5 Cooking Terms Let’s Leave Behind in 2007

1. Dressing

It’s not dressing, it’s stuffing.
Get it? It gets stuffed in the bird. That why it’s called stuff-ing. Even if you don’t use it to stuff, you’re not ‘dressing’ the bird. The mere mention of the word ‘dressing’ makes me wince down to my you-know-what. (It’s even hard for me to type.)

If you want further proof, it’s Stove-Top ‘Stuffing’ Mix, not ‘Dressing’ mix. I don’t care what the dictionary says. Don’t argue with me. Or Kraft.

Ok, you can call Kraft on it. But not me. I’m too thin-skinned.

2. Veggies

Perhaps the worst offender. They’re vegetables, my friends. If you’re too lazy to pronounce two extra, teeny-tiny syllables, all hope for humanity is lost. You deserve to read about the mindless antics of Britney and Paris for the next decade.

And I don’t mean my mindless antics in Brittany, or Paris.

3. Combine

The jury’s still in recess on this one.

Judith Jones swears this word means nothing, but I beg to differ. ‘Combine’ means to incorporate two or more ingredients. To merge them. If I say “Combine the oats and cranberries with your hands”, I think most people would get the drift.

Still, who am I to argue with Julia Child’s editor. I’ve ditched it a while ago, so let’s leave it behind us once and for all, shall we?

4. Sammies

I have nothing against Rachel Ray. Really. She’s as cute and perky as all get-out. And she can smile non-stop for far longer than I’m capable of doing. I don’t mind those other words like ‘evoo’ or whatever she says.

But I can’t get this friggin’ word out of my head!

It’s been a couple of years now and it’s really the stupidest word used in relation to food ever. I just can’t shake it!
Please, make those voices in my head stop….aarrgghh…..

5. Seasonal

I’m guilty of this as well. But it’s been so overused, it’s as tired as those endless post-Presidential debate discussions on the cable networks, discussing the same stupid stuff over and over and over and over. I was back in the US for less than 48 hours and I had it up to my neck and ending up watching Blind Date and transfied on I Love New York 2 on VH1 for two days, which, surprisingly, was far more interesting.
(Which perhaps says something about me…)

Anyhow. I’ve had raspberries served to me in ‘seasonally-inspired’ restaurants…in New York…in January. And who really wants all that asparagus in the winter from Argentina—unless, of course, you live in Argentina? If people haven’t gotten the message to cook seasonally by now, it’s a lost cause, folks. Let’s drop it. I’m going to give it a try. If I use the word ‘seasonal’ again around here, next time, you can call me on it. After you call Kraft, that is.

Any others I missed?