Weird food your mother made?

Probably a lot of you have seen this site. I always bust a gut laughing whenever I come across it.

Weight Watchers cards from the Seventies:

http://www.candyboots.com/wwcards.html

OMG, the Jellied Tomato Refresher looks like a bleeding brain with a green worm. That was a hoot. Thanks for posting.

Salmon loaf. From canned salmon with crunchy bits of bone. Put me off salmon for years.

Salmon loaf. From canned salmon with crunchy bits of bone. Put me off salmon for years.

I had completely, and I thought forever, forgot about that....(shudder!!) You may be the cause for new nightmares

Drew

Probably a lot of you have seen this site. I always bust a gut laughing whenever I come across it.

Weight Watchers cards from the Seventies:

http://www.candyboots.com/wwcards.html

I forwarded that link to Gail, since she has been doing the WW thing. Well, me too, but unofficially.

Hickory-smoked salt. Gotta be Hickory Farms.

Oh geeez, Jenise, did you have to bring this subject up? I have tried my best to repress the memories of my Mother’s cooking, but it is all coming back now. The horrors. The horrors!

My stomach churns as I recall Wednesday nights as a youth because my Mom always made MOCK CHICKEN LEGS that night of the week. To this day I have no idea what those were. Uhhhh…terrible, horribly over cooked meat of some kind masked in some sort of murky gravy. And a side of canned green beans.

Thursday night was always “global food” night. Basically my Mom’s Chicago stab at ethnic food. She was actually proud of her “Egg Foo Young”. A revolting dish comprised of egg omelet with canned water chestnuts, canned bean sprouts, canned mushrooms, tiny frozen shrimp and any other canned vegetable that could be found in the pantry. Oh, and topped off with a greasy fish sauce.

Sunday was the killer though. Not my Mom’s fault, but that was the day my Father was allowed to cook. He would roll up his sleeves and try to recreate the dishes he had in the ARMY during the 1950’s. It was literally stuff (SOAS) my Sisters and I would gag on and just be looking forward to our Mom’s over cooked cooking the next week.

A few years ago we all got together for Christmas at my parent’s house and my older Sister asked our Mom why she extremely over cooked our food when we were growing up. Mom’s response was that it was done that way to make sure the food was safe for us kids.

She ate it too and probably did not like it, but in those days Mom’s cooked the stuff to death because that was the way it was done and were overly safe.

My mom made some pretty good stuff, but she did have one thing that was weird.

She would roll ground beef into baseball sized balls, wrap them in bacon, and stick them under the broiler. Of course the outside would get very dark so that the inside was well done.

As I recall they didn't taste bad, I just didn't know anyone else who ate hamburger balls.

My family did! They were seasoned with hickory smoked salt from that terrible sausage and cheese chain that was in every mall in America for awhile (and still might be), can't think of the name, and chunks of diced white onions. I HATED THEM--hated both ground beef and onions, so these were the worst of the worst for me. And oddly we never ate actual hamburgers--with buns--NEVER, not once. And it's not like we were so formal a household, so it must have been something like my father hating them that kept mom from preparing them.

Yay! Another family that ate hamburger balls! I forgot about the onions. My mom seasoned ours with Pleasoning http://www.pleasoning.com It was a local invention. She seasoned everything with it. Even eggs.

The only times we had hamburgers they were served on white bread; never ever buns. My dad had a new business, so maybe she didn't want to splurge on buns.

The other thing that I just thought of was homemade pizza. It was always adorned with Oscar Mayer cotto salami and hot dogs. The only cheese was the stuff in the teeny tiny packet that came with the pizza kit.

Throwing out the time Mom cooked parsnips (boiling them until soft, and upon which I almost retched right there at the table), Mom amd Grandma (who's cooking I ate at least as often as Mom's) could cook quite well, in a Southern Country style. Pizza and spaghetti were Chef Boy-Ar-Dee, and Chinese was the already mentioned canned veggies over canned crispy noodles, but nothing really that jumps out at me as weird or barf-inducing. Well, the parsnips, and rutabagas (I cannot stand being in the same neighborhood if those are cooking).

OMG, the Jellied Tomato Refresher looks like a bleeding brain with a green worm. That was a hoot. Thanks for posting.

This time my favorite was the "Italian Chicken" which looks like some sort of gory murder victim -- the comments discuss a remake of "Carrie" using chickens.

Jenise, I was relieved to read that it was a discussion about Bob's Mom's peas prompting this subject vs. my Mom's peach jam chicken over Campbell's soup rice.

My mother was an excellent cook, and introduced me to a number of things that I now know most people have never eaten and might consider "weird" though I do not. I should explain that she was Scottish and only came to this country after she married my father (they first moved to Kansas where my father was from and where she was asked "when did you learn to speak English" and "how do they celebrate Thanksgiving in your country?") The first thing that came to my mind was steak and kidney pie which I haven't tasted in years and was not all that bad. I suppose one might just be able to buy a kidney these days from a farmers' market farmer though I have not tried. She stopped making them when butchers stopped having them. Also, on weekends we regularly had breakfasts featuring shad roe, and kippers (kippered herring) (not at the same time) both of which I love and have very fond memories of. It was such a great treat for me to have a kipper for breakfast when I was in England some years ago

My Mom was a great cook. The only thing she ever made that I hated was liver and onions. My Mom & Dad loved the stuff, my brother and I drenched it in ketchup and gagged it down cause you didn't get to leave the dinner table until you finished it off.

Richard

[Jenise]

My mom's always been a pretty good cook. Even when she had to throw stuff together after getting home from work, it was usually decent stuff. Once in a while, though, she'd throw a bunch of random leftovers in a pan and cook them up. These concoctions always tasted fine, but she tended to call them "swill". We kids would line up asking, "Is it swill yet?!"

My mother did something similar. She called it "Casserole Debris".

Where does one begin???

So... to answer the question... All of it.

It is because my mother was such a lousy cook that I became a good on. It was a matter of survival. As a teenager, I volunteered to cook dinner most nights.

This is pretty much my story, with one important difference: I didn't volunteer to cook dinner until I was in college. I have a theory about that: until I was in college, I literally didn't understand that food could taste good. You must have come to that understanding earlier than I, hence started cooking earlier than I did.

When I used to come home and visit my mother and stepfather from college, I would usually cook. And they would usually buy a rib roast. (Note I do not make the common mistake of calling a rib roast a "prime rib" - most are in fact choice).

I would roast mine to rare, slice off approximately 1/3 of it and return theirs to the oven for another hour or so. Kept mine warm so we could all eat together. Although , my stepfather turned away as I dredged my bread in blood.

Well first of all, you guys shouldn't 'dis' green olives stuffed with pimento!

My summer hard liquor drink is a nice old cut glass tumbler (a small one, before I have to start fielding accusations of dipsomania) I fill 2/3 up with exactly these olives, then fill with Gin that is kept in the freezer.

The olives displace a significant amount, thus reducing the alcoholic volume and increasing the healthy aspect, the green parts are vegetables (so I can say I had my veg that day) and the pimentos add a bit of variety.

On, then to the maternal kitchen. She was a fair workaday cook as was her mother. Both had a looseleaf recipe collection garnered from all over the place (I gave these to her brother when she passed on - not my sort of cooking). One memorable if slightl odd idea she had was to garnish green beans with Durkee French fried onions. This seems to have widespread attraction - you can google it and see.

I was never a fan of what I considered to be an odd combination, so did my best to sneak in early and spirit away the can of onions, to be consumed preventatively in private, and to cultivate my innocent look when the purloined can was being hunted.

The other one that we still do is a cheese rich ratatouille. And a damned good macaroni with cheese (real cheddar) and bacon on top.

Also, on weekends we regularly had breakfasts featuring shad roe, and kippers (kippered herring) (not at the same time) both of which I love and have very fond memories of.

Oh my gosh, shad roe! I used to fish the Susquehanna River (originally "Sasquesahanough") regularly with my dad and later by myself until a few years ago, (don't know why I stopped cause I still live within 15 miles of the river at the Conowingo Dam ). Put a shad dart on your fishin' line and pull a Hickory Shad in every other cast! We would keep the females for their roe and fry it up for breakfast or whenever.....really good eatin'...!

Drew

Oh my gosh, shad roe! I used to fish the Susquehanna River (originally "Sasquesahanough") regularly with my dad and later by myself until a few years ago, (don't know why I stopped cause I still live within 15 miles of the river at the Conowingo Dam ). Put a shad dart on your fishin' line and pull a Hickory Shad in every other cast! We would keep the females for their roe and fry it up for breakfast or whenever.....really good eatin'...!

Drew

Good story Drew. I kind of assume that back in those days (the fifties, early sixties) shad roe was not uncommon at fish markets since we had it regularly, but I haven't seen or heard of it in years. Perhaps I haven't been paying attention, or perhaps it's one of those things that's fallen out of fashion. Same thing with kippers.

Well first of all, you guys shouldn't 'dis' green olives stuffed with pimento!

My summer hard liquor drink is a nice old cut glass tumbler (a small one, before I have to start fielding accusations of dipsomania) I fill 2/3 up with exactly these olives, then fill with Gin that is kept in the freezer.

The olives displace a significant amount, thus reducing the alcoholic volume and increasing the healthy aspect, the green parts are vegetables (so I can say I had my veg that day) and the pimentos add a bit of variety.

Bill,

Your disclosure totally shatters my image of you as a man that only drinks first growth Bordeaux, the best Burgundies and the most expensive Northern Rhône’s.

If you like the gin/olive combination try buying some olives, pit them and stuff them with the best blue cheese you can find and put those in your gin. It’s good.

[Jenise]

Well first of all, you guys shouldn't 'dis' green olives stuffed with pimento!

My summer hard liquor drink is a nice old cut glass tumbler (a small one, before I have to start fielding accusations of dipsomania) I fill 2/3 up with exactly these olives, then fill with Gin that is kept in the freezer.

The olives displace a significant amount, thus reducing the alcoholic volume and increasing the healthy aspect, the green parts are vegetables (so I can say I had my veg that day) and the pimentos add a bit of variety.

On, then to the maternal kitchen. She was a fair workaday cook as was her mother. Both had a looseleaf recipe collection garnered from all over the place (I gave these to her brother when she passed on - not my sort of cooking). One memorable if slightl odd idea she had was to garnish green beans with Durkee French fried onions. This seems to have widespread attraction - you can google it and see.

I was never a fan of what I considered to be an odd combination, so did my best to sneak in early and spirit away the can of onions, to be consumed preventatively in private, and to cultivate my innocent look when the purloined can was being hunted.

The other one that we still do is a cheese rich ratatouille. And a damned good macaroni with cheese (real cheddar) and bacon on top.

Oh, we all know all about Green Bean Casserole though it sounds as though your mum left out the requisite mushroom soup. Had no idea this had migrated across the border. So much for Homeland Security!

Re the olives, you have found the proper use for them, though I would reccomend jalapeno or garlic stuffed over pimento.

Shad roe was one thing I remember my mother getting right.

I never see it in stores though, the season must be rather brief.

Then again I think she used to buy it in cans sometimes. ?? I'm questioning my memory here but I think that was true.

It was better fresh of course.

Tonight I tried a variant of the "Spohn Martini"

Three olives in a Martini glass, fill with decent gin straight from the freezer.

Not bad.

[Jenise]

Frank, so now to differentiate between that and other martinis, will you call it the Spohntini? Has a certain ring.

Btw, I've remembered a weird food my mom made: kidney bean salad. Kidney beans with chopped celery, and all mixed with just mayonnaise. She often served it with summer all-vegetable meals of corn on the cob, fresh tomatoes and steamed summer squash. It looked absolutely ghastly sitting there in the bowl, these purple beans floating in mayo tinted pink from the beans. Yikes.