Jackie Kabler

[Brissles]

When JK first joined Q she was very muted and had an air of disinterest about her. Well, just watched her this morning and whats happened ? she was painful to watch, - loads of gasping, faux squealing, manic inane whittling away, - all about a Remoska from Lakeland.

Then with her fingers picked up a bacon rasher straight from the pot and squealed that it was still hot !!!! for Gods sake you're a grown woman ! .............Then came the Jill Franks quote "it shows I don't cook".

Have we nurtured a generation who can't boil an egg now ! I know my brother's partner seems to have that 'ideal' as well. They spend a fortune eating out - even going out for breakfast at weekends ! and when she does see the kitchen I discovered at Christmas that she buys ready made mashed potatoes from the supermarket (eugh! eugh! eugh!). I'm no masterchef, but my Mum taught me my cooking skills passed on to her from her Mum, and if I'm honest I much prefer my own roast dinner to those dished up by gastro pub kitchens !!!!

 

[Vienna]

Sadly it`s a sign of the times. My husband`s daughter separated from her husband last year because she`s having a fling with her boss and it was her husband who did all the cooking, washing, ironing and food shopping. Since he left she`s piled on weight and not just a few pounds either because she doesn`t cook. When she called here with her new fella last week it was after 8pm and he`d been at her house all day and she hadn`t offered him anything to eat and when he mentioned he was hungry she told him to order a takeaway because all she had in the house was a tin of spaghetti.
My husband was horrified because she has 2 teenage daughters 14 and 17 and they too have piled on the pounds because all they eat is fast food and crap. The oldest girl has had jibes aimed at her on facebook and at college because she`s now a size 18 and only just over 5ft tall and diabetes and heart disease run in the family. Her excuse for not making meals for her family is that she`s working ( part time I hasten to add ) but her Dad quite bluntly says it`s because she`s just a lazy b*tch who had a hubby who for 20 years carried her around hand, foot and finger.
To add insult to injury she regularly moans to her Dad how skint she is but she wouldn`t be skint if she stopped ordering pizzas, burgers, Chinese takeaways etc and shaped herself in the kitchen.

 

[Bettyboo]

I was in M&S with my sister yesterday and she remarked to me that it seems a lot of people are living on ready meals as we saw shopping trolleys piled high with them. Although we do like the occasional 'take away' and we love to eat out when we can we still cook our meals at home and today it was chicken curry made by my husband yum yum.

 

[shopperholic]

From day one I've always found Princess Jackie to be a right pain in the arse, that's of course when she takes her foot out of her mouth after making all those faux pas, like the classic "hit your dog over the head with a frying pan" and "ditch your husband if he doesn't buy you what you want" and looking absolutely bored stiff.

 

[Loveinamist]

I'm a pescatarian and it only takes me 22mins to rustle up fish, new potatoes, broccoli, carrots and mushrooms. No potatoes then it's rice. Stir fry with salmon or meat substitute is the same time with spring onion, green pepper, water chestnuts, mushrooms and rice noodles. Don't understand eating out as the norm, much prefer my own food.

 

[PrussianRed]

I'm not a fan of ready meals - the odd one is OK and it's handy to have a couple in the freezer, but mostly (to my taste) they're too salty/garlicky/sweet/gloopy. I prefer to cook, and it can be simple and quick. I love veg so always have a good variety in the fridge, and it's so quick to steam, or just eat raw! We have fish & chips about once a month (1 portion between us) and eat out now and again - so it's a treat, not habitual. I wouldn't last 2 days on a cruise - the thought of all that 'dining' would make me queasy, I'd just want to sneak off and make myself something on toast :sweat:

 

[loveallthingsitalian]

Jackie spaniel ears is on at present with Artscape t shirts rabbiting on about "you can wear this in soooooo many ways" - really Jackie? The last time I looked my TS couldn't be worn as trousers, or as a skirt, or as a pair of shoes - in fact i was really stupid I seemed to be only able to wear it as a t shirt.

Dear Abbey, why am I such a failure?

Cant stand the woman.

 

[loveallthingsitalian]

At present I am working 11 hr day 6 day week so I'm guilty of the ready meals but only another couple of weeks and I can go back to proper meals. I'll admit it's one good point is portion control as I tend to cook too much and therefore eat too much.

 

[whitesnake]

At present I am working 11 hr day 6 day week so I'm guilty of the ready meals but only another couple of weeks and I can go back to proper meals. I'll admit it's one good point is portion control as I tend to cook too much and therefore eat too much.

I know what you mean! Some days I finish work at 7pm + don't get home till after 8 + the last thing I feel like doing us start cooking from scratch. It is then when I either reheat a jacket potato or have an M+S ready meal. Some of their count on us meals are quite nice and as you say are good for calorie counting + portion control. I much prefer cooking my own meals however and try to do so as often as I can.

 

[QuiteVacuousChat]

I like Jackie. She's one of the few that keeps it real (i.e. you can see when she knows she's flogging utter rubbish).

 

[talisker25]

I cook fresh just about 6 days a week. I love cooking and if could go back I would be a chef. My wife is a good cook but worked in a restaurant and just got sick of it...I don't mind in the slightest cooking and baking and some days spend 3 or 4 hours. We save a fortune on food. We go to a restaurant one day a week for a break. I wonder DF needs a cook in her coffee shop.....joking.

 

[Radiomike]

I'm a big fan of Jackie. She's smart and funny, and really clicks with most of the guests. I don't find her insincere in the slightest.

 

[Julius]

When JK first joined Q she was very muted and had an air of disinterest about her. Well, just watched her this morning and whats happened ? she was painful to watch, - loads of gasping, faux squealing, manic inane whittling away, - all about a Remoska from Lakeland.

Then with her fingers picked up a bacon rasher straight from the pot and squealed that it was still hot !!!! for Gods sake you're a grown woman ! .............Then came the Jill Franks quote "it shows I don't cook".

Have we nurtured a generation who can't boil an egg now ! I know my brother's partner seems to have that 'ideal' as well. They spend a fortune eating out - even going out for breakfast at weekends ! and when she does see the kitchen I discovered at Christmas that she buys ready made mashed potatoes from the supermarket (eugh! eugh! eugh!). I'm no masterchef, but my Mum taught me my cooking skills passed on to her from her Mum, and if I'm honest I much prefer my own roast dinner to those dished up by gastro pub kitchens !!!!

I usually buy red potatoes and mash them myself, but today I couldn't be bothered traipsing all the way to the international food shop that sells them hence I bought (shock horror) ready-mashed potato from sainsburys. Is only 80p for 3-400 grams. Today was just so bleak I didn't feel like going anywhere. I was going to eat at Planet Organic in Muswell Hill but decided just to go to Sainsburys to get my Sun on Sunday paper and a few groceries. I then went to buy some gloves to replace the ones I'd lost. I was horrified to discover that the Thinsulate gloves I usually get from Primark for £3 were on sale for £8! The exact same gloves! So I bought the fingerless version for £4.50 which should serve some purpose. I'll still be able to tap away on my smartphone without removing my gloves. Mind you, it's a bit of an 80s popstar look. As for Ms Kabler, she probably is one of the hoity-toity "I don't cook and I'm proud of it" brigade. I don't think it's anything to be proud of at all. Out of everything I learned at school, cookery has been by far the most useful to me. Today I just felt like cheating a bit.
I got some organic beef from Sainburys, bunged it into the slow cooker with some carrots, baby sweetcorn and sugar snap peas (ready-prepared), an onion (which I chopped myself), a mushroom and parsnip (chopped myself), some birdseye chilli peppers, mixed herbs, extra parsley, chopped garlic (dried from Lidl), a stock cube and some Sainsburys vegetable gravy granules. I put it in at 13:00 so we will see how it goes at 19:00. Bit of a cheat's casserole but it contains good, wholesome ingredients. I'm gonna serve with a mashed potato mountain containing "Lurpak lava" (melted, unsalted Lurpak butter) and a grind o black pepper.

 

[Brissles]

Ok Julius, pleeeeease tell me what the ready mash tasted like ? because I cant in all imagination believe it tastes of butter, milk and cream - in the black tray it looks like spooned ice cream with no texture, no peaks - just ...... nothing ! but I'm ready to be converted !

 

[Julius]

Ok Julius, pleeeeease tell me what the ready mash tasted like ? because I cant in all imagination believe it tastes of butter, milk and cream - in the black tray it looks like spooned ice cream with no texture, no peaks - just ...... nothing ! but I'm ready to be converted !

It's in the microwave now, ready to be turned into a mash mountain. I don't think it will be as good as the red potatoes I normally mash myself. I just couldn't do with going anywhere today. Weather was so dreary. I think the mash will be better than that dehydrated stuff. My grandmother used to use one called "Yeoman," and it was horrible!

 

[Ellaaa]

I'm a big fan of Jackie. She's smart and funny, and really clicks with most of the guests. I don't find her insincere in the slightest.

I agree, I've never really understood why people find her insincere. But, we all like and dislike different things I guess

 

[Weathergirl]

Sadly it`s a sign of the times. My husband`s daughter separated from her husband last year because she`s having a fling with her boss and it was her husband who did all the cooking, washing, ironing and food shopping. Since he left she`s piled on weight and not just a few pounds either because she doesn`t cook. When she called here with her new fella last week it was after 8pm and he`d been at her house all day and she hadn`t offered him anything to eat and when he mentioned he was hungry she told him to order a takeaway because all she had in the house was a tin of spaghetti.
My husband was horrified because she has 2 teenage daughters 14 and 17 and they too have piled on the pounds because all they eat is fast food and crap. The oldest girl has had jibes aimed at her on facebook and at college because she`s now a size 18 and only just over 5ft tall and diabetes and heart disease run in the family. Her excuse for not making meals for her family is that she`s working ( part time I hasten to add ) but her Dad quite bluntly says it`s because she`s just a lazy b*tch who had a hubby who for 20 years carried her around hand, foot and finger.
To add insult to injury she regularly moans to her Dad how skint she is but she wouldn`t be skint if she stopped ordering pizzas, burgers, Chinese takeaways etc and shaped herself in the kitchen.

"Shaped herself..." Now there's a northern blast from my past. My mum and nan (from Adlington Lancashire) would tell me to "shape myself" when they wanted me to pull my weight helping with house work.

 

[Julius]

Mash update: Was actually not that bad when fluffed up with a fork. It was a world away from that dehydrated stuff. My only criticism of it was that it was a bit too smooth. When I mash my own there is a slight variation in texture as I miss bits out etc. Still this was nice. I liked it and would highly recommend it if you haven't got time to do peeling and mashing but still want something reasonably authentic.

 

[May]

I am really enjoying the cooking tips ;0) ....find Jackie a bit overbearing ....but at least she enthusiastic ...I cook. Out,y from scratch when I can and my fave is stir fry on a Sunday ...( we have roast on a Monday ...habit from when we used to go out in the summer and I didn't want to be stuck in kitchen on a Sunday ) ...I do bolognese ( not from a jar I can't stand the taste ) Tuesday ...Wednesday something easy ...ready mash carrot and swede ..which is nice but I'm getting bored of it now ..and a gluten free pie or something similar or egg salad even when not too hungry ...Thursday casserole ..Friday McDonald's ;0) ...and Saturday we have cooked chicken salad and maybe wedges ..I can't eat curry which is a bind ....gluten free mostly for me ...we do shake it up a bit and have the foods on different days ...I love my slow cooker and quick cooker ....and wok ....I can do stir fry without the spicy sauces which is great ....I get fed up when my sons eat out all the time ...I find it such a waste of money ....( they grown men now and live away ) when we do eat out for a nice meal it's a real treat ...mcdonalds is too ...really look forward to a night off ....I don't over do it on Wednesdays coz I blitz the house ..but I do like to throw in veg in my quick cooker too on that night or day ...luckily we hate Kentucky ...and pizza ...so it's easy really ....my weakness is choccy !! Saturdays are getting a bind but I think I might be off food a little as some worry in the family and I think it's curbing my usual very healthy appetite ....

 

[whitesnake]

Ok Julius, pleeeeease tell me what the ready mash tasted like ? because I cant in all imagination believe it tastes of butter, milk and cream - in the black tray it looks like spooned ice cream with no texture, no peaks - just ...... nothing ! but I'm ready to be converted !

I have had M+S ready mashed potato and it is actually quite nice. If you are in on your own + can't be bothered peeling, chopping,boiling + mashing it does the job. Also my husband hates mashed potato so if I do have it, and it is rarely, I do buy the ready made.