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My aunt and uncle lived next door. She was a cafeteria cook in a high school (today, so am I, if you can believe it!) She'd spend all day cooking at the school, then come home in the early afternoon and cook great Pennsylvania Dutch dishes for my uncle (even though it was just the two of them). Before dinner, they'd sit together at the table and have a couple of beers or Seagram's 7 and 7's and talk about their day while the meal simmered on the stove. I'd go over there sometimes, and was invited to stay, LOL. I usually did this when my grandmother did the cooking at my house (and it was usually thrown together, boiled to mush and/or burned). My grandmother's cooking was horrible. I loved to cook, but every time I tried to cook dinner or wanted to experiment with new recipes, she'd ridicule it so badly that my younger siblings wouldn't touch it.
Last edited by Mrs. Skeffington; 03-27-2012 at 03:57 AM..
My aunt and uncle lived next door. She was a cafeteria cook in a high school (today, so am I, if you can believe it!) She'd spend all day cooking at the school, then come home in the early afternoon and cook great Pennsylvania Dutch dishes for my uncle (even though it was just the two of them). Before dinner, they'd sit together at the table and have a couple of beers or Seagram's 7 and 7's and talk about their day while the meal simmered on the stove. I'd go over there sometimes, and was invited to stay, LOL. I usually did this when my grandmother did the cooking at my house (and it was usually thrown together, boiled to mush and/or burned). My grandmother's cooking was horrible. I loved to cook, but every time I tried to cook dinner or wanted to experiment with new recipes, she'd ridicule it so badly that my younger siblings wouldn't touch it.
I love reading these stories. It takes me back to my childhood and so many good memories.
I grew up surrounded by great cooks, Italian food mainly, but other things, too. My mother, next door neighbor and myself would go to my aunt's and cousin's (and grandmother lived there till she passed away, too) every Saturday and go down into the cellar (all done up like a giant room with chairs, sofa, TV and of course 2 stoves, a sink, etc.). We'd watch her cook for the evening meal and I think she made up probably a few more meals for the upcoming week being she worked weekdays. We'd get to taste whatever she was working on, but always an Entemenn pastry or two. When they didn't want me to know something, they'd all talk Italian and laugh. "Little people have big ears" they'd say or something like that. I learned a few curse words that way!!
Sounds VERY familiar. My dad got in at 4:15 pm and was greeted with a beer. Dinner started PROMPTLY at 4:30 pm. If you showed up even five minutes late, you might not get any food.
At least YOUR father ate quickly. My father is still the slowest eater in the house, taking a minimum of 45 minutes.
And yes, you ate whatever was in front of you. And those canned peas tasted no better at 9:00 pm than when they were put in front of you at 4:30 pm. There was NO "triumph of the will". It was more like "abandon all hope."
I grew up in the 70s/80s. My mom was never a great cook. She got by with the basics, but liked convenience foods like instant mashed potatoes. We ate out at least one night a week, and at least one night a week was "popcorn night" where she decided she didn't want to cook and my dad would get out the air popper and make a giant batch of popcorn. Yes, really. One thing she did make homemade was mac and cheese with real noodles and real cheese. I was out of the house before I had Kraft Mac and cheese. Of course I was also out of the house before I had real mashed potatoes.
When she did cook, the meals always had a meat, potato, veggie, and bread. We had a lot of meals like pork chops, potatoes with white sauce, broccoli, and rolls. Or sometimes instead of the potatoes my mom would take bread and shred it and pour gravy over it. Sounds gross, but it was actually good! My brother and I loved veggies and a night when we were having broccoli or cooked cabbage was a good night for us.
If we had spaghetti or chili my dad always made it. He also liked to make fresh squeezed oj now and then. For holiday meals my mom would cook all the sides, but my dad would do the turkey. And my dad hated grilled meats, so we never had a BBQ growing up. Steaks were broiled (GAG!).
One thing my mom made that was really good was something she called "Things in Foil." She'd take a sheet of foil and put a hamburger patty in the middle. On top she'd salt and pepper it, add sliced onion, then fill the area around with chopped potatoes and carrots. The foil wold be gathered up and made into a packet, then baked until the burger was cooked and the veggies were soft. it actually came out really delicious and was an easy meal for her.
My mom was a great cook but many of the side dishes that went with the meal were convenience items. We grew up on Instant Mashed potatoes, Rice A Roni, Canned vegetables, stove top stuffing. The only time she made homemade stuffing was on Thanksgiving and that's also the only time that everything was made from scratch except the potatoes. She did and still does make homemade cookies at Christmas time. 7 different kinds and homemade breads. My mom also makes a wonderful meat sauce and her meatballs are the best and she's not even Italian LOL. When my parents did not have a lot of money when they were first married she would make breads and cookies and give them as gifts during Christmas.
In the 50s and 60s, we had dinner every night at 6 pm in the dining room. We never had a pressure cooker, we never had pizza, I don't remember spaghetti, or rice, or anything at all ethnic, but we did have a tomato macaroni thing called American Chop Suey.
We sometimes had macaroni and cheese, but it was the main course, not a side dish. My mom made something called fondue a lot which was a kind of strata with bread and cheese. After my mother died, my grandmother came to stay and her style was roasts or chops, mashed potatoes and two vegetables. She was a great cook, but not at all experimental. She made a lot of good desserts.
I was married before I ever had chili. My husband asked me to make it, but I had to have him describe it so I could take a stab at it, because I had no idea.
I grew up in early 60's & 1970's.
In the 60's Mom cooked great food. Pork Roast with fried potatoes, sliced frozen applesauce, pickled beets,broccoli or califlower. My Dad had tp have sliced bread. Mom always made a great dessert. Mom made a lot of roasts. Her potatoes were the best that she made with her roasts. She was a wonderful cook. In the 1970's I had to cook for my Dad cause Mom went to work and would work until 9PM.
My Dad was always a pain, he always complained when my Mom cooked dinner. he was the same towards me. I started making him grilled cheese every night. He liked them, so that's what I made him. Not to much complaining out of him then.
I wish my Mom still cooked. She is forgetting so much at age 89. She still likes to eat. I hope I do her justice by the food I cook for her. She taught me everything I know. Thank goodness for Moms and that I still have her with me.
My mother wasn't much of a cook. She was a waitress in a hotel dining room and I suppose she saw enough cooking and didn't have any interest in doing it herself. In her era, there weren't yet a lot of convenience foods, but each time one came out, she jumped right on it. I remember her spaghetti sauce was an envelope of Spatini and a can of tomato paste with water added. It was really pretty good.
One thing Mom made from scratch was from a recipe she got from the German lady next door. She would make roulades for your birthday supper. Super thin steak wrapped around a slice of onion, a slice of bacon and a piece of pickle. While they were cooking, I'd get on my bike and pedal up the road to the farmhouse and buy a half dozen ears of corn and a tomato. By the time I got back the water was boiling and Mom would throw in a handful of sugar and cook the corn. We were too full for cake so that came later. I still make roulades today (when the spirit moves me!) Only I omit the pickle.
My parents kept us on a schedule. We woke up at a specific time, went to bed at a specific time and had our three meals at the same time each day. Dinner (and other meals) were eaten together and you would actually discuss what was going on each day.
It sure as heck beats McDonald's meals in the back of a minivan running Johnnie to soccer practice and Jenny to ballet. And it beats having dinner at 5pm one night and 8:30 pm the next night with a bunch of funk food to hold the child over.
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