The Rating Scale

My family is known for their poor critique abilities when it comes to freezer cooking recipes. I would hear quite often after asking 'what do you think?' to get the feedback of my family on a meal. I typically got back 'not bad.' Flat monotone - no evidence of like or dislike...

so what is a cook supposed to do with that?

I got tired of my poor feedback and thought maybe the problem is in how I ask them to respond. I really respect their opinion in this matter - since they have to eat it, like it or not - but I let them answer with an open ended question. I really want to hear their honest answers, the problem is that I live with a bunch of non-talkers (except Quinten - we can talk together for hours!).

The solution? I instituted a rating system. A simple 1 to 10 scale.

1 being - don't you dare feed me this dogfood again - wait don't even feed this to the dog!
5 being - this is OK, my life will go on with or without this dish - it's 'not bad.'
10 being - for adults we would say 'just as good as s*x, my life would be incomplete without it!' for kids we would say 'just as good as my favorite toy or the Disney Channel.'

There are a few recipes that hit 10 (Loaded Baked Potato Soup & Sweet & Sour Kielbasa). But most hit above a 5 and I can tell if a recipe hits above 7.5 then it's a keeper. It's especially a keeper if the hubby and the kids rate it the same. Tonight we had the Maple Roasted Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and it got a score of 9's across the table! We all liked something different about the recipe. I couldn't get enough of the onions, Cole loved the chicken, Rebekah loved the Sweet Potatoes & Larry loved it all.

So if you want a good feel for a meal without all the complaining or whining..try the number system. I know I have been surprised more than once just how much my family enjoyed a meal!

Keep cooking,

Tina aka queenbusick