I don't think Debra was a bad cook, she cooked healthier meals and the Barones were just not used to it. Marie's heavy Italian cooking meant the boys were so used the cheese, cream etc that they turned up their noses because Debra cut fat off the meat and served salads a lot. If she used some frozen food occasionally, well who wouldn't with 3 small children. I wasn't opposed to serving fish fingers and baked beans to my two when pressed for time.
SkiesAreBlue
bet you are right about that, but since you can't eat a tv character's cooking you can't know what it was like. She just cooked a lot more healthier stuff like you said that the Barones were used to, and Marie always like to maker her look or sound like a bad cook. At least she cooked, I don't know if you have seen the Middle or if have talked about it, a lot of earlier episodes where Petrica Heaton stars on it, a lot of times she would bring home take off out food, and she or somebody else if not her would say "I made dinner."
shareI agree - I don't think she was all that bad a cook, not in the way some people are, and nothing wrong with food in the freezer for the kids when time is tight.
I actually think her main shortcoming was that she just didnt have much in her overall cooking repertoire (the lemon chicken seemed to be frequent), definitely along with not being so indulgent, as you say. I know Deb had quite a more cultured upbringing and exposure to fine foods, but I guess it didnt help that her mum wasnt very domesticated.
I imagine if Marie wasn't so snide and overbearing, and if Ray didnt make digs to worsen things, Deb would have had the confidence to try more and maybe find some healthier compromises to Ray's favourite dishes. I can imagine though in that family it's probably too daunting to even bother, and we saw what happened when she tried to do that beef dish that one time lol.
If I were Debra I doubt I would bother trying to make new and different meals. Every time she tried anything Ray/Marie would put her down and mock her. If she made something good the whole family would lose their *beep*
I doubt Debra is as bad a cook as they say. She probably isn't very good, but I doubt she's as bad as they make out.
Exactly ;-)
shareI assume that Marie's cooking was a wonderland for the palate. Of course for it to be that tasty, also she learned to cook in a different time, Marie didn't pay attention to fat or sugar in her recipes.
But then, Marie was a natural cook, one of those who just knows how to incorporate flavors, and didn't use recipes, just cooked with love!
I bet Debra always used low fat/fat free ingredients, and that is a real buzzkill for a gourmet. No matter how many cookbooks claim their recipes are "delicious", if it is no fat / vegan/ healthy, you know it is far from delicious.
Gee Woodle, Space Kadoodle!
I do like my "healthy" stir fries and Asian food but yes, roast lamb and vegetables with Yorkshire pud and lashings of gravy, you've won me every time 😋
SkiesAreBlue
I actually like yogurt, which was always considered health food in the 70's.
Now it is harder to find yogurt that is not FAT FREE. Which means it has that flat, zero, nothing taste. It literally tastes like nothing!
I only eat the 1% or 2% fat kind, when I can find it. I am typically in the food store, cursing at the yogurt section and handling every brand.
Gee Woodle, Space Kadoodle!
I remember one particular episode where Marie tells Debra: "Salt and Pepper are used to season, not the main ingredients."
I was thinking: Did She just say that!?
What are some other rude cooking comments Marie would tell Debra? Lol.
In Pet the Bunny. After Ray tells Frank to story, he's ticked off.
They go his parents' house later. Marie says Frank has been in a worse mood than usual, and asks Debra if she gave him something to eat. lol
__________
If you're gonna pretend to cut her hair, at least put some scissors in your hand!
In Tasteless Frank, when Frank said that Debra's frittata (or whatever it was) was delicious, Marie screeched "No it isn't! That's Debra's!"
"Oh, popcorn for dinner. How fun."
about the pot roast whose spices Marie was adjusting- "it couldn't be saved. I made you some baked ziti. You can tell your guests you made it."
I think at worst it was just mediocre, and I do think her Mom not being a cook herself had a lot to do with that--daughters learn from their Moms. I can't think of Ray ever really putting it down, other than the time she made her own dressing for a sandwich and the episode where she made Braciole and he admitted to joking about her food at work to appear cool to the guys. Robert ate over quite a bit and never complained, the kids never complained, and Robert's fly-eating girlfriend loved the Lemon Chicken! lol
shareI had to laugh at her line in The Suitcase.
DEBRA, YOU CAN"T KEEP CHEESE IN A SUITCASE!!
I think she just got a bad rap from both Ray and Marie about her cooking, I don't think she was that bad. There was the time she made the fish for Thanksgiving, and even though Frank choked on it, after he sat down again he said "Please pass the fish!" lol
shareDeborah had three young children, they weren't eating a lot of spicy food or fancy dishes. Kids that age live on chicken nuggets, grilled cheese and pizza or spaghetti (without fancy sauces)
shareI think the main thing is she sucked in comparison to Marie, who was an authentic Italian cook and did not skimp on ingredients or fat (yes, it makes a big dif). Call me old-fashioned, but if your husband's Mom is an awesome cook, you need to raise the bar and meet that standard, or else...suffer the criticism and backlash! Unless you can make up for it in other ways! (which Debra did NOT..)😁
sharethe interfering mother in law is jealous that sexy, young son stealer Debra can cook without covering everything in garlic,tomato and cheese to hide the under cooked / overcooked meat. she shows her insecurities every second.
shareShe can cook some things. Ray and Marie weren't the only ones though, to criticize her cooking. Frank and Robert were hesitant about trying the bracciole, (?) and in Marie's Vision, Frank and Marie decide to eat first before eating what Debra cooked. In the last episode, the kids weren't happy with her cooking. She could cook lemon chicken, fish, pork chops, and sometimes she could cook turkey. She was terrible at meatloaf, and eggs, it seemed like. Oh, and in No Thanks, she burned the bottom of the rolls. I don't know why she never tried any of the recipes that Marie gave her.
share