Gosh. I thought SiL's cooking was matter-of-fact to most. I have posted about it many times at Mudcat. It'll get you after the fact. Takes about 20 minutes. Not the spices. The spices will linger... until tomorrow. But the fact that she soaks... SOAKS... the veggies in the cheapest margarine available and is disgusting. Even the spuds must have an immeasurable amount of margarine and milk blended into them, whipped to a frothy foment of alimentary canal spasm inducing volatility with an electrically powered mixer such that my colon and, more so, my anal sphincter shudder at the very thought. The heartburn from the spices is unavoidable unless one arrives with a doggy bag and pleads 'diet'. I ran this past Mum prior to one dinner and she forbade me to do so but let me in on her Zantac secret.

Over the years, SiL... well.. an example will best suit. She asked me for Aunt Charmaine's recipe for tomatoe chow. It was actually MeMere's recipe. I was fed the resulting chow on Thanksgiving. WTF? (Of course, I didn't say it out loud.) She explained that she had improved upon the recipe. She gave Mum and me 2 mason jars each. I was tasked with destroying the contents, cleaning the jars and returning them at a later date. She has always 'improved' others' recipes and explained why her recipe was far superior. I am sure you get the total pic now.

Just one more comment. My old man said it back in the 70s... "She couldn't parboil shit for a tramp."