The SAG-AFTRA strike guidelines are that SAG actors cannot do junkets or TV shows or promote specific films or TV shows in any way. But it’s not “no interviews at all,” because people have side-gigs that don’t fall under the SAG rules. Sarah Jessica Parker is one of those people with side-gigs. She has a lot of side-gigs, from shoewear to perfume to her own brand of cocktail. Which is how she ended up appearing on the iHeartPodcast Table for Two, to talk about food and drink and definitely NOT And Just Like That. Now, I love it when celebrities talk about food and drink. Those are some of their most interesting interviews ever. Some highlights from SJP’s pod interview:
SJP & Matthew Broderick don’t do takeout: “We cook every night. It’s a source of a huge amount of pride for everybody.” She said she’s always surprised when she hears about other people’s takeout habits. “It’s also mystifying because we just don’t order in as a family. And on the rare occasion we have — we always hear other families, they do it, and then like one kid orders from this place and one kid … it’s so confusing,” she said. So instead the Parker-Brodericks “really do cook five to six nights a week.” She added: “We try to always have a Sunday dinner — we invite people.”
On Carrie Bradshaw’s signature drink, the cosmopolitan. “The ones we drank on [Sex and the City] were that kind of cosmopolitan that you later learn are not the good ones. First of all, ours weren’t real — they were cranberry juice and water. I never drank cosmopolitans, I thought they were terrible.” She later became a convert to the popular pink drink, however. “So kindly, people would send them over, I would take a sip and think, ‘What is all the fuss about?’ Then one day someone sent a cosmopolitan over, and it was opaque, pale pink and fleshy. You could see a bit of pulp of whatever citrus had been used, with a twist, freezing cold, and I was like, ‘Oh, this is a cosmopolitan. I get it now.’”
Now she loves Cosmos so much that she made her own Cosmo brand: “I love them now. I would say I really started drinking cosmopolitans that I chose on my own and would order — I’m going to say like six or seven years ago — and I love them. I don’t know that we ever expected from the show, from drinking them, that it would turn into a thing.” Parker even went on to make her own version. With Thomas Ashbourne Craft Spirits, she launched “the Perfect Cosmo by SJP,” which starts at $44 for two 375ml bottles or $60 for eight cans. It features a mix of cranberry and hints of lime and strawberry, topped off with vodka and triple sec.
I’ll admit it – if I was still a drinker, I would try SJP’s Cosmo brand. I’m actually curious about how the Cosmo adapts to a canned or bottled cocktail. I feel like America has been very late with getting into canned cocktails and spritzers, but there’s been a recent growth and interest in that kind of thing. As for what SJP says about cooking at home… I’m curious if she’s a good cook at all? It’s one thing to brag about never getting takeout (what a strange thing to be proud of, honestly) but it’s quite another to actually make nice meals your family wants to eat consistently. It’s about privilege too, especially for city-dwellers, to have the time, money and ability to shop for food and prepare those meals every week. Getting a couple of pizzas or six containers of lo mein delivered isn’t a moral crisis.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Instar.
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- Ler – NYC – New York – 12/8/21 – HBO MAX ” And Just Like That “World Premiere . – Pictured: Matthew Broderick, Sarah Jessica Parker and James Wilkie Broderick – Photo By: Dave Allocca/StarPix – Location: New York
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- New York, NY – Sarah Jessica Parker spotted out filming ‘And Just Like That…’ in Manhattan Sunday afternoon. Pictured: Sarah Jessica Parker BACKGRID USA 7 NOVEMBER 2021 BYLINE MUST READ: T.JACKSON / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- New York City, NY – Actress Sarah Jessica Parker on the set of “And Just Like That” in New York City Pictured: Sarah Jessica Parker BACKGRID USA 26 JANUARY 2023 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- New York, NY – Sarah Jessica Parker Lights The Empire State Building In Celebration Of The 25th Anniversary Of Sex And The City And The Season 2 Premiere Of “And Just Like That…” Pictured: Sarah Jessica Parker BACKGRID USA 21 JUNE 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- New York, NY – Sarah Jessica Parker Lights The Empire State Building In Celebration Of The 25th Anniversary Of Sex And The City And The Season 2 Premiere Of “And Just Like That…” Pictured: Sarah Jessica Parker BACKGRID USA 21 JUNE 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- New York, NY – Sarah Jessica Parker Lights The Empire State Building In Celebration Of The 25th Anniversary Of Sex And The City And The Season 2 Premiere Of “And Just Like That…” Pictured: Sarah Jessica Parker BACKGRID USA 21 JUNE 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
Stars…they’re just like us!
We’re not privileged and are city dwellers and cook 98% of the time. It’s cheaper and healthier and is part of our family culture and background to cook and dine together. We extremely rarely have takeout and only out of necessity. In much of Europe, cooking is the norm.
i’m really curious, is it normal for americans to eat at restaurants or order food every other day, or is that just for tv shows?
Must be nice to have a brain and body that can do that much. Not so easy when disabled.
@MrsBanjo (Forgive the privacy intrusion but I don’t know how else to ask?) Do you have help for meals? Are you getting nutrition OK?
I am, not that it actually matters, because shaming people for what they eat is garbage. Eating nutritiously is not exclusive to home cooked meals. Disabled people exist. Disabled couples exist and we have a right to exist without being made to I feel worthless for it.
SJP and Broderick don’t remotely do all the work themselves and it’s incredibly frustrating how sanctimonious people like her can get.
@ MrsBanjo, though I am not disabled I do suffer from chronic pain, and have been for 20 years. Unfortunately, it has become debilitating to the point that I live inside these 4 walls for the last 6+ years. There are days that getting myself to the kitchen isn’t possible as I live off of my nuts. But, I am EXTREMELY fortunate as I do not suffer from a life threatening disease and we can afford my medication and surgeries too!!
And SJP DOES come off sanctimonious because she IS!!! SJP is verging into Paltrow territory, which I personally would want to avoid at all costs.
I am disabled as well, MrsBanjo. I have Stage 4 COPD–there is no Stage 5. My energy and breathing make it very difficult for me to cook and get the nutrition I need. Medicaid (if you are in the US) has a waiver program that can help get meals delivered to you thru Meals-on-Wheels (hot meals) or companies like Mom’s Meals or Homestyle Direct that you can choose the meals that you want–breakfast, lunch and dinner,
Another thing that works for me is my instant pot and air fryer. I convert my old favorite recipes that may cause me to expend way to much energy and time using the instant pot or air fryer. Sometimes the results have been even better than using the regular stove/pots & pans. (Chicken fried steak made in the air fryer was AMAZING!! and healthier too). Hope this info helps. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. These little machines have made a huge difference for me.
Does she want a cookie with her name on it?
If she doesn’t want it, can I have it?
Totally! And just for you-sparkly sprinkles!
Probably. I’m sure she’ll have her family help her make the cookie and then she can brag on social on how they came lovingly together to build this cookie with her name on it.
As long it’s homemade, Sara.
As if it would be any other kind
She doesn’t need a cookie, she’s got a cocktail….that she never liked in her entire life, but she is now SUPER into, after she got a fleshy, pulpy Cosmo.
” “the Perfect Cosmo by SJP”
Ummmm..????
This is so dumb, it’s white noise.
Far be it for me to defend SJP, but I get the not getting takeout thing. In my 20s and 30s, and mostly due to work, I’d eat out all the time, and at fancy restaurants. You get sick of restaurant food. You also have to exercise twice as much to burn all of that off. We now rarely get takeout. I’m talking once every other month, if that. I have over the years taken cooking classes whenever in Paris, Rome or whatever. It’s actually quite easy to make a quick delicious dish, if you know the basics of how things work. I know all of this screams of privilege, but SJP is privileged. I don’t think it’s a brag. I think it’s just the reality of her life. She has had the best, and now she just wants to cook at home. She has probably had people teach her, so I bet the meals are delicious too. Just look at Blake and Gwyneth.
You’re right about this screaming privileged. This nonsense assumes the lack of cooking is from laziness and a lack of knowledge. Taking classes in Paris and Rome? Oh please.
I’d love for my body and brain to function on such a level that I can put the energy to cooking even a basic meal daily. Not to mention the shopping, prepping, cleaning. Things SJP likely doesn’t do herself. I’d love to be able to feed my and my family’s disabled selves and our different dietary needs only home cooked meals constantly. It’s not possible and for you and SJP to talk like it’s a moral failing for that fact is bullshit.
The more SJP talks, especially lately, the more privileged, sanctimonious, and entitled she seems. She also comes across like a mean girl behind the scenes, especially toward other women who intimidate her (aka, Kim Cattrall).
There’s also the fact that Sex & The City is just a modern-day bougie fairy tale story for women. I loved it at 16 but now that I am actually in my 30s (and also a working writer), it makes me laugh. It’s escapist fluff that glorifies being rich, obnoxious, and delusional. So I guess it’s fair to say SJP really lives the part now.
She’s really out of touch. Outrageously privileged. And she doesn’t do it all herself. That’s obviously a lie. I’m not able to do many things and I don’t have the money for take out! It’s cheaper for me to keep the freezer full of pre prepped frozen veg, some ground beef or chicken thighs in the freezer (when they’re on sale) , toss into a pan with a bit of flavour. It’s not Paris or Rome but it’s ok and healthy and takes no work just the cook time. Also they’re one pot (cleaning up kills me physically) so rince one pot that’s it. My GOTO ‘take out’ is rotisserie chicken. Cheap and makes a few meals. But I’m. Sure nothing up to SJP level. Walking stick washing up ain’t fun!
Mina did not say or imply it’s a moral failing if you can’t cook at home. Let’s not attack each other.
Never said it’s a moral failing. Just that I understand her. And no need to do fancy. I was just saying the cooking class thing because Kaiser had wondered if the meals were any good. The point was that if she has money, she probably has already had someone teach her how to do more gourmet type of meal. If you want to do a roasted chicken breast and some rice and frozen veggies, all the power to you. That’s still home cooked, delicious, etc.
Would love to know who makes the ingredient lists, does the shopping, schleps and organizes the groceries, and does the post-cooking cleanup…
For sure it’s easier to do when you have help! Plus help with their kids and their schedules.
Let’s be real. She has hired staff and a cook does all that and cooks the meals.
@Vera totally. They wanna make themselves seem relatable.
My local grocery store, H‑E‑B, does a lot of this for me. They have a newsletter online featuring specific recipes, with the shopping list attached. I can also mark favorite recipes, and make sure to have the ingredients on hand. Their produce department also puts together time saving ingredients. For instance, pico de gallo is featured in many Mexican dishes, and can be labor intensive. It is chopped onions, hot peppers, cilantro, lime juice etc.. So I don’t mind paying a premium to have all that chopping done. I can order freshly made pico de gallo, and there is no waste. H‑E‑B then puts my order together for pick-up or delivery. The next morning I add all my ingredients to the Crockpot, turn it on, and when I get home from work my dinner is done. It’s almost like having my own soup chef.
I have celiac disease and a couple of food allergies. We’ll eat in restaurants sometimes (and sometimes I pay the price for that), but we don’t order takeout anymore because I’ve gotten really sick from it too often.
Ditto on the celiac disease and food allergies. I have only found a few restaurants in which I can eat and still feel well afterward. I also disagree with the notion that being proud of yourself for making home cooked meals for your family frequently is a snobby brag. (“It’s one thing to brag about never getting takeout (what a strange thing to be proud of, honestly) )”. I am proud of my ability, because of dietary concerns, to be able to shift my eating patterns and prepare more home cooked food at home. A lot of takeout food, although it may seem healthy, is not as healthy as home cooked food if you have health concerns, for example if you are on a low sodium diet.
Also, studies have shown that children that sit at table with their parents for supper do better at school. Period. The reason for it appears to be, in part, the socialization and rule affirming that happens around the table. I would extend this to the time during which you are preparing the meal. This can be a great time to discuss with your children the days activities and their thoughts and concerns.
So, order take it out if you need to but be sure to decant, have the kids set the table, turn off the phones and TV and have a great discussion with them while you’re all sitting around the table for a meal. Taking any extra steps for your family, whether it is at meal time or not, is something of which any parent should be proud.
Not sure why this is so “mystifying” to her – it sounds like she and Matthew like cooking and cooking together. It’s not just about feeding themselves, it’s also a hobby that takes up time and thought, like knitting or collecting rare books or something. And when you have a passion like that, making lists, shopping, storing, cooking, cleaning aren’t chores – they’re part of doing what you love.
Being newly disabled and on a STRICT budget…I can’t afford to eat even takeout like I used to & often TOO EXHAUSTED to cook…which makes EVERYDAY INTERESTING…so that when I DO feel up to it…I try to pre-make as MUCH as possible & freeze…
Now BEFORE I got sick…staying out of restaurants was the BEST way for me to stay ON POINT regarding my weight/health…I looked at what she said as the EASIEST WAY to maintain family bonds…which is pretty typical…even last year when I stayed with my sister & brother-in love on Atlanta for several months…we generally only spent quality time with each other every evening during meal prep/eating
I’m in the same boat. I invested in a cheap second freezer for that reason. Pre prepped frozen veg really saves me. Quick cook in one pot. Also dumping everything into a slow cooker if that’s all I can manage. I try and cook on good days.
I am beginning to see SJP is a one-trick pony!!! SJP is still stuck on her fandom from SATC that she is stuck in that bougie fairytale!!! I don’t believe SJP spends every evening preparing an elegant dinner for the entire family. Though I can bet that she and MB have a cook to prepare their evening meals, except possibly a few weekends. SJP needs to STFU about how “wholesome” and “down to earth” and unprivileged that they are!!! As far as I am concerned, SJP can suck it!!
(I will admit that when the kids were younger, my husband and I lived solely on crockpots!!! It is a great way in feeding the entire family as they are a god send!! If you are thinking of an alternative to cooking every night, crockpots are the answer.)
In my area (Maryland) the grocery stores carry a frozen food from the brand Voila. Each package contains a full meal (protein, carb and veg) of varying types and flavors. You dump the package in a skillet and dinner is ready in 15 minutes. With one pan the clean-up is less. I used to also find sheet pan meals by that brand but haven’t recently. The sheet pan meals take 40 mins to cook but you don’t have to stir. I hope this is helpful to you. The packages say there are no preservatives and they seem pretty healthy to me, and I find many of the meals really tasty.
Look some people really enjoy cooking food at home and that’s great for them.
But acting like ordering take out is mystifying and confusing is Goop level pretentious.
Knowing the source this just feels like a brag to me, look at us we’re too good for that. Snobbery takes a lot of forms.
I love to cook and never used to order takeout. Then I spent six months living in a building site with no kitchen to speak of and even though I had the basics to cook food many nights either the time or energy were severely lacking and I ordered in a lot. It was a lifesaver and I’m lucky enough that I was able to afford to do that. Now for the first time in my life I have a really nice (IMO) kitchen to cook in but having discovered some of the great local places I can order from I’ll be remembering that when I’m contemplating crisps and biscuits for dinner because I’m just too busy/tired to cook.
Funny, I didn’t read it quite the same way. I read it as she was mystified why her family didn’t do take out. But it’s a complicated humble brag, like “why isn’t my family like ordinary people?” Which, of course, turns into “my family is special.” She could just have said “We like to cook,” and left it at that.
I thought she might have been referring to families with several kids ordering dinner from different places. Perhaps she didn’t want to critique her friends directly on their parenting…? There was a time fairly recently when takeout was not an option and you had to cook. I get takeout but I always feel badly afterward because of all the trash it makes and I’m just one person.
I’m sorry – there is NO WAY she doesn’t have someone helping her. She has multiple businesses and engagements as does her husband. She has a cook. Period.
She is insufferable. She’s mystified that in NYC in 2023 that families order takeout?? Because people are busy with jobs, taking care of kids, and their households, Sarah. Check your privilege girl! The reason she has the energy to cook six nights a week is because there are people who help her with everything else! I know folks love to bash Gwyneth, but I actually find SJP waaaay more obnoxious. She always comes off like she moralizes EVERYTHING she does.
EXACTLY. For some of us, ordering take out is a necessity, not laziness.
It also struck me of the world ends at NYC talk. There are so many food deserts in the country. Poverty which means your main place to buy food is a convenience store. No ingredients to buy for cooking a healthy meal.
@ Lilly (with the double-L), that IS a tragedy in America right now!!! There are entire communities that have ZERO access to actual food to feed their families!!! The business owners refuse to support/open businesses that support communities that desperately NEED access to unprocessed food, instead filling up their communities with convenience/liquor stores.
It’s an issue that is plaguing American, low income families and it’s simply unacceptable!!!
she’s mystified that families with multiple kids order from multiple places to satisfy everyone. given how incredibly easy it is to order, it’s no great mystery (and no doubt she is well aware of that and having a little fun with her words). she’s insufferable in so many ways but I feel like we’ve lost the ability to read a little humor/exaggeration in what people say.
and her having pride in cooking their meals is not an automatic diss against people who don’t. i’m a very solid cook, do it often and enjoy it, but I don’t care or judge what other people do because all of our interests and talents and time and abilities differ. can’t garden worth a crap but I love it when people show off their gardens and are proud of their work. it’s not an insult or dig at me.
Frankly, I don’t believe her. And would it be as much of a flex if her husband claimed that, instead of her?
She didnt say she cooked 6 days a week, so I’m guessing, she/he cooks for that sunday family and on those other 6 days, they’ll have a cook over.
However, I do understand having pride in cooking everyday from scratch. Whenever we dont have time to cook, we do takeout or order in, but always end up complaining about how it”s so expensive and not worht our money.
I don’t think she was bragging about not getting take-out. She was just referring to anecdotes with other families where kids ordered from a smattering of different places — it does sound kind of insane, especially if the goal is eating together as a family.
@Grant agreed, I think SJP was saying their whole family takes pride (all of them) in preparing their own meals, and good for them. I think she meant no harm but once it’s out there, people interpret and the takeout bit? Meh
I think what’s out of touch and untimely is this kind of discussion (about how great it is to consume “this way”) almost at all. The whole foodie thing maybe needs a rest and re-do
And MrsBanjo is maybe too nice to say it this way, but maybe not! Rule #2 in the Carrot’s Parents’ Guide to Diplomacy was never make fun of what someone else eats. It’s rude!
I cook every night, almost without exception. I enjoy cooking and I’m pretty darn good at it, and because I’m retired I can spend the time creating meals. I want to know where my food comes from, and prefer using fresh ingredients without tons of preservatives. I make my own sauces and salad dressings, and have an enormous spice cabinet. Mr. Jaded is type 1 diabetic and I’m a breast cancer survivor so good nutrition is very important to us. Now as far as SJP, does she do the shopping? Does she do the cleaning up (Mr. Jaded does that part)? I imagine she has a housekeeper who does all that and more. And the swipe at people who get takeout is so sanctimonious — working families without the financial means to have housekeepers and cleaning staff are squeezed for time and sometimes grabbing takeout on the way home from work is necessary. Sorry honey, you don’t get a cookie for doing what many of us do without help.
I’ve been cooking meals since I was 14, I’m not in my late 50’s and I’m tired of it. So we have take out at least once a week. My husband cooks also and he is also tired of it. Our middle son likes to cook but because of school and work it’s hard. People do what is convenient for them and other people need to STFU and mind their business.
SJP is incredibly privileged, and she definitely has an enormous amount of help in the way of people to clean her house and kitchen after meals, do her grocery shopping, educate her about how to cook meals, money to buy nice pans and serveware, childcare help, transportation help, agent, manager, massage therapist, therapist, life coach, ego massager, assistant, et cetera, et cetera. So for SJP to opt to cook meals rather than get takeout, is a very different situation than someone in a middle-America food desert having to make their own meals every meal.
Note that she didn’t mention breakfast and lunch. I doubt she’s making Belgian waffles and frittatas first thing in the morning, and whipping up gourmet lunches. She can opt to get help. She can opt to get takeout. She can opt for the charm of making her own meals, because she hasn’t been scrubbing her own toilets all afternoon. So I do acknowledge the enormous privilege of SJP and her many options.
That said, I don’t eat out ever, for two reasons. Number one, it’s very expensive compared to simple ingredients such as beans, rice, inexpensive produce. Secondly, with food allergies, it becomes very complicated to eat out. I love eating out, and would eat out every single meal forever if I could, because the daily grind of all the things, including figuring out three meals a day, is a lot.
Sometimes at Whole Foods, I see young influencers buying pre-chopped fresh produce — chopped onions, peppers, watermelon, pineapple, celery, et cetera, and I just imagine how much easier my life would be if I could afford all the conveniences, how much easier life would be if, at the end of every day when I am so incredibly worn out from the world, I could afford to have someone deliver me a prepared meal, or if I could afford to not be worn out from the world in the first place.
Food is very political in that it has everything to do with justice, so it would be incredible if celebrities would acknowledge their enormous privilege in these PR conversations.
To be fair, she isn’t criticizing the average person in a food desert or a disabled family ordering food, but extremely privileged families from her own bubble constantly ordering food, with every member of the family ordering from a different place. I have witnessed this in a wealthy family and it felt so weird and disconnected from food (they threw so much of the food away). She probably sees this happening in her kid’s friend’s families and finds it confusing
Yeah I hate cooking and have such trouble coming up with meals that everyone in my family will eat so if we had good takeout food around here I’d probably fall into the takeout camp but I don’t really take offense to her feeling proud of cooking family meals and eating together. I’d be proud of that too if I could ever achieve it. That said I’m not going to feel worse about myself just because there is a celebrity out there who is able-bodied and wealthy enough to cook nutritious meals for her family (who presumably all eat the same thing). Good for them.
In terms of the amount of waste generated by takeout (for as many places that package it in compostable materials, most are still basically just garbage), she’s right in being proud of it. That’s my personal bias against getting takeout a bunch for my family.
Getting takeout is also a privilege that many can’t afford.
Thank you for putting this out. Where I come from, you get takeout if your stove is not working, on payday, or if you did some extra money that warrants for a little luxury. People who work hard 6am to 7pm must also come home and cook from raw most days. Most takeout (fast food) is terribly unhealthy, and would lead you to unwanted medical expenses from chronic diseases. I got my only varicose veins from eating kfc most days (long story why). She grew up poor and is no wonder if she kept the habit of having her meals cooked in-house. So, those wanting to guillotin SJP bc of her in-house cooking live what others might regard as an elite lifestyle.
This. Ordering from restaurants gets expensive quickly especially if it’s for multiple people
It’s weird, I didn’t take this as privileged or a brag. I work full time and will get takeout occasionally but I like to cook and sit down with my kids for an actual meal. The way I read this is that she’s not making special meals for each person. I have soooo many friends who’s kids only eat certain things and each one gets a special meal. I couldn’t do THAT at all. Ultimately I prioritize dinner with my kids because it’s really the only time we all get to see each other with all their busy schedules
Scab
I enjoy cooking when I have time, but if I lived near a Thai restaurant? Take out twice a week!
NYC gives you access to so much amazing food, and a higher caliber of takeout than you can get anywhere else. Every cuisine, including healthy food. She’s missing out.
I got so sick of cooking during the pandemic and I started to run out of options/ideas. I started ordering take out for my kid and I. Plus, in hindsight I was pretty down and had high anxiety and cooking seemed like such a chore adding to everything else I was dealing with. I didn’t like my kitchen either or the old house I thought was so quaint when we purchased it (I was married back then). I was sick of everything. And everything in that house reminded me of my ex. I swear in hindsight my kid could probably taste the resentment in my food which is why I started a very expensive take out habit.
After about six months of ordering out, I started budgeting better and figured out eating out is expensive AF. I decided to go back to the drawing board and come up with new recipes. In the interim, I moved with my teenager and now I love my condo and my brand new kitchen. There is so much light that comes in. I’ll play a little Nina Simone or Billie Holiday and drink a glass of wine while I cook. With me I’m an ambiance person and I realize in hindsight once we divorced I hated the whole vibe in my house.
Cooking went from it’s super stressful (in my old place) to I love doing this. I went to Allrecipes and got a whole new repertoire. Initially the groceries were crazy expensive because of all the spices I had to buy at once. But afterwards, I can tell you in my case it’s way less expensive to cook then to eat out. A slow cooker really helps because you can be gone all day while dinner is being made. One thing I love we always have a little extra – I save some for leftovers and take some to a neighbor that cannot cook right now. I get these lovely notes how much she loved the meal and how appreciated it is. I can’t tell you how happy that makes me.
I think both cooking and eating out are privileges many people don’t realize they have because so many people deal with food insecurity and live in food deserts. Cooking is hard and often not even possible for people with disabilities. I have a friend who underwent cancer treatments and she didn’t have energy to cook for 2 years (she’s fine now). SPJ reminds me a little bit of Goop. She’s lived in this privilege bubble forever – I think she should just have said she enjoys cooking with her husband – it’s one of her passions/hobbies and left the judgment about people eating out out of it.
I cook almost every weeknight (Mon-Fri), and we rarely get ‘take out’….we do go out to dinner and brunch on the weekends. I think I’ve said this on other threads, but my hubs had a health scare so I try and cook really healthy, Mediterranean diet things, lots of veggies/fish/chicken and when I’m not cooking healthy, I love to bake 🙂 So, I guess I can see her side of it all, but while I don’t find take out “mystifying” (what a word to describe take out!), I just really like eating at a restaurant, so it’s very rare that we call food in, even pizza. BUT, I don’t live in NYC either….
I am a terrible cook, so decent supermarket ready meals are my saviours here in the UK.
So much choice from veggie/vegan, low calorie, high protein etc… all microwave or oven cook. some are even easy home cook ones all already put together. and it does not come at a premium, all supermarkets carry them, even the cheapest ones. even frozen ones.
they cost from £2 for the cheapest ones (£1 for soups) to £8 of you want something extra fancy.
We also dont do takeouts (take-aways) much as we live somewhere with very limited choice and it is also expensive.
I’m sorry – there is NO WAY she doesn’t have someone helping her. She has multiple businesses and engagements as does her husband. She has a cook. Period.
I’m not one to take up for SJP – I really don’t care about her one way or the other, but I kind of just read this as getting takeout for a family can get confusing, and it can. When I went to stay with my parents when my father was ill, it was my mom and dad, my teenage son, and myself, and it was madness to Grubhub. I still did it sometimes, but it honestly was easier to just stick something in a crockpot than having to figure out, ‘this person wants Wendys, this person wants pizza, this person wants lo mein, this person wants Mexican … etc etc etc.’
I can see where she can be insufferable, but I can’t debate this particular point.
I think it’s all great and fine if a family/parent cooks almost every night and doesn’t order. It doesn’t work for everyone, though, so no one who does that should judge people who don’t.
For the first 15 years or so of my life as a parent, I cooked dinner at home probably 5 nights out of the week, on top of providing breakfast and, much of the time, lunch for my children. Then they started having different dietary needs (one was gluten intolerant) and lots of activities at different times of the late afternoon and evening. They also just liked different things.
I had grown really weary of the shop, cook, clean, rinse, repeat by that point. And really weary of doing it only to have one or more family member be less than enthusiastic about what was on offer. So I started letting my two kids eat different things a lot of the time. My daughter loves to cook, so often she would make her own dinner. I would get my son something, and maybe make a separate meal for me and my husband if he was getting home late. It varied a lot. We still ate dinner as a family (often with the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins) once a week most of the time.
SJP is definitely privileged and strikes me as a little judgey here. At the same time, I won’t fault her if that’s her family’s routine. It just wasn’t mine and I won’t apologize for it. I always stressed healthy eating and didn’t keep junk food in the house. But did I order or buy prepared food, sometimes different things for different family members? Yes! And it worked.
As someone who does drink occasionally and will purchase a niche canned cocktail, I can say that $60 for eight cans is hella lotta money… Oy.
I don’t understand the level of backlash. I’m French and it’s completly normal in France to cook your meals everyday.
It doesn’t mean you’re priviledged.
I’m American with a French partner and in my experience it’s a very different situation. Research (and my personal anecdotal experience) shows that France does not suffer from “food deserts” (economically disadvantaged places where grocery stores with affordable healthy foods are not available) the way the United States does. Mealtimes are slower and respected more. And fewer French people are required to work days longer than 8-10 hours the way many Americans are.
When you can’t afford to live in an area with places to buy decent food, you are only given odd half-hours to snatch meals if that, and you can only start cooking at 8 pm, things are difficult. I’m sure she knows this.
I mean, it is impressive. I aspire to be like SJP w food. I literally have credit card debt because I use Grubhub so much. I have reasons for this, I don’t feel like getting into my personal woes here, but rest assured I don’t order takeout because I’m flippant about money. I’m a working person with lots of responsibilities at home and overwhelmed All the time
Yes exactly! No time and overwhelmed = ordering out. Anytime I cook – and I love to cook! – I spend so much time on it not even including the shopping – just prep and cleanup and serving it up — I lose money bc I can’t work during that time. Takeout would be cheaper for me.