her, tell her how you made the potatoes, and do a lot of thinking about how you can be a better person. Then actually implement it so you are a better person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I knew this was going to be about a MIL despite no hint in the subject line. It's kind of nuts how so many DCUM ladies complain about their MILs.

It’s kind of nuts how many MILs do things that are worth complaining about! And I think this because while my MIL does some things that bug me, it’s never something that I’d post here (even considering the fact that this behavior is nbd in the grand scheme of things).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I knew this was going to be about a MIL despite no hint in the subject line. It's kind of nuts how so many DCUM ladies complain about their MILs.

Plus all these family threads are probably fabricated to rile people up. I love good drama but even I'm getting a little MIL Fake Drama Fatigue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Offer a trade!

But how do you trust the MIL to actually give you the recipe? Someone this committed to a secret recipe would probably leave out one ingredient just because she couldn’t help herself.

[Anonymous]

My MIL is awesome, but even she did the secret recipe thing! She makes a really tasty ice cream pie for Christmas and my niece who was sitting next to me really enjoyed her piece and wondered aloud how it was made. She's a baker already, so I talked through the components with her - you need a chocolate cookie crust, soften the peppermint ice cream, put it in the freezer to set, then spread fudge sauce on the top and freeze it again. Niece looks delighted and says she's going make one herself when they go home. Then I noticed MIL looking aghast at me and said how could you give away my secret recipe like that? I've never understood the whole secret recipe thing myself anyway, but this was at the level of being mad for sharing how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich - not that hard to figure out!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I knew this was going to be about a MIL despite no hint in the subject line. It's kind of nuts how so many DCUM ladies complain about their MILs.

You don’t have to participate. Bye!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MIL prides herself on her secret dishes/family recipes and does not share recipes with anyone not in the family--as in ME, who is only a "married-in." OK, whatever. It's not like there aren't 8,000 recipes out there freely available for any dish you could think up, so I don't get the secrecy.

She was at my house last weekend, and I served mashed potatoes. I use a little bit of cream cheese and a very little bit of Lawry's seasoned salt, in addition to the traditional salt/pepper/butter/cream. I also use mainly russet potatoes, but throw in a few Yukon Golds; the result is light and fluffy with a buttery taste and a touch more yellow color. They're good, but they're just mashed potatoes, and there are a million ways to make them that are tasty. So I don't think I make them perfect, or anything.

Anyway, everyone kept complimenting them, and MIL kept asking "what's your secret," which kind of got to me. The same woman who literally will not give me the recipe for her son's favorite Christmas cookies is now asking what my secret is? So I just smiled and shrugged and said, "You're probably just tasting extra butter."

Was I wrong?

If you have to ask, then you know that you're wrong. You're quite literally doing the same thing that you b about your MIL doing. Of course, you were wrong. So apologize to her, tell her how you made the potatoes, and do a lot of thinking about how you can be a better person. Then actually implement it so you are a better person.

LOL nope.