Is it better to spare the cooks feeling and lie when dinner is not so good?
I would prefer people tell me honestly what they think of my food but is it better to be polite and fib?
We went to my MIL's for dinner yesterday and the steaks were as tough as the bottom of your shoe lol. She had gotten steaks with zero marbling in them and cut any she found on the edges off. Then her hubby way over cooked them on the grill.
I lied and said they were good. :o
Reminded me of last years 4th of July when Jons friend cooked my boneless skinless chicken breast on the grill for one hour and fourty five minutes. I soaked that thing in salad dressing to get it down lol.

Well - you don't want to turn our in-laws into outlaws! LOL

I would have politely started a conversation about purchasing steaks at such-and-such store/butcher and they have that wonderful marbling to them and how the marbling effects the cooked steak. When you cooked them on the grill they turned out to be the absolute best. And I would have also brought up the subject of meat/marbling that has been discussed on various cooking sites and on the food network.

Apparently they are so "old-school" with the wrong teachers/advice/beliefs. They are trying to make sure everything is cooked well done - but they have taken it past normal.

Now - seeing just how tough they were - I would have suddenly had a root canal problem and chewing was no fun and I would have stuck to the side dishes.

Why not invite them to your place for a cook-out and make the steaks and see if they can tell the difference? Maybe hubbie can "brag" on how wonderful they turned out and they can get some pointers from you.

Not everyone can cook a steak on the grill (or chicken for that fact). And they shouldn't sell grills to people like that! LOL

Mama you would have to meet my mother in law to understand why I dont want to invite her up lol. She hadnt even bothered to get his brothers cake and had me stop at the grocery store and get one. Told me to get Happy Birthday wrote on it as long as it was free :rolleyes:
Jons Mom and Dad both try and cut out fat. His Dad is not as zealous about it as his Mom. It would do zero good for me to explain to her about the need for a little marbling atleast. Any fat = bad in her book.
She has made back handed comments before about my being a better cook than her. I thought about telling her about the steaks but I didnt wanna sound like some smarta** know it all about cooking. Heaven knows I have a heck of a lot to learn myself. I did notice the birthday boy cut up his steak took a couple bites and left the rest on his plate. He was being nice to them lol...if it were me he wouldnt have minded telling me what was wrong lol. I remember what he told me they day I married his brother. Were family now..dont have to be polite to ya anymore lol.

His Dad makes what is supposed to be brown breakfast gravy but since he wont use fat it is basically warmed wallpaper paste. It is soo bad lol. The last few times he made it Jon and I both told him it was way bad. Last time it was sweet. He claimed he used some evaporated milk but Mama that gravy was sweet...like it had sugar in it. Im not sure what he did but it wasnt good.

At first I credited Jons friend over cooking the chicken to the amount of beers he inhaled while cooking but his Mom also over cooks it. They were telling me how afraid they were of under cooked chicken. She is full on Thai and you dont tell her how to cook lol.
I wouldnt want to offend her for anything. Her accent is so thick I only catch about every third word she says.
I tried to explain to him how long you should actually cook chicken breast but he was like you say and very old school about it.

Gee girl - you do have your hands full.

Too bad they don't realize that regardless of what they "believe" - everyone needs fat in their diet - their bodies need it.

And I think they are beyond the old school - they are too obsessive about it.

I wish you the best! Keep you chin up - and don't worry about being a smartypants at all. And don't be afraid to speak up - just let them know that it's a little too well done for your taste buds, it's too hard to chew and the flavor is just not there.

Wallpaper paste for gravy - I don't even want to try to imagine that one!

Janie sounds to me like you are between a rock and a hard place. And you used the beautiful gift of wisdom to handle the situation! Bless your heart, I know how it is and I have always chose to be polite and not utter a word, at home w/ Eddie it is a different subject! LOL

Mama is right though and the question there is: is it worth it? The way you describe the entire "fat" issue I think you are dealing with folks that are totally stuck in their ways and it's wasted breathe to offer any helpful advice to them. Remember we discussed how to make a good fat-free gravy, did you run that past Pa-In-Law? And if so did he even try it? Hey maybe he likes eating paste. hee-hee!