Childhood foods

[L Ross]

How about the school cafeteria? Retired farm wives or farm wives supplementing the farm income cooked in our cafeteria. They used lots of Gov't surplus commodities to make wonderful meals. I still fondly remember the fresh baked rolls, 5 inches tall, and 1 1/2" thick, piping hot from big industrial baking pans, the smell alone was intoxication. We'd slather butter on them and wrap one around a stick of commodity cheddar cheese. The cheese would get gooey and it was time to chow down. Those wonderful women always made rolls when they made what they called chili. Not really chili at all, more like Wisconsin chili soup. A bunch of surplus ground beef, kidney beans, macaroni, celery, tomato juice and some tomato chunks, almost no spice. Again, not chili at all, but to me it was delicious. I'd dunk those cheese filled rolls into my bowl of "chili" and oh my goodness. Then there were the casseroles everyone loves to hate. Well I loved to eat them. Again, ground beef, tomato, green beans, corn, macaroni, celery, onion, topped with a half inch of cheddar that would get browned in the big industrial ovens, mmmm, mmmm.

 

[358156 hp]

Man! I loved school "chili" day. Chili & cinnamon rolls, my two favorite food groups. I was always pretty happy with school chow.

 

[358156 hp]

Or "Dutch Lunch". This consisted of a variety of sliced luncheon meats, cheese, crackers, and pickles. This was the original bar food, and if I had to get dragged around from bar to bar on Sunday so Mom could drink, I at least ate well. It was also traditional for the grownups to continually feed me quarters for the pinball machines.

That was the life. After I grew up, I rarely ever entered a bar again.

 

[Jeff H]

I get that a lot, too. It saddens me to realize that most people today don't. I'm like "how can you NOT know how to mortise a door hinge or butcher a chicken? Or R&R a P-trap to recover your wife's diamond ear stud?"

Hey, I get people who don't know how to use a screwdriver! Seriously!

If there ain't an app for that,.........

What really kills me is most people carrying the Internet around in their pocket and won't bother to look stuff like that up!

 

[RBHarter]

My grands and greats lived through the depression . So there are some bad habits passed along . My mom was an awful cook , Dad often said " she burns water without a timer " . She did have a couple of pass down recipes that she is still very very good at . Chowmein and sweet an sour pork , usually ribs . Her Mom brought the parts list and instructions back from Hawaii after the war . It was a family thing from a grand of an American Japanese lady . Her grandma was taken from China circa 1898 as a servant to a Japanese officer ....... Technically it's Japanese Lo Mein only no noodles wet or dry .
Dad was the cook having spent his pre and teens in his Mom's restaurant . He was a master of the 1-2 pan/pot dinner for 10 on short notice , it's a wonder I don't weight 400# .

Me I was the too proud , or ashamed , to ask for help kid . I can't even count the less desirable birds and agricultural pests that fed us until I got into a decent full time job that paid all the time ......... There are several things I have no desire to ever see on a plate again . Jackrabbit is high on that list along with any "game bird" with a possession limit of more than 15 ......ok snow geese get a pass , but you knew I meant those dumb ones you can corner in a slew and kill 10-15 with one shot . The toole/cattail/reed root salads , no not ever ....... To quote Mic Dundee .........it tastes like $&it but you can live on it .

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with X1 ......during perhaps . No concept of spice use , overcooked everything every time .......

 

[fiver]

i'll trade.
the wife has steak cooking down to a science.
she burns one end and the other is near raw, nobody has ever figured out how she does it.
everyone gets a 1" wide strip of steak exactly how they like it.

 

[Pistolero]

My mother was a good cook, wide range of foods were on our menu. Mexican foods before
it was common, coming from Cali. And Italian, and good old American foods. She made a great
beef stroganoff, too.
I learned to cook because I thought it was fun, esp when camping, cooking over a fire. I still enjoy
cooking sometimes today. My wife is an excellent cook, I do the grilling, but she can make about
anything. Her macroni and cheese is famed among our friends, and her pies are really good ones,
too.
When I was a kid, we lived on an inlet off of the Chesapeake Bay. I brought home blue crabs many
times to have for dinner, and oysters, too. Hauling a bucket of oysters a couple of miles dangling from
you bike handlebars was not easy, but I sold them for some spending money, or we ate them some
times. And we ate a good bit of squirrel, some rabbits and armadillo years later in Fla was a family
favorite, my mother cooked it well. PITA getting out of the shell, though.

Bill

 

[CZ93X62]

i'll trade.
the wife has steak cooking down to a science.
she burns one end and the other is near raw, nobody has ever figured out how she does it.
everyone gets a 1" wide strip of steak exactly how they like it.

I have heard (and eaten) worse steak-cooking regimens.

That I DON'T weigh 400# borders on the miraculous, given my chow preferences. I am not a total carnivore, and I have a fondness for Asian vegetables in a chop suey meal form, and for fried rice with those vegetables as a featured additive. Throw in some shrimp, or chicken, or beef--or all three--HEAVEN. I love what the vegetable blend brings to the flavors.

Filet mignon was never a frequent visitor to my dinner table, either as a kid or through most of my adult life. It is still a 2x or 3x a year event for us, kind of a birthday and anniversary thing. What Marie and I have more frequently is London broil--one of those makes several meals for us, and made at least a couple meals when the kids were still with us. It too gets done over charcoal in the back yard, and we slice it 'angled' like carne asada, but post-grilling as opposed to pre-inferno. Marie makes a form of machaca con huevos with some of the leftover L/b, which is a bit different take on the more "roast beef" flavor of most machacas. It makes a fine Sunday breakfast.

It also makes a GREAT meat base for chili con carne. Oh, do I ever LOVE a Bowl Of The Red. Beef, venison, elk (oh, heaven....)--with beans or without (sorry, Texans)--in winter, we have either chili or soup of some kind at every supper, and at some brunches (we eat twice a day). Chili is good with just about everything, or by itself.

Sardines and squid.....I use those to catch fish with that I CAN eat.

 

[Bret4207]

We prefer our beef rather rare, Cindy and I. "Cut the horns off, wipe it's butt and put it on a plate!" I grew up not knowing what rare was. All meats were cooked to past "medium" in my memory. Cooked to death is what they were. Took me a long time to figure out cubed steak doesn't get cooked like beef if you want it edible, you cook it like venison- sear it and get it off the heat as soon as you dare! Poultry needs to be JUST done through or it's going to be dry. Duck I do like venison too, with onions and maybe a little cream if I have any in the gravy. Woodcock I no longer shoot, they really do taste like worms, and yes I do know exactly what worms taste like. Anyone who's fished opening day up north where snowshoes are part of the ensemble also might know! Partridge (Ruffed Grouse) I still haven't found a satisfactory way of cooking without drying it out.

Over cooking is as bad as under cooking IMO. I'm learning to use a pressure cooker these days. Not one of those magic electric jobs, but a real one. Amazing to shove a whole chicken in a pot, get he steam flowing and have it done with all the juices in 20 minutes. Then it comes out, cools to the point we can handle it, gets stripped and turned into chicken and dumplings! I make GOOD dumplings. Another food that has to be done through but not over done.

 

[Bret4207]

School lunches- In high school someone at the cafeteria invented something called a "Bacon and Cheese Dream". Cooked bacon, cheese, a hot dog bun and some time in the big oven and you had heaven! Very, very popular! the 2 they'd give us was not enough, but you could get more at 25 cents each. Good stuff!

 

[Intheshop]

We travel to a lot of historical "venues"...and when the boys were little I was right dang adamant that they would get some "polish" spending weekends at Williamsburg in Va,and Old Salem in NC,as well as others.Part of that training was the foods that are served there are traditional fare for the time periods.....

Speaking of which,in the Lee family "receipt" (recipe today) book,put to print by some relative..... is a very strongly written warning about the cook times on chicken. Got to chuckle a bit because it's sort of obvious the disconnect between the original,std kitchen tactics and the modern cook. We,as outdoors "guys" ....get it. You throw a chicken up over 500+ degree bed of coals,something most modern cooks have never dreamed of...... it ain't gonna take long to overcook something. Just interesting.

My wife struggles with pop tarts and hot pockets.

The boys knew that dad is the cook/chef..... mommy has an aversion to the kitchen. They all are very skilled and quite accomplished in their respective kitchens...... we send text pics of "beat this" shots of prepped dishes.All of us are just as happy cooking over a fire as anywhere.

 

[Ian]

Sardines and squid.....I use those to catch fish with that I CAN eat.

I happen to like Sardines (canned) and squid (properly prepared and deep-fried tender), but regarding Sushi, I think Terry Bradshaw (you know where he grew up) said it best: "Where I come from, they call that stuff BAIT".

 

[Bret4207]

While in Japan, Okinawa actually, I learned that squid and octopus ("taco" over there IIRC) can be prepared to be delicious. Stateside I've learned they can also be prepared to be horrible. Japanese food is good in Japan, haven't had any good Japanese food stateside.

 

[CZ93X62]

I had Terry Bradshaw in the back of my mind when I posted that.

I'll be off the computer for a few days, dividing my attention between puter stuff and actual/real projects in the shop and elsewhere is getting nothing accomplished. No medical dust-ups, just need to step away and re-focus for a few days. Back before long.

 

[462]

Squid, or calamari, is a local commercial catch thus shows up in many restaurants. And, yes, it is frozen and sold as bait.

Squid and octopus marinated in an olive oil, herb and spice mix is served as a horse 'd over at local Sicilian feasts, though I pass on squid tentacles and leave the pretty much octopus alone.

 

[JWFilips]

I can Embrace any food ( at least to try it!) I would never say no to "Do You Want to taste it?"
When I was young and found out you could eat grasshoppers I went right out hunting them and cooking them over a small fire As a kid I had frog legs, snake, calves brains and a whole lot more! Growing up I think I was about 16 years old before every having a grilled steak or Individual crisp bacon strips! This was because I would buy them with my own money ( had a side job after school) and make them like I seen on TV!
My mom stewed or braised steak so we would have gravy and it went farther! A lb of bacon was chopped up and simmered in a pan until transparent and the grease was decanted off & saved and then about 12 eggs were added and scrambled into the soft bacon pieces. anything not eaten was saved for another meal.
My mom could make a carp in to a fantastic meal ...also I got yelled at if I caught suckers and didn't bring them home! When I did she made them into a nice fish soup and filtered out the bones! One of my Dad's favorites ( OK this stuff I tried but did not like!!!)

 

[RBHarter]

Chop suey that's what it is that Mom does so well !

I am a carnivore , as much as I love pork , chicken , ducks , geese , swan , turkey etc there is no substitute for a rare side of medium gob of beef . It really doesn't matter what the cut is outside of hamburger or ribs . The round family maybe more done .

The list of things from my childhood that don't set well are pate' , liverwurst , pimento loaf , and deviled ham .

 

[Rick]

I take my cow in slabs, no gobs for me thanks.

 

[L Ross]

I take my cow in slabs, no gobs for me thanks.

How about nuggets?

 

[Pistolero]

No raw meat for me. I am sure I will offend many, but I prefer my steaks medium or medium well,
to develop proper taste. Actually, my most favorite way to have beef in the whole world is a really
properly done "burnt end" of brisket from a BBQ place. There are a number here in KC who do it
really well, but the one whose name of the restaurant is "Burnt Ends BBQ" has it down. Just the perfect
crust of BBQ cooked flavor, and the chunks are done but almost melt in your mouth tender, too, away
from the nice chewy, super flavorful crusty part.

And "london broil" my mother called "flank steak". She marinaded it in a sort of a teryaki marinade
overnight and then broiled it. Sliced at a 45 degree angle. My wife learned it from my mother and we
both love it. Going to have two nieces and family at the cabin a few weeks, I think we may have
flank steak. Checking to make sure the kids (five of them) will be happy with what we will be cooking.
So, it sorta relates to childhood foods.....for my grand nieces and nephews.

Going to the beach in Colorado, and then to watch the high mountain gators.

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Colorado Gators – Reptile Rescue and Education

Bill