Foods that bring back memories

Re:Foods that bring back memories (mar52)

Fri, 11 May 2012 15:00:39 GMT

BookNFoodFreak, Welcome!

You had me smiling from the start of your post and I kept it all the way through.

What nice memories. I hope you join us and post in some of the other forums.

We need more Californians here!

Re:Foods that bring back memories (Ralph Melton)

Fri, 11 May 2012 12:19:43 GMT

BookNFoodFreak, that's a splendid first post. Thank you very much!

Re:Foods that bring back memories (mayor al)

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:49:36 GMT

Tex-Max,
The last time I played Canasta was in 1963 on the trainride back to Boston after receiving my release from active duty (Army). I have never played cards much, but Canasta was something I grew up with in the family. I can recall the card game that lasted for a day and a half, but not the food we had on the Super Chief !!! I do seem to recall jumping off the train in Albuquerque to run across the street to a package store to buy some very cheap booze to allow us to continue the game without paying the high-bar-tab charged by the Santa Fe Lounge-car operators !!
For a food memory...of Mother and Grandmother's work, I can recall the odor of Roasting Pork..Bone-In Rib Roasts, with lots of Caraway seeds sprinkled all over it. The sweetened Red Cabbage ( cooking on the stove-top) tried, but couldn't overpower the smell of that delicious Pork and seasoning. I guess it is a link to my Czech Heritage.

Re:Foods that bring back memories (Michael Hoffman)

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:01:42 GMT

BookNFoodFreak, thank you for sharing those great memories. You're pretty fortunate.

Re:Foods that bring back memories (BookNFoodFreak)

Fri, 11 May 2012 02:51:13 GMT

I know this is a slightly old topic...a few months old, anyway...but I found it on a Google search and had to answer anyway. I have quite a few good food memories, but the ones that mean the most to me are the ones involving my late grandfather...I called him Tata...and my late aunt, Tia Loretta.

Tata always used to take me to a place called Casa de Fruta whenever he was driving me back and forth from his house to stay with my other grandparents, and we would always get fruit and candy there, and no matter what, even if he just came up for the day, he would stop off and get me some walnut-stuffed dates on the way up. I also remember eating Circus Peanuts with him...I hate those things and always have, but he loved them, and I liked sharing things that he loved with him...and canned Vienna Sausages, sardines, Big Red soda, Cactus Cooler soda, watermelon, and pickle juice(I wanted a pickle from the snack truck that stopped by my aunt's once, but the guy was out, so Tata bought the jar of pickle juice, and I drank the whole thing). One of the best things was fish, though. He used to take me to the lake to go fishing, and once I actually managed to catch something, so we took it home, and he taught me how to clean and gut it before my grandma fried it for us. I don't think anything's ever tasted as good as I remember that fish tasting.

I don't have a lot of food memories of Tia Loretta, which is weird, because the woman was always cooking when I was over, but the one thing I do remember is her having a huge wheel of Longhorn cheddar cheese on her counter during one visit, and cutting off big chunks of it for me whenever I wandered into the kitchen.

Re:Foods that bring back memories (Tex-Max)

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:00:22 GMT

Creamed Tuna on Toast and Canasta every Saturday. Definitely fond memories.

Re:Foods that bring back memories (318)

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:57:53 GMT

Dammit. Now I want some. Weird how the things you detested as a child (and/or were embarrassed about because you were "those poor kids") become fond memories and things you actually crave as an adult.

I know! Saturday mornings it was automatic - freeze cups for cartoons, i remember using water at times. LMAO I didnt have chineese food until I was 24 years old, ate the whole plate in the truck in the parking lot, was supposed to go home! The more I think about this the more stuff I remember. Pig feet, doughnuts out of biscuits with powdered sugar, pink panther stage planks, faygo strawberry soda, breaded beef type product patties- there was no way to make them good no matter what you did, summer breakfast and lunch at the neighborhood school, jungle juice, sugar smacks, pork chop and cheese sandwich from EJ's cafe with chilli cheese fries and (2 newports for a quarter).

My stomach is growling now! I guess its kinda fun to step away from the every day a remember the good old days..

Re:Foods that bring back memories (felix4067)

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:53:46 GMT

318

As well as fizza (fake pizza) white bread, sauce, balogna or press ham, and cheese, put under the overn so the broiler would make it perfect! You were doing it big if you had some sausage or bacon to put on it.

We called ours "bread spread". It was a mixture of some kind of meat (probably ham from my grandma's neighbour's farm, but I wouldn't swear to it...coulda been Spam) sent through the meat grinder, then mixed with Miracle Whip and diced government cheese. Spread on white bread and broil.

Dammit. Now I want some. Weird how the things you detested as a child (and/or were embarrassed about because you were "those poor kids") become fond memories and things you actually crave as an adult.

Re:Foods that bring back memories (318)

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:49:21 GMT

felix4067

318

CajunKing

318 - Gubmint Grilled Cheese Sandwiches were the best.

LOL they dont make em like that anymore! I didnt think anyone would know what I was talking about..

It was one of the only good things about being poor! Government cheese also made pretty darn fine macaroni and cheese.

As well as fizza (fake pizza) white bread, sauce, balogna or press ham, and cheese, put under the overn so the broiler would make it perfect! You were doing it big if you had some sausage or bacon to put on it.

Do they still give it out? LOL
Oh and I guess I should add syrup sandwiches, freeze cups and chilli cheese nachos from the candy house,
peanut patties from church, ham sandwiches the day after thanksgiving, airheads before school (watermelon), hot water cornbread, that bottle of trappeys peppers in vinegar that was always on your grandmamas table, the sauce from banks BBQ, Freeman and Harris cafe (they sold tarter sauce by the quart back then for like $20, now a 16 oz jar is $8 - get three every time I go home), meat pies, yohoo chocolate milk, drinking pace picante sauce out of the bottle, kool aid, and the craziest one of all time - apple pie with a slice of melted amrican cheese!

OK this is getting out of hand, Im considering a special trip home for the hell of it...

Re:Foods that bring back memories (felix4067)

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 13:13:55 GMT

318

CajunKing

318 - Gubmint Grilled Cheese Sandwiches were the best.

LOL they dont make em like that anymore! I didnt think anyone would know what I was talking about..

It was one of the only good things about being poor! Government cheese also made pretty darn fine macaroni and cheese.

Re:Foods that bring back memories (318)

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 11:12:13 GMT

CajunKing

318 - Gubmint Grilled Cheese Sandwiches were the best.

LOL they dont make em like that anymore! I didnt think anyone would know what I was talking about..

Re:Foods that bring back memories (FriedClamFanatic)

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:07:31 GMT

I always had.............have..........my pork roll and cheese on a bagel............Yes, not the same, but still comforting....and I grill the bagel in butter first.

Re:Foods that bring back memories (porkbeaks)

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:37:05 GMT

Taylor pork roll sandwiches with melted cheese on a lightly grilled hard roll. I can still get the pork roll and cheese, but the hard rolls of 40 years ago seem to be extinct. pb

Re:Foods that bring back memories (CajunKing)

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 16:14:22 GMT

fudgy chocolate brownies - I can remember trying to slide open my grandmothers brownie pan, the damn thing had a metal sliding lid that scraped along. ALWAYS got busted trying to sneek one.

AL - we had round steaks quite a bit too, still pick some up occaisionally

318 - Gubmint Grilled Cheese Sandwiches were the best.

Re:Foods that bring back memories (318)

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:46:01 GMT

Boudin and crackers, mackerel croquettes, cheese toast (government cheese), friday night fish frys, this german potato dish mama would make (potatoes, onions, sausage, and lots of cheese baked at 350 for an hour), hog head cheese, hamburger helper, pot pies, 33 cent tacos from taco bell. Now im hungry!
edit: I forgot Southern Maid Dougnuts!!

Re:Foods that bring back memories (Tex-Max)

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:19:08 GMT

Toasted Shipley's Donuts. My Dad use to get off work at 4 A.M. and on some special days he would bring home warm Shipley's Donuts and wake us all up for this treat. Of course we had one plain as we waited for the Toasted Donuts from the broiler. The doughnut was sliced as you would a bagel, then patted with butter and placed under the broiler to toast. You had to be CAREFUL and let them cool a bit because of the melted sugar on the outside but these were really good. I have tried this with other donuts but they do not stand up to the toasted Shipley's.

Re:Foods that bring back memories (Michael Hoffman)

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:02:49 GMT

My grandmother's crepes were known as blintzes.

Re:Foods that bring back memories (crepeflipper)

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:46:09 GMT

So many of our guests at our crepe cart remember their first crepe. It may have been lemon and sugar from their grandmother or their first trip to Paris.

It is wonderful to watch people relive those moments. Like Anton Ego in the movie Ratatouille.

Re:Foods that bring back memories (mayor al)

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:52:13 GMT

Not really meaning to derail this thread, but I have a related (to memories) comment that I don't want to bother starting a new thread to mention.

Before Christmas I came across a storage box of VHS Video cassettes of our summer roadtrips from the 80's and 90's and a couple of older cassettes that had activities of my kids in the early 80's..Tee Ball and yard playing scenes etc. Even a 5 minute clip of son Jeff playing H S BBall in 1991 against a team from the school where he now coaches JrHi BBall.

With a little help from a couple of my kids and grandkids, I have taught myself how to do basic edits and to transfer the aging cassette video to dvd. It is a slow job, and I have not mastered the 'clean edit' process, but I am getting the video moved to dvd which will insure the preservation of memories that in many cases I thought were lost. I wonder if any of you are doing this sort of 'memory preservation' project ? I am not copying the entire cassette onto the new media, but rather those things which really seem to stand out as preservation-worthy.

Re:Foods that bring back memories (Zagut)

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 17:00:18 GMT

Fried Chicken.
My grandmothers housekeeper Ethel made the best there ever was and will be. It was always such a treat for me when she made it. She never ate with us and I remember one day I went into the kitchen and she was putting ketchup on hers. I asked her why she was using ketchup when her chicken was so good as it was. She said "It's what you like. And I like mine with ketchup". She taught me a valuable lesson that day. Food it how you perceive it and others opinions mean nothing when it comes to enjoyment of it.
This is through the eyes of a 10 or so year old boy.
Years later I contacted Ethel when I was in the area and asked her for her fried chicken recipe. She told me she didn't really have one. A little of this and a little of that. Nothing was etched in stone. I'm sure it was nothing more then Salt, Pepper,Flour,& Hot Oil.
Say what you want about secret ingredients and preparation methods. But to me it's the love that's involved in the meal. Be it a meal prepared by strangers or folks you know. If they care about others then it shines through the product they produce.
No one will ever make fried chicken as tasty to me as Ethel did. She was one of a kind and a second mother to me when I visited my Grandparents.
Try as I might I can't get Fried Chicken as good as Ethels. I'll keep trying but I know I'll never succeed. Besides I need to cut back on the fat. That's what the doctors keep telling me.
Do doctors today have any taste buds?
Well I've babbled enough.
Thanks for the thread Mar.
God bless you Ethel Wiggins.

Re:Foods that bring back memories (ScreamingChicken)

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 14:20:39 GMT

When I was in college I briefly dated a girl who had a job at the sandwich shop next to campus and when she came back from a shift she would smell like...well, like a big sandwich and to this day if I stop at a sandwich place I almost always remember her. And they're good memories...

Re:Foods that bring back memories (Davydd)

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:25:59 GMT

chewingthefat

Fried Bologna sandwiches, I thought we we're the only family who ever had them! I liked mine with Ketchup on them.

Ah! food of the gods when I was growing up.

Re:Foods that bring back memories (chewingthefat)

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 12:16:49 GMT

Foodbme

Michael Hoffman

I still love Brussels sprouts. I guess people who have a bacon fetish have problems with good food.

Let me solve CTF's dilemma and provide you with a tasty recipe:
Bacon and Brussels Sprout Hash
Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence, 2008
Serves: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
Extra-virgin olive oil
4 slices thick-cut bacon
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 pints Brussels sprouts, cut in 1/2
1 pound fingerling potatoes, split down the middle
1/2 pound red pearl onions, peeled
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves roughly chopped
Directions
Set a large sauté pan over medium heat and add a 2 count of olive oil. Cut bacon into long strips and add to pan together with thyme. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes to render the fat then strain and set aside. Add Brussels sprouts, potatoes and pearl onions. Season with salt and pepper and cook until slightly browned. Add chicken stock and steam for 3 to5 minutes until liquid has evaporated and vegetables are tender. Add balsamic vinegar and toss to coat. Cook until balsamic has reduced then fold in fresh parsley and bacon.

That does sound good!

Re:Foods that bring back memories (chewingthefat)

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 12:15:04 GMT

Michael Hoffman

I still love Brussels sprouts. I guess people who have a bacon fetish have problems with good food.

At least Bacon tastes as good as it smells, cooking!

Re:Foods that bring back memories (MikeS.)

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 23:20:08 GMT

Last week, saw thumb print cookies at the store. Brought back memories of Mom at Christmas time. She/we baked up a storm of cookies for friends and family. High on that list was thumb print cookies.

Re:Foods that bring back memories (Foodbme)

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 19:04:11 GMT

Michael Hoffman

I still love Brussels sprouts. I guess people who have a bacon fetish have problems with good food.

Let me solve CTF's dilemma and provide you with a tasty recipe:
Bacon and Brussels Sprout Hash
Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence, 2008
Serves: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
Extra-virgin olive oil
4 slices thick-cut bacon
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 pints Brussels sprouts, cut in 1/2
1 pound fingerling potatoes, split down the middle
1/2 pound red pearl onions, peeled
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves roughly chopped
Directions
Set a large sauté pan over medium heat and add a 2 count of olive oil. Cut bacon into long strips and add to pan together with thyme. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes to render the fat then strain and set aside. Add Brussels sprouts, potatoes and pearl onions. Season with salt and pepper and cook until slightly browned. Add chicken stock and steam for 3 to5 minutes until liquid has evaporated and vegetables are tender. Add balsamic vinegar and toss to coat. Cook until balsamic has reduced then fold in fresh parsley and bacon.

Re:Foods that bring back memories (Michael Hoffman)

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:25:30 GMT

I still love Brussels sprouts. I guess people who have a bacon fetish have problems with good food.

Re:Foods that bring back memories (chewingthefat)

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:24:05 GMT

Brussell Sprouts, smelled like poo cooking, hated them!

Re:Foods that bring back memories (BelleReve)

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:01:50 GMT

frozen mixed vegetables, and frozen French style green beans. My mother was a good cook, and served seasonal fresh vegetables, but either she needed to stretch her food budget, or others in the family liked them. I haven't eaten since I was a kid.

Re:Foods that bring back memories (ann peeples)

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 20:32:01 GMT

Pork steak and sauerkraut. Mom would cut up the steak, keeping the bone and fat in place, settling it on sauerkraut and bake it. My God, the sauerkraut was browned from the juices of the pork, and the meat was so tender!