# Foods you love that are just too much trouble to make. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 2, 2018, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-love-that-are-just-too-much-trouble-to-make/823912 "2018-11-02T21:50:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-love-that-are-just-too-much-trouble-to-make/823912/61 "2018-11-05T23:29:39Z")
> [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](#): > > I’ve never made the frosting, but fried chicken, bread, pies and general dough-based items are pretty standard in my kitchen. Bread is remarkably easy, it’s just a long process due to all the waiting. Basic shortcrust pastry is something which my 5 year old daughter makes\* while I get the pie filling together: it really is not worth your fear! > > \*true story I find pies, cakes, and cookies relatively easy. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-love-that-are-just-too-much-trouble-to-make/823912/62 "2018-11-05T23:40:57Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > I agree - I make lasagna all the time. One thing that I discovered that makes it much easier is that I don’t cook the noodles before “construction”. I just layer them uncooked in the pan. They’ve always cooked to perfection in the oven. No, lasagna is a pain in the fucking ass. Yes, conceptually, it really shouldn’t be, but in practice, every time I make it it’s a goddamned production. I make it from scratch about twice a year. That means noodles, too. That means that, yes, they need to be pre-cooked. I’ve tried it once without parboiling the noodles, and it ended up a sloppy mess–at least to me. Tasted fine I guess to everyone, but I knew what texture it was supposed to be, and it wasn’t that. And, yes, I’ve also used the no-boil noodles and the regular lasagna sheets as a shortcut, but when I’m in the mood for making lasagna myself, I’m all-in with homemade egg-and-spinach pasta. I do bolognese, spinach sheets, and bechamel. It is best a task divided over a couple of days, though. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-love-that-are-just-too-much-trouble-to-make/823912/63 "2018-11-06T17:25:57Z")
Moussaka is one of my favorite foods, but for me it’s about 50% harder to make than lasagna, so I make lasagna once a year and moussaka every five years. The rest of the time, I go to the Olympia Kabob House and get my moussaka. It’s good. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2018, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-love-that-are-just-too-much-trouble-to-make/823912/64 "2018-11-08T16:29:32Z")
Home made egg rolls (big fat ones!) and home made shrimp toast. Dammit! ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-love-that-are-just-too-much-trouble-to-make/823912/65 "2018-11-08T19:28:24Z")
Lasagna is fine. But cannelloni or manicotti or whatever it is that involves stuffing those stupid little tubes with food and not breaking them… never again. It’s just not worth the pain. ETA: Puff pastry. There are situations where rough puff pastry is a better choice than store bought. But you do suffer for the choice. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-love-that-are-just-too-much-trouble-to-make/823912/66 "2018-11-09T00:26:02Z")
> [@Arkcon](#): > > See, if you make it like I do: some homemade sauce leftover from yesterday’s meal, 3 layers of boiled lasagna, and a filling made of ricotta and beaten egg with some mozzarella – then yeah, not too big of a deal. > > Now, if its 5 layers, with assorted meats in-between, and the sauce is a homemade Bescamel whipped up just for this dish, and the sauce is stirred together just before … now you see how its a hassle. > > There’s lots of entries on this list that require making the wrapper. I suppose if I hand rolled the lasagna pasta just before, then that’d be even more annoyingly time consuming. > > As much as I like making a fruitcake for family and friends, I’m pretty glad that I only do it a few times in winter and forget the idea for the rest of the year. Home made noodlas, 4 hour Bolognese, Bescamel, various meats and cheeses, ricotta with eggs and spices and parm, yeah it’s an all day process. So we make like 4 and freeze 3. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-love-that-are-just-too-much-trouble-to-make/823912/67 "2018-11-09T15:09:21Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > Moussaka is one of my favorite foods, but for me it’s about 50% harder to make than lasagna, so I make lasagna once a year and moussaka every five years. > > The rest of the time, I go to the Olympia Kabob House and get my moussaka. It’s good. St Louis? on McCausland? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-love-that-are-just-too-much-trouble-to-make/823912/68 "2018-11-09T17:59:19Z")
> [@Rough\_Draft](#): > > Anything deep-fried. That’s my vote- it’s not hard to do in a technique sense, but the post-frying cleanup is a total pain. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-love-that-are-just-too-much-trouble-to-make/823912/69 "2018-11-10T04:27:52Z")
> [@ThisSpaceForRent](#): > > St Louis? on McCausland? Yeah. I’m not vastly experienced with moussaka, but I’ve tried Spiro’s, a couple of diner-type places, and a few festivals at Orthodox churches. The Olympia moussaka does it for me, and the Bass on tap is a nice complement. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-love-that-are-just-too-much-trouble-to-make/823912/70 "2018-11-10T06:27:03Z")
It seems like most of these are complicated because they require you to make a wrapper and fillings and then assemble or various layers and then assemble. I’ve always wanted to try tamales but everything I’ve read says that it is a whole day thing to make and assemble them. For me, lasagne isn’t hard but I cheat and use jarred sauce. I have made it with and without bechamel but it doesn’t seem that complicated. My contribution would be blintzes. You have to make the crepes, create the fillings, wrap and assemble then and then fry them. Nothing beats a homemade blintz, though. ---
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-love-that-are-just-too-much-trouble-to-make/823912/71 "2018-11-13T19:37:34Z")
Chicken Kiev. I can never get the chicken pounded thin enough to roll them up w/o tearing it. I made it a few times but I finally gave up. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-love-that-are-just-too-much-trouble-to-make/823912/72 "2018-11-13T21:53:20Z")
Ravioli and Agnolotti. I love them, and one of the best dishes I ever made was homemade agnolotti stuffed with pork, chicken and spinach. But God, they’re a chore. You must have filling prepared ahead of time. You must mix up and roll out homemade pasta dough. Then you stuff them (and agnolotti is at least easier than ravioli), then boil them, then toss them in a sauce of some kind. Then they’re all eaten up in about ten minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-love-that-are-just-too-much-trouble-to-make/823912/73 "2018-11-14T06:01:17Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > churros… ive used a box mix and by hand …… mine always look like over fried spaghetti never like the cool ones on the carts or lunch counters …… and they never taste as good …… Those people have special machines which are used for nothing but making churros. That kind of investment isn’t going to be worth it for home makers. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-love-that-are-just-too-much-trouble-to-make/823912/74 "2018-11-14T17:23:00Z")
Cookies in general, ain’t no thang. But there are these chocolate peppermint pinwheel cookies that I only make once a year, partly because it’s a Christmas thing and partly because it’s a lot of effort for maybe two dozen cookies. I can’t really make a bigger batch of the dough, because it’ll overload my mixer. So, I make small batches, and people love the cookies, and they’re gone in minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-love-that-are-just-too-much-trouble-to-make/823912/75 "2018-11-14T18:46:19Z")
Chocolate covered cherries. Especially if the temperature is too high and the fondant just becomes a sticky melty mess when you are trying to wrap the cherries. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-love-that-are-just-too-much-trouble-to-make/823912/76 "2018-11-14T19:21:40Z")
[Timpano alla _Big Night_](https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12799-timpano-alla-big-night) I’ve made it twice; the last time was 10-12 years ago. It takes a day just to make the ragu, and then you’ve got the meatballs, the eggs, the giant pastry shell. And I used dried pasta; you could make your own for an added degree of difficulty. Then you have to have the right vessel to cook it in (I have a big enamel-coated iron pot). It’s an impressive table piece but a huge production to make. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-love-that-are-just-too-much-trouble-to-make/823912/77 "2018-11-15T18:14:10Z")
> [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](#): > > I’m surprised by the number of votes for lasagne on here. Not exactly the level of, say, a can of soup in the microwave, sure, but I’d never have thought of it as being too much trouble. > > Wonder what I’m missing out from my lasagna now… My mother’s recipe for lasagna took up three index cards, the only recipe to do so. It is completely scratch – the sauce starts with tomatoes – and it was a two day process for her. She would make a triple batch, bake one right away and freeze the other two for later. I have not had the courage to tackle it. ---
**Author:** ![Stuntman\_Mike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stuntman_mike/32/334_2.png) [@Stuntman\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuntman_Mike)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2018, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-love-that-are-just-too-much-trouble-to-make/823912/78 "2018-11-15T18:18:17Z")
Any food that requires the application of heat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-love-that-are-just-too-much-trouble-to-make/823912.md?page=3)