Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mil loves cooking "ethnic" food except she always adds in 2-3 times as much of one or two spices that she likes and the result is BAD. It's especially noticable to me when she cooks Indian food because I am Indian and the food tastes all wrong. Do I just let it be? I'm embarrassed for when she is going to invite my parents over and she serves them what is supposed to be my moms recipes but she messed with the spices. What do I do?

You say thank you. Her cooking is bad, but intentions are good.

This. My MIL looooooooooves to come to my house to try to make anything Italian. My family is straight off the boat, my mom is an insane cook (where MIL thinks "cream of X soup" is a valid ingredient in dishes) and my grandmother is practically a cartoon of the cooking Italian grandma. Its gross, I smile and say thank you.

+1. Also Italian. My MIL also enjoys 'cooking Italian'. I think she used cottage cheese in her Lasagna ... and jarred sauce. I simply eat what she makes and thank her for cooking. I also try and pre-empt the cooking attempts when I can - when my family is coming over - I plan the meal ahead of time and if she would like to help I ask for prep help (can you cut up this).

+1

Another Italian here. There are three of us!

Original Italian. 3 of us! I think we are it, which explains the lack of mom and pop Italian American places that are decent............JK. Sort of.

If you mom is like min, she used cottage cheese because it's container is similar to ricotta and they are usually next to each other at the supermarket. My mother did this years ago. I love her and swallowed hard that night, but God bless her for trying

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mil loves cooking "ethnic" food except she always adds in 2-3 times as much of one or two spices that she likes and the result is BAD. It's especially noticable to me when she cooks Indian food because I am Indian and the food tastes all wrong. Do I just let it be? I'm embarrassed for when she is going to invite my parents over and she serves them what is supposed to be my moms recipes but she messed with the spices. What do I do?

You say thank you. Her cooking is bad, but intentions are good.

This. My MIL looooooooooves to come to my house to try to make anything Italian. My family is straight off the boat, my mom is an insane cook (where MIL thinks "cream of X soup" is a valid ingredient in dishes) and my grandmother is practically a cartoon of the cooking Italian grandma. Its gross, I smile and say thank you.

+1. Also Italian. My MIL also enjoys 'cooking Italian'. I think she used cottage cheese in her Lasagna ... and jarred sauce. I simply eat what she makes and thank her for cooking. I also try and pre-empt the cooking attempts when I can - when my family is coming over - I plan the meal ahead of time and if she would like to help I ask for prep help (can you cut up this).

+1

Another Italian here. There are three of us!

Original Italian. 3 of us! I think we are it, which explains the lack of mom and pop Italian American places that are decent............JK. Sort of.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mil loves cooking "ethnic" food except she always adds in 2-3 times as much of one or two spices that she likes and the result is BAD. It's especially noticable to me when she cooks Indian food because I am Indian and the food tastes all wrong. Do I just let it be? I'm embarrassed for when she is going to invite my parents over and she serves them what is supposed to be my moms recipes but she messed with the spices. What do I do?

You say thank you. Her cooking is bad, but intentions are good.

+1

Just be gracious, OP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mil loves cooking "ethnic" food except she always adds in 2-3 times as much of one or two spices that she likes and the result is BAD. It's especially noticable to me when she cooks Indian food because I am Indian and the food tastes all wrong. Do I just let it be? I'm embarrassed for when she is going to invite my parents over and she serves them what is supposed to be my moms recipes but she messed with the spices. What do I do?

You say thank you. Her cooking is bad, but intentions are good.

This. My MIL looooooooooves to come to my house to try to make anything Italian. My family is straight off the boat, my mom is an insane cook (where MIL thinks "cream of X soup" is a valid ingredient in dishes) and my grandmother is practically a cartoon of the cooking Italian grandma. Its gross, I smile and say thank you.

+1. Also Italian. My MIL also enjoys 'cooking Italian'. I think she used cottage cheese in her Lasagna ... and jarred sauce. I simply eat what she makes and thank her for cooking. I also try and pre-empt the cooking attempts when I can - when my family is coming over - I plan the meal ahead of time and if she would like to help I ask for prep help (can you cut up this).

+1

Another Italian here. There are three of us!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mil loves cooking "ethnic" food except she always adds in 2-3 times as much of one or two spices that she likes and the result is BAD. It's especially noticable to me when she cooks Indian food because I am Indian and the food tastes all wrong. Do I just let it be? I'm embarrassed for when she is going to invite my parents over and she serves them what is supposed to be my moms recipes but she messed with the spices. What do I do?

You say thank you. Her cooking is bad, but intentions are good.

This. My MIL looooooooooves to come to my house to try to make anything Italian. My family is straight off the boat, my mom is an insane cook (where MIL thinks "cream of X soup" is a valid ingredient in dishes) and my grandmother is practically a cartoon of the cooking Italian grandma. Its gross, I smile and say thank you.

+1. Also Italian. My MIL also enjoys 'cooking Italian'. I think she used cottage cheese in her Lasagna ... and jarred sauce. I simply eat what she makes and thank her for cooking. I also try and pre-empt the cooking attempts when I can - when my family is coming over - I plan the meal ahead of time and if she would like to help I ask for prep help (can you cut up this).

Maybe teach your MIL how to cook one simple Indian dish well, as a DIL & MIL activity, and have that one dish be your MIL's contribution to the meal when your parents are visiting.

Daal is a good learning dish. I'd start with that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mil loves cooking "ethnic" food except she always adds in 2-3 times as much of one or two spices that she likes and the result is BAD. It's especially noticable to me when she cooks Indian food because I am Indian and the food tastes all wrong. Do I just let it be? I'm embarrassed for when she is going to invite my parents over and she serves them what is supposed to be my moms recipes but she messed with the spices. What do I do?

You say thank you. Her cooking is bad, but intentions are good.

This. My MIL looooooooooves to come to my house to try to make anything Italian. My family is straight off the boat, my mom is an insane cook (where MIL thinks "cream of X soup" is a valid ingredient in dishes) and my grandmother is practically a cartoon of the cooking Italian grandma. Its gross, I smile and say thank you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Warn your parents.

+1. Hopefully your parents can be gracious and take it as a compliment that your MIL tried.

+1. Not everyone is a good cook. It happens. I guess you could invite your MIL to cook sometime if you think she would be receptive, but openly insulting your MIL's cooking when she is trying is really in-law suicide, even if you think you are just being helpful.

I am an excellent cook (which my MIL and in-laws generally acknowledge) but I always go out of my way to try to be complementary of my MIL's cooking, which isn't always good. She cares and she tries. When she makes food that is more native to my family than hers, I eat it, even if it is weird to me. It's just life. As a PP said, love the intentions, which are good.

If you think your parents will freak, you can warn them, but my guess is that they'll be polite as well. It's one meal, and it's not a health hazard. You will all survive, and if you look at it the right way, you can appreciate the gesture. Even though I have Indian friends who complement my Indian food (And I am not Indian), I don't think I'd have the guts to make a meal for Indian inlaws. (my in laws aren't Indian, just a hypothetical).

Lastly, I think the best attempt would be to tell your MIL that your parents love some food that she makes well, but never get to eat it because they don't make it themselves, something general. That way she won't be cooking Indian food at all.

I think your mother is right and you and many of these responses are just wrong. Who asks someone who is cooking for you to make something else? How rude! Maybe she is working on her dishes and it takes time to perfect them, although from the description sounds like she thinks they are good (she uses spices she likes). Just say thank you, as you would for any meal that someone cooked for another person.

Anonymous wrote:My mil loves cooking "ethnic" food except she always adds in 2-3 times as much of one or two spices that she likes and the result is BAD. It's especially noticable to me when she cooks Indian food because I am Indian and the food tastes all wrong. Do I just let it be? I'm embarrassed for when she is going to invite my parents over and she serves them what is supposed to be my moms recipes but she messed with the spices. What do I do?

Why would you do anything?