The food you ate growing up...

Sheryl · Post by **Sheryl** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:33 am

FG has a broad spectrum of folks in both areas of age and locations. So I thought it would be interesting to know what was a staple on your table growing up?

I was raised by my grandma the majority of my life. So I grew up eating good southern food. We always had fresh sliced tomatoes and cucumbers and onions on the table in the summer. In the winter red beans and fried tators were a staple. Leftovers were always eaten the next day, nothing went to waste. grandma always amazed me with her cooking ability, even though we were poor, for a little kid I always thought we had feasts fit for a king.

Marie5656 · Post by **Marie5656** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:37 am

I grew up in a Polish/Italian family....so I ate alot of home made chicken soups, as well as pasta and sauce.

cherandbuster · Post by **cherandbuster** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:39 am

The most disgusting thing I remember on my table was salmon loaf

You heard that right

Salmon loaf

puppgirl · Post by **puppgirl** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:41 am

i'm italian and i grew up eating mostly pasta lol, fish, steak and my grandpa's home made fries ohhhhhhhhh how i miss his steaks and fries NOBODY can make it like him and all he did was dip the fries in oil my mom can't make his fries so she just cubes the potatoes lol

Sheryl · Post by **Sheryl** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:41 am

cherandbuster wrote: The most disgusting thing I remember on my table was salmon loaf

You heard that right

Salmon loaf

Ok I've heard of Salmon patties (kinda like crab cakes) but never Salmon loaf, and if it's anything like meatloaf I'll be staying away.

cherandbuster · Post by **cherandbuster** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:42 am

Stay away!!

Marie5656 · Post by **Marie5656** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:43 am

cherandbuster wrote: The most disgusting thing I remember on my table was salmon loaf

You heard that right

Salmon loaf

Oh, my mom made that once in a while. My dad would make tripe some times. I did not much like that, but I did like calamari

Grumpaz · Post by **Grumpaz** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:50 am

Wow Sheryl, I really can't add a whole lot to this. I think we grew up in the same house. LOL

I do remember Sundays were special and chicken and dumplings or fried chicken dinner at my grandma's was always on order. Most of our meat was fresh from the farm. Veggies were grown in your own garden. And Mom baked bread. UMMMMMMM

valerie · Post by **valerie** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:52 am

We pretty much ran the gamut... and I have to say, it was pretty wonderful.

Always HUGE veggie gardens, which I hated to weed but man, the maters

and corn that came out... dad always did "succession" planting so we had

it for looong stretches, we even sometimes had tomatoes into December,

of course by then not as good but still a cut above anything you got in

the store...

And since my dad always hunted, we had deer, elk, bear, pheasant,

grouse and others I've probably forgotten... Dad had a co-worker friend

who loved to fish (no lie his name was Mr. Troutman!!) and would always

bring us huge strings of rainbows.

We had 2 freezers most of my growing up and could have some things

throughout the year...

The only thing that was a bummer was my Mom just really wasn't a

very good cook. She was fond of that canned gloppy watery spinach

slopped out onto your plate. YUCK!! And I was never allowed to not

finish, I tried to wash it down with milk as much as possible...

We had chickens and got really good eggs "free range" and "organic"

before anybody knew what the heck THAT was!

Aunt Jemima pancakes sometimes (cooked on the griddle right in the

center of our old stove) and Betty Crocker cakes for our bdays!

Lots of Kool-Aid 'cause it was cheap... weren't allowed Coke so I

didn't have my first one until I was a teen and I sneaked it!!

:-6

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:56 am

Oh, you poor girl, Val! Until your teens for a coke!

There were 6 kids in my family, you had to make alot of food.

Tacos, spaghetti, 2 meatloafs cooking at a time.

My mother had a big griddle-took up two burners-to make us pancakes on Saturday.

Only thing I really hated-liver and spinach! Yeah, me too Val! Canned spinach is the worst thing on the face of this earth!

Sheryl · Post by **Sheryl** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:14 am

Grumpaz wrote: Wow Sheryl, I really can't add a whole lot to this. I think we grew up in the same house. LOL

I do remember Sundays were special and chicken and dumplings or fried chicken dinner at my grandma's was always on order. Most of our meat was fresh from the farm. Veggies were grown in your own garden. And Mom baked bread. UMMMMMMM

Oh yes how could i forget my grandma's fried chicken or dumplings. I have her recipes but it never tastes as good as she made it.

Ok val and chronsi I'd rather dozens of cans of spinach before I'd touch liver.

Galbally · Post by **Galbally** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:18 am

I grew up in England in the 70s so what I remember is that if it didn't come in a box and glowed in the dark we (as self-resecting kids) wouldn't eat it. I fondly remember fish fingers, smash (a weird potato thing), vespa curries (from a box of course), tinned peas, angel delight ( a kinda dessert thing), wagon wheels, (candy), panda chocolate spread, and various other wonderful and very unhealthy food. When we moved back to Ireland my mam decided to revert back to traditional Irish food such as Bacon and Cabbage, Black Pudding and fried potatoes, mutton, and rabbit stew, god I hated all that, though I still like Bacon and Cabbage like any self respecting paddy, with lots of colemans mustard. We are now like everyone else and have all kinds of food, and generally eat better, though the kids are eating too much and getting a bit flabby, which could be solved by setting them out into the countryside for 2 months a year and force them to forage for themselves, though there would probably be some ethical problems with that.

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:19 am

Oh, I hate liver. I had to eat it during pregnancy, every day-either that or the iron shots. I refuse to look at it ever again! Only advantage was, I couldn't stand to eat anything after that, and always came out weighing less then when I was not pregnant. The other girls in the hospital always hated that........:wah:

pina · Post by **pina** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:35 am

I lived on pasta and doughnuts and the spinach and liver, but I do remember those foods that Galbally mentions I would eat things like that whenever I was at a friends house.

I also remember nicking olives when my dad wasn't looking and hiding the stones in the teapot. Because we had them sent over from Italy and they were very expensive at the time he always said we should eat dry bread with them (one full slice of bread to one olive) how mean was that. :wah:

We would make sugar butties when dad was out or if we had time make chip butties with lots of tomato ketchup.....yummy.

Bill Sikes · Post by **Bill Sikes** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:39 am

chonsigirl wrote: Oh, I hate liver. I had to eat it during pregnancy wah

I am surprised. The advice in the UK is to avoid eating liver during pregnancy:

"Liver products and supplements containing vitamin A

Make sure you don't have too much vitamin A. This means you should avoid eating liver and liver products such as pÃ¢té and avoid taking supplements containing vitamin A or fish liver oils (which contain high levels of vitamin A). You need some vitamin A, but having too much means that levels could build up and may harm your unborn baby. Ask your GP or midwife if you want more information."

(from: http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/agesandstages ... rpregnant/ )

What do I remember eating as a boy? All sorts of things! What did I dislike? Cabbage stems/stalks; anything with fat, tubes, or gristle in it; crunching up the "buttons" in fried bacon; parsnips; boiled eggs with runny whites; china

tea; shellfish; lentils. There must've been more, but most things were fine.

valerie · Post by **valerie** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:43 am

The advice on liver is current, I'm sure, back years ago it used to be

THE thing to eat for iron content.

Me, I only had it a couple times, I think my parents must not have

cared for it either, but I would NEVER eat it now no matter if I did

like it... think of what the thing does... filter impurities from your

bloodstream!!

Bill Sikes · Post by **Bill Sikes** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:47 am

valerie wrote: The advice on liver is current, I'm sure, back years ago it used to be

THE thing to eat for iron content.

Me, I only had it a couple times, I think my parents must not have

cared for it either, but I would NEVER eat it now no matter if I did

like it... think of what the thing does... filter impurities from your

bloodstream!!

But it's nice, fried, casseroled with bacon, or whatever. There's also kidney, which is nice too! Then there's blood itself! Black pudding, yum!

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:47 am

Oh, I adore you Bill for thinking I'm so young!:-4

Yes, that was the advice in the 70s and early 80s when I had my children. I hated the idea of 3 shots a week! Yuchy!

The advantages to my children are so evident though-healthiet bunch of kids anyone could have. Never a broken bone, only the boys had stiches for minor injuries once or twice. And they never get colds and the flu like other people as much. It was worth it-I lived off of liver, which I diced into cubes to swallow-and powdered milk. I couldn't afford real milk. But drank a 1/2 gallon a day. After that liver, I really didn't eat alot of anything for the day much.

pina · Post by **pina** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:51 am

valerie wrote: The advice on liver is current, I'm sure, back years ago it used to be

THE thing to eat for iron content.

Me, I only had it a couple times, I think my parents must not have

cared for it either, but I would NEVER eat it now no matter if I did

like it... think of what the thing does... filter impurities from your

bloodstream!!

When I was pregnant I was told by the doctor to eat a little bit of raw liver at least 4 or 5 times a week for the iron content because I was anaemic and couldn't swallow those horse tablets they called iron tablets.

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:52 am

:p Yuchy, I baked mine, and cut it into tiny cubes to swallow like pills!

valerie · Post by **valerie** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:52 am

Bill Sikes wrote: But it's nice, fried, casseroled with bacon, or whatever. There's also kidney, which is nice too! Then there's blood itself! Black pudding, yum!

Well, I can understand how some people might like it.

Does liver and onions (the dish) have bacon in it or is that seperate?

Bill Sikes · Post by **Bill Sikes** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:53 am

chonsigirl wrote: I lived off of liver, which I diced into cubes to swallow

Don't tell me you ate it raw! Horrors!

Did you have anaemia, or "pernicious anaemia"?

Sheryl · Post by **Sheryl** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:56 am

valerie wrote: Well, I can understand how some people might like it.

Does liver and onions (the dish) have bacon in it or is that seperate?

I've never seen bacon used in liver and onions.

CheshireCat · Post by **CheshireCat** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:57 am

I grew up in the south and have fond memories of my grandmother's cooking. Of course on Sunday after church, you had fried chicken. She also made us special breakfasts when we would visit. Homemade biscuits cut with a mason jar lid, fresh scrambled eggs and chocolate gravy! Yep, chocolate! It was my favorite. :yh_love

Bill Sikes · Post by **Bill Sikes** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:59 am

valerie wrote: Well, I can understand how some people might like it.

Does liver and onions (the dish) have bacon in it or is that seperate?

I suppose it would be "liver and onions with bacon"! A nice warming casserole of

liver (carefully selected, no tubes, no very thick bits, rolled in flour with a bit of pepper in before frying off and finishing in the casserole) and bacon UK-style for

preference) is nice.... see: http://www.apbw.mistral.co.uk/english2.htm#ef25

CheshireCat · Post by **CheshireCat** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 10:00 am

We also had refridgerator pickles with red onions. I remember eating them until I was sick.:yh_sick

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 10:01 am

My mother always made homemade birthday cakes-and cut them into patterns like this one. I had this rocking horse one year for my birthday!

Attached files

Sheryl · Post by **Sheryl** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 10:01 am

CheshireCat wrote: We also had refridgerator pickles with red onions. I remember eating them until I was sick.:yh_sick

oohhh my grandma would make bread&butter pickles and pickled watermelon. Yea wasn't a fan of either. :-1

valerie · Post by **valerie** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 10:20 am

CheshireCat wrote: Homemade biscuits cut with a mason jar lid, :yh_love

Oh Chessie we weren't in the south but my mom did this!!

:-4

CheshireCat · Post by **CheshireCat** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 10:46 am

Gandmomma called it "make do" cooking. You just made do with whatever you had.

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 10:52 am

And they made it stretch, too!

CheshireCat · Post by **CheshireCat** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 11:02 am

One of those "make do" recipies is chess pie. All it is is eggs and sugar with a little flour or corn meal, It is heaven.:yh_bigsmi

observer1 · Post by **observer1** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 11:44 am

Gosh! We were military, so we had food from all over! Mom's southern fried chicken was to die for! She'd make fried chicken, biscuits & gravy. YUM!!!

I LOVED her liver & onions too, with mashed potatoes & gravy.

She also made a "hamburger soup", with hamburger, sliced onions (stringy), & diced potatoes. That was pretty good too!

Hamburger casserole... Hamburger on the bottom of a casserole bowl, then corn, then mashed potatoes, then bake. That was yummy!

One more dish she made... was an old family recipe... called Tomach (pr. toomaach), because you usually ate too much!! It was ground beef (hamburger), peppers, onions, diced tomatoes, a can of tomato soup, & elbow macaroni all mixed together. Then, after it was cooked, you'd cover the top with american cheese & let it melt in. My daughter still loves that!!

Unbelievably, none of us had a weight problem or high blood pressure!!!

BTW Cher... Mom made delicious salmon patties!! Never salmon loaf, though!!

theia · Post by **theia** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 11:57 am

My mother used to make potato cake. It was a sort of sponge cake mixture with mashed potato mixed in...then it was baked in the oven and served hot with butter...really delicious.

observer1 · Post by **observer1** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:07 pm

theia wrote: My mother used to make potato cake. It was a sort of sponge cake mixture with mashed potato mixed in...then it was baked in the oven and served hot with butter...really delicious.

That sounds really good!!

I also remembered two other dishes my mom made & made us eat. The one wasn't bad, the other was YUCKY!!!

She made ham & butter beans... we liked that! She also made cornbread to go with that.

The one we hated was TURNIPS!!! YUCK!!!!!

cherandbuster · Post by **cherandbuster** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:09 pm

I remember on rainy days making cheese blintzes with my mom :-4

They are kind of like crepes filled with a cheesy mixture.

Wow

That is a great memory for me :-6

DesignerGal · Post by **DesignerGal** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:13 pm

fried green tomatoes and fried okra. We ate fried everything...I guess that's why I always had "junk in the trunk".

Post by **Betty Boop** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:14 pm

My Mums cooking was fine, she just wasn't very adventurous.

Sundays was always a Roast Dinner

Mondays was always left over roast meat and chips.

Tuesdays was Beef Stew and Dumplings, followed by home made Rice Pudding.

Wednesdays would be Cottage Pie.

Thursdays would sometimes be home made Pasties, or Pasty Pie.

Friday would be whatever was left, called iffits (if its there you can have it!)

Saturdays were generally fend for yourself days.

Sometimes we'd have Bangers beans and mash, or beef pie thrown in for a change, but it was always Meat and three veg!

I think Mum stuck to this routine as she worked, I guess it was easier for her but boring as hell!

Until I left home I had never tried Pizza, Pasta or even Rice as a savoury, Mum has never eaten either and she won't even try them now!

DesignerGal · Post by **DesignerGal** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:16 pm

Betty Boop wrote: Thursdays would sometimes be home made Pasties, or Pasty Pie.

You mean pastries, right? Pasties are what the strippers use to cover their nipples!:yh_rotfl

observer1 · Post by **observer1** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:23 pm

Betty Boop wrote: My Mums cooking was fine, she just wasn't very adventurous.

Sundays was always a Roast Dinner

Mondays was always left over roast meat and chips.

Tuesdays was Beef Stew and Dumplings, followed by home made Rice Pudding.

Wednesdays would be Cottage Pie.

Thursdays would sometimes be home made Pasties, or Pasty Pie.

Friday would be whatever was left, called iffits (if its there you can have it!)

Saturdays were generally fend for yourself days.

Sometimes we'd have Bangers beans and mash, or beef pie thrown in for a change, but it was always Meat and three veg!

I think Mum stuck to this routine as she worked, I guess it was easier for her but boring as hell!

Until I left home I had never tried Pizza, Pasta or even Rice as a savoury, Mum has never eaten either and she won't even try them now!

Couple of questions...

What are pasties & Banger beans? Also, what's mash??

Lulu2 · Post by **Lulu2** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:24 pm

CHER "The most disgusting thing I remember on my table was salmon loaf"

YES! My grandmother made that with canned salmon and it had skin and those horrible soft bones in it! :yh_sick

To this day, I can't eat salmon!

My other grandmother made GRITS and HOMEMADE NOODLES and other wonderful things!

(Some years ago, I started an "Ethnic Potluck" at work, because we had people from all over the world. It was always a huge success and I brought cheese grits! People thought they were sooooo exotic!

)

Post by **Betty Boop** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:34 pm

DesignerGal wrote: You mean pastries, right? Pasties are what the strippers use to cover their nipples!:yh_rotfl

Cornish Pasties, believe me you wouldn't want to cover your nipples with these! What a waste! :wah:

The Cornish Pasty

Post by **Betty Boop** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:35 pm

observer1 wrote: Couple of questions...

What are pasties & Banger beans? Also, what's mash??

Sorry, should be Bangers, Beans and mash = Sausages, Baked beans and mashed potato.

DesignerGal · Post by **DesignerGal** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:35 pm

Betty Boop wrote: believe me you wouldn't want to cover your nipples with these!

The Cornish Pasty

No doubt...THEY LOOK GOOD!

observer1 · Post by **observer1** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:41 pm

Betty Boop wrote: Sorry, should be Bangers, Beans and mash = Sausages, Baked beans and mashed potato.

Mom used to make something similar... roast beef hash, baked beans, & fried potatoes.

She also made hot dogs, mashed potatoes, & sourkraut. MAN!! I'm making myself hungry!!

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:43 pm

Yes, I hope suppertime comes soon!

observer1 · Post by **observer1** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:46 pm

chonsigirl wrote: Yes, I hope suppertime comes soon!

Me too! What are we having?? And when should I be there??

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:50 pm

Ha-we are having a chicken/pasta dish tonight, with a chef salad on the side.

It sounds nice for a warm day!

minks · Post by **minks** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:50 pm

I grew up with heavy Hungarian influence and yes we ate liver and I still like liver...

Liver sauted with onions till they were sweet with a sour cream sauce OOOO my to die for.

Paprika chicken, roasted chicken, with dumplings/noodles and a glorious paprika sour cream gravey

Poppy Seed Cake

12 layer chocolate cake with rum/chocolate glaze icing

Walnut cake

Home made pork sausages

Homemade potato noodles with shredded cheddar cheese

Goulash

homemade dill pickles, pickled beets and hot peppers

stewed tomatoes sauted with hot peppers and onions paprika, salt and pepper the Hungarian name for it was... Letcho

I could go on and on

Oh gosh it's amazing I don't weigh 200lbs.

observer1 · Post by **observer1** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:59 pm

Living in PA Dutch country, Grandma made some great dishes!!! She made homemade chicken potpie with homemade bows. And we had ham, green beans, & potatoes. I used to ask her to make corn pie for my birthday every year!! And she'd make homemade apple pie, cookies, and opera fudge & peanut butter Easter eggs!! MMM!!! She made a great egg custard too & pumpkin pie!!!! Grandma was a GREAT cook!!!!