[jzgrlduff]

Dan's baking thread sparked this memory!! What kinds of meals did you have over and over when you were growing up? Was there a "special" meal that you remember, one that was only made on certain occasions?

We lived on a farm and had a huge garden, so corn on the cob was always a side, as were cold sliced beefsteak 'maters! YUM!!!

My stepmother wasn't a big cook, so she made pretty bland meals.

-Burgers.
-Pork Chops.
-LIVER! UGH!!!
-Creamed chicken on toast. This was our "special meal". I don't remember what the occasion was.
-Ravioli.
-Meatloaf.
-Lamb. I won't touch the stuff now. The only way I could eat it then was if it was slathered in mint jelly.

I was a slow eater and it used to annoy my parents, so they came up with a rule just for me. Whatever was left on my plate when everyone else was done, went into the fridge and I had to eat it for breakfast! Cold! My sister felt sorry for me, so she would eat off my plate when they weren't looking so I wouldn't have to eat it for breakfast.

 

[jzgrlduff]

Oh, I forgot. Every single Saturday night, us kids would have Swanson TV Dinners while my parents went out on the town.

 

[kelli]

I love liver.

 

[Belles mom]

Swedish pancakes

 

[Clanceycanuck]

My mother was a horrible cook - but she could do a mean breakfast

So every Saturday after mass, we would have breakfast for dinner and get to eat it while watching the Bugs Bunny Road Runner Show

 

[Aim]

It wasn't special- but I remember loving it.

Chipped Beef over toast. Or **** on a shingle as my dad loved to call it.

 

[blacklabparent]

My Da's cabbage rolls, OMG, the best ever.
Dad's seafood chowder
Dad's homemade pizzas (he used to toss the dough like they did on tv & call himself Chef Frederico...his name is Fred)
Dad's homemade pasta sauces & homemade pasta
Dad's beef stew
Dad's corned beef & cabbage (or with ham, called "boiled dinner") and the hash the next day.
Dad's Chinese dinner (homemade wontons, spring rolls, lemon chicken & steamed rice in the bamboo steamer with veggies sliced on the mandoline & steamed)

Mom's turkey dinner, roasts & hams. with all of the acoutrements
Mom's bread pudding
Mom's tea biscuits
Mom's braised lamb chops
Mom's casseroles
Mom's pies, OMG especially lemon meringue
Mom's molasses cookies, legendary
Mom's soups, especially chicken fricot & split pea
Mom's baked beans

We ate very well =)

 

[Mocha]

1. Meatloaf with spaghetti sauce spread on top (yuk)
2. Spaghetti & meatballs (the meatballs were so big they reminded me of mini meatloaf)
3. Hamburger & tater tots (again - mini meatloaf because my mom would put bread in it to make it go further)
4. Lasagna with micro mini meatloaf balls
5. Spaghetti & meatballs

Everything my mom made had hamburger meat & spaghetti sauce on it!

 

[jzgrlduff]

Aim! How could I forget ****-on-a-shingle? My Dad made it at Christmastime, when Aunt & Unk would come over. LOVE THAT!!!!!!!!!

Theresa, holy crap! Your parents are awesome!!!!!!

 

[Jinx]

pork chops...the really cheap cut, fried to charcoal as my mom was afraid of trichinosis.

**** on a shingle.

spam and scrapple(thanks for that one, nanny) *shudder*

 

[blacklabparent]

This is why my grocery budget is so freakin' high now

 

[jzgrlduff]

Your husband must thank your parents everytime he sees them. They made a great cook/baker out of you!!!

 

[Melissa]

I only remember the things I didn't like. We seemed to have the same things over and over and I didn't like any of them. Meat loaf, pork chops, goulash....

I'd wait till everyone else was gone from the table, hide food in my napkin and then stuff it down in the trash can.

 

[nellies mom]

My mother was French and an incredible cook. Every meal had a salad at the end and then some kind of homemade dessert. We ate just about every thing you could think of. There was always wine on the table.

 

[blacklabparent]

Your husband must thank your parents everytime he sees them. They made a great cook/baker out of you!!!

Actually, Steve is quite meat & potatoes. His mom made very basic, traditional (but delicious) meals. So when we first were married, he didn't know what to make of things like eggplant parmagiana, and didn't know what the hell couscous was or why it was on the grocery list. To this day he prefers traditional fare, but he has expanded his horizons. The girls & I rolled our own sushi one night, just for fun, but Steve wasn't keen to try.

 

[JacobAlthea&Tatum]

My mom mixes strawberry preserves, ketchup, and olive oil and spreads it over chicken and bakes it. Sounds strange, tastes incredible. My DH almost hurled the first time he found out what the ingredients were in what he was eating.

 

[Bob Pr.]

I grew up on a farm, too, in Vermont and we all loved when the sweet corn came in -- we'd always have a large pot of water boiling on the range, everything else ready to serve and then run out to the garden and shuck the corn on the way in, so it was less than a couple minutes between when it was growing on the stalk until being plopped in the pot. (In those years, corn started losing its sweetness very fast after being picked; the varieties in use now retain their sweetness much longer.)

I also loved fresh green peas -- and tomatoes, and string beans.

Mom was a great cook and among my favorite meals was her New England Boiled Dinner (corned beef, cabbage, onions, carrots, potatoes), beef stew, pot roast, Chop Suey, roast chicken & stuffing, and her ginger bread! -- I haven't tasted any as good as hers was.

 

[jzgrlduff]

we'd always have a large pot of water boiling on the range, everything else ready to serve and then run out to the garden and shuck the corn on the way in, so it was less than a couple minutes between when it was growing on the stalk until being plopped in the pot.

We did the same Bob, unless it was leftover from the farm stand that day.
How I hated (and still do!) shucking it and finding a worm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Retriever Mama]

My mom could not cook. The invention of the microwave was the greatest thing for her (and us). To this day I still miss those little brownies that come in the fried chicken Swanson tv dinner!

The thought of a boiled hot dog literally will make me gag. There were a couple of years where we had those in heavy rotation.

What I did love was my mother's parent's cooking! I miss my grandfather's homemade chicken soup and beef stew and my grandmother's lemon meringue pie.

 

[amazongold]

My Mom did some dishes wonderfully well, and others not so well. She did tend to make all meat well-done. Bleah. I hated one beef dish she made, with paprika and lemon in the gravy, but I can't remember what it was called. I hated liver, too, until I had calves' liver cooked properly in a restaurant. Wonderful!!

Mom was a wonderful baker and made the best lemon meringue pie, kolackys, and cookies.