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...Mom made about 10 dishes in rotation - meat loaf, salmon loaf or patties, macaroni and cheese, goulash, pork chops, creamed tuna and peas over toast (ick), spaghetti, tuna casserole, baked chicken, and a roast with mashed potatoes for special occasions...
With a couple of additions, (we also ate creamed chipped beef on toast and lots of liver) this was our menu, too, in the 1940s. Besides meatless Fridays, we also practiced meatless Wednesdays, but I can't blame that on the Church. Our desserts were usually homemade, like Rice Krispie Treats and brownies.
While I don't recall eating eggs at home, my grandmother always prepared scrambled eggs and black coffee for my breakfast. My grandfather shot rabbits in the Chicago prairies, and brought them home on the streetcar. Always somewhat picky, I would not eat them. Later I realized that it probably was the smell of the horseradish topping that I found offensive.
The fast food that I remember is the chop suey and rice that my dad would bring home, and White Castle burgers, which I bought with my paper route money.
My favorite cookbook is from the early 50's. Everything was made from scratch with no shortcuts like today. Even pancakes had baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, oil and the other normal things. There is a French pancake recipe that had you separating eggs and whisking the whites. I am in awe of the cookbook and everything I ever made in it was amazing. Women had time to do real cooking and it was expected back then as men and women had roles and structure as you see in nature if you are into birds and other animals. Overall from what I see there, because they have weekly food planning, people ate VERY well with good simple ingredients and they took time to make everything with pride. Fun to read for sure. Geez, homemade bread and so many good things in there.
With a couple of additions, (we also ate creamed chipped beef on toast and lots of liver) this was our menu, too, in the 1940s. Besides meatless Fridays, we also practiced meatless Wednesdays, but I can't blame that on the Church. Our desserts were usually homemade, like Rice Krispie Treats and brownies.
While I don't recall eating eggs at home, my grandmother always prepared scrambled eggs and black coffee for my breakfast. My grandfather shot rabbits in the Chicago prairies, and brought them home on the streetcar. Always somewhat picky, I would not eat them. Later I realized that it probably was the smell of the horseradish topping that I found offensive.
The fast food that I remember is the chop suey and rice that my dad would bring home, and White Castle burgers, which I bought with my paper route money.
We too ate chip beef of toast or cream chicken on toast. We also did meatless Fridays and of course Liver about every 2 weeks I am thinking. Sundays, dinner was early but not at noon; more like 3 or 4pm which is still our routine even at our age. Daddy raised rabbits for a few years so Sunday dinner would often rabbit and if not, usually a nice roast. Chicken was not a common Sunday meal like in many homes. It was a standard weeknight meal.
My grandma on moms side never learned to drive. My mom learned in her MIS to late 20s when my parents moved to California.
Moving to CA will do it. Mom learned to drive when they moved to CA in the early 30s. Grandma did the same when she moved to CA about the same time. on spoiled brats side, all from West VA hardly any of the gals drove. Spoiled brats mom did learn when he got his license. By then they were living in So. CA but she rarely drove. None of my relatives, living in Co drove.
Such an interesting topic post. I love looking at old pictures from that time. My parents were born in the mid 50s .. the women were more glamorous... Not related to food, but did women really wear dresses daily even for house work?
My favorite cookbook is from the early 50's. Everything was made from scratch with no shortcuts like today. Even pancakes had baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, oil and the other normal things. There is a French pancake recipe that had you separating eggs and whisking the whites. I am in awe of the cookbook and everything I ever made in it was amazing. Women had time to do real cooking and it was expected back then as men and women had roles and structure as you see in nature if you are into birds and other animals. Overall from what I see there, because they have weekly food planning, people ate VERY well with good simple ingredients and they took time to make everything with pride. Fun to read for sure. Geez, homemade bread and so many good things in there.
Moving to CA will do it. Mom learned to drive when they moved to CA in the early 30s. Grandma did the same when she moved to CA about the same time. on spoiled brats side, all from West VA hardly any of the gals drove. Spoiled brats mom did learn when he got his license. By then they were living in So. CA but she rarely drove. None of my relatives, living in Co drove.
Getting off topic, but my mom finally learned to drive when the family moved (from Chicago via Mississippi) to Torrance, CA in 1952. She did not enjoy it and you couldn't get her on the freeway, which was a big handicap, but at least she could drive herself and us kids around town. She once took surface streets (Imperial Hwy) all the way from our house in La Habra to LAX. Straight through Watts and other bad areas. Trust me, the freeway would have been a LOT safer!
Grandma lived in Chicago until the early 1960s, which she was in her mid-60s, then moved to California, but never did learn to drive. She walked, took city buses, or we picked her up.
Getting off topic, but my mom finally learned to drive when the family moved (from Chicago via Mississippi) to Torrance, CA in 1952. She did not enjoy it and you couldn't get her on the freeway, which was a big handicap, but at least she could drive herself and us kids around town. She once took surface streets (Imperial Hwy) all the way from our house in La Habra to LAX. Straight through Watts and other bad areas. Trust me, the freeway would have been a LOT safer!
Grandma lived in Chicago until the early 1960s, which she was in her mid-60s, then moved to California, but never did learn to drive. She walked, took city buses, or we picked her up.
can't rep you again til I spread it around: Torrance brings back a lot of memories for me but none have to do with food.
Please disregard, I just read the title again and it said ‘Americans’. I wasn’t until the 50s.
We ate potato's lots of potato's, we had a garden and grew all of our vegetables we also knew the best spots for wild blueberry's, strawberry's and mushrooms. We had apple trees, pear trees, and cherry trees that were our main fruits, we had oranges occasionally. We had a large wood-burning bread oven in the back of the house and bread was baked every two or three weeks with neighbors. We had chickens, pigs, and cows for meat, eggs, milk, and butter.
I don’t think it was much fun for my mom and grandmother who along with children also worked in the fields.
All sounds lower in saturated fat, certainly lower in preservatives and artificial flavors than what we have now. And the older people I know, including my deceased grandparents, all eat/ate smaller portioned meals. All of which explains why they were all much slimmer than in the present day...
Not so sure about the saturated fats
My grandmother’s seem to cook meals in lard
And lots of butter
And whole milk with the cream on top
I believe the consumption of sugars
And carbs were much less that’s why many were thin
Also kids played outside or worked on the family farm
MOST jobs were not office work but much harder
Labor jobs
Yes much less processed foods
Most women did not work outside of the house
So they had time to cook soups. Roasts and stews
After the 80’s when most women worked outside of the house then you saw
Processed microwavable frozen meals very processed
And. Most Americans intake of sugars And carbs
Soared. And so did the waistlines
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