To think that a roast isn't the only thing that's a 'proper cooked dinner'?

[lalaland30008]

A minor thing, it really irritates me and don't know if I'm being stupid or if I'm the only one who thinks like this.

My mum has got this thing with calling a roast a 'proper cooked dinner', so if you have a chilli or a spag bol it's not a proper cooked dinner.

So I'm having a conversation with my mum about what she's had and she says 'oh we didn't have a proper cooked dinner' just eggs and chips/pie, mash and beans, you name it, but if it's not a roast it's not proper.

We're talking about aunty x, aunty x does a proper cooked dinner most nights. By that she means she does a roast.

Why do I get more than slightly irritated by this? Why not just call it a bloody roast as if it's cooked on the cooker it's a bloody cooked dinner.

Celine I love you. I wish I had the balls to get MIL 'How to be a woman' for Christmas. Or even lend her my copy.

I think it would either give her a heart attack, or she would stop speaking to me forever.

Ha! A roast dinner is an easy dinner to make. However, I quite like some variety. Tonight will be a pasta bake with the leftover chicken, plus a little chorizo to spice it up.

But I do agree with the idea that it's a generational thing. Mum is a little like this (but she has serious food issues anyway). Dad is coming around to the idea that dinner does not have to mean meat & 2 veg, plus potatoes, so there's hope yet.

many years of marriage to Norn Irn man has taught me that food isn't food unless it is hot!
His family went to a very posh wedding and got "no food" It turns out that it was a cold buffet. They still talk about it

There is a story that has gone round the family for years.

when I was with my ex H I made a veggie shepherds pie. Carrot, lentils, leek, baked beans....sounds vile but it absolutely lovely. I asked him if he thought I should serve anything else with it and he (Mr Traditional!) said "yeah.....stick a fucking chop on it" :o

I'm vegetarian. I have therefore never eaten a proper dinner - I really should have starved by now!

"If Aunty X does a full roast every night, she is considerably lazier than the people who cook up spaghetti bols or chillis or anything else that doesn't just rely on shoving things in the oven and putting your feet up. Just a thought smile

A roast is what I do when I can't be arsed to cook."

I find a roast is far more work than something like a chilli or spag bol. Timing it so that the potatoes, veg, gravy etc is ready at the same time is harder than getting the accompaniments together for chilli or spag bol. Also a roast generates far more washing up.

Sobdo people roast all the vegetable then? And what about all the preparation, surely the meat isn't just ready to bung in the oven?

Even Yorkshire puddings take a bit of preparation
If a roast is so quick why do people spend days preparing for Christmas dinners?

I've never cooked a roast, but I'm sure there are lots of other meals that involve at least as much preparation and cooking and general faff.

I think this 'proper dinner' thing must be some local colloquialism, it makes no sense taken literally.

Unless you want to do something fancy, the meat is just ready to bung in the oven. When I'm feeling lazy I'll but a beef joint or a chicken, weigh it and just whack in to.

Your mum would think I never eat properly then as I have never cooked a roast dinner. I do however stand in front of the stove every night, I'm not sure what I am doing if not cooking dinner but there you go

i know a few people from Rotheram and they call a roast dinner a 'cooked' dinner. They don't think a spag bol is not cooked of course, that is just what a roast is referred to and just a duplicate use of the word cooked where it has a different meaning.

Similarly the word 'meat' is used where i am from. ie my parents say they only have meat if they have a joint of beef or lamb. So dad will say 'we don't have meat every day, some days we have chicken or mince'. Traditionally meat was only referred to if it was a large piece of red meat, rather than if it came from an animal.

my mil thinks its not a proper cooked meal unless its a curry cooked from scratch.
I think its just the elder way of thinking, whatever culture you are from

Remembered earlier that an American friend of a friend calls a roast a "Baked" dinner, which sounds very weird to me!

Mad (requiring a roast dinner for it to be proper), but then I wouldn't necessary call egg and chips or baked beans a proper cooked dinner. Spag bol def is proper as is a stir fry or shepherd's pie. Or fish.

I always remember when DD was a few months old my mum rang me at 3pm on a Sunday. The conversation went like this

Mum: hi,are you alright not caught you tidying up after lunch or anything?
Me: no,you're ok i'm about to serve it in 10 minutes or so
Mum: um, a bit late aren't you?
Me: er not really we always eat at this time on a Sunday
Mum: what you having - something nice?
Me: lamb hotpot
Mum: well that's "different" for a Sunday
Me (getting really pissed off now): is it? It's basically meat,potatoes and veg the same as a roast just assembled differently!
Mum: (sigh) yes I suppose so

I mean at that age DD was constantly glued to my boob - lamb hotpot was the easiest thing I could think of doing. I'd love to have seen mum's face if I'd made spag bol instead!

God yes my mother is like this.. Also a proper breakfast is bacon etc, not like 'yours darling'.

my exmil used to tell me off all the time due to a lack of roasts and low potato use.

and also because apparently i eat so late its weird (8pm ish)

Bit0ut0fPractice, my mother also calls a roast a "Dinner Dinner" used to really really annoy me when I was a teenager (still annoys me now). We'd have Dinner dinner for tea [hconfused]