When I was a kid walking to school, I walked with all of my senses turned. Back in those days, everyone’s TVs had tubes and antennas. As I walked, I could hear the high pitch frequency sounds coming from houses. I could pretty much figure out what house had their TVs on. Then for a couple of blocks, I would try to figure out who and what they were watching. On my way to school, I figured they were watching the morning news and on my way home, soap operas or kids cartoons. We didn’t have 100+ channels; we had 7 so there weren’t many shows from me to choose from.
The other thing I did while walking to school was sniff the air and identify what people were cooking. I could smell coffee and bacon. Sometimes something baking. On my way home, I could smell meats roasting and sauces simmering away. In those days, most women still stayed at home, unlike today when women, men, moms, or dads are racing home from a long day at work and have to start dinner. That began to change when I was in upper grades.
I remember walking home from school one day with a friend, and she asked if I wanted to come over after school the next day. We were in the third or fourth grade, which was the first time anyone invited me over after school. I often saw friends after school; it was at the park or playground when we rode our bikes everywhere. I got permission from my mother to go; I was surprised and happy.
The next day after school, we got to her house, which was only around the corner from where I lived. Her mom wasn’t home. Her mom was a single mother and was at work. She left a note on the table and an after-school snack. We grabbed the snack and heading into the living room, and watched tv. It was great not being interrupted, badgered, yelled at to start my homework. I realized that to come home from school, which was our workday, and relax for an hour felt amazing. Why couldn’t homework wait an hour? Why did I have to do it the second I put my school bag down?
My friend also had to start dinner. I was so impressed with how grown up she was. She had to be, and her mother needed her to be. She also had chores to do and got an allowance. I had a shitload of things I had to do after dinner and Saturdays, like cleaning the house, washing my own clothes, keeping my room clean, and ironing my school uniform shirts.
When cable tv came to town, there were and still are shows that I really like to watch. I liked the Food Network, but my favorite shows were Doorknock Dinners and Take Home Chef. In Doorknock Dinners a host would take high-end, famous, sometimes an Iron Chef to a random person’s home and knock on their door. They would ask the surprised person who answered the door if the chef could come in, look in their refrigerator, freezer, and pantry and make them a gourmet dinner with only the things they found. Only a few people said no then the producers had to scramble around to find another house and pray they were willing to let them in.
I loved seeing what people had in their fridges and freezers. I loved seeing how messy or organized their pantry was. The best was when they had a Japanese Iron Chef be truly confused about what some of the American food was. He didn’t understand what things were. To be fair, if the tables were turned, many American chefs may not know all the things one would find in a Japanese kitchen.
In one episode, the people only had premade frozen foods and a couple of canned goods. You could see how ridiculously hard and foreign this was to him. He put together something with fish sticks and a couple of other ingredients. It didn’t look good at all; I am sure it didn’t taste good either.
The Take Home Chef was Chef Curtis Stone. First of all, he is handsome and has an Australian accent. He would hang out at the grocery store and ask women, shoppers what they were making, and cook dinner for anyone. He would pay for the groceries if she let him follow her home and cook dinner with the ingredients she had in her shopping cart.
I am sure the show wasn’t preplanned because the women were always apologizing for their homes’ condition and were truly flustered when 10 TV cameras and sound people, producers, and a director would cram into their place.
He had the women cook along with him, and he taught them some cooking techniques. The women were swooning over how gorgeous he was with that intoxicating accent; I am shocked no one ever cut off a finger. The meals looked fabulous, and the people they cooked it for were impressed. Mostly, but maybe not the women’s boyfriends or husbands. LOL.
My favorite show is House Hunters and has been on since the birth of HGTV. I love seeing the architecture and styles of homes in different parts of the country. Beautiful homes and dumps that are called fixer-uppers. I like seeing what you can get for your money and seeing people’s reactions to homes. Some of the things that are deal-breakers for people are amusing. What is a palace to one person is a shit hole to another.
I am sure that many things are fixed and staged in this show; they would have to be. Never the less I still like it along with House Hunters International, the Caribbean, and Mediterranean Life. Tiny House Hunters, Living off the Grid, and all the remodeling shows.
Marty and I do everything ourselves in our home, so watching other people tackle projects is interesting. Seeing other people run into boo-boos and obstacles makes me feel better. The Irion way is always the hard way. The Irion way is always being a 1/2 cup short of a gallon of paint, then having to buy another whole gallon to finish the job.
I keep a mostly organized and clean home. When we are super busy with the business, and 4 of us were living here, it was hard to get a handle on, but it’s easier with just the two of us now. I will say, “This place is a total mess,” my family will laugh and say, “Mom, you have no idea what some people’s houses are like.” They aren’t talking about things being dated or messy; they are talking about homes that should be condemned. I am not sure if they tell me that to make me feel better or true.
So am I a peeping tom of sorts? Is it weird to want to look in people’s kitchens and refrigerators? I think I am just curious and like seeing how people live. Maybe that’s why I have always been interested in food anthropology. Last summer, during my Hamilton addiction, I found a recipe and made George Washington’s favorite cake. It was really delicious; it was a spice cake. I love looking at food and recipes from different time periods and cooking methods.
Regional dishes and drinks in our country came from the people who settled here. They used whatever land, sea, rivers, and lakes offered them. I never thought about exactly why cornbread is a staple in the south. Not just because they like it, they have corn! The first Thanksgiving had things like venison, root vegetables, cranberries, and fish dishes. Those were some of the things that were available in the Northeast. Hard cider comes from areas where apples are plentiful. Beer, whiskey, and other spirits came from areas with grains. It all makes perfect sense.
The settlers learned hunting, farming and agriculture, and cooking methods from the Native Americans. They also learned how to use animals for fats and clothing. Slaves and other immigrants brought with them their recipes, ingredients, and cooking methods. They created dishes with what they had available. They created dishes when they had nothing. These are some of the most iconic dishes in our country. Other dishes came from being practical, from food that miners took with them into the mines, people working in the fields, traveling on horseback, etc.
In America, the melting pot, we are truly a nation of melting pot cuisine. You can find any ethnic food in fancy restaurants, food trucks, or people’s homes that are as good as where the food originates. People brought with them special ingredients that are now found in supermarkets or specialty stores. The Food Network and PBS have introduced ethnic food to people in our country that is approachable and less scary for people, leaving them wanting to try new foods and cuisines.
So looking inside…it can be so many things. From figuring out smells and sounds, how people lived in the past, and how they live today. What types of homes they have or looking for. Looking inside one’s self is what I have been doing a lot of. Knowing that other people’s homes aren’t perfect; they suck at home improvement projects or have poorly stocked kitchens makes people feel human. It shows people that we all can’t be perfect like Martha Stewart, Ree Drummond, or Bobby Flay. Besides, they have other people doing all that shit for them anyway, which they don’t show on their shows.