Ep 12. Tasteless Frank

Ray Barone is a sports writer living in Long Island with his wife Debra, their three children, and his parents, Frank and Marie. This episode begins with Ray and Debra noticing that Frank's cooking is getting worse and worse. They decided to talk to him about it after tasting his latest creation, which is boiled chicken on a bed of lettuce. They try to be tactful but it doesn't work. Frank becomes upset and tells them that they don't understand good food since they grew up on TV dinners and fast food.

Ray and Debra decide to take the hint and start cooking for Frank and their family. They try various recipes and even take cooking lessons, but nothing seems to please Frank. He becomes increasingly critical of their cooking and starts to become more insulting to them.

The situation comes to a head when Frank decides to host a family dinner with his own gourmet meal. Ray and Debra are excited to taste Frank's cooking once again, but they are disappointed when they see that Frank has burned the pot roast and made a lumpy gravy. Frank becomes angry when Ray suggests that they order a pizza instead and he storms out of the house.

This leads to a heart-to-heart conversation between Ray and Frank. Ray tells Frank that he never wanted to be a chef and that his cooking was never meant to offend anyone. Frank admits that he was upset because he felt like he was losing one of the few things that he was good at - cooking. He tells Ray that he misses his wife, Marie, who had died a few years prior, and that he's struggling with loneliness.

Ray and Frank reconcile and decide to cook together for the family. They make a complete dinner from scratch and they're all impressed, even Frank. After the meal, Frank tells Ray that he appreciated the effort and he felt happy to have cooked with him.

The episode ends with the family bonding over dessert, with Frank and Ray jokingly telling each other how the chocolate cake they made is better than any gourmet meal.