good eats
April 4th, 2007 @ 10:10 pm | family, food | Post a CommentLately it seems like husband and I are running opposite lives. I’m off at work all day while he’s home (working, but still home). By 7pm I am pretty beat and totally ready to get into my pajamas and he’s itching to get out of the house for some bonafide human interaction that doesn’t include someone sticking stinky feet in his face demanding, “Rub Me.”
So off he goes to frisbee practice, or poker, or pub quiz, or any other such item on his very busy social calendar and I come home and park my butt on the couch. In a way I cherish this alone time, but I also miss sharing dinner. We love to cook and eat together, but on these nights we’re on our own.
Of course I take advantage and eat things that Andrew doesn’t like. Macaroni and cheese, tuna melts, Rice-a-Roni, and, lately, peanut butter and jelly on a tortilla. In writing this list, I’ve noticed these are all common meals from my childhood.
When I mentioned my pb&j tortilla craving to a friend she scrunched her face like I had just suggested eating octopus on rye or something. Am I really that odd? There’s something so wholesome about it, perhaps because every bite basically tastes like…youth.
I’m guessing we all have foods that take us back to our parents’ kitchen table. I don’t eat very similarly to my parents now (for example, they think ethnic food is Chinese, whereas some of my favorites are Afghan and Burmese). But there is something about the thought of my mom’s beef stroganoff or my dad’s BBQ chicken that sound delicious in an old-fashioned way.
Then again, I don’t think I could ever eat my mom’s taco salad again. No offense, Mom, but I’ve moved on from the homemade thousand island dressing. I think I’ll also pass on my dad’s pan-fried elk steak (freshly butchered on the kitchen counter!).
What meals (happily) bring you back to your parents’ kitchen table? What did you eat as a kid that you now wouldn’t touch with a 10 foot pole?
Yum: Cherry turnovers, peanut butter/honey/apple sandwiches, (and, for the Most Calorie-Ridden Food In The World) Karo syrup mixed with peanut butter on white bread. It’s heaaavenly
Yuck: Fishsticks, meatloaf, bologna, pimento cheese…I could go on and on here
written by elise
April 5th, 2007 @ 12:49 am
Mum’s spag bolognaise. We’re not even Italian, but hers is so good… Mmmm.
written by E :)
April 5th, 2007 @ 1:31 am
Wait, hold on: You mean I’m not the only one who hears the phrase, “RUB ME” on a regular (nay, daily) basis? I knew we were interfriends for a reason. (I seriously hate that. Which doesn’t stop it from happening daily.)
Ok, now food: Well, you pretty much covered my loves (mac n’ cheese, pbj on a tortilla, etc…also love a turkey dog wrapped in a warm buttered tortilla but….this is the way of darkness, right?)
Food I WON’T eat now: Sadly, the only things I can think of are spinach quiche and beef stroganoff. Yes, really. I LOVED and would REQUEST REGULARLY from age 3 or 4 spinach quiche…I know, weird, huh? Sadly, my extreme hatred of eggs has poisoned the well of my love for quiches. I love the *idea* of them, but in practice….gag.
Beef anything I stopped eating, age 10, so no more beef stroganoff. Occasionally I make Scott order it when we’re out and eat all the mushrooms out of it. I think I just like the brown sauce and the mashed taters/pasta.
written by Maya
April 5th, 2007 @ 1:35 am
Oh. Duh. I guess I could say eggs, huh? There’s a semi-interesting story about my hatred of eggs, though: We had our own chickens when I was a kid, which we raised (yes, in the subarbs) from day-old on for eggs. They were fed on our table scraps, dandelions/worms from our yard and a little chicken meal.
From when I could walk till age 7 or 8, I would run out to their coop and collect delicious, still-warm, brown-shelled, bright orange double-yoked, extra flavorful eggs. These would be promptly washed and scrambled for my breakfast. Every bloody day.
In short, I O.D’d on eggs. One morning, they just stuck in my throat and I’ve never, ever been able to eat one in any form ever since. Every few years, I yearn for one and might even have a bite, but they sadly make me retch, no matter what state they are in.
written by Maya
April 5th, 2007 @ 1:41 am
PPS. You do know I moved to wordpress, right?
Am at: http://www.chocklate2.wordpress.com
written by Maya
April 5th, 2007 @ 1:42 am
Sometimes my mom would cook that frozen vegetable mix with carrots and limabeans. I will never buy it for myself. And I am glad to report that my mom hasn’t even bought it for the last 10 years or so, so she must have realized at some point how gross it truly was. The bologna sandwiches that she made for my school lunch always had too much mayo on them, too, so I eat mayo very sparingly now, and I have a slight aversion to bologna. But she made a mean brisket roast and mashed potatoes. Yum.
written by Sijbrich
April 5th, 2007 @ 3:21 am
Anything my mum cooks is BEAUTIFUL.
Except meatloaf. I hate meatloaf with a passion, to this day. Even the smell of it makes me feel sick.
written by alyndabear
April 5th, 2007 @ 3:42 am
I could probably live off peanutbutter and jelly on white bread and maccaroni and cheese for another 32 years.
And I think I’m developing an inferiority complex because of your husband. Works at home? frisbee and poker? Pub Trivia? So, So jealous.
written by bones
April 5th, 2007 @ 7:14 am
I love my mom’s cooking. I liked everything she made unless it had scalloped potatoes in it.
I think the things I loved eating the most were her lasagna, monterry chicken (chicken baked in doritos ), and bbq shrim which isn’t bbq’d. I’m trying to teach my daughter how to cook to pass it down.
Jef
written by Edge
April 5th, 2007 @ 7:53 am
I pretty much won’t eat anything that reminds me of my childhood. I think my entire formative years I just ate cereal, because my mom gave up on trying to make me eat Hamburger Helpers, grilled cheese (with American cheese, BARF), undrained canned vegetables fresh from the microwave, watery mashed potatoes… I could go on. I give my mother props for raising 3 kids on her own, but I will never eat a ham steak, you know, the kind sealed in plastic wrap, EVER AGAIN. Sometimes Joel holds them up and shakes them at me just to see me cringe. EEWWW.
written by Jennifer
April 5th, 2007 @ 8:04 am
In my family, it doesn’t get much better than hot dog or tomato gravy over mashed potatoes. I’m kind of glad I moved out, because if I ate these all the time, I’d be ever larger than I am. And now I have a craving for her cherry pudding.
I hear PB & J on a tortilla is better for you than on white bread.
written by JP
April 5th, 2007 @ 8:06 am
Your situation sounds exactly like JG’s summers off. I’m ready to drop when I get home and he’s all, “How was your day? Want to hear about mine? Let’s go do something! What, you’re tired? I haven’t had any human contact today!!!” Luckily for me, though, the boy loves to cook and dinners are all on him. It helps that summer is grilling season.
Foods, hmm. I have been anti PB&J for as long as I can remember, but my childhood was full of old-school recipes from my mom, the Make It From Scratch Queen. She made a mean meatloaf, beef stroganoff, and beef stew. (Did I mention that I like meat?) There was also authentic Chinese food that I have yet to replicate.
written by RA
April 5th, 2007 @ 8:53 am
i loved grilled peanut butter, and peanut butter and honey sandwiches. yum…
written by cady
April 5th, 2007 @ 8:57 am
Oh, lord! Something I used to eat all the time as I kid that I wouldn’t touch now? LIVER.
We used to have taco salad all the time, too, but Mom used bottled Ranch dressing — not homemade Thousand Island.
written by Zandria
April 5th, 2007 @ 8:59 am
Ah… my mom’s fried pork chops. And something about the way she made a simple meat sauce for spaghetti was just so. darn. good.
I love my mom
written by Kelly
April 5th, 2007 @ 9:48 am
Tim doesn’t like Mac and Cheese or Tuna Melts either. I usually crave M&C and Tuna mixed together. It’s soo good.
I grew up in a very Italian household in NYC, so we ate a lot of weird things.
As a kid I was adventurous and would eat some of the fish my grandfather brought home from one of his clients fish stores. Stuff that still had tentacles. ICK.
I can deal with things like lobster and crab, but tentacles no way jose.
Oh and PB&J on a tortilla sounds awesome.
written by Julie
April 5th, 2007 @ 9:51 am
Love: PB&J, Beef Stroganoff with bread & butter, Tuna fish sandwiches with plain chips & her homemade spaghetti w/ burnt garlic bread. The lady can cook like a mo fo but always burned the bread. I will still eat all of that.
Hate: Blogona sandwiches with ketchup (ew!), chop sewey (sp?)..that might be it.
written by beingmccrary
April 5th, 2007 @ 10:06 am
My mom made a lot of broiled marinated chicken breast with rice and vegetables. I’d say that AS and I are far more adventurous in the kitchen than she is, but that meal is still a nice standby.
When I need comforting, though, I make peanut butter toast–my dad’s specialty!!
written by Laurel
April 5th, 2007 @ 10:43 am
My favorite snack as a kid was cough syrup… I’d actually carry the bottle around and suck on the lid to try and get some of the taste. Hmmm, makes me sound like a toddling alchy - not true, I hope. Our odd-ball family favorite treat that none of the in-laws will try is bread with strawberry or rasberry jam and cheddar cheese. Yum!! (Try it, you might like it!)
written by heidikins
April 5th, 2007 @ 11:06 am
I love pb&j tortillas! Yum!
written by Janet
April 5th, 2007 @ 11:51 am
My mom would make hot dogs cut in half length wise with mashed potatoes and cheese on top. So strange! Don’t think I would ever eat that now. I tease her about that meal all the time becuase she’s quite the gourmet chef now!
written by alison
April 5th, 2007 @ 12:27 pm
I grew up on dad’s homemade spaghetti sauce w/ spaghetti noodles and sourdough bread every Sunday. They also would make Norwegian pancakes (crepes, actually) with blackberries and whipped cream on Sunday mornings. That and burritos we’d eat on Tuesdays. Mmmmmm. Those are my homey comfort foods.
Some of the foods I grew up on that I can’t stand are: tuna casserole and taglarini. Ew. Also, my mom didn’t cook this often, but one time I was sick with the flu and was napping during the day and when I woke up, the whole house reeked of sauerkrowt and sausage. Gag me!
written by Chiada
April 5th, 2007 @ 12:54 pm
Look at all of these yummy comments.
I didn’t realize my Mom wasn’t a good cook until I grew up and married into a wonderful MIL who cooks AMAZING meals for us every Sunday.
Although I do miss all the super delish BBQ’s we used to have growing up. My Mom and Dad made a mean marinated turkey breast. It wasn’t unusual to see my Dad out in the snow in December starting up the barbie!!
written by Isabel
April 5th, 2007 @ 1:09 pm
My mom’s chili is the best. Yumm. I asked for the recipe, but there really isn’t one. She just estimates how much of everything goes in. I haven’t tried to make it yet because even my mom messes it up sometimes.
I can’t think of anything I used to love that I don’t anymore. I’ll eat just about anything!
written by -R-
April 5th, 2007 @ 3:09 pm
Pretty much anything my mom makes is good and I will eat it anytime.
I also love breakfast at dinner. We used to do that every now and then- have a full breakfast at dinner time. Eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits, etc.
But I also like a good bologna and cheese sandwich now and then, along with PBJ. When we were kids and my mom would go out of town my dad would make us hot dogs that he boiled in beer. He acted like it was a big deal and we couldn’t tell mom. I found out not too long ago that she knew the whole time.
written by B
April 5th, 2007 @ 8:59 pm
The one thing I can think of that I wouldn’t eat now that I loved as a kid… processed cheese… even though we never had it at home, I loved it at school and at friends’ houses. Meals my mother made that I loved… any type of breakfast food… although we never had it at breakfast. The best was when my mom would make biscuits and we’d have warm biscuits with strawberries and whipped cream for dinner… yes…. strawberry shortcake for dinner! My mom is cooler than I ever gave her credit for!
written by Jane
April 5th, 2007 @ 9:50 pm
PBJ on a tortilla is a little, well, interesting, but PBJ is one of my childhood memory-foods. One thing that I loved as a kid was salmon and now I only like smoked salmon. Isn’t that weird? I think it’s weird for a child to LOVE salmon in the first place.
written by Lindsey
April 7th, 2007 @ 11:00 am
Let’s see… my favorite would be mac and cheese with corn mixed in. When I was at the babysitter’s house, all of us kids would always mix our mac and cheese and corn on our plates. I still like to do this. It’s such comfort food.
written by angela
April 7th, 2007 @ 4:10 pm