Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
nmnita.....your family ate very well. My mom tried to make do with what she had.....our family circumstances were difficult and there were lots of times when having enough to feed everyone must have been a challenge. I can honestly say that as a child I never knew we were "poor" or how hard times were. By the time I was a teenager (1950's) circumstances had improved considerably.
AS an adult I was talking with my Mom about childhood family memories, where we had lived and favorite meals. I mentioned that one of my favorites was when she made biscuits and maple syrup for our supper. She started to cry--sob. She then told me that she made baking powder biscuits when there wasnt enough of anything else to feed me and my brother and sister. She could make biscuits with little more than flour and shortning and baking powder. So to fill us up she would make huge drop biscuits ..almost plate size....and she would boil some water and sugar and add maple flavoring and reduce it to a syrup....butter the hot biscuits put them in a bowl and pour on the maple syrup. We loved it...it wasnt until I was grown I knew how hard that had been for her. Similarly, I remembered suppers of popcorn and apples as a special treat.....turns out it was another desperation meal that my father's family had relied on in lean times. But these hard times were in the forties so not exemplary of the topic of this thread.
When I was working in the civil rights movement in the south I heard a lady remind others at a mass meeting that there was no shame in eating corn bread made with pot-likker from the colllards, with a bowl of buttermilk.....or what she called Jubilee Gravy....flour, lard and water or milk made into a gravy and eaten with biscuits or corn bread.
There were times of plenty and of feasting and there were lean times. It was never a lack of imagination or knowledge that crimped our menu .... it was the lack of money that a young country minister was paid....BUT WE MADE IT!
We regularly had baked beans for Saturday Night supper often with frankfurters and apple pie for dessert. Corn chowder or clam chowder also was a regular on our supper menu as was cheese Welsh rarebit on crackers with a green veg or salad on the side. Jello salads made an appearance on holiday tables in the 50's (I recently made a Watergate Salad.....made with pistachio jello and cool whip).....desserts were often canned peaches or fruit cocktail or cobblers made from fruit in season. Citrus and bananas were luxuries. my father was an excellent gardener and fisherman.....so those endeavors supplemented our menus. I loved suffed bass and other smaller fresh water fish fried.
yes, we were very lucky to eat healthy foods, fresh and a great variety. My best friend though wasn't so lucky, not only did her mom spend more time drinking then cooking, my friend thought meat meant fried pork chops. She didn't always have money for lunch at school and that was way before any government programs to help children from poverty families. The one positive from all this: she learned the importance of working hard to better herself and she actually by spending so much time at our house she learned to cook a decent meal. But this is off topic I guess.
So many creamed soup recipes, all kinds of "molded" dishes, little things in chafing dishes, and of course the Lipton Soup Onion Dip (which I can eat a whole bowl of even today).
You can find vintage 1950's community style, church, or Junior League cookbooks at many thrift stores or on eBay. Quite often the recipes are submitted by women as "Mrs. John Smith", "Mrs. William Jones", or "Mrs. Paul Brown". Odd to think it was in my own lifetime that women addressed themselves that way. By the time I came of age in the early 1980', that was basically over with. Nothing wrong with that - I believe they were proud to be happily married women. But you hardly ever hear a women use her husbands name instead of her own anymore like that.
Something that was popular in the 1950's that my Grandmother used to make and I adore is Spoonbread. Basically, cornbread pudding that you drown in butter. Delicious.
yep, the Lipton's onion soup dip. I remember when dad would fix it for company when they were having drinks. I am guessing it was introduced in about 1954. I know I had not left for college yet.
yep, the Lipton's onion soup dip. I remember when dad would fix it for company when they were having drinks. I am guessing it was introduced in about 1954. I know I had not left for college yet.
I need to make some of that NOW!
Mom made a chili dish that I loved, with kidney beans, served over spaghetti. We had never heard of Cincinnati Five-way Chili, and though I make my chili differently now, I still use beans and serve it over sketty.
Mom made a chili dish that I loved, with kidney beans, served over spaghetti. We had never heard of Cincinnati Five-way Chili, and though I make my chili differently now, I still use beans and serve it over sketty.
played bridge yesterday and the hostess had a dip she referred to as onion soup dip. Well I got all excited until I looked at it and then tried it. Not the Lipton soup dip we remember. I don't know what the heck it was, but it had unflavored yogurt, I guess that is what it was, maybe a green onion or something in it and God only knows what else, but it was awful.
I remember Five way chili, but I don't remember my mom or dad fixing it.
I am amused by the euphoric recall of the 50's. Truly it was a time of the worst food and the silliest of lifestyles.
Home made was packed with cholesterol and fat, fresh was seasonal, canned and frozen were the norm, deserts were a lot important than today. Duncan Hines was once a major brand.
Amphetamines were universally prescribed for dieters. Every film from the 50's depicts what was an every day occurrence - hard drinking by men and women and the acceptance of public drunkenness.
And, no, TV Dinners were no better then than now.
For me, I was 10 in 1955 and from a household that did not buy frozen or prepared food. And, while people may recall the loveliest cuts of meat served in their posh households, I never saw a rib eye steak, a strip or a filet until the late 60's.
Like cotton.....these are the [memories] of our lives.....wrapped in blue tissue paper and packed away with love and fondness. I never saw a rib eye steak or a prime rib roast and the only filet was a bass that Dad caught......but Mom made great meatloaf and our table served love sprinkled with gratefulness.
played bridge yesterday and the hostess had a dip she referred to as onion soup dip. Well I got all excited until I looked at it and then tried it. Not the Lipton soup dip we remember. I don't know what the heck it was, but it had unflavored yogurt, I guess that is what it was, maybe a green onion or something in it and God only knows what else, but it was awful.
Oh, no!
Will you have to make some of The Real Thing to erase the memory? (I have the mix, the sour cream, and the chips on hand for later).
I am amused by the euphoric recall of the 50's. Truly it was a time of the worst food and the silliest of lifestyles.
Home made was packed with cholesterol and fat, fresh was seasonal, canned and frozen were the norm, deserts were a lot important than today. Duncan Hines was once a major brand.
Amphetamines were universally prescribed for dieters. Every film from the 50's depicts what was an every day occurrence - hard drinking by men and women and the acceptance of public drunkenness.
And, no, TV Dinners were no better then than now.
For me, I was 10 in 1955 and from a household that did not buy frozen or prepared food. And, while people may recall the loveliest cuts of meat served in their posh households, I never saw a rib eye steak, a strip or a filet until the late 60's.
Good Riddance!
as a 10 year old at the time you are remembering what you want to remember. For many of us who were married in the 50s we have a different version of life then.
No, drinking to access was not the norm.
Amphetamines were not used often for dieting,that became more popular in the 60s. And believe it or not people used to depend on low calorie diets and lots of veggies when they attempted to lose weight. Yes a few took pills, but it wasn't the accepted way.
Not all of us depended on frozen or canned food. And very few things were prepared. Actually they are much more popular now, especially processed foods.
Yes, you are right about the importance of dessert.
You are also probably right about frozen TV dinners which most of us did not serve.
You didn't recall rib eye because it wasn't called rib eye. The meats on a cow where exactly what we have today, bur with different names.
As for the silliest of times, if you were only 10 how could you remember what was silly or not silly. Kids have different ideas of silly. I think your opinons can better be labeled exactly that: opinions but not based on fact.
Like cotton.....these are the [memories] of our lives.....wrapped in blue tissue paper and packed away with love and fondness. I never saw a rib eye steak or a prime rib roast and the only filet was a bass that Dad caught......but Mom made great meatloaf and our table served love sprinkled with gratefulness.
Rib eye was not called rib eye, but Prime rib roast and filets were very much a part of many people's diets. Again it probably has more to do with the region you were raised in and type of life style you had. Certainly not everyone had or would have wanted some of the foods many remember from the 50s.
Will you have to make some of The Real Thing to erase the memory? (I have the mix, the sour cream, and the chips on hand for later).
taking snacks on Chrstmas eve to our daughters, maybe I will just have to make some.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
