What are your hobbies?

Quote: Mosca

I don’t like having a boss. Or being a boss. But that’s a different discussion.

Quote: 100xOdds

sidenote:
42 replies and it's still page 1?
# of posts per page has changed?

How many posts per page is it now? 50?
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Quote: EvenBob

Quote: Mosca

I don’t like having a boss. Or being a boss. But that’s a different discussion.

That's funny, I haven't had a boss since the seventies and I haven't been a boss since the '80s. I've been self-employed since the late seventies, not something I intended it's just something that happened. I wonder how many times that's true in life, that things look intentional when they really were not.
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Quote: EvenBob

Quote: Mosca

I don’t like having a boss. Or being a boss. But that’s a different discussion.

That's funny, I haven't had a boss since the seventies and I haven't been a boss since the '80s. I've been self-employed since the late seventies, not something I intended it's just something that happened. I wonder how many times that's true in life, that things look intentional when they really were not.
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Quote: Mission146

I also cook, but I wouldn't consider it a hobby as I'd also have to consider eating a hobby.
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Quote: Mosca

Now I’m retired and I sit around the house in sweatpants. It’s everything I dreamed it could be

Quote: EvenBob

Quote: Mission146

I also cook, but I wouldn't consider it a hobby as I'd also have to consider eating a hobby.
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I wanted to be a professional chef and I went to cooking school in San Francisco for two semesters over 40 years ago. I realized that I hated cooking for other people and I only like cooking for myself. But that was long before the days of Bobby Flay and Emeril Lagasse and all the highly paid celebrity chefs now. Gordon Ramsay who I consider a crappy chef has 58 restaurants, six of them are in Las Vegas. None of that was happening when I went to school.
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Quote: Mosca

Now I’m retired and I sit around the house in sweatpants. It’s everything I dreamed it could be.
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Quote: Dieter

Quote: Mosca

Now I’m retired and I sit around the house in sweatpants. It’s everything I dreamed it could be.
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I just spent almost half a year sitting around the house in my boxer shorts.
It's not for everyone.
(I didn't much like it the other times circumstance has so favored me, either.)
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Quote: Dieter

I just spent almost half a year sitting around the house in my boxer shorts.
It's not for everyone.
(I didn't much like it the other times circumstance has so favored me, either.)
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Quote: DogHand

Quote: Dieter

Quote: Mosca

Now I’m retired and I sit around the house in sweatpants. It’s everything I dreamed it could be.
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I just spent almost half a year sitting around the house in my boxer shorts.
It's not for everyone.
(I didn't much like it the other times circumstance has so favored me, either.)
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So switch to briefs! ;-)

Dog Hand
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Quote: EvenBob

Quote: Dieter

I just spent almost half a year sitting around the house in my boxer shorts.
It's not for everyone.
(I didn't much like it the other times circumstance has so favored me, either.)
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I can't do that psychologically because it means I'm giving up. If I'm not earning, if I'm not producing income, I'm miserable. Retirement is something that's not in my realm of understanding, I don't get it. Thinking up things to do just to kill time. I arranged it so I would have things to do to make money as long as I was breathing and my brain still worked. The original John D Rockefeller worked until his late 90's and he was probably the richest man that will ever live when figured in today's dollars. Retirement was not in his wheelhouse.
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Quote: EvenBob

If I'm not earning, if I'm not producing income, I'm miserable. Retirement is something that's not in my realm of understanding, I don't get it. Thinking up things to do just to kill time. I arranged it so I would have things to do to make money as long as I was breathing and my brain still worked.

Quote: Mosca

I’m glad you found what works for you. Me, I’m fine with this. It did take me a while to find a sense of purpose, but I’m at peace with doing nothing. It’s very calming. My biology and my psyche are in complete sync.
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Quote: Mosca

I’m glad you found what works for you. Me, I’m fine with this. It did take me a while to find a sense of purpose, but I’m at peace with doing nothing. It’s very calming. My biology and my psyche are in complete sync.

Quote: EvenBob

Quote: Mosca

I’m glad you found what works for you. Me, I’m fine with this. It did take me a while to find a sense of purpose, but I’m at peace with doing nothing. It’s very calming. My biology and my psyche are in complete sync.
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I subscribe to the attitude many native tribes around the world had forever. When a man got too old to contribute to his family or to the village he either died willingly or they got rid of him. Because without contributing he's just another mouth to feed. It was never true for women because there's always something a woman can do at any age to contribute. And I really think working contributes to longevity, and science seems to be backing me up on that more and more. I remember when my dad retired in the early seventies what a giant pain in the ass he became. He was useless, roaming around all day moaning and groaning trying to find something to do. Luckily he met a woman and got married and they moved to Florida, problem solved.
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Quote: gordonm888

Jim Carrey:

I wish everyone would become rich and famous and do everything that they have always wanted to do, so that they would discover that that is not the answer.

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Quote: 100xOdds

The game i LOVED the most was Age of Empires II and Microsoft is still supporting that game 15yrs later with new stuff.
When i found that out a couple of years ago, i thought about getting back into it since it doesnt require any hardware upgrades but never did.

I also used to play Path of Exile but back then they were doing changes so fast to game play that i gave up. My hard earned gear all of a sudden became 2nd rate with newly introduced gear having more powerful game mechanics.
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Quote: DRich

or make a pan of Hamburger Helper
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Quote: DRich

Quote: Mosca

I’m glad you found what works for you. Me, I’m fine with this. It did take me a while to find a sense of purpose, but I’m at peace with doing nothing. It’s very calming. My biology and my psyche are in complete sync.

I am so jealous. I just want to lay on a beach in the Caribbean and read books all day.
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Quote: EvenBob

Quote: DRich

Quote: Mosca

I’m glad you found what works for you. Me, I’m fine with this. It did take me a while to find a sense of purpose, but I’m at peace with doing nothing. It’s very calming. My biology and my psyche are in complete sync.

I am so jealous. I just want to lay on a beach in the Caribbean and read books all day.
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Just click on the link, I have no idea how to make these YouTube shorts appear here

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/A-i9w8X3B6A
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Quote: Mosca

Quote: Mission146

I have come to the conclusion that cooking might, or might not, be a hobby for me. There is doubt where there was once certitude, though I'm not sure I have been made better for this.
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I think about things, a lot. And one thing I think about sometimes is the evolution of my own cooking.

I’ve ALWAYS thought I’m a good cook. Except for when I first held a knife, pots and pans, and thought “What the hell?”, I’ve always thought I was good. At the same time, it was also obvious that in an absolute sense, I made good food because I followed a recipe. To make an analogy, I could turn wrenches, but I couldn’t design a machine. And I couldn’t turn wrenches to good effect without instruction, either. My food tasted good, but that wasn’t the same as being a good cook. And it didn’t make cooking a hobby, either; I just liked eating good food, and knew how to make it.

The hobby part evolved gradually. And it started off with frustration and being pissed off with not getting the results I wanted, specifically with beef rib roasts, aka prime rib. With those, the cookbooks were just flat out wrong: the most common recipes called for either steady 350° for 3 hours, or start at 500° for half an hour and then turn the oven off, and check the roast after 3 hours. The first recipe inevitably led to nice, thoroughly brown, well done beef. The second led to a nice brown crust, and a cold, red center. And here we have a problem, because one thing about a rib roast: nobody makes prime rib on a weeknight for family. We make rib roasts for special occasions. They’re expensive! They involve time and prep! And there is the emotional investment of serving them to others, as an accomplishment!

What you got here is deep breath territory. This is where you have to invest. You have to invest time, the time to prep and cook a rib roast. You have to invest money; that is one expensive hunk of meat, even on sale and USDA choice. And there is a lot riding on the outcome: the pleasure of serving friends and family, and of course secretly beaming from their praise when you know it is honest because you know it came out right. You’re going to have to practice. (And you’re going to have to eat some pretty mediocre beef, too.)

That’s how it started, for me. Once I figured that one out, I started thinking about other things, and I started trying them. The things I took to, I made the decision to buy the equipment that I needed. Other things were a dead end, for a lot of reasons. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Asian food. I hate making it at home. That’s fine. I’m good at American, Southern/Soul, TexMex (but not authentic Mexican), Italian, Eastern European, and some French, and I’m pretty good at BBQ. I don’t bake, but when I do I’m successful at it. And I don’t do pizzas, even though I have the equipment, because I don’t bake and making pizza is a pain in the ass if you don’t make them all the time.

Now I feel confident just making something from what I have, or walking into the store and thinking, “Oh, those will taste good together.” I’m not sure I could handle those ingredient challenges you see on TV, but in the real world? Yeah. I’ll make something that doesn’t have a name, it’s just stuff that tastes good. That’s why I consider it a hobby, and really it’s the only one I’ve had my whole life, I think.
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Quote: odiousgambit

How to turn yourself from a roast-cooking Klutz into a Virtuoso ............... learn to use a meat thermometer
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Quote: odiousgambit

How to turn yourself from a roast-cooking Klutz into a Virtuoso ............... learn to use a meat thermometer
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Quote: beachbumbabs

Quote: odiousgambit

How to turn yourself from a roast-cooking Klutz into a Virtuoso ............... learn to use a meat thermometer
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If that's for me...well, that was 25 years ago, and yes, I do now have a meat thermometer. But thanks for the cheery sarcasm.
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Quote: beachbumbabs

Quote: Mosca

Quote: Mission146

I have come to the conclusion that cooking might, or might not, be a hobby for me. There is doubt where there was once certitude, though I'm not sure I have been made better for this.
link to original post

I think about things, a lot. And one thing I think about sometimes is the evolution of my own cooking.

I’ve ALWAYS thought I’m a good cook. Except for when I first held a knife, pots and pans, and thought “What the hell?”, I’ve always thought I was good. At the same time, it was also obvious that in an absolute sense, I made good food because I followed a recipe. To make an analogy, I could turn wrenches, but I couldn’t design a machine. And I couldn’t turn wrenches to good effect without instruction, either. My food tasted good, but that wasn’t the same as being a good cook. And it didn’t make cooking a hobby, either; I just liked eating good food, and knew how to make it.

The hobby part evolved gradually. And it started off with frustration and being pissed off with not getting the results I wanted, specifically with beef rib roasts, aka prime rib. With those, the cookbooks were just flat out wrong: the most common recipes called for either steady 350° for 3 hours, or start at 500° for half an hour and then turn the oven off, and check the roast after 3 hours. The first recipe inevitably led to nice, thoroughly brown, well done beef. The second led to a nice brown crust, and a cold, red center. And here we have a problem, because one thing about a rib roast: nobody makes prime rib on a weeknight for family. We make rib roasts for special occasions. They’re expensive! They involve time and prep! And there is the emotional investment of serving them to others, as an accomplishment!

What you got here is deep breath territory. This is where you have to invest. You have to invest time, the time to prep and cook a rib roast. You have to invest money; that is one expensive hunk of meat, even on sale and USDA choice. And there is a lot riding on the outcome: the pleasure of serving friends and family, and of course secretly beaming from their praise when you know it is honest because you know it came out right. You’re going to have to practice. (And you’re going to have to eat some pretty mediocre beef, too.)

That’s how it started, for me. Once I figured that one out, I started thinking about other things, and I started trying them. The things I took to, I made the decision to buy the equipment that I needed. Other things were a dead end, for a lot of reasons. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Asian food. I hate making it at home. That’s fine. I’m good at American, Southern/Soul, TexMex (but not authentic Mexican), Italian, Eastern European, and some French, and I’m pretty good at BBQ. I don’t bake, but when I do I’m successful at it. And I don’t do pizzas, even though I have the equipment, because I don’t bake and making pizza is a pain in the ass if you don’t make them all the time.

Now I feel confident just making something from what I have, or walking into the store and thinking, “Oh, those will taste good together.” I’m not sure I could handle those ingredient challenges you see on TV, but in the real world? Yeah. I’ll make something that doesn’t have a name, it’s just stuff that tastes good. That’s why I consider it a hobby, and really it’s the only one I’ve had my whole life, I think.
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You're reminding me of what turned out to be an incredibly traumatic Christmas dinner. I can tell you've been there. I had 10 people, all family, there for dinner, cooked the $120 standing prime rib roast for 3+ hours (oven @350F) after an initial hot sear on all sides. Outside was carmelized perfectly. Inside was blood red throughout, and grossed 3 of the kids out so much when it was carved tableside, they left the table.

Ended up carving it into 1.5-2" steaks and grilling them. They were tasty but not tender, and the rest of dinner was mostly wrecked while waiting for the steaks. My most expensive failure, and in front of people who never let me forget it.

Ah, well.

I also love Asian food. I make a great stir-fry, but currently trying to figure out how to make good tempura vegs. I've gotten a bit obsessive about trying new-to-me spices and have dozens of jars of stuff, especially custom blends. It's been fun and amusing, so in that sense, it's probably half a hobby, half something I need to do anyway most days.
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Quote: odiousgambit

Quote: beachbumbabs

Quote: odiousgambit

How to turn yourself from a roast-cooking Klutz into a Virtuoso ............... learn to use a meat thermometer
link to original post

If that's for me...well, that was 25 years ago, and yes, I do now have a meat thermometer. But thanks for the cheery sarcasm.
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I was taking a shot at 3 of you I think!! Not!!

I was being serious as many cookbooks will still tell you to cook a roast by timing it vis a vis weight. Well, that is good for getting an idea of how long, but that cookbook should go on to say to use a thermometer and some don't

Hey, we had to learn this the hardway in our household too. I'd say the over-cooking problem for something we wanted 'medium rare' was the most common bad outcome. It can still happen as even using a meat thermometer is not foolproof, for one thing your roast can go from 'too rare' to well into 'medium' in a very short period of time
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Quote: Mosca

Quote: odiousgambit

Quote: beachbumbabs

Quote: odiousgambit

How to turn yourself from a roast-cooking Klutz into a Virtuoso ............... learn to use a meat thermometer
link to original post

If that's for me...well, that was 25 years ago, and yes, I do now have a meat thermometer. But thanks for the cheery sarcasm.
link to original post

I was taking a shot at 3 of you I think!! Not!!

I was being serious as many cookbooks will still tell you to cook a roast by timing it vis a vis weight. Well, that is good for getting an idea of how long, but that cookbook should go on to say to use a thermometer and some don't

Hey, we had to learn this the hardway in our household too. I'd say the over-cooking problem for something we wanted 'medium rare' was the most common bad outcome. It can still happen as even using a meat thermometer is not foolproof, for one thing your roast can go from 'too rare' to well into 'medium' in a very short period of time
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Oh good god with the Christmas roast (coming up), where three of us want medium rare, two want “well done but juicy”, and two want “medium, but none of that red, just a little pink”. For a couple years I was cutting a large primal into two smaller roasts and starting one of them half an hour early. Now, I tell everyone to stay the hell out of my kitchen, and I do the roast to medium rare and toss slices in a skillet to make those “medium, but none of that red just a little pink” and “well done but juicy” servings because those are the exact same thing separated by about 10 seconds. The compliments have been sincere so it must be working. I keep the rest simple, with a huge tossed salad and baked potatoes; anything else used to get “courtesy sampled”, I paid attention to what was available the next morning as omelet fillings and gradually pared it down. They’re just looking forward to the meat.
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Quote: DRich

My favorite way to eat Prime Rib is to cut off a thick slice after cooking it to medium rare, covered it in Blackening seasoning and toss it into a frying pan for about one minute on each side.

Quote: Mosca

Retirement was really, really hard for me, for the first few months and especially the first few weeks. I was used to being needed and depended on. I knew that I wasn’t irreplaceable; I had a hand in making sure my replacement was up to speed and could step in without interruption. The disconnect was on my end. All of a sudden, there was no reason to wake up the next morning… hell, there was no reason to go to bed at night.

We all need to solve this problem in a way that satisfies who we are, beyond what we do. There is no absolute answer, and not everyone finds one, either. So far I’m doing okay. I don’t want things, which I guess helps. I had to ask myself what did I really want; what would I have picked, 50 years ago? Which is sort of hard, because most of us had no idea what we wanted when we were in our late teens.

What I wanted, above all, wasn’t a thing, or a place in life. What I’ve always wanted was to be left alone. Not bugged or bothered. I don’t mean isolated, and I don’t mean not needed; I mean not hassled. As long as I’m not hassled, I’m pretty much at peace. All the other stuff, that’s just life, and living. I still have enough curiosity that I want to know what comes next, so I think it’s okay.
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