I’ve visited a Hormel factory as a “non visitor”. Nothing quite like seeing a decapitated pig’s head transformed into a gelatinous blob of spicy ham. Not just once, but over and over again, like that scene from Lucy with the conveyer belt, except no one is stuffing their face with pig faces.
Few things in the food industry, especially mass produced items, shock me.
I HATE liver of any sort. Makes me gag. 
Including foie gras???
Whoops. I should have said except for foie. 
Ditto 
I applaud your constitution…that image guarantees my therapist will be able to afford a Hawaiian vacation this year.
I like the Cheese on a Stick from Hot Dog on a Stick (Pepperjack only).
I am unable to replicate any of my Mom’s Vietnamese dishes…and I’ve tried. But I can make a cream brulee that will make you sing and a lasagna that will make you think I stole from a Nonna’s oven.
Get Andrea Nguyen’s “Into the Vietnamese Kitchen” and you might change your tune
http://vietworldkitchen.typepad.com/blog/into_the_vietnamese_kitchen.html
Cookbooks never, and I stress never, replicate "Mom’s [insert type of cooking].
Trying it would even test the patience of Sisyphus.
Except she based her recipes on her mother’s who eats and loves her food. These are former refugees. The pho I had in Vietnam wasn’t nearly as good as hers
That just means you liked the pho you made using Nguyen’s cookbook more than the pho you had Vietnam.
That does not mean, nor imply, that Nguyen’s cooking will come close to, or much replicate, @Local’s mom’s cooking.
I was replying to THIS comment:
"Cookbooks never, and I stress never, replicate “Mom’s [insert type of cooking].”
Never?
Yes, NEVER.
Well, I’m originally from the South and have completely replicated - or made even better - recipes from Mother. Guess I’m the only one on the planet to do that.
ETA: I feel so special
ETA again Replicated from cookbooks.
Don’t tell, but my mom was an awful cook. Over-cooked meat, too much or too little salt, gluey sauces, etc., etc.
She loved to eat, but cooking was a chore for her. Now I make some of the same dishes she did for holidays and special occasions, but finesse it. My brothers don’t remember what a bad cook she was; they tell me things like, “This is just like when we were little!”
So yeah, NO ONE cooks like mom.
L. O. L. As a recipe follower, I’ve made MANY dishes better than Mother’s
You are completely right, @ipsedixit! Not all Vietnamese moms are created equally. Dishes are also not easily replicated if you’re not from the same region of Vietnam.
And one’s mother, as noted above, can make a pretty shitty version so who would want to ‘replicate’?
No one is talking about replicating a “shitty” dish, not even mom’s shitty dish. And certainly one wouldn’t buy a cookbook to replicate a shitty dish. Unless, of course, one is some sort of culinary masochist.
But then I’m not a cookbook whore, so what do I know.
ooooooh yeah-----I worked @ a movie theater concession stand my last summer in high school. I have not been able to enjoy eating popcorn or a soft drink in 30+ years……