579935 Sun Dec 14 04:20:37 -0800 2008 438 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 4245355 Looking at my mother's Xmas cookie recipe the other day, and I always get a kick out of her listing 1 cup butter (oleo) as an ingredient. I don't think I've had "oleo" in my fridge for at least 20 years, whereas my mom for either economic or "health" reasons only rarely had butter. And when I wanted to make banana bread today, the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook recipe has shortening as an ingredient, which I almost never have on hand. Mom always used it instead of veg oil to fry chicken, as well as for baking. So my list of "what Mom always had around, but I never do" includes: margarine shortening instant rice cake mix jello garlic salt celery salt onion powder Lipton tea nondairy coffee creamer canned fruit cocktail Anyone else? (Of course I have a list of what I have around that my mother never did, but that is a different subject!) Sun Dec 14 04:20:37 -0800 2008 109573 coney with everything 1 4245366 In the case of the spices, my mom still has the same jars from, like, 1962 Garlic salt Onion salt Celery salt And all sorts of spices that were so old as to be useless Freeze dried onions Parmesan cheese in a green can Artificial vanilla extract Iceberg lettuce Sachharin tablets Frozen concentrated orange juice She was definitely from the better living through chemistry generation. Sun Dec 14 04:47:12 -0800 2008 4245355 248284 taos 2 4245399 <<She was definitely from the better living through chemistry generation>> LOL, taos. Ah, those were the days... not! Ugh. Saccharin. My father used it in his coffee, so he could have pie for dessert. (Much like my girlfriends who always make sure to have in their wallets packets of Sweet 'n Lo and Splenda, which they whip out whenever we meet for "coffee and".) That Saccharin. Nasty NASA-jet-fuel stuff. Ever taste it? Sun Dec 14 05:27:43 -0800 2008 4245366 244717 Steady Habits 3 4246810 Spices and the rack possibly bought when she got married in the 70s. Including celery salt - I didn't know anyone else used it. I was not allowed to "clear out" the old stuff, so it ended up taking over shelves in the pantry! Parmalat American Cheese Tomato Sauce making trifecta - canned puree, canned paste, canned crushed Canned veggies - especially corn and peas from Publix for dad and me since she wouldn't touch the stuff Fixings for SOS in case I spent the night at a friend's house Fake syrups Pink packets of Sweet n Low Totino's Pizza Rolls or Bagel Bites Shaker of Mom-made Cinnamon Sugar Canned stuffed grape leaves International Creamers Jug of white wine - maybe opened once a year Fluff Matzo - year round but less often during passover somehow Sun Dec 14 18:48:03 -0800 2008 4245399 152043 TampaAurora 4 4314302 Celery salt! I have that - you can't make a good bloody Mary without it! Sat Jan 10 13:15:10 -0800 2009 4246810 253542 cycloneillini 5 4317166 Bloody Mary's aren't on my list of drinks. I'm glad to know it's useful to someone. Sun Jan 11 18:00:40 -0800 2009 4314302 152043 TampaAurora 5 4330739 God save the celery salt. Cycloneillini, I bet your Mary's are sensational. Mine are. Thu Jan 15 19:32:17 -0800 2009 4314302 243858 amazing grace 6 4330787 celery salt is good in tuna and potato salads. Thu Jan 15 19:59:40 -0800 2009 4330739 105717 alkapal 7 5061467 Yeah, I use celery salt in tuna and egg salad as well. Sun Sep 27 07:27:34 -0700 2009 4330787 98208 Orchid64 8 5104642 and thus, deviled eggs, natch! Thu Oct 15 05:05:12 -0700 2009 5061467 105717 alkapal 5 5144706 But now there is celery seed which can be used in all those good Bloodys, tuna, chicken, potato and egg salads - allows you to use more celery/less salt. Sat Oct 31 05:14:31 -0700 2009 4314302 40905 saycheez 2 4245401 Way back when I was kid and food got to this little rock in the Atlantic by boat pretty much everything was in cans or frozen. Even butter came in cans from NZ. We are some 600 miles off the coast of the Carolinas, but for some reason butter was shipped from the Antipodes. But I digress. In my mother's kitchen: Tins of evaporated milk Tins of Nestle's cream for trifle Canned vegetables (spinach was the absolute worst) Canned fruit Cans of corned beef from Argentina (which I found terribly exotic at the time) NZ cheddar aka 'rat cheese' Bird's custard powder Sun Dec 14 05:28:33 -0800 2008 4245366 11962 Athena 3 5192378 I had to check up where you were... According to chow you are in the Caribbean? Wed Nov 18 14:01:35 -0800 2009 4245401 154622 Paulustrious 2 4249306 Cooks Illustrated did a blind test and artificial vanilla extract rated as high or higher than the "real" kind. Icebert lettuce is my choice for BLTs and lettuce cups and also a wedge salad. Isn't celery salt used in Bloody Marys? Mon Dec 15 17:32:37 -0800 2008 4245366 131001 c oliver 3 4249346 c, please join me in a Hound movement to reinstate iceburg lettuce and frozen orange juice concentrate to their rightful places - up there with anything else given appropriate use. Mon Dec 15 17:49:52 -0800 2008 4249306 36661 Sam Fujisaka 4 4249370 At last my husband has two potential recruits for his organization, F.O.I.L. (Friends of Iceberg Lettuce) He will so happy --- he's felt really lonely for a long long time. Mon Dec 15 18:00:47 -0800 2008 4249346 137881 BerkshireTsarina 5 4261504 My husband will be a happy founding member for F.O.I.L. He uses iceberg to make Greek salad, and shredded on sandwiches. I will confess that in the summer I have been known to order a wedge of it with blue cheese dressing. Sat Dec 20 05:06:09 -0800 2008 4249370 34558 roxlet 5 4291651 Sign my dad up--you can't have a "combination salad" (as my Grandma calls a simple tossed salad) without iceberg. He actually gets grumpy if you try to sneak something "greener" in. And there's no other way to eat combination salad than with five tablespoons of Catalina dressing. Fri Jan 02 22:38:34 -0800 2009 4249370 75006 amy_rc 6 4294929 Amy, what is Catalina dressing? Sun Jan 04 11:31:58 -0800 2009 4291651 137881 BerkshireTsarina 7 4295522 It is a Kraft product-- my dad calls it French. It's thick and tangy and loaded w/ HFCS. Not good or good for you. Sun Jan 04 15:24:01 -0800 2009 4294929 75006 amy_rc 8 4295560 Thanks, Amy. I guess I'll stick to home made Thousand Island on a wedge: The Classic! (Kraft French? Ouch!) Sun Jan 04 15:38:25 -0800 2009 4295522 137881 BerkshireTsarina 8 4341998 may not be 'good' for you, but is wonderful on canteloupe and seedless green grape salad - and Iceberg should only be served with Thousand Island ! to somebody else!! Tue Jan 20 12:13:34 -0800 2009 4295522 193026 ksmith51432 9 5147356 oh man! catalina dressing with crumbled blue cheese makes any salad, even iceburg, sing. Sun Nov 01 14:05:41 -0800 2009 4341998 1108606 forstton 10 5153143 a checkout lady told me this one time. Tue Nov 03 14:28:56 -0800 2009 5147356 105717 alkapal 5 4313616 He has at least 3 now, iceberg is my favorite, hope my wife doesn't read this, she likes all the yuppie lettuces. Sat Jan 10 08:47:13 -0800 2009 4249370 12130 malibumike 6 4314311 I grew up in the midwest, and my mother always had Western salad dressing in the fridge - it was our favorite red French - similar to Catalina. I live in Texas now, and it's hard to find a restaurant that serves any type of French dressing. We have 10 differnt kinds of Ranch but no French. Every place up north still has it. Still my weakness - I love a good red French (I know that's an oxymoron for some of you) with crumbled bleu cheese. Sat Jan 10 13:19:04 -0800 2009 4313616 253542 cycloneillini 7 4315532 I'm with you. Grew up in the midwest and like that sweet french. I'll sometimes put it on a baked potato.... just because. Never really learned to love the Ranch.... but even iceburg tastes good with some French. I'm just north of you now in Oklahoma. I can usually find French on the salad bar, but it depends. My mom always had some sort of weird bastardized french/ranch/russian, heck i don't know what it was... but still has it.. martha Gooch I think is the name of it. Had some on some salad at xmas dinner. Sun Jan 11 04:45:31 -0800 2009 4314311 165021 Firegoat 8 4316716 My mother always combined half-empty jars and bottles of same-category foods. Apricot/strawberry/raspberry jam, for example. French/Thousand Island. Most of them were okay. I didn't like spinach so she smashed the boiled potato on my plate, mixed it with the spinach, and doused it with gravy. My father combined cans of paint. For a while, the asbestos shingles on the second floor of the brick-clad house were lavender-gray. Maybe that's why they kept their mouths shut during my elementary school phase when, having learned about the GI tract, I cut up all my food and mushed it together on the plate! Sun Jan 11 14:41:36 -0800 2009 4315532 159317 greygarious 9 4317174 Better than my more sensitive students who, after dissecting a chicken wing, announced they wouldn't eat chicken anymore. At last count, one wasn't eating chicken flesh 4 months later. Chicken in some variety is ever present in my kitchen. The quintessential white canvas of the kitchen. I still apologize to those moms! Emergency vegetarian recipes are always a "pleasure" to a cash and time-strapped family. Sun Jan 11 18:05:04 -0800 2009 4316716 152043 TampaAurora 10 4320768 Chicken weirded me out in my 20's. The little arms reminded me of people arms. The little legs reminded me of people legs. It took years to get over this. Mon Jan 12 20:31:40 -0800 2009 4317174 189528 Whosyerkitty 11 4320878 Hahaha. I had a few boys in the class who kept parroting a line from an animated movie - a T-Rex complains "I have a big head and little arms." Between them and the kid who snuck out a bone (everything was soaked in bleach before even coming to school) to show his old teacher down the hall who was known for her her no-nonsense style. Getting kids to understand what they consume and their impact on the world was one of the great perks of teaching. Mon Jan 12 21:35:36 -0800 2009 4320768 152043 TampaAurora 12 4322833 Ah, yes. But I know that movie, and it's a great movie. Tue Jan 13 12:47:54 -0800 2009 4320878 189528 Whosyerkitty 10 4331977 I didn't eat chicken after dissecting it in 7th because of the smell--they must have left those out unrefrigerated for who knows how long. It also coincided with the release of Angel Heart and adolescence. By the time I hit 25, I was eating everything again, including frog legs, which look like Barbie legs. :) Fri Jan 16 09:26:57 -0800 2009 4317174 224238 Caralien 9 4357857 It's great that your mother and father found each other. Mon Jan 26 05:14:26 -0800 2009 4316716 155855 MARISKANY 8 4405880 OMG I love Martha Gooch french dressing! I haven't had that for years. Definitely can't buy that in Texas. Tue Feb 10 19:06:55 -0800 2009 4315532 253542 cycloneillini 9 5043566 I just had some Martha Gooch last time i went up to Kansas and saw mom! Sun Sep 20 08:07:52 -0700 2009 4405880 165021 Firegoat 10 5099560 If I ever run across "Martha Gooch" dressing, I'll buy some on the strength of the name alone. It's one of those names that evokes a time, a place and a long-lost way of life: Scarlett O'Hara. Toulouse-Lautrec. F. Scott Fitzgerald. Martha Gooch. Tue Oct 13 09:08:38 -0700 2009 5043566 1102097 mandycat 4 4249374 Only if we get cool tee shirts - or maybe tatoos?!? I grew up in Atlanta in the 50s/60s and I'm sure iceberg was our only choice in lettuce. But just because our mothers (or fathers) used it, doesn't make it bad. Now that canned spinach she served.... :( Mon Dec 15 18:04:13 -0800 2008 4249346 131001 c oliver 5 4250196 DO says No to tattoos --- he's considering baseball caps. Canned spinach, wow, I haven't thought about that in years. Repulsive! I don't think my mom did that. Or not much. Or I'm blocking --- Tue Dec 16 05:50:00 -0800 2008 4249374 137881 BerkshireTsarina 6 4250516 After "cooking" the canned spinach, it then went on a plate with sliced hard-boiled egg!!! I think that was 50s gourmet in the south perhaps :) Tue Dec 16 07:53:49 -0800 2008 4250196 131001 c oliver 7 4250653 Perhaps. Sort of "Fifties Florentine"? In the 50s (and 40s) in the north gourmet spinach was the creamed variety at Horn & Hardart's Automat. In truth, I could still go for that, too bad there are no Automats left. Did you ever know of them, or perhaps even go to one? There's some retro stuff that would still find a welcome today --- mac 'n cheese, baked beans, apple pie. Course it would no longer cost a few nickels ----- (sigh) Tue Dec 16 08:38:43 -0800 2008 4250516 137881 BerkshireTsarina 8 4260373 Ooh - the Automat!!!! H & H had a restaurant in Yonkers - Cross County. For special treats my mother would buy their Boston Cream Pie and rice pudding. The Automats were more fun, though. Less work for mother..... Fri Dec 19 13:54:55 -0800 2008 4250653 11146 EllenMM 9 4260575 Less work for mother.. just lend her a hand... Commercials of yesteryear. And the Automat rice pudding--- YES YES YES Fri Dec 19 14:57:18 -0800 2008 4260373 137881 BerkshireTsarina 5 4270109 I like canned spinach, just heated through and not swimming in juice, with or without HB egg and/or a dribble of vinegar (Tabasco, nowadays). I don't think of it as SPINACH, but as an item all its own. Canned peas I have little use for, and canned green beans are disgusting unless re-cooked with plenty of bacon and onion. Corn, on the other hand, is to my taste improved by canning. Iceberg lettuce: I think I've mentioned this here before, but I once read a piece by James Beard in which he said that if iceberg lettuce were hard to grow, hard to ship and expensive, then it would be the darling of every gourmet and food snob. Tue Dec 23 17:34:36 -0800 2008 4249374 11478 Will Owen 4 4294885 Right, Sam, good iceberg is sweet and crunchy and delightful in its own right. I hate reconstituted frozen OJ, but in its concentrated form it's quite a palate-waker-upper, esecially mixed 50-50 with vodka or tequila. :^) Sun Jan 04 11:15:45 -0800 2009 4249346 105625 EWSflash 4 4315233 Iceburg sliced into wedges and served under a pouring of bright orange "french" dressing a Just So Incredibly Tasty. One very nice thing about frozen orange juice concentrate is that you can open the container and leave it in the freezer and make oj one glass at a time over several weeks. Or open oj plus a couple of other flavors and mix-n-match lemon-orange-berry, pineapple-orange, etc. Sat Jan 10 20:44:25 -0800 2009 4249346 25310 Chuckles the Clone 5 5050168 or the quintessential iceberg wedge salad.... topped with diced tomato, bacon, blue cheese crumbles, and blue cheese dressing. I can't help but love it! Tue Sep 22 14:49:06 -0700 2009 4315233 264146 kubasd 3 4261193 I cannot eat braunschweiger without iceberg lettuce, white bread, mayo and onion. Mainly it is the iceberg. Plus there is "lettuce alone" joke. Fri Dec 19 19:57:32 -0800 2008 4249306 137755 Sal Vanilla 4 4270119 Funny - I hated HB eggs when I was a child, unless they were buried in potato salad, and then one day my grandpa Kuntz made me a sandwich of braunschweiger, swiss cheese and sliced egg, dotted with plenty of mayonnaise. He must've known something about my taste that I didn't, but I almost swooned with delight, and to this day it is my perfect sandwich. Tue Dec 23 17:38:24 -0800 2008 4261193 11478 Will Owen 5 4270254 braunschweiger? Tue Dec 23 18:55:33 -0800 2008 4270119 11231 Glencora 6 4270325 Yum! Smoked liverwurst. We have a roll of Nueske's in the fridge that we've been working on, and I must say that it's mighty tasty. Tue Dec 23 19:33:28 -0800 2008 4270254 11995 pikawicca 7 4274489 Ours was always Oscar Mayer - I didn't know anyone else even made it for many years. Can't have it very often these days, but every so often I'll indulge. Grilled liverwurst and cheese is another guilty pleasure, first discovered at a drugstore lunch counter in Anchorage, Alaska - talk about exotic cuisine! Fri Dec 26 14:03:38 -0800 2008 4270325 11478 Will Owen 8 5090019 My parents still eat Braunschweiger, unashamedly! Thu Oct 08 20:09:29 -0700 2009 4274489 45208 somervilleoldtimer 9 5090274 Oh, man, Braunschweiger on french toast w/ Maple syrup for breakfast. Our childhood treat, now my kids love it! Thu Oct 08 23:18:32 -0700 2009 5090019 93538 Passadumkeg 10 5168725 Whoa -- Braunschweiger with maple syrup? It will take a little while to get my head around that, I fear. On the other hand, it's not such a distant journey from my favorites of breakfast sausage with syrup, or bacon with grape jelly on the last piece of toast, so who am I to be critical! Mon Nov 09 17:50:06 -0800 2009 5090274 45208 somervilleoldtimer 3 4310702 I bought the imitation after reading that. I do not think I have all that discerning a palate, but to me the artificial tasted awful - I used it in oatmeal cookies - and although I HATE wasting food, I threw it out. Fri Jan 09 08:40:16 -0800 2009 4249306 159317 greygarious 1 4245394 Defintely shortening, coney, just as with your mother, and I'd say, canned soups and bacon. The only other thing I can think of is ice cream. She always had a couple of flavors in the freezer; we hardly ever buy it for the house. (We solve urges by going out to an ice cream place and treating ourselves to something truly shocking.) My pantry is definitely better stocked than my mother's, with a wider array of goods from far away places, which I think reflects the difference in our generations and how certain ingredients that weren't available to her peers are now staples for us. Because there's really not a significant difference in the way my mother liked to cook and the way I like to cook. It's more about *what* we're able to apply our methods and food philosophies to--e.g., today's accessibility to ingredients from all over the world, and a wider array at our grocery stores. Sun Dec 14 05:22:56 -0800 2008 4245355 244717 Steady Habits 2 4245494 Really? I couldn't live without Crisco. She taught me to bake, and her pie crust with Crisco is the best. What she had, though? Morton's pies (don't buy them because they have been shrunk), somebody's frozen pot pies (don't buy them because they have been shrunk), Swanson tv dinners and Rice a Roni, just yuk on the last two. Otherwise, I pretty much follow her branding theme, if the brands haven't shrunk their goods and left the same price or raised it. Sun Dec 14 06:43:28 -0800 2008 4245394 11104 dolores 3 4245566 Shortening pie crusts and I knock heads, dolores. I can't make them worth a fig. (Well, now, every now and then, one might turn out well, but that's by random accident, not due to anything I happened to do right.) This despite everybody's efforts to give me hands-on lessons. But I do pates very well--pate sucree, pate sable, pate brisee and, if you happen to be in the mood for an eclair, yes, pate a choux. I wish it weren't so, because, if nothing else, I love American pot pies, and I would love to be able to make a decent, shortening based crust for that. But I've accepted that I'm not going to win a blue ribbon, or red, or puce, or any color, for my pie crusts, so I rarely have Crisco here. Sun Dec 14 07:39:34 -0800 2008 4245494 244717 Steady Habits 4 4245685 Turnabout is fair play, Steady Habits. Pate a choux scares me. I can make it, but it never comes as high as I'd like. And still, I love baking more than cooking. Sun Dec 14 08:49:52 -0800 2008 4245566 11104 dolores 3 4249315 Rice a roni is one of my comfort foods :) 'Course I fix it with some sauteed red onions, capers and cheese at the end on top. But I always have a box on hand. Mon Dec 15 17:35:08 -0800 2008 4245494 131001 c oliver 2 4342754 Slightly off topic - but the ice cream reminded me of the Albert Brooks, Debbie Reynolds movie where the mom (Debbie Reynolds) had the ice cream with the "protective layer of ice crystals" on it. Tue Jan 20 16:45:24 -0800 2009 4245394 223367 nvcook 3 4343225 "Mother" was the name of the movie the frozen salad. on trips home I assume the role of cleaning out the rancid, freezer burned and pointless bits from the fridge and cabinet after they're asleep. I leave the old spices as 1. they won't use them and 2. if they do they want them flavorless anyway. Tue Jan 20 19:48:04 -0800 2009 4342754 163722 hill food 4 4343940 hill food - do your folks even notice that you have tossed the food-stuff? lol Wed Jan 21 06:50:53 -0800 2009 4343225 255706 lifespan 5 4357496 not that I'm aware of, as a test I left the opened pickled herring for a while - that went 3 years and a house move. before I axed it. It was probably still fine (just more pungent), but.... when a good sized fridge is SO packed that 12 things need to come out in order to reach a small thing wrapped in foil at the back... thank god they don't like cats or they'd be a special episode on Animal Planet. Sun Jan 25 20:59:08 -0800 2009 4343940 163722 hill food 6 4357600 that's too funny. Sun Jan 25 22:12:21 -0800 2009 4357496 255706 lifespan 4 5103614 And the frozen hunk of cheese she uses an electric knife to cut! Wed Oct 14 16:22:11 -0700 2009 4343225 186821 16crab 1 4245548 A can or two of fiskeboller (Norwegian fish balls). Definitely, not my thing then or now. http://www.nrk.no/contentfile/file/1.1683070!img1683002.jpg Sun Dec 14 07:24:29 -0800 2008 4245355 65804 grampart 2 4246692 Fiskeboller er den beste! I used to have cans on hand bought at the fish packing plant until Bumble Bee bought the company and no more fish balls. I wrapped a can once for a high school Christmas grab bag and the kids all knew it was mine. Go figure. Sun Dec 14 17:45:13 -0800 2008 4245548 93538 Passadumkeg 1 4245587 American cheese (or Velveeta - yuck) powdered garlic (never had fresh as a kid) Here's the big one for me that probably nobody else will mention: FLOUR. I have no interest in baking and flour makes such a mess that I don't keep it around. Sun Dec 14 07:52:11 -0800 2008 4245355 76025 mojoeater 2 4245986 No FLOUR!!?? Poor mojo...you'll never know the joy of roux! Or making a "bound breading" (flour, egg and breadcrumbs or panko) for cutlets. Couldn't get by without my happy red sack of King Arthur AP flour. Adam Sun Dec 14 11:34:01 -0800 2008 4245587 154787 adamshoe 3 4246407 I can make a roux. I just borrow a tiny bit of flour from a friend. No need for a full bag! Sun Dec 14 15:41:48 -0800 2008 4245986 76025 mojoeater 4 4310739 You should keep a canister of Wondra flour in the cabinet. It is "instantized" so it pours neatly and dissolves smoothly, making it perfect for roux and for thickening in liquids and cooked fruit. Fri Jan 09 08:49:19 -0800 2009 4246407 159317 greygarious 5 5042906 My MIL always kept (still does) a canister of AP above the stove and kept a tea strainer inside for making gravy. Her method: Pull the turkey (or whatever) out of the roasting pan, put the pan across two burners, whisk in the flour, and serve. Sat Sep 19 18:21:46 -0700 2009 4310739 274906 MissMichal 1 4245916 The funny thing about my parents is that they were stuck halfway between the post-war love of convenience food and an interest in crunchy, hippie food -- so my list would include Bisquick AND nutritional yeast; garlic salt and onion powder AND granola and wheat germ. A few more: frozen peas, corn and carrots. (They grew up eating canned.) evaporated milk for their instant coffee or postum jugs of white wine fake pancake syrup and margarine to go on the Bisquick pancakes Sun Dec 14 10:41:59 -0800 2008 4245355 11231 Glencora 2 4245930 Lipton Noodle soup with chicken Cheez-Whiz with saltines canned green beans lard a jar of cinnamon sugar Wonder bread I remember the canned beans having a horrible consistency - somewhere between wax and much. The lard was for making donuts. Cinnamon toast and noodle soup were constants. Sun Dec 14 10:52:46 -0800 2008 4245916 10257 catzen 3 4246186 Canned green beans in Mom's pantry, but not in mine. Blecch! Sun Dec 14 13:38:05 -0800 2008 4245930 11995 pikawicca 4 4246253 My mom always had the canned green beans too but she also always had a saucer of bacon grease to season them and everything else with. Bacon grease sat on the counter by the stove always. Sun Dec 14 14:21:11 -0800 2008 4246186 240293 Lewes17266 1 4245935 -Alfalfa sprouts which she grew in a mason jar covered with a sock -shortening -International Coffee mixes -Shredded Wheat -Cream of Wheat -canned fruit -Mcintosh apples -Wine in a jug -frozen oj & grape juices -evaporated milk Sun Dec 14 10:59:30 -0800 2008 4245355 71241 lynnlato 2 4246112 Oh yes, my mom did sprouts, too. Sun Dec 14 12:52:58 -0800 2008 4245935 11231 Glencora 2 4289141 Oh yes, International Coffee mixes! I thought those were so glamorous as a kid! We always had Jell-O, and Jello-O pudding in the house. The pudding was the kind you cook, not instant. I remember my mom spending a lot of time at the stove stirring pudding. Fri Jan 02 00:31:41 -0800 2009 4245935 74556 manraysky 3 4291048 Oh that is so funny about International Coffee mixes! My friends & I thought we were so "worldly".... I can't even tolerate the sugar level now...but then...well we were hot sh*t. Fri Jan 02 17:23:41 -0800 2009 4289141 36312 HillJ 4 4291521 Little square cans with the round metal lid like cocoa! I bought a can of International Coffee in a red, white and blue container. Forget what the flavor was called. I tasted okay, but the artificial creamer in it gave me what felt like terminal indigestion! That made the can last about three years before I finally threw it out. Fri Jan 02 21:09:30 -0800 2009 4291048 112096 Caroline1 5 4341966 haha. i went though this too. as a kid this stuff was the top of the line...i bought a can a few years back for nostalgia and ended up using it as a fake creamer added to my own coffee. wasn't half bad. Tue Jan 20 12:03:02 -0800 2009 4291521 57801 lollya 6 4354857 This is still what my parents drink! Suisse Mocha all the way! Unless my husband, who works for a coffee company, sends dad a free half-pound of Kona. Then he drinks the real stuff...;) Sat Jan 24 18:58:12 -0800 2009 4341966 19626 thursday 4 5144601 my friend's mother has a biscotti recipe that uses this, and they are oddly tasty. Fri Oct 30 23:39:58 -0700 2009 4291048 86221 lulubelle 1 4246007 Stork margarine Tinned hotdog sausages That's about it. The main difference between my mother's house and mine is that my cupboards and fridge are always filled to bursting, while hers are half empty. Sun Dec 14 11:43:44 -0800 2008 4245355 110146 greedygirl 2 4265868 Thats the only difference here too.Mine are filled; hers have what seems like nothing yet she can always pull a meal together. She actually told me when she visited last week that I have enough food for a year!...AND i WAS THINKING i NEED TO RUN TO THE STORE.lol! Mon Dec 22 08:39:54 -0800 2008 4246007 11854 LaLa 1 4246055 I take it you mean besides an extra $20 (or in your case, 20 quid)? She always seem to be able to come through in a pinch. On a food level, She always had some Tang around in case we ran out of Orange juice. You might not be familiar with it as it was something NASA invented for astronauts to drink. Semi healthy powder, somewhat nasty taste. The other thing was a can of pressurized cheese just in case we had unexpected visitors for drinks. Sun Dec 14 12:05:44 -0800 2008 4245355 204342 FriedClamFanatic 2 4246149 NASA didn't invent Tang. NASA sent it on some of its Gemini flights. It was created by General Foods. Apart from vitamin C and a bit of calcium, no particularly redeeming nutritional value to speak of. That said, it's always in our house because it helps my wife feel better when she is sick. Sun Dec 14 13:14:11 -0800 2008 4246055 80141 ccbweb 3 4319117 it was not General Foods that developed Tang but the home-ech department at Texas Womans University Mon Jan 12 11:47:59 -0800 2009 4246149 252805 miss margie 4 4320385 While it pre-dates Sputnik, it didn't come from Denton either: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200411/steyn Mon Jan 12 18:04:48 -0800 2009 4319117 25310 Chuckles the Clone 3 4323359 I remember when Tang was first introduced to the public. I bought some. I mixed a glass of it. I tasted it. I poured it down the drain and thought, "Well, if I was way way way up there far from earth, it might taste better, but while I'm here on terra firma, I'll stick with fresh squoze oranges! " And I have. Pretty much. Well.... Is frozen OJ freshly squeezed?" Surely it must be at some point! '-) Tue Jan 13 15:05:58 -0800 2009 4246149 112096 Caroline1 4 4325738 when i was in college i'd drink "tanq&tang"s how ghetto is that?!? LOL ;-P Wed Jan 14 10:33:51 -0800 2009 4323359 46030 soupkitten 4 4354509 Try mixing it up double strength- tastes much better. Sat Jan 24 15:51:35 -0800 2009 4323359 105625 EWSflash 5 4354539 LOL! Either twice as good or twice as bad.... '-) Sat Jan 24 16:06:14 -0800 2009 4354509 112096 Caroline1 2 4291419 My dad keeps Diet Tang on hand. He likes to drink a 50/50 mixture of Diet Tang and OJ instead of straight OJ to cut calories Fri Jan 02 20:15:48 -0800 2009 4246055 86005 amethiste 3 5090028 When I was growing up, for a while we made a kind of instant "tea" out of Tang. There was a recipe floating around; Tang, cinnamon, cloves, etc., and then you mixed it into hot water and drank it. Kind of a Tang hot toddy. Thu Oct 08 20:12:54 -0700 2009 4291419 45208 somervilleoldtimer 4 5095756 We had that. I think we called it Russian Tea....might have had iced tea mix in it? My mom always kept it mixed up in one of her orange Tupperware containers ;-) Sun Oct 11 16:49:56 -0700 2009 5090028 156502 jessleigh 5 5144602 The kind my mother made had Lipton's Lemon Iced Tea mix as well as Tang and a bunch of spices. I remember it as being wonderful, although I am sure I would gag if I had it now. Fri Oct 30 23:42:03 -0700 2009 5095756 86221 lulubelle 5 5146892 my mom also calls this Russian Tea, must have made the rounds of Better Homes and Good Housekeeping in the early 70's. Sun Nov 01 10:11:49 -0800 2009 5095756 163722 hill food 6 5153151 YES!!! russian tea. remember how one would get it as a holiday "present" and then one wouldn't drink it, and then one would find it a year later hard as a rock, and then one would think "well, maybe i'll want it someday..."? Tue Nov 03 14:30:42 -0800 2009 5146892 105717 alkapal 5 5168730 Yes! It DID have iced tea mix in it! Thanks -- I couldn't figure out what was missing. Mon Nov 09 17:51:16 -0800 2009 5095756 45208 somervilleoldtimer 4 5134088 yes! we made this at school when I was little. it was tolerable, but not great. Tue Oct 27 07:15:00 -0700 2009 5090028 150094 ChristinaMason 5 5144581 What Tang IS good for: Cleaning your dishwasher. Really. Just fill the detergent cup with Tang and run it through a cycle. Nice shiny un-gunked dishwasher. It also works on toilets, sprinkle it all over the inside of the bowl, after you make sure the bowl is damp all over, let sit overnight and scrub with the brush. It removes the mineral build-up if you have hard water. I wouldn't put it in my body though! Fri Oct 30 22:53:40 -0700 2009 5134088 191827 FibroLady 6 5146896 interesting. anyone told the marketing whizzes at Kraft? Sun Nov 01 10:13:22 -0800 2009 5144581 163722 hill food 7 5153155 citric acid, fine. tang, however, is a little pricey to clean my toilet. ~~~ ps. good one -- hill food -- on the marketing *whizzes." Tue Nov 03 14:31:53 -0800 2009 5146896 105717 alkapal 1 4246185 Every manner of fruit and vegetable that came in a can. Cool whip, Fluff, pop tarts. Pot cheese, farmers cheese. Real american cheese - not cheese food. Kraft grated parmesan cheese. Saccharin sprinkled on a half of grapefruit. Chicken fat with rendered onions. Frozen waffles. Frosted flakes. Sun Dec 14 13:36:51 -0800 2008 4245355 139527 GodfatherofLunch 2 4246239 Your mom was way cooler than mine, GFL. At least to my then 11 yr old mind. I used to go to friend's houses and pillage through their pantries in search of junk food. If I found Hawiian Punch I was giddy! My mom wouldn't allow the stuff in the house. Sun Dec 14 14:13:37 -0800 2008 4246185 71241 lynnlato 3 4246288 I forgot about Hawaiian Punch. We also always those cool old seltzer bottles. Sun Dec 14 14:44:27 -0800 2008 4246239 139527 GodfatherofLunch 1 4246260 Dried Parsley. Canned mushrooms. Both of which I consider crimes against food. Sun Dec 14 14:26:57 -0800 2008 4245355 116513 linguafood 2 4246414 Back in the day, it was either canned mushrooms, or no mushrooms. Sun Dec 14 15:46:10 -0800 2008 4246260 11995 pikawicca 3 4246455 Really? No fresh 'shrooms in Germany in the 70s? Well, perhaps not. Obviously, I wasn't doing the shopping as a kid, so you might be right '-) Sun Dec 14 16:06:40 -0800 2008 4246414 116513 linguafood 3 4294382 Exactly what I was thinking........little cans of "B in B" mushrooms (I think it meant broiled in butter) but generally tasteless Sun Jan 04 07:31:48 -0800 2009 4246414 12296 steakman55 1 4246267 My list is much like yours, coney. The margerine, jello, Lipton, and such, but also the tin of ground black pepper, the green can of "sprinkle cheese," perch, cube steak, ground beef, potato chips. And about the green can of "sprinkle cheese"-- I had no idea Parmesan was good until I bought a wedge after I moved out. That was 13 years ago, and I still can't get enough of it. Sun Dec 14 14:31:06 -0800 2008 4245355 166787 beth1 2 5046127 So weird! My mom called this "sprinkle cheese" as well! Mon Sep 21 10:01:59 -0700 2009 4246267 155466 canadianbeaver 1 4246364 For some reason Mom had a jones for Strawberry Quik mix..still never got the story on that one. Kraft yellow American "cheese" singles Whipped butter Cadbury chocolate bars (which she "hid" in the back of the frig) Sun Dec 14 15:19:08 -0800 2008 4245355 36312 HillJ 2 4246607 We always had PDQ chocolate milk mix (Pretty Darn Quick). It was little freeze-dried chocolate flavored crystals. It was the ONLY chocolate milk I would drink and I was obsessed w/ chocolate milk. I used to pour chocolate milk on my blanket and smell it as I drifted off to sleep. I know, it's disgusting and to this day I don't understand why I did it. :) Sun Dec 14 17:09:24 -0800 2008 4246364 71241 lynnlato 3 4246913 lynnlato, I'm sharing your chocolate milk memory with Mom later in the week...maybe it will help coax the Strawberry Quik story out... ;) Sun Dec 14 19:32:02 -0800 2008 4246607 36312 HillJ 4 4247336 Ha! Well, please report back on what you manage to get out of her. Inquiring minds wanna know! :) Mon Dec 15 03:53:50 -0800 2008 4246913 71241 lynnlato 5 4249527 Actually my younger sister just cleared up the mystery of Strawberry Quik. Our mom was a 45 year at the same job working mom with little time and a constant to do list in her head. Her idea of a quick lunch was often a milkshake and a banana. Sometimes the banana went into the milkshake. I do remember her bringing a blender to the office....according to my sister, Mom got bored with plain shakes and started adding Strawberry Quik to the mixture. That answers alot for me; especially how she managed to stay so strong her whole life; calcium. Mon Dec 15 19:02:43 -0800 2008 4247336 36312 HillJ 6 4250045 Wow! I'm duly impressed. That was actually kind of chowish of her. Yea mom! Who else is whipping up milkshakes in the office? See, many things have a rational explanation. :) Tue Dec 16 03:34:14 -0800 2008 4249527 71241 lynnlato 7 4250186 I forgot to mention that Strawberry Quik by the spoonful was more frugal than Carnation Instant Breakfast by the packful...and that would also be very "MOM" of our mother. Tue Dec 16 05:45:41 -0800 2008 4250045 36312 HillJ 8 4255929 I'm dating myself, but I remember when Strawberry Quik was introduced at some national Boy Scout Jamboree in Idaho. It seemed very exciting at the time, even to a Webelo. Thu Dec 18 01:10:00 -0800 2008 4250186 10702 condiment 9 4256042 That is too funny...and since I have two brothers...who were Scouts....I'm wondering if my Mother was introduced to Strawberry Quik thru some national "leader" speak.....funny. Thu Dec 18 04:41:41 -0800 2008 4255929 36312 HillJ 10 5090029 Remember Banana Quik? Thu Oct 08 20:14:13 -0700 2009 4256042 45208 somervilleoldtimer 3 4250168 My God, I had completely forgotten about the existence of PDQ! We had that sometimes too...but with 4 kids and one (enlisted military) income it was a rare treat. I'd have to add Kraft Parmesan and sliced cheese food to my original list too! Tue Dec 16 05:30:27 -0800 2008 4246607 109573 coney with everything 4 4251924 oh! oh! oh! How could I forget my mother's favorite cheese? Kraft Parmesan Cheese in the round green container with the shaker top! She used it on everything. It was her favorite TACO cheese! See? I've told you all I had a thwarted and depraved childhood! Tue Dec 16 15:25:10 -0800 2008 4250168 112096 Caroline1 2 4247139 I'd like your mom's story about the Strawberry Quik. As a child, I always had regular Quik. One afternoon, visiting my aunt & uncle, Uncle George said he had somethihng I was going to love. He came back with a juice glass of Strawberry Quik in milk. It was the weirdest thing I'd ever tasted. I could not finish it then; I never wanted to see it again. I was 5 years old. I can never forget the incident. Sun Dec 14 21:45:26 -0800 2008 4246364 196419 Kate is always hungry 2 4319149 My mother didn't hide chocolate she kept them and coke in the "ice box" for all of us to have when ever we or our friends wanted. She also always had ice cream and chips on hand. She eats like that all the time she is over 90 and it seems to work for her. Mon Jan 12 11:54:53 -0800 2009 4246364 252805 miss margie 3 4329578 While catching up with my Mom this week we were giggling like crazy over Strawberry Quik, Cadbury chocolate squares and one I complete forgot....her coffee can hording. Mom use to buy cans of Maxwell House coffee. She couldn't resist the sales. She would never have dreamed of buying BEANS...and still believes I could be more frugal in my own coffee drinking...if I would switch to canned coffee. Ha! Thu Jan 15 12:37:16 -0800 2009 4319149 36312 HillJ 1 4246385 That big, cylindrical box of dried Quaker oat meal. When I could smell cookies in the oven, I always hoped for chocolate chip, but usually is was oatmeal cookies with raisins. I appreciate them more now. Sun Dec 14 15:32:50 -0800 2008 4245355 57170 Veggo 1 4246612 Margarine and canned white peaches for my father. He was an addict. Sun Dec 14 17:11:24 -0800 2008 4245355 112096 Caroline1 1 4246709 Mom was a good cook and as 1st generation American, not a lot of commercial American crap. Two things she frequently had on hand were ring boloney and veal roasts. Ring baloney doesn't exist in Maine and I can't afford veal roasts. We just cleaned out her house and she still had lots of good grub. Sun Dec 14 17:53:58 -0800 2008 4245355 93538 Passadumkeg 2 5098633 ring baloney-- is it like kielbasa? Mon Oct 12 20:21:04 -0700 2009 4246709 46030 soupkitten 2 5144603 Are you from Michigan? That's the only place I've ever seen ring baloney. Fri Oct 30 23:44:34 -0700 2009 4246709 86221 lulubelle 3 5144854 They have it in Iowa too. Must relate to German immigration patterns? Sat Oct 31 07:31:44 -0700 2009 5144603 13709 buttertart 4 5171473 Not just ring baloney, but PICKLED ring baloney! Loved it as a kid and yes, I'm from Michigan. Another related item: Mom used to hook her metal meat grinder to the side of the pull out wooden chopping board to make ground baloney - ground baloney sandwiches anyone?! Tue Nov 10 18:10:59 -0800 2009 5144854 1123402 PJFla 5 5172004 ground baloney, huh? i'm picturing that..... just like paté, i'm sure. ;-)). Wed Nov 11 00:10:31 -0800 2009 5171473 105717 alkapal 5 5172359 Nope, that must be MI only. They make pickled ham in the Amanas in Iowa - it's great, (as I make it) just cooked cubed ham with rings of white onion and black pepper to taste soaked in a mixture of 3 parts white vinegar to 1 part water to cover. A tasty way to use up the sempiternal ham leftovers. Wed Nov 11 06:46:38 -0800 2009 5171473 13709 buttertart 6 5173705 sempiternal. what a beautifully apt word! it's rare that i see a new word to me, but that one is brilliant. wasn't it dorothy parker who quipped that the definition of eternity was two people and a ham? maybe? or "nope", it was irma rombauer in the joy of cooking, http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/eternity_is_a_ham_and_two_people_irma_rombauer_dorothy_parker/ Wed Nov 11 14:08:16 -0800 2009 5172359 105717 alkapal 7 5191745 I love that quote, also "She was a good cook, as good cooks go, and as good cooks go, she went." (Saki, also quoted in JoC.) Do try the pickled ham, it's tasty. Wed Nov 18 10:26:39 -0800 2009 5173705 13709 buttertart 8 5193589 how is the pickled ham served? on noodles? just plain? my mom used leftover ham by putting a large, 1/3-1/2 inch thick slice in a cast iron skillet, adding grits and water for the grits, covering and simmering till grits are done. sometimes i'll buy a ham slice just for this purpose. that's simple country cookin'. Thu Nov 19 05:19:44 -0800 2009 5191745 105717 alkapal 9 5193696 We first saw it as a cold appetizer before BIG meat and potatoes dinners at restaurants in the Amana Colonies in eastern IA, served family-style, with a big bowl of cottage cheese (they have super cottage cheese in IA) doctored up with some buttermilk, s&p, and chopped green onion. We make the appetizer a meal at our place during warm weather, with homemade biscuits. (The meals at the Amana Colonies restaurants are great, big bowls of delicious sauerkraut, German fried potatoes, smoked pork chops, fried chicken, sausages, the whole nine yards. Favorite restaurant was the Ronneburg, haven't been there in a good long while though. Just off I80 a bit in a beautiful part of IA if you're ever out that way.) Thu Nov 19 06:04:01 -0800 2009 5193589 13709 buttertart 10 5193787 pickled ham, cottage cheese with buttermilk, and green onions. that is an interesting combination of ingredients. to learn more about this food combo,i am reading about the amana colonies. quite interesting. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amana_Colonies germany/switzerland is the ethnographic origin of that food combo, right? is that still the way food is in germany, anyone? in general, it seems germans like "sour" food. i wonder if they like "sour" more than any other groups. ~~~~ and i'd love to try fresh cottage cheese. Thu Nov 19 06:45:48 -0800 2009 5193696 105717 alkapal 11 5194013 Yes, I haven't gotten into the history of the Amanas a lot but there is a lot of German (and Czech) settlement in that part of the Midwest. Btw husb is German-Irish, the classic combo, stubbborn as all get-out (in a good way, of course). Sour does seem to be more valued in German food than a lot of other cuisines. Thu Nov 19 08:07:55 -0800 2009 5193787 13709 buttertart 5 5175222 I love pickled baloney ring! I'm gonna have to put in an order with my friends when I am home over Christmas. Thu Nov 12 06:53:45 -0800 2009 5171473 86221 lulubelle 1 4246711 jarred minced garlic (though I can see where this would come in handy) margarine cream of everything soup american cheese singles (my siblings love eating them, I hate them!) She still makes the best gumbo and red beans & rice I've ever had, though. Sun Dec 14 17:54:26 -0800 2008 4245355 144298 Erinmck 2 5134099 would love if you'd share those gumbo and rb&r recipes! Tue Oct 27 07:18:52 -0700 2009 4246711 150094 ChristinaMason 1 4246723 margarine, butter was pretty much a no go in our house growing up, as margarine was considered much healthier... Powdered milk: that is all we drank. (Shudder). And one I actually really like: Peanut butter. There was always peanut butter in the house growing up. I remember living on pbj sandwiches for two weeks when we were making a cross country move. To this day I am not sure if my mother was just trying to keep the cupboards cleaned out, or if money was tight with the costs of the move. (or both). As I say, I love peanut butter. Unfortunately, hubby has a serious addiction to it, as in once he starts eating it he has a hard time stopping, and he really doesn't need the calories...so I've just stopped buying it. well, officially, anyway. I will admit that I did keep a jar well-hidden in a place I would never admit to on a public forum... :-) and, for similar reasons, only with this one I am the one who can't stop eating it when it is in the house, so I don't keep it, ice cream. My mother always had ice cream in the freezer.... (well, actually, no, I take that back: she always had ice milk in the freezer; that health thing again). So of course, what was my favorite dessert as a child? Stir a few tablespoons of maple syrup into peanut butter, spoon the entire thing over vanilla ice cream (or ice milk). Yum! The grownups liked it too, with the addition of a shot of Kahlua. Sun Dec 14 18:01:38 -0800 2008 4245355 10158 susancinsf 2 4247302 Funny, those two are my addictions too, susancinsf. I had forgotten about the ice milk -- who the heck thought up that abomination? -- I hated it then, and hate everything 'light' now. brendastarlet (do you remember Brenda Starr??), that's IT!!!!!!! Whip 'n Chill! THAT'S the product that was like the whipped dessert from a box that is now in the international aisled. That's the one she put in a parfait glass with partially chilled Jello. And if you want it now, it'll cost you $18.95 - how funny. Thanks for the name. http://tinyurl.com/65s7qn Mon Dec 15 02:37:49 -0800 2008 4246723 11104 dolores 1 4246790 My mom's pantry included: 1) Miracle Whip 2) Cool Whip 3) Whip n Chill 4) Fluff 5) Hershey's unsweetened cocoa (mixed with Fluff for Girl Scout Fudge!) 6) Cocktail sauce 7) Horseradish in a jar 8) Kraft individually wrapped American cheese slices 9) freeze dried coffee I don't remember having a fresh herb until adulthood. Sun Dec 14 18:37:08 -0800 2008 4245355 83766 brendastarlet 2 5090035 Are Whip N Chill and Dream Whip the same thing? Thu Oct 08 20:15:58 -0700 2009 4246790 45208 somervilleoldtimer 3 5090442 I don't remember Whip n Chll--was it a dry product that you turned into "whipped topping"? (or floor wax) Fri Oct 09 05:10:33 -0700 2009 5090035 109573 coney with everything 4 5092992 I think Whip n Chill was a kind of fast pudding and more aerated. You didn't have to 'cook' it. Just used beaters. Then put it in the fridge. Anyone else have Shake a Puddin or Jello 1,2,3? Dream Whip is kind of like Cool Whip from memory. Fake cream. Sat Oct 10 05:35:38 -0700 2009 5090442 213547 cathodetube 5 5093533 Was Jello 1,2,3 the mix which had 3 "parfait" layers? It was quite the thing at one time! Sat Oct 10 11:15:21 -0700 2009 5092992 111267 meatn3 6 5095206 That's the one. So you had to pour it into a see through glass in order to admire the layers. Anyone else remember Shake a Pudding......? Sun Oct 11 12:19:43 -0700 2009 5093533 213547 cathodetube 7 5146900 of course it was a Tupperware detachable-base parfait cup with sealer lid if you were going to do it right.. Sun Nov 01 10:15:45 -0800 2009 5095206 163722 hill food 7 5168740 Ah, yes. I kind of liked Jello 1,2,3. A long time after I last had that, a Vietnamese friend made me the same thing, only chrysanthemum-flavored. Pretty good, and the layers were impressive. Mon Nov 09 17:53:44 -0800 2009 5095206 45208 somervilleoldtimer 5 5094330 Yes, you mixed the Whip 'N Chill packet with cold milk and beat it with an eggbeater or electric mixer until it was fluffy, like an airy mousse. I loved it as a kid. Dream Whip was also a packet mixed with milk, that produced a fake whipped cream in the days before Cool Whip. Sat Oct 10 20:22:18 -0700 2009 5092992 159317 greygarious 5 5098867 Dream Whip had a unique texture, not like Cool Whip but more gelatinish. Tue Oct 13 01:54:54 -0700 2009 5092992 11097 coll 1 4246845 Frozen green beans Miracle Whip skim mik wheaties margerine powdered iced tea mix Sun Dec 14 19:02:41 -0800 2008 4245355 158016 cassoulady 2 4246906 I Can't Believe Its Not Butter Backup jar of Best Foods...I have it but rarely use it so I am always out when I need some Cream O Soups Mexican Rice Packs....Lipton maybe Creamed Corn Canned Peaches Jello Pudding Snacks Wondra Bisquick...always had those little bugs in it because she never used much so she always bought another one. Canned Chili Sweet & Low Bread Crums Toothpicks...never have those but I should Sun Dec 14 19:27:54 -0800 2008 4246845 96905 bubbles4me 1 4247176 Nestea. Belecht. Swanson Pot Pies. Double Belecht. * My mom moves like every other year - she has been carrying around the same tin of celery salt for at least 30 years! It was the one from when I was a child. Sun Dec 14 22:12:56 -0800 2008 4245355 137755 Sal Vanilla 2 4248361 Small update: talked with my mom this morning. She got miffed when I suggested she is a spice hoarder. Then she went to the cabinet... She said she did indeed have a schilling spice box that has a metal slide top. She thought it was from maybe around the time my brother was born (1959). She also swears her 1970's nutmeg still is very "nutmeggy" and (Ah ha!) the celery seed is Astor and only expired Oct. 20 1987. "It's a seed!" I am still trying to understand my mother's logic. She called me later to tell me she just "discovered" a Libbyland Safari Supper (TV dinner) she bought for 60 cents back from when we were kids (so the 70's). She scares me. LOL Mon Dec 15 11:48:04 -0800 2008 4247176 137755 Sal Vanilla 3 4248469 LOL! This is so cute. I love it. Where on Earth did she discover the tv dinner, in the freezer? LOL I'll admit that I have a small tin of McCormick Ground Cloves. I don't see an expiration date on it but I do know it belonged to my mother who passed away in 1982. It's quite possible it belonged to her mother who passed away in 1979. Although I keep it in with my other spices, I don't use it. It's kind of like a security blanket I suppose. Makes me feel like they are in the kitchen with me. :) Mon Dec 15 12:15:55 -0800 2008 4248361 71241 lynnlato 4 4332897 That's a sweet story, lynnlato. My mother has something in her kitchen from her mother too - it's a empty can that was opened at one end and then sharpened around the open edge. She uses it as a little chopping device. I hope it's passed down to me one day. Fri Jan 16 13:31:25 -0800 2009 4248469 249691 EastBayShortcake 5 4354723 Now that is ingenious. How did you grandmotrher and how does your mother sharpen the can and keep the "blade" level? Sat Jan 24 17:49:40 -0800 2009 4332897 36661 Sam Fujisaka 3 4291667 My grandparents moved to their current house in 1991. A child of the Depression, grandma doesn't waste anything. Over the holidays I discovered a jar of pumpkin in her freezer--she used half a can of pumpkin circa 1986 and instead of throwing the rest of the pumpkin out she froze the remaining contents in a jar--and confirmed that it was the same frozen jar of pumpkin I remembered from her old house when I was a kid. I say if she hasn't used it by now she ain't gonna. Nothing like 22 year old pumpkin to put you in the holiday spirit. Fri Jan 02 22:51:31 -0800 2009 4248361 75006 amy_rc 1 4247250 jarred olives garbanzo beans feta cheese frozen weight watchers meals and weight watchers desserts milk (no use for it even before i found out i was allergic) jam multiple varieties of dijon mustard diet coke and iced tea coffee on the reverse: tomatoes (no matter the season) bragg's amino acids lemon juice iceberg lettuce TVP Sun Dec 14 23:40:33 -0800 2008 4245355 15572 Emme 1 4247600 Mom was a second generation great cook and baker. She studied nutrition, among other fields, at Berkeley before being thrown into the concentration camps. Growing up in the 50s and 60s, I remember her being sarcastic about the hakujin's (you guys) use of canned goods, about their over-cooked vegetables, and about their generally poor nutrition. We had a lot of fruits and vegetables, much that was home grown, had lots of fish, not that much red meat, little to no fried foods, cuisines from around the globe, and all done from scratch. So I was very fortunate and now try to have on hand much of what she used to have. And since I'm as old as many of your moms, maybe you expect me to have all kinds of canned, processed, and junk foods on hand? No way. Our moms passed down good practice to almost all of us cousins. Mon Dec 15 07:14:02 -0800 2008 4245355 36661 Sam Fujisaka 2 4296249 I'm thinking I can figure the Mom's ages by the lists! (and always worry that some of this stuff is in my cupboard) Sun Jan 04 19:50:31 -0800 2009 4247600 106056 firecooked 1 4247831 My mom always had frozen Lean Cuisine and Weight Watchers frozen dinners in the house along with garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano, LaChoy soy sauce, a tub of Crisco that was several years old, Diet Coke, and microwave popcorn. The only reason I have the soda in my house right now is because I had a party. Mon Dec 15 08:52:42 -0800 2008 4245355 11701 MrsT 2 4248025 In my house, my Dad did the food shopping. Margarine (for cooking) Whipped Butter (for toast) - I just buy stick butter to cover both! Rice-A-Roni - I think I ate this ate least once a week while growing up. My Mom's idea of being a "cook" was to put broccoli in it. I don't think I have ever bought it for my own home Coffee (both instant and drip) - I have never had coffee probably never will, and SO only drinks it out of the house Tropicana OJ - both my parents still drink it every day. I bought a small one at the bagel store a few weeks ago, and my boyfriend looked at me oddly, because in four years he had never, ever seen me drink it. But, you know? It was pretty good. Skinless Chicken Breasts - Eaten at least once a week with previously mentioned Rice-A-Roni. Also, in baked chicken parm, and...well, it was pretty much the staple protein. I just don't like those dry, tastless things! Also: Nestle Quick powder OR Fox's U-Bet Syrup Canned Fruit Hungry Jack Instant Mashed Potatoes Frozen Blintzes Bottled Salad Dressing (of which there were always about twenty varieties) Cinnamon Raisin Bread Entenmman's cakes (ok, once in a blue moon I buy the All-butter Loaf to have with strawberries and whipped cream!) Mon Dec 15 09:57:01 -0800 2008 4247831 15357 Justpaula 3 4249871 I will add, that while we never kept kosher, the whole margarine thing was because both of my parents had Eastern European Jewish parents (my grandparents), and, they just did not cook with butter. Because, even though the did not keep Kosher, there was still "that thing" about cooking meat with dairy. Which, I think is kind of cool and okay in that heritage kinda way. Mon Dec 15 22:18:47 -0800 2008 4248025 15357 Justpaula 4 4252186 it could be part of the issue for my mother as well, even though she always claimed it was health reasons...we never kept kosher but pork was almost unheard of in our house: I can remember my father begging her for pork chops and her suggesting he should cook them or go out... Crisco was a no go, but I think that was her perception of health issues. Tue Dec 16 16:52:35 -0800 2008 4249871 10158 susancinsf 1 4248027 Chicken Fat, of course. (My father was the one who got the jars of Postum). Also can't get No Cal cola or saccarine, probably for the better. Mon Dec 15 09:57:07 -0800 2008 4245355 192786 Potrezebie 2 4249115 Yes, chicken fat! My mother was most posters' grandmothers' generation (as I am of the mother generation). So it's a long time remembering back, but I'm pretty sure she had Spry instead of Crisco, because Crisco wasn't kosher. (Of course, maybe I've got it backwards! ) In any event, I don't Do Shortening. I don't make Southern Fried Chicken either, maybe because it really demands shortening! Mon Dec 15 16:17:12 -0800 2008 4248027 137881 BerkshireTsarina 1 4248086 Bottled spices on a lazy susan that date back to 1960 something Campbell's Cup-o-Soup in packets Cheez-Whiz Crisco shortening Fruit Cocktail Jello & jello molds Kraft Dinner Kraft Parmesan Cheese Le Seur (sp?) canned peas <---why I hated peas as a kid Lipton Chicken Noodle Soup Maxwell House Coffee Minute Rice Miracle Whip Mock Chicken Red Rose Tea Velveeta Wonder Bread Mon Dec 15 10:21:08 -0800 2008 4245355 138472 maplesugar 2 4248268 Mock chicken? Foul and sarcastic? Mon Dec 15 11:24:09 -0800 2008 4248086 137755 Sal Vanilla 3 4249954 http://www.olymel.com/en/products/our-products/deli-meats.41/full-serve-deli-counter.43/mock-chicken-meat-loaf.28.htm Mock as in fake - Deli slices that were pinkish in colour and orange on the edges. I'm sure Mom would deny the mock chicken and the KD with hot dogs but I remember them as childhood staples. Mon Dec 15 23:56:17 -0800 2008 4248268 138472 maplesugar 1 4248192 It's appropriate here to mention that McCormick's put out and ad a few years ago that if you have any of their spices in cans or ones that list the company in Baltimore, they are AT LEAST 15 years old (so now it must be 17 or 18). Throwing them out and getting new ones (stocking stuffers?) might not be a bad idea. On the other hand, if they have lasted this long, she may not really need them! Mon Dec 15 10:59:22 -0800 2008 4245355 204342 FriedClamFanatic 1 4248299 Crisco A jar of bacon drippings Cheez Whiz Milk Dried Beef wafers Bologna Pickle Relish Coffee Mon Dec 15 11:33:38 -0800 2008 4245355 165021 Firegoat 2 4248853 What is a "dried beef wafer?" Sounds nasty. Mon Dec 15 14:40:26 -0800 2008 4248299 11995 pikawicca 3 4250752 They came in a foil pouch. Sliced of dried beef. Then she'd make dried beef gravy with it. Like paper thin slices of dried beef. I didn't like gravy so I'd make a sandwich with it occasionally. Kind of like eating roofing paper. Tue Dec 16 09:12:36 -0800 2008 4248853 165021 Firegoat 4 4250807 roll 'em into little tubes stuffed with cream cheese and horseradish-- if you can, let them sit overnight or a couple hours in the fridge, then eat. my fave 1950's cheap-o HD, courtesy of my grandma gladys. delicious! Tue Dec 16 09:30:45 -0800 2008 4250752 46030 soupkitten 3 4250871 Dried beef and chipped beef were used during WW2 for the soldiers in different parts of the world....it was part of their food 'ration'. It packed well and was used with a white cream sauce and served on toast. Many soldiers, like my dad who returned from overseas, were used to it and continued eating eat when they came home. My father referred to it as 'sh*&t on a shingle'. However lamb. and my father's disgust of the smell because of his experience during the war and how they prepared it, was not allowed in our home. My mother had one of the most remarkable fruit/vegetable gardens I have ever experienced to this day...but we always had that 'chipped beef on toast' once a week. I really liked it because my father liked it. Tue Dec 16 09:51:09 -0800 2008 4248853 239340 latindancer 4 4251827 that's interesting... we never had lamb either.... in fact I never even tasted lamb until I was in post grad school. Yet, the dried beef gravy was a regular. Tue Dec 16 14:54:52 -0800 2008 4250871 165021 Firegoat 5 4251939 That is very interesting. I didn't know what lamb tasted like until I was in college, on my own, and a friend took me out to dinner. I had broiled lambchops. My mother would sneak them into the house when my father was at work, all of us were at school so I'd never be able to sample her's, and she'd air out the house before my dad came home from work. But, wow, she'd have in the oven some of the best rib roast I've ever eaten in my life...roasting on low all day with fresh vegetables from that garden of her's. She loved to cook and bake on a very low budget but the lack of money didn't seem to matter.... Tue Dec 16 15:29:40 -0800 2008 4251827 239340 latindancer 4 5045271 My dad loved the creamed chipped beef too! Some company did a frozen versions of it and my mom used to keep it for him. Mon Sep 21 01:58:15 -0700 2009 4250871 213547 cathodetube 5 5045955 I just recently spent a week in San Francisco and stayed at the Marine's Memorial Club & Hotel. (Yes, it really is affiliated with the Marine Corp). It's a very nice hotel and they provide a nice, complimentary breakfast every morning. While the menu varied somewhat from day to day, one constant was a big pot of S.O.S.! Mon Sep 21 09:13:43 -0700 2009 5045271 161386 kmcarr 1 4248346 Margarine Canned Vegetables - frozen vegetables were forbidden and looked down upon, but fresh were always available. Coffee Syrup Ring Dings and Peanut M&M's by the boatload - my mom had some cravings :) Condensed Tomato Soup Cup of Soup Mon Dec 15 11:44:38 -0800 2008 4245355 220914 krisrishere 1 4248366 Cream of tartar garam masala Kitchen Bouquet And the big one, yeast. My mom could bust out a loaf of bread or pizza dough at the drop of a hat. Mon Dec 15 11:49:47 -0800 2008 4245355 123357 charlesbois 2 4296256 Kitchen Bouquet was (and still probably is) in my mom's kitchen! LOL it's probably the same bottle, used one teaspoon every Thanksgiving. Sun Jan 04 19:53:12 -0800 2009 4248366 106056 firecooked 2 5061464 Mmm. Cream of tartar for snickerdoodles! Sun Sep 27 07:26:43 -0700 2009 4248366 98208 Orchid64 1 4248424 Canned Clams and Bottled Clam Juice Gravy Master Garlic Powder Iceburg Lettuce Pepsi Log Cabin Syrup Wonder Bread Grape Jelly A jug of Chablis Mon Dec 15 12:05:59 -0800 2008 4245355 12144 CeeBee 2 4248649 Catsup Mon Dec 15 13:08:21 -0800 2008 4248424 10702 condiment 1 4248929 Tang Powdered milk (and I wonder why I don't like to drink milk) margarine American cheese and bologna Chips - cheetos, doritos... Budweiser and a box of white. Bisquick Lipton Noodles & Sauce Mon Dec 15 15:15:21 -0800 2008 4245355 17827 cyberroo 2 4249263 "A box of white?" Mon Dec 15 17:16:58 -0800 2008 4248929 11995 pikawicca 3 4249955 Only guessing but I think cyberroo is referring to a box of white wine. Mon Dec 15 23:58:47 -0800 2008 4249263 138472 maplesugar 1 4249257 Whole milk by the gallon Maxwell House Instant coffee Cream of Wheat Margarine Canned vegetables ~~ peas, spinach, creamed corn Canned fruit ~~ fruit cocktail, canned peaches MInute steaks Cube Steaks Instant potatoes Frozen pot pies TV Dinners Chef Boy ar Dee Spaghetti Dinner Canned Sardines a can of bacon grease Crisco Artificially flavored maple syrup Pancake Mix (Aunt Jemimah) Sunbeam Bread Miracle Whip fake cheese in the green can Mon Dec 15 17:14:07 -0800 2008 4245355 109905 laliz 1 4249322 canned chow mein - what an abomination crisco cream of X soup canned fruit cocktail or peaches Mon Dec 15 17:39:31 -0800 2008 4245355 14974 BeaN 2 4333003 I didn't even know there was such a thing as canned chow mein -_- Fri Jan 16 14:08:59 -0800 2009 4249322 238606 alissers 3 4333046 Talk about good luck! Count your blessings. '-) Fri Jan 16 14:28:16 -0800 2009 4333003 112096 Caroline1 1 4249491 margarine half a beef in the freezer...each piece wrapped in butcher paper . chipped beef in those little bags...do they still make that stuff? hamburger patties, formed by her, stacked in between waxed paper and placed in freezer 'ready to go'. cans of clams for clamchowder... canned tuna packed in oil wonder bread lunchmeat folger's coffee Mon Dec 15 18:49:03 -0800 2008 4245355 239340 latindancer 2 4249539 Parece que soy tu mama: "hamburger patties, formed by her, stacked in between waxed paper and placed in freezer 'ready to go'." Y por que no hagas lo mismo? Mon Dec 15 19:07:07 -0800 2008 4249491 36661 Sam Fujisaka 1 4249495 Almost forgot (this is a fabulous thread by the way....I'll be talking to friends about this for days) Ovaltine...we had to drink it everyday Tang Mon Dec 15 18:51:46 -0800 2008 4245355 239340 latindancer 2 5144606 I make a smoothie out of frozen bananas, vanilla yogurt and Ovaltine almost every morning for breakfast. Fri Oct 30 23:50:50 -0700 2009 4249495 86221 lulubelle 1 4249949 Canned: Asparagus Creamed Corn Peas String beans Miracle whip Frozen Donald Duck OJ Frozen Stouffer's spinach souffle Sugary cereals Sunbeam bread Carnation instant breakfast Pop tarts American cheese Canned Chinese meals/mixes Canned pastas (Chef boy-r-dee, etc) Grape jelly imitation maple syrup beef bacon Mon Dec 15 23:52:39 -0800 2008 4245355 111267 meatn3 1 4250455 Five Alive juice saltine crackers big can of crisco ( i used to eat it with a spoon, straight out of the can. *shudder*) condiments galore: 5 kinds of mustard, 24 salad dressings, 8 types of pickles, etc. bisquick I'm always laughing at her because she has 2 fridges (w/ 2 freezers), plus an additional deep freezer stuffed FULL of food. And a huge pantry bursting with items. And it is only her and my dad living at home now, so they don't need that much food. Tue Dec 16 07:30:21 -0800 2008 4245355 24350 dexters 2 4253529 >>big can of crisco ( i used to eat it with a spoon, straight out of the can. *shudder*) Nooooo, really? Wow! Wed Dec 17 07:59:24 -0800 2008 4250455 11104 dolores 2 4291683 I kid you not, I'm convinced my parents are food hoarders. They have a refridgerator/freezer in the kitchen, two in the attached garage and one in the detached garage (my dad's haven/beer fridge) and a full size deep freeze. Really, do two people need all that refrigeration capacity? Last year my dad cleaned out the freezer and found pork chops from 2001. Fri Jan 02 23:02:03 -0800 2009 4250455 75006 amy_rc 3 4313564 are your parents a product of the depression era? I often wonder if that's why my parents are food hoarders....if Mom finds something on sale, she'll buy loads of it, including bread and eggs. at one point last year, they were boiling eggs every time I called home ! They are two in a small bungalow....and have a full fridge and cupboard, deep freeze and pantry...plus stashes around the house. Sat Jan 10 08:23:07 -0800 2009 4291683 153184 im_nomad 4 4313998 No--my mom's parents were products of the Depression, though, and instilled those values. My dad is from a family of nine children, so I think they always had enough food..but just enough and one one morsel more. Mom will go anywhere for a sale. I live in a city 20 minutes away and last week I bumped into my parents at my local grocery store. She came over because milk, eggs and bread were on sale. So she saved $4 or $5 but what did she spend in gas and time to get to the store? But, if it makes her happy I'm not going to burst her "saving" bubble. Sat Jan 10 11:16:57 -0800 2009 4313564 75006 amy_rc 5 4332970 My mom gets the sale ads together every week and goes to each store to stock up on the sale items that she needs. When I would come home to visit in my early 20s (and sometimes now), she would pack up the items from her pantry to send home with me. Shopping at Mom's stretched more than a few paychecks for me. Fri Jan 16 13:55:59 -0800 2009 4313998 249691 EastBayShortcake 6 4354728 That is really lovely! Please give your Mom a hug from me! Sat Jan 24 17:52:06 -0800 2009 4332970 36661 Sam Fujisaka 1 4250711 Cadbury's milk chocolate bars Pickled beets Spam Canned salmon Potato Buds Instant coffee Instant creamer Those peppermint candies with the red/white swirl Spatini Tue Dec 16 08:58:21 -0800 2008 4245355 53242 ns538bmk 2 4267497 No tinned salmon? That is part of my Great Ice Storm pantry. If you buy the red kind (when it is on sale) it is actually rather good. Mon Dec 22 18:08:17 -0800 2008 4250711 84119 lagatta 1 4250717 Canned Kraft cheese Inexplicably brown coconut jam Potted Meat Food Product Ovaltine Banana ketchup Holland House cooking wine Tue Dec 16 09:01:17 -0800 2008 4245355 68363 JungMann 1 4250814 mine would be same as many others', but i'll add malt o' meal, i don't think i've seen it yet. Tue Dec 16 09:33:08 -0800 2008 4245355 46030 soupkitten 2 4261309 Oh, great...snowed in, and now I want Malt 'o Meal. My mom, when I was younger, always had Crisco, Cool Whip and Coffee Rich. She was extremely sensitive to milk, so I grew up knowing exactly which products were non-dairy. Fri Dec 19 21:45:07 -0800 2008 4250814 198984 Jeri L 1 4255566 alum was the one I never understood. is it really used for anything but practical jokes in old WB cartoons? Wed Dec 17 20:17:33 -0800 2008 4245355 163722 hill food 2 4258569 Your mom must have made her own pickles. An alum soak makes the pickles crispy. It's also an important ingredient in baking powder, so if you ever make your own biscuits or cakes or anything else you use baking powder for, you're using alum. Toxic in large amounts, safe is small. Not recommended as a gargle. '-) Thu Dec 18 20:42:32 -0800 2008 4255566 112096 Caroline1 3 4268088 that's the funny part C, she's been reminiscing about home-made pickles lately from her childhood, but never made them as far as I'm aware, maybe just thought it was something required for a kitchen. Mon Dec 22 23:27:21 -0800 2008 4258569 163722 hill food 4 4268211 Ahhh... Sounds like the alum is a security blanket that links her to her childhood. My guess is she's still looking for cucumbers that match her childhood. Me too! And NOT just cucumbers! '-) Tue Dec 23 04:19:40 -0800 2008 4268088 112096 Caroline1 1 4256086 asparagus in a can Heinz chile sauce clover honey colby cheese My mother used the above very regularly.I don't like any on the list,then or now.Clueless to what they could be good for. Thu Dec 18 05:16:42 -0800 2008 4245355 203919 lcool 2 4279792 Clover honey and colby cheese are for eating. The rest I don't know. Mon Dec 29 08:57:43 -0800 2008 4256086 227202 vtnewbie 3 4279911 But so very bland,in need of a supporting cast unlike cheddar and wild flower honey Mon Dec 29 09:34:09 -0800 2008 4279792 203919 lcool 2 4279798 Asparagus in a can because it was probably either impossible or impossibly expensive to get fresh. Mon Dec 29 09:00:11 -0800 2008 4256086 138472 maplesugar 3 4279935 I wish you were right.My mom was French but had some odd salty,slimy and mushy personal foods. None of us would touch any of the above.(children/siblings) She would not eat fresh or frozen peas,asparagus or mushrooms.My father was the keeper of the kitchen, garden and meat.His tastes and teachings were very different. Mon Dec 29 09:41:35 -0800 2008 4279798 203919 lcool 2 4305201 when I was a kid I would only eat canned asparagus. what did I know? Heinz chili sauce -- mix with equal ratio of Welch's grape jelly and melt. Stir in frozen (prepackaged) meatballs. Cook until meatballs are heated through. Refrigerate overnight (sauce is absorbed by meatballs) and reheat to serve. Wed Jan 07 14:00:45 -0800 2009 4256086 109905 laliz 3 4306608 My problem with Heinz Chili Sauce is a "salty" taste.I realy don't like salt or salty food. Welch's grape jelly is completely unknown to me.The juice never took hold here either.My kids did not sweet stuff even when little,nor do the grand children. Thu Jan 08 04:05:18 -0800 2009 4305201 203919 lcool 4 4306637 Welch's grape jelly is lovely. I got on that sauce as a litle kid... i want no other grape jellies but that Thu Jan 08 04:47:09 -0800 2009 4306608 165021 Firegoat 3 4332996 Meatballs or little cocktail franks in that sauce - we always had that during the holidays Fri Jan 16 14:04:28 -0800 2009 4305201 249691 EastBayShortcake 2 4313569 there are a few recipes out there for an asparagus dip that's made from canned asparagus, and it's surprisingly good ! Sat Jan 10 08:25:55 -0800 2009 4256086 153184 im_nomad 2 4354545 Chile sauce with a big spoonful of horseradish and a bunch of fresh lemon juice is what you dip the shrimp in when you have an American-style shrimp cocktail. Well, I think it's good! Sat Jan 24 16:11:57 -0800 2009 4256086 105625 EWSflash 3 4356022 I'll bet it is.I doubt my mom made any,she was shellfish fussy.Ate crawfish and other hard shell bugs,but not shrimp,oysters and mussles not clams and scallops. Sun Jan 25 10:45:57 -0800 2009 4354545 203919 lcool 2 5171500 Oh yeah! The Heinz chili sauce was a must in our house. I remember my mom making a "salad" that consisted of iceberg lettuce leaves, a big dollop of homemade Thousand Island dressing which was really Miracle Whip mixed with chili sauce - yech! There was a nother version of salad that was iceberg lettuce with cottage cheese and either sliced peaches from a can or pineapple with the ever present dollop of Miracle Whip and I'm just about gagging thinking of it. Another item I haven't seen mentioned yet: Kraft (I think) pimento cheese in a small glass jar. The empty glass jars ended up being our stock of juice glasses for many years. And one more: Chicken A'la King (in those frozen bags that you thawed in boiling water) on top of toasted Bays English Muffins, an all time favorite! Tue Nov 10 18:23:16 -0800 2009 4256086 1123402 PJFla 1 4260802 canned crepe suzettes. Fri Dec 19 16:39:34 -0800 2008 4245355 13202 emilief 2 4261223 Margarine for cooking "it doesn't burn like butter", but always butter for eating, because it was some point of pride during the Depression (that FIRST one) that you were too poor to afford butter. Canned veggies--I hate 'em. Libby's Fruit Cocktail Carl Buddig Chicken, yuck, yuck, yuck 50/50 Pop. Do they still make this? Fri Dec 19 20:30:08 -0800 2008 4260802 189528 Whosyerkitty 1 4261810 Garlic salt, onion salt, seasoned salt... Green tubes of parmesan Tins of spices from Holland--circa 1965 or so? Plus other tins from trips, some decades old MSG of all sorts--tubes, bags, whatever Non-dairy creamer Tofu Canned fruit in heavy syrup Frozen orange juice A freezer so over stuffed with food that you had no idea what was what, or how long it had been there (and had to step back when pulling something out and were barefoot) Cream cheese Coffee nips candy Durian Sat Dec 20 08:47:15 -0800 2008 4245355 224238 Caralien 2 5085952 One of the recipe cards I inherited from my grandmother actually says 1 tsp of monosodium glutamate...written out like that. I couldn't believe it! Wed Oct 07 11:53:40 -0700 2009 4261810 186821 16crab 3 5146906 there's a restaurant in Daly City, CA that has the unspoken reputation and following precisely because they use un-godly amounts of MSG Sun Nov 01 10:17:26 -0800 2009 5085952 163722 hill food 1 4265802 Canned green and wax beans Canned cranberry sauce Lays potato chips Wonder bread Vanilla ice cream Unidentifiable frozen meat Mon Dec 22 08:14:42 -0800 2008 4245355 100863 soxchik 1 4267825 Canned fruit, canned vegetables, and spam. Mon Dec 22 20:11:47 -0800 2008 4245355 222865 FoodChic 1 4273116 Potato flakes to make "mashed potatoes" Scalloped potato and au gratin mixes in the rattly little box Giant can of Crisco Giant jar of Tang Chow mein in the two-part can with canned crunchy noodles Peanut butter (my dad's recourse after one of Mom's really bad meals) Dried beef in a jar - always for "creamed dried beef" - my ex-Marine dad taught me to call it 'sh*t on a shingle', which seems much more appropriate Postum...every afternoon with her favorite soap opera Canned vegetables A whole drawer of little spice tins that she never ever put in the food A sugar bowl on the kitchen table Velveeta Miracle Whip tons of junky kids' cereal Minute Rice instant coffee Oscar Mayer braunschweiger Thu Dec 25 15:28:47 -0800 2008 4245355 160926 Kinnexa 1 4279144 Oh my....what memories this post has brought back. I can remember the following items in our house when I was a kid... it's amazing what I used to eat and actually like! Olive loaf lunch meat (square shaped slices of lunch meat with olives and pimentos) Puffed wheat in a bag (unsweetened) PDQ Chocolate Milk Crystals (mamma also bought the eggnog flavor) Space Food Sticks (chocolate and peanut butter flavor, mmmmm) Instant milk (mamma said she always mixed this up after we went to bed, or otherwise we girls wouldn't drink it if we knew it wasn't the "real" thing) Potted meat food product (oooo, enough said, but my sister still loves this stuff) Vienna Sausages Watkins Pudding Mix in a can (for pudding and pies) Dream Whip (Little packettes of powder you mixed with vanilla and milk, whipped up and ended up with something like Cool Whip) Kitchen Bouquet Browning Seasoning Fizzie Soft Drink Tablets Choo Choo Cherry Soft Drink Mix (Similar to Pre- Sweetened Kool Aid) Otter Pops Sandwich Spread (pink mayo with sweet pickle relish mixed in ??) Maypo Deviled Ham Circus Peanuts (orange "marshmallows"?? shaped like peanuts....a special treat) SPAM and Treet (YUCK) canned meat Canned Roast Beef in Gravy and Canned Corn Beef (mamma shredded/smashed the meat up and made gravy out of these and we ate them over slices of bread we had pulled apart into pieces. I also liked to watch mamma open the corned beef with the key as she rolled up the tin strip at the top of the can) Canned Corn/Roast Beef Hash Canned Tamales in Chili Sauce Blue Dutch??, Royal Dutch??, Dutch Girl?? (Dutch something) Ice Milk Velveeta Cheese for Grilled Cheese Sandwiches Morton House brand Brown Horseradish Mustard (we never had the regular yellow stuff 'cause daddy like this kind) Canned Sardines Canned Oysters and Salmon for soups Tuna packed in oil Pot Pies "Boil In" bags of sliced turkey, salisbury steak, bbq beef, and chipped beef to serve on toast Shredded Wheat (The big ones, not the bite size ones) Appian Way Pizza Kit in a box (the crust was WAY hard to spread out on the cookie sheet and it always stuck. Mamma never bought mozzerella cheese. She always sprinkled the parmesan cheese in the green can liberally over it) Ragu Spaghetti Sauce (glorified tomato sauce) Little Frozen Tubs of Chicken Livers Dixie Fry and Shake n' Bake Chicken Coating Boy, we ate some unusual stuff, but then again, what I wouldn't do to be able to sit down for one more meal with my daddy. Even if meant I had to eat canned corn beef gravy over white bread pieces. Mon Dec 29 02:52:43 -0800 2008 4245355 252221 califhsmom 2 4281013 I rather like some of yours. Good mustard for one. And you don't like tinned sardines? Some can be very good indeed. Your parents sounded as if they had elements of interest in good food, for the time. Mon Dec 29 14:59:04 -0800 2008 4279144 84119 lagatta 2 4282015 Space food sticks and Fizzies? You must be over 50 or so. I remember both of those, and Maypo too. Mon Dec 29 22:12:37 -0800 2008 4279144 12460 Chowpatty 3 5090048 Fizzies! I made myself totally sick eating Fizzies straight from the package! And does anyone remember Chipos potato chips, in a box? Thu Oct 08 20:21:47 -0700 2009 4282015 45208 somervilleoldtimer 2 4310298 OMG! I forgot about those "boilin' bags"--guess they weren't that memorable. Those were always on hand for "emergencies". Chicken Ala King! That was also way before microwaves in homes. I don't know if they still make that stuff, either. Fri Jan 09 06:36:14 -0800 2009 4279144 189528 Whosyerkitty 2 4324143 Deviled Ham!!! Thank you califhsmom - I read this far down and was surprised no one had mentioned it yet. It was my grandma who always had it -- horrible, horrifying stuff, that. I think she mixed it with mayo and slathered it on white sandwich bread. Tue Jan 13 20:12:06 -0800 2009 4279144 11729 kivarita 1 4279355 I went home for Christmas to my parents and while Mom was cooking christmas dinner in the kitchen I told her about this thread. ... and that I suddenly noticed that she no longer had a can of Crisco by the stove. Apparently "Pam" has replaced Crisco on my mom's shelves. We also talked about the packets of dried beef..... and yes..... there was some in the refrigerator and she had just made dried beef gravy earlier in the week. BTW mom made a 15 pound rolled rump roast for dinner and it was magnificent. You couldn't slice it.... it just fell apart. Mon Dec 29 06:26:47 -0800 2008 4245355 165021 Firegoat 1 4279784 I can remember my mother telling me to make sure I bought Kitchen Bouquet to make gravy with ( I think that is all she used it for). Although our refrigerator had Velveeta, and Miracle Whip (she hated butter and mayonnaise) and other items I see posted, the best meals came out that kitchen. I adored her dressing, and French Apple pies. Mon Dec 29 08:55:27 -0800 2008 4245355 50431 chef chicklet 2 4286724 Ha! I forgot about Kitchen Bouquet! The first "real meal" I learned to cook was beef stew. My mom would make it with whatever wine she had open (or bought for that meal - they only drank a few times a year) and Kitchen Bouquet. As a kid, I was loathe to cook with something I wasn't allowed to drink so I made it with Cherry Coke - my secret recipe. I don't keep either in my house now. Wed Dec 31 16:43:03 -0800 2008 4279784 152043 TampaAurora 1 4282902 This was tough because I still buy and use many of the things my mother had in the cupboard, but here are a few things I never have around: Kitchen Bouquet Instant Coffee Powdered Lemonade Cool Whip or the like Cans of Deviled Ham Now, I’m sure I do have half a bag of the cheapest hot dog buns on the market stuffed in the back of the freezer, just like mom always did. But I, instead of serving them toasted with butter and garlic salt as dinner rolls, will turn them into bread crumbs. Tue Dec 30 09:21:06 -0800 2008 4245355 233294 cuccubear 1 4282934 margerine - vile butter beans lima beans Accent - MSG Tue Dec 30 09:31:41 -0800 2008 4245355 26725 swsidejim 2 4284018 Ubiquitous "Italian Seasoning" Garlic powder Onion powder Canned pitted California olives (blech) Tomato trifecta (paste, sauce and whole) Sweet sliced pickles (she uses the pickle juice in tuna salad) Hellman's Mayonnaise Yellow mustard Pam Corn Oil Matzo ball soup mix Goodman's Onion Soup Mix Manischewitz Soup mixes (they come in sausage-shaped packages) Microwave popcorn Canned soups Raspberry jam Margarine Matzah (year-round) Canned parm cheese Shredded Wheat (for my dad) Diet Coke/Pepsi Coffee Cream (10%) Tue Dec 30 15:32:39 -0800 2008 4282934 239809 1sweetpea 3 4286732 I think we were raised in the same house....I never heard of someone else with the sauce trifecta! Wed Dec 31 16:44:47 -0800 2008 4284018 152043 TampaAurora 4 4315069 I was raised with a slightly different trifecta - paste, diced and whole. I still keep diced and whole on hand and use them all the time in soups and such. Sat Jan 10 19:03:02 -0800 2009 4286732 153129 Antithesisofpop 5 4317190 Hahaha, I just picked up a can of diced tomatoes at the store along with canellini beans for a soup. Sun Jan 11 18:09:20 -0800 2009 4315069 152043 TampaAurora 2 4285182 I forgot one... Velveeta... Wed Dec 31 06:35:16 -0800 2008 4282934 26725 swsidejim 1 4284111 Once again I'm going to step back up to the plate to give tribute to, rather than express loving bemusement at, my Mom, my aunts, and their generation. Mom cooked all Japanese, including sushi. She also did very good Chinese, Mexican, Italian, Armenian, some Filipino, and some German. On top of that, Mom was famous for her cakes, tortes, cream puffs, cookies and more. She and the aunties all did perfect “American” including full holiday meals. All from scratch all of the time. She canned peaches, apricots, and nectarines. She made fruit leathers. We all had home made umeboshi and tsukemono and kim chee and more. The back yard produced oranges, grapefruit, kumquats, Japanese pears and apples, pecans, walnuts, grape leaves, mint, tons of avocados, pomegranates, and – get this – lots of fresh, young asparagus year after year. The folks gathered watercress from the foothills of the Sierras, took clams from Pismo, and abalone from Cayucos. Meals were sit-down, with all four of us at dinner. Mom didn’t have and wouldn’t allow the stuff that many of you have listed. We ate out at independent good and varied types of restaurants. It was the age before chains. We never had fast or prepared foods. Although our ingredients (Mom’s then, mine now) are now remarkably similar, I wish I had her skills and culinary sense. Of course, my dad provides a good lesson: I always thought him a bit out of it for his really short-cropped hair and for his funny hats. Now I’m the one with the short-cropped hair and funny hats (Mexican Stetson-styled in my case for fishing and trail riding). Tue Dec 30 16:11:39 -0800 2008 4245355 36661 Sam Fujisaka 2 4284166 Sam, if your mother ever comes around again, tell her I'd marry her in a second and make her very happy! On the other hand, I'm sure your father was more than wonderful to her, so i don't stand a chance! But....those descriptions have my mouth watering Tue Dec 30 16:38:14 -0800 2008 4284111 204342 FriedClamFanatic 2 4284226 sam, what a loving tribute to your mother - and father! It is also making my mouth water. In general, my mum was also a cook of "real" food, with Italian, Québécois/French, Irish and generic North American influences but a bit of weird 1950s/1960s food product inevitably slipped in there. We didn't have access to your cornucopia all year long, and we didn't have much money to put it mildly. I had no idea there was anything but a sit-down meal with the family, even after my dad died when I was 15 (often I was the one cooking it as I got back from school before mum got back from work). I'm sure my mum endured some rather painful experiments, but I did learn to cook. There is some even stranger food out there now. When I go to the (small) supermarket near me rather than the farmers' market (usually because I need non-food staples) there are always people waiting at the cash with something called "bowls" - a frozen pre-packaged mix of cooked pasta or rice, veg and a protein. The kind of stuff I'd whip up from leftovers or deliberately prepared chicken etc - and the aforementioned "bowls" are not cheap at all. As a lad, were you ever jealous of classmates who had more weird pre-packaged food and junk? Tue Dec 30 16:59:49 -0800 2008 4284111 84119 lagatta 3 4284318 FCF, and they fried those Pismos (and made chowder and pounded and did abalone sashimi). lagatta, we grew up poor; and that probably helped. Being Japanese American after WWII [during the advent of TV and war movies in which one GI killed 3000 bandy-legged bucked toothed bespecktacled "Japs" all waving Nambus, katanas, and shooting Arisakas yelling "Tonight you die"] gave me enough issues to have to deal with besides food. I did have my first BigMac at the age of 40 in the Philippines; and now have come to appreciate gas station corn dogs, Chef Boy- r- Dee ravioli, Whoppers, and BigMacs - albeit now and then when I go work in the US. Tue Dec 30 17:35:13 -0800 2008 4284226 36661 Sam Fujisaka 4 4284994 We are nicer and more civilized now. We are getting better, aren't we? We only know what we know until we know better. I was so happy and proud with this election and how far we have come as a country. I am reminded of my grandmother and mother and aunts every time I see Paula Deen and hear her butchering the English language and hooting and hollering. I cringe even though I love her but I hope I don't sound like that. Her food is what I was raised on in South Carolina. Wed Dec 31 03:34:24 -0800 2008 4284318 240293 Lewes17266 1 4288801 What a walk down memory lane reading all of those was! My mother always had: Miracle Whip (learned to like real mayonnaise from my grandmother) American cheese slices Vienna sausages frozen orange juice Kool-Aid packets grape and apple jellies Spam Peanut butter (not because I don't like it - because I like it too much!) Saccharin tablets evaporated milk canned veggies (agree with whoever said spinach is the worst) Braunschweiger iceberg lettuce white bread margarine (I only use real butter in sticks) Milk Canned fruit - peaches, pears and fruit cocktail Thu Jan 01 19:48:07 -0800 2009 4245355 27357 PDeveaux 2 4288895 I don't think I've bought a head of iceberg lettuce in about 15 years, but I do remember getting a slice of iceberg with some Russian Dressing drizzled over it when my mother was alive Thu Jan 01 20:37:17 -0800 2009 4288801 204342 FriedClamFanatic 1 4291097 Iceberg lettuce. Bacon grease Fri Jan 02 17:42:55 -0800 2009 4245355 64606 smr33 2 4291699 Miracle whip Iceberg Lettuce Jar of bacon grease chips, chips, chips and crackers (An assortment but ALWAYS Doritos so my dad could snack on Doritos with Old El Paso HOT taco sauce while she prepared dinner) Old El Paso Hot taco sauce Sour Cream dip for chips Ice cream Soda (my grandpa worked for Pepsi) Hershey's Chocolate Syrup (she starts every morning with chocolate milk) Mrs. Dash Oscar Meyer chopped ham Hot dogs Whipping Cream 2% milk Fri Jan 02 23:16:11 -0800 2009 4291097 75006 amy_rc 1 4291709 Different brands of tea probably over ex. date White Castle Sliders in the freezer Jars of pickled peppers Anchovy Paste Cheetos, tons of cheetos and even the other "lesser" brands from Trader Joe's and generic Diet Squirt Fri Jan 02 23:31:19 -0800 2009 4245355 19467 bouffe 1 4293917 None of your moms had instant Sanka? I love these lists -- though we could chalk it up to the generation it seems like we are related. The frequent mention of "jugs" of wine is really funny. Sat Jan 03 21:23:21 -0800 2009 4245355 13030 free sample addict aka Tracy L 2 4294067 How about Nescafe? And here's a perfect chance to mix in a little food history along with talking about food! Maybe the mods will let this one float. Instant coffee -- at least passable instant coffee -- was introduced to the world in 1939 by the Nestle Company, just as World War II was beginning to "rock and roll" in Europe. The U.S. didn't enter the war until December of 1941 (practically 1942!) Letters from family were flying between our home in California, and close family members who lived in many parts of England. And someone mentioned food shortages, so my mother and grandmother began sending food packages to Cousin George, in Manchester, for him and his wife to redistribute to the sprawling family as they saw fit. Lots of things were rationed in both England and the U.S. during WWII, but my mother was wily and managed to skirt a lot of issues by buying beef, coffee, sugar, shoes and other rationed goods in Mexico, which was about six miles away. And that enabled her and my grandmother to buy a small can of Nescafe instant coffee in a round tin with their ration stamps and send it along to Cousin George. Along about 1943, this was the equivalent of sending someone the crown jewels! So now skip forward from 1943 to 1957. At age 23, I accompany my elderly grandmother back to England, to visit family one last time. First stop, Cousin George's. And about three days into our stay, Lina, George's wife, asks me (after dinner) if I would care for a cup of "American coffee" instead of "all this English tea?" I wasn't really a coffee devotee at the time, but Lina offered it with such excitement I couldn't bring myself to say no. So she popped into the kitchen and proudly brought forth the unopened can of Nescafe instant coffee my mother and grandmother had sent in 1943, explaining they'd "set it aside" for a very special occasion! She then popped back into the kitchen and proceeded to empty the entire can into a saucepan, added double the amount of sugar and about a pint of milk, which she then boiled for two or three minutes before presenting it to me in a truly lovely porcelain cup and saucer. Well, the bottom line is that it really doesn't matter what sort of container you pack fecal matter into, it remains fecal matter. And that was the worst coffee I have ever suffered in my entire life! But I did manage to down the full cup of it and compliment her on her kindness and good taste. She was sooooooo pleased with serving it to me! So no Sanka memories from my mom's kitchen, but wow, do I ever remember Nescafe! Sat Jan 03 23:36:51 -0800 2009 4293917 112096 Caroline1 3 4294261 Great story! Sun Jan 04 06:16:15 -0800 2009 4294067 204342 FriedClamFanatic 4 4294408 Thanks! As I say in my profile page, it's the yucky stuff that stays with you longest. '-) Sun Jan 04 07:50:52 -0800 2009 4294261 112096 Caroline1 5 4304506 Nescafe is still very popular in Europe and other parts of the world, and I keep a can on hand for making strong iced coffee or flavouring drinks and baked goods (the US version tastes more like Sanka than the type from Mexican, European, or Middle Eastern markets, which has more of a dark chocolate flavour). Wed Jan 07 11:13:44 -0800 2009 4294408 224238 Caralien 6 4304673 Yes, it is worth picking up the darker kind for cookery purposes; there are also little sachets of "frozen espresso" in Italian markets. Wed Jan 07 11:50:32 -0800 2009 4304506 84119 lagatta 1 4294684 Instant Jell-o and pudding Jiffy artificial blueberry & strawberry muffin mix Kraft singles Diet sodas - coke, fresca, weird off brands, shasta - by the case Splenda in everything Sugar free ice cream House brand coffee microwaveable hot dogs, sausage biscuits, you-name-it Fresh local Tennessee tomatoes, which taste a million miles better than the best heirloom organic California ones, even what I can grow myself. It's terroir. Duke's mayonnaise and Bunny Bread for tomato sandwiches. Mom and Dad have always been afficionados of the latest artificial sweetener because of weight and diabetes issues. When I was a kid, it was saccharin, then nutraSweet, now Splenda. My dad drinks diet sodas all day. He also loves the microwave, and buys (to me) the oddest microwaveable foods. One of his treasured possessions is a microwave rack for bacon. Two summers ago, my (then) 18 yo son declared Mom's green beans (again, Tenn. terroir), cooked until soft, with bacon, to be far superior to my lightly sauteed organic Cal. beans tossed with fresh garlic, parsley, olive oil, and lemon. Whaddya gonna do?? But my kid thinks all the artificial sweeteners and sugar free foods to be frightening Franken-foods. And when we visit, the coffee is horrible. Weak, watery cardboard. But, I always have many, many tomato sandwiches. Sun Jan 04 10:01:00 -0800 2009 4245355 68466 vickib 2 4295001 Wow, what a trip down memory lane! My mom was usually a really good cook, but it being the '50s and '60s, she did have some of the worst "foods' of the times- Those boxed dried scalloped potatoes that you put in a casserole, covered with the enclosed orange powder, poured on some milk and dotted with butter and cooked in the oven until the milk got absorbed canned green beans (or frozen- they don't do well either way) Canned tamales (gag!) Canned ravioli Appian Way pizza- a box full of pizza ingredients so you could 'make pizza from scratch'- hah! A can of chicken that never got used Sugar cubes Sun Jan 04 11:58:03 -0800 2009 4294684 105625 EWSflash 3 4307823 My mom thought it was the HEIGHT of sophistication to make the Chef Boy Ar Dee pizza-in-a-box....and adding a half a can of the Kraft Cheese in the Green can "to dress it up." Sigh. No wonder it wasn't until high school that I discovered there was more to the cheese world than Velveeta and Cheese slices. In my defense, I'll add that it was Nebraska. Thu Jan 08 11:07:59 -0800 2009 4295001 14917 mtngirlnv 1 4302528 Margarine or any type of butter-type spread. Tue Jan 06 18:54:10 -0800 2009 4245355 75006 amy_rc 1 4307782 Margerine or "the other spread" (as Mrs. Child would say) of any sort. Kraft Parmesan cheese Miracle Whip Skim milk "RealLemon" lemon juice Thu Jan 08 10:59:35 -0800 2009 4245355 113176 jmckee 2 4310578 Forgot about the RealLemon. No actual lemons were ever harmed in my house when I was growing up. Fri Jan 09 08:11:01 -0800 2009 4307782 109573 coney with everything 1 4310140 I just read an article by Mark Bitten in The New York Times called "Fresh Start for the New Year: Let's Begin in the Kitchen" and was reminded of this thread. I thought I would pass it on for others to read and enjoy. Google this: NYT Bitten Fresh Start for a New Year. Fri Jan 09 05:06:43 -0800 2009 4245355 240293 Lewes17266 2 4310836 my thoughts exactly: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/585822#4303850 Fri Jan 09 09:13:12 -0800 2009 4310140 224238 Caralien 1 4311161 Lemon Juice, Rose's Lime, Poultry Seasoning, Maraschino Cherries, Wondra Flour, Celery Salt Fri Jan 09 10:36:12 -0800 2009 4245355 151336 BaltoPhilFood 1 4313633 Mom always had Real Churned Buttermilk on hand, you cant find that now at least on the west coast. Oh mom and grandma, as so many others of that era, 1950's, always had a jar of Bacon fat to cook with. Sat Jan 10 08:54:21 -0800 2009 4245355 12130 malibumike 1 4314164 My MAMA was down-home country. She always had a freezer full of butter beans, corn and ocra that had been grown by kin folk (and there were many), fresh homemade sausage from pigs raised and slaughtered by her daddy. Also, there were: home-canned tomatoes cornmeal grits martha white self-rising flower crisco fat-back (salt pork from the back of a hog carcass) chow-chow pickled ocra pickled beets karo syrup marshmellows canned peaches Bunny bread (white) chipped beef a jar full of drippings duh-duh! oh, the good ole days! Sat Jan 10 12:16:15 -0800 2009 4245355 255706 lifespan 2 4315404 i would (and sometimes do) have some of that - okra, corn and tomatoes cooked with fat back? drippings? have both in the fridge right now. but I'd pass on the beets thanks. I'd love a taste of your mother's sausage. - post on the recipe board if you have it. just found casings in my neighborhood. Sat Jan 10 23:32:54 -0800 2009 4314164 163722 hill food 2 4318312 my aunt martha always had a ton of frozen field peas. please pass the corn pone....(and texas pete pepper vinegar sauce http://www.texaspete.com/product_peppersauce.html ). i sure miss her! and fresh homemade sausage? there is nothing better, especially to rub around in some good fried eggs! Mon Jan 12 08:00:35 -0800 2009 4314164 105717 alkapal 1 4315742 So, what processed foods do we have in our cupboards today that our kids will be laughing about in 30 years or so? Soymilk Cliff bars EVOO 6 kinds of vinegar 3 kinds of mustard Sun Jan 11 07:46:09 -0800 2009 4245355 106056 firecooked 2 4316557 I'm afraid it won't be our processed foods that our kids will be laughing about thirty years from now but all pupose flour, baking powder, cornstarch and anything else one has to process to eat. Sun Jan 11 13:26:54 -0800 2009 4315742 11389 Plano Rose 2 5183424 Those were my thoughts exactly :D. I was thinking salsa and sriracha sauce might also make the list :-). Sun Nov 15 12:08:15 -0800 2009 4315742 75881 vorpal 1 4316619 I don't know if it says something about my generation (I'm 30) or my mother, but I can't think of any one thing she usually had that I don't. Maybe Baker's chocolate and bouillon cubes. And tonic water. I never have any on hand. And saccharine. Sun Jan 11 13:56:34 -0800 2009 4245355 10669 Amuse Bouches 1 4323207 Definitely many of the same ones you list! Cake mix jello instant rice margarine bottled salad dressing jimmie dean's sausage steak sauce Bisquick american cheese creamette pasta shortening green can parmesan fake maple syrup Lipton tea garlic and onion salt garlic powder Durkee fried onions stouffer's stuffing mix Tue Jan 13 14:21:49 -0800 2009 4245355 39328 IndyGirl 1 4324199 There was always a container of schmaltz (rendered chicken fat) in our refrigerator when my mom was in charge. This was back when you bought your chicken from the butcher, not from the supermarket, and my mother rendered the chicken fat herself. Of course, those were also the days when tv ads featured a doctor who recommended smoking Parliaments if you had a scratchy throat. Back then, there was no correlation drawn between what we ingested and our health. I miss the old days. Tue Jan 13 20:44:33 -0800 2009 4245355 10787 Deenso 1 4324217 I love this thread! Okay, here it goes: canned zucchini (with tomato & onion) frozen veggies....never fresh canned corned beef hash canned fruit cocktail frozen breaded veal cutlets (awful!!) Banquet pot pies margarine cube steak space food sticks shake-a-puddin' tab; complete with cyclamates! Keep 'em coming....this is too fun! Tue Jan 13 20:51:31 -0800 2009 4245355 138693 SusieS 1 4324297 vienna sausages potted meat Tue Jan 13 21:28:29 -0800 2009 4245355 105717 alkapal 2 4324633 oh yes, I forgot all about vienna sausages in the family larder. alkapal, did you grow up in the south too? Wed Jan 14 04:44:39 -0800 2009 4324297 255706 lifespan 3 4324694 yeah, buddy! those staples were *de rigueur* for family road trips, pre-interstate. isn't potted meat like the poor man's pate? i grew up in florida, and remember vividly the concrete picnic tables with concrete canopies adjacent to the roadways up and down the state. mcdonalds? huh? they were served with saltines, of course. usually mom and dad's beverage was coffee from dad's thermos. i don't remember how many of those red plastic thermos cups went flying off the roof of the car when dad pulled out on the road. (those and sunglasses -- whoops!) i can't remember what i drank. it wasn't from a juice box, i know that! ;-). Wed Jan 14 05:25:06 -0800 2009 4324633 105717 alkapal 4 4324953 Of course, in my part of Virginia they call them "Vy-enna" sausages, not Vee-enna! Hee haw! Wed Jan 14 07:02:02 -0800 2009 4324694 233294 cuccubear 5 4325417 my mom, too!!!!!!! LOL!!! she also says sal-mon. (she was from the florida panhandle, but had a sister with ties to virginia). Wed Jan 14 09:17:49 -0800 2009 4324953 105717 alkapal 6 4325484 Yep. "Pappy" (mama's father) referred to them as "Vy-enny" sausages (NC). Those little so-called sausages were the nastiest things in the world - I knew this even as a child. What on earth do you suppose was in them (pork products, of course...but there's no telling what part of the pig...)? For some reason, they were a delight to pappy, a man who raised and slaughtered his own hogs and who was a sausage snob. Go figure. Wed Jan 14 09:34:43 -0800 2009 4325417 255706 lifespan 7 4325910 I don't know what is in them and don't want to know. Personally, I think they are disgusting. My SO loves 'em and will even augment his arroz con gandules with them. Brrrrr! ech! Wed Jan 14 11:10:42 -0800 2009 4325484 233294 cuccubear 8 4342774 They're handy for sneaking a pill into for a dog that won't take his medicine Tue Jan 20 16:54:11 -0800 2009 4325910 223367 nvcook 9 4343689 yes, i suppose that vy-enny odor masks the medicinal scent. Wed Jan 21 04:04:17 -0800 2009 4342774 105717 alkapal 2 5072309 I could have said Vienna sausages up until about six months ago. My 16-year-old son likes a can of them now and again in his school lunch, to break up the monotony. Thu Oct 01 09:53:54 -0700 2009 4324297 113176 jmckee 1 4325405 turkey roast: bits of turkey stuck together into a log, doused in gravy with loads of salt, available in your grocer's freezer. succaryl: liquid saccharine. Actually pretty good dripped on grapefruit halves and sprinkled on cottage cheese/cinnamon toast. canned vegetables, especially green beans, peas and creamed corn cans of sardines big logs of hebrew national salami iced tea mix diet cream soda Wed Jan 14 09:14:56 -0800 2009 4245355 40284 AmyH 1 4325970 Sanka Kraft Parmesan Cheese in the can Good Seasons Italian Dressing Iceberg lettuce Cool Whip Cream of Wheat cereal Canned asparagus, green beans, and spinach Instant pudding Jello Bacos (sp?) bacon bits Wed Jan 14 11:25:41 -0800 2009 4245355 11990 Janet from Richmond 2 5050944 My parents visited my place for a few weeks this summer. My Dad asked for Bacos. I just looked at him and handed him the bacon out of the fridge. Tue Sep 22 19:53:25 -0700 2009 4325970 195256 jules1026 1 4325979 I forgot canned fruit cocktail, canned peaches, pears and pineapple. Wed Jan 14 11:27:06 -0800 2009 4245355 11990 Janet from Richmond 2 5088778 For heavens sake, were you people raised in the wild by wolves? I don't see a single reference to that classic 50's salad: iceberg lettuce cut into thin slivers then topped with a canned pineapple ring, a maraschino cherry and a big old glob of Kraft mayonnaise. That, my friends, was Betty Crocker Chic. Thu Oct 08 11:32:31 -0700 2009 4325979 1102097 mandycat 3 5090052 Or green jello with fruit cocktail and chopped celery inside, with a blob of mayonaise. Even as a child I was aghast and wouldn't eat it. Thu Oct 08 20:26:47 -0700 2009 5088778 45208 somervilleoldtimer 4 5090240 This type of thing has shown up at every potluck dinner I've ever attended. I made myself try it once. I really wish I hadn't. Thu Oct 08 22:38:17 -0700 2009 5090052 1107449 tonina_mdc 4 5092987 Or the jello salad with the marshmallows and miracle whip on top. Thankfully my mother never made that but it was often served at pot-lucks in the neighborhood. Sat Oct 10 05:32:49 -0700 2009 5090052 213547 cathodetube 3 5090280 I look at this Crocker Chic stuff and remember it at my friends' houses. Mom was the daughter of a Russian immigrant coal miner (all 4 grand parents were Russian immigrants). We either had really fine Russian peasant fare, which embarrassed me to no end, or really quite good food for the time. Mom was an early disciple of Julia Child, Craig Clairborne (WQXR, the Station of the NYTs was always on) and James Beard. Raising children to be doctors and lawyers (She failed) started w/ good food and proper reading material. Thu Oct 08 23:27:09 -0700 2009 5088778 93538 Passadumkeg 4 5094663 No, no, no, keg. You have to get into the spirit of this and other threads (e.g., what foods did you introduce your parents to). The objective is to show how clever you are and what food morons your parents were. They have to have eaten only Miricle Whip, Cool Whip, Jello salads, steaks and potatoes; while you - in spite of them - became an international, well educated diner and cook. You grew up like I didi. We're not supposed to join these threads. Sun Oct 11 05:54:19 -0700 2009 5090280 36661 Sam Fujisaka 5 5096577 Disagree completely, Sam. I am the OP. I posted last year because I was making my mother's Chrismas cookies in her honor, as she died last June. The mention of "oleo" in the recipe made me laugh and cry simultaneously. I, and I believe almost everyone here, do not intend to belittle their mother's memory or cooking by posting these. It's been a hoot to read the responses. And what a time capsule of the last 40 or so years of (mostly) American cooking. So if you were lucky enough to have interesting food as a child, and your food cupboard is pretty much the same as your mother's was, great. Obviously a lot of us weren't that lucky! Mon Oct 12 06:47:19 -0700 2009 5094663 109573 coney with everything 6 5096702 c with e, then we have to agree to disagree. I don't mean to pick on this thread or on you. But there are so many threads that pop up periodically that really take our parents' and granparents' generations to task. People also throw parties with 50s, 60s, 70s, or even 80s themes in which the objective is really bad wine and lots of crappy "food". A number of us didn't grow up that way. I'm a good cook; but not as good as my mom and some of the aunts and some of my cousins were/are. I just get weary of the overall gist that WE are the clever generation, being the first to discover good food and drink. People in my family and the people we associated with were scratch cooks, no junk or processed foods, no Miracle or Cool Whip. We grew lots of fruits and vegetables, canned, hunted, fished, gathered, and were always giving and receiving foods and recipes. A lot of hounds are the same - but just don't get irritated like I do. Mon Oct 12 07:45:00 -0700 2009 5096577 36661 Sam Fujisaka 7 5096794 But Sam, don't you know it is ever generation's privilege to look down on the previous and following generations? '-) Mon Oct 12 08:20:05 -0700 2009 5096702 116513 linguafood 8 5097945 Really! Mon Oct 12 15:29:35 -0700 2009 5096794 36661 Sam Fujisaka 6 5146928 personally I post on threads like this with a wistful fondness and any regret is that there are a couple of generations (and I know it continues - don't get me wrong) that were steered away from the 'scratch' not realizing it really doesn't take that much more time or clean up than if it's out of a box (confession: I have bean n cheese burritos, Char Siu Bao and corndogs in my freezer, OK there's only one dog left) Sun Nov 01 10:24:26 -0800 2009 5096577 163722 hill food 5 5135096 Hi Sam, I've bragged repeatedly on CH about how great a cook my mother was, as have numerous others. I think most of us posting here are having a laugh about some of the things that posed as food when we were kids. Growing food technology made possible an amazing variety of really dreadful food items, but we were all entranced by their novelty. (Fizzies and Tang are great examples.) And even good cooks were sometimes seduced into trying new products such as instant potatoes and Rice-a-Roni. Tue Oct 27 12:27:37 -0700 2009 5094663 11995 pikawicca 5 5154260 Sam, she introduced me to the simple American pleasure of a BLT and a Coke. Her last request was for a BLT and a glass, no a bottle of wine! Wed Nov 04 02:42:51 -0800 2009 5094663 93538 Passadumkeg 5 5168755 That's not fair. It's not necessarily that we are laughing at our parents, or at least I'm not. My mother's parents were eastern european, and we ate some fabulous food in that house, and that's basically how my mother cooked, which is how I knew that the lime jello salad with mayonaisse was not Good Food, when I came across it! Can't have one without the other. I just spent a day or two with my rather aged mother, and cooked for her, instead of the other way around. Wonderful roast chicken with pasta, just the way she taught me to make it! But she and I together laugh about how she used to make "Chinese Food" by cooking celery and onions together in a pressure cooker until it was mush, to serve over rice. Even as a young child I refused to eat it, and I never refused anything! It's good to be able to laugh with, not at, one's parents, since after all, they want their children to go farther and know more than they did. Mon Nov 09 18:02:11 -0800 2009 5094663 45208 somervilleoldtimer 6 5169399 You and I agree with each other. And I have to admit that many people (not including you and me) are convincing me that they did grow up in homes of food horror. I just don't agree with the smug attitudes of a number of threads that imply that we/our generation and time invented and are the first to appreciate good food. And you've given me one more thing to think about: How can people who cook delicious eastern European food end up cooking celery and onions in a pressure cooker in an attempt to make "Chinese food"? I tend to think that people who know how to cook something/anything are less like;ly to murder food - even of unfamiliar cuisines. Tue Nov 10 03:26:18 -0800 2009 5168755 36661 Sam Fujisaka 7 5171241 Well, I used to wonder the same thing, but it never occurred to me that she perhaps had never had real chinese food, which was indeed the case. Her parents (the eastern europeans) never, ever went out to dinner. As my grandfather said, why should he spend money in restaurants when he could get such wonderful food at home! (Of course, he didn't participate in the cooking or cleaning up.) So my mother had never had Chinese food. At some point, experimentally, she had purchased La Choy canned something, and then tried to imitate it, thus the celery and pressure cooker. I didn't find all this out until I starting going out, in my late teens, with a boy who took me to Chinatown for the very first time. The veil was ripped from my eyes! So then I took my mother, who, bless her heart, was entranced to find that the vegetables were still crisp and the food was delicious! I can't get my father to move past beef and broccoli, but my mother is pretty adventurous, and my daughter, who was taught to fear no food, went out with a Chinese young man for a while and had some wild things at dim sum -- fish stomach soup, etc. His family admired her willingness to taste anything! It was simply a matter of inexperience. Tue Nov 10 16:17:26 -0800 2009 5169399 45208 somervilleoldtimer 8 5171291 What an absolutely wonderful story!!! Thank you!!! Tue Nov 10 16:43:10 -0800 2009 5171241 36661 Sam Fujisaka 1 4326478 I forgot, along with real churrned buttermilk mom and grandma always had a block of salt pork and would sometimes fry that up in place of bacon. Wed Jan 14 13:43:05 -0800 2009 4245355 12130 malibumike 1 4332398 I've been trying and trying to think of things my mom had in her kitchen that I never have in mine. Well, besides margarine. And I finally thought of it! My DAD...!!! He never cooked. His greatest culinary feat was stabbing a toothpick into a Vienna sausage. (Yuck!) But he could kibitz, even when he didn't have a clue. Always did his best to prevent my mother from putting anything on the table he didn't like. String bean, Brussels sprouts, egg plant. But he did mysteriously always always always stay out of the kitchen when I was visiting them and making ratatouille. He LOVED it! Ate it by the bowls full, all the time swearing that there was not and could never be one bit of eggplant in a ratatoille. He belonged in my mother's kitchen. Not mine! '-) Fri Jan 16 11:22:56 -0800 2009 4245355 112096 Caroline1 2 4332791 LOL great memory!!! This xmas my sister and I both came to my parents with our spouse or bf. I brought one puppy, she brought 3 large dogs. The parents have one dog. Mom was cooking. I was in the living room keeping the dogs amused, when I was asked to do the usual set the table. I asked... do you really want me to come in there, knowing the dogs would follow. Dad got right up and started setting the table. Mom said he had never set the table before in some 40+ years of marriage... she was astonished. Fri Jan 16 13:01:16 -0800 2009 4332398 165021 Firegoat 1 4332656 Sweet N Low packets, taken from every restaurant table in town Vienna Sausage, canned several varieties of canned veggies - most in her cupboard have to be at least 10 years old many jars of Best Foods mayo - our family eats it on, or mixed into, everything Fri Jan 16 12:25:51 -0800 2009 4245355 249691 EastBayShortcake 1 4354921 Having such fun reading these, here goes my list: -Velveeta -Vienna Sausages -Jugs of Gallo Burgundy for making pasta sauce -Crackers, crackers and more crackers! Saltines, wheat things, triscuits...I don't know what was up with all the crackers, except that there were five kids and innumerable friends always underfoot and it was an easy snack...? But no flavored crackers or cheese to go on top--just dry crackers eaten right out of the box. -Frozen peas, carrots, and corn, or the trifecta of "frozen mixed veggies" (shudder) To this day I can't stand any of those guys, frozen or not -Marshmallow cream for making fudge -lots of dry cereals -International Coffee tins -Jars of minced garlic or other pre-prepped spices -Maraschino Cherries -Picked Herrings in sour cream -powdered Hidden Valley Ranch dressing -Crisco -Nestle Quik -condensed campbell's soup by the shelf-full, especially Cream of Mushroom for daily casseroles -Uncle Ben's long rice (I'm a sticky rice girl, if ever) -feta cheese -diet 7-up -maple-flavored syrup made from corn syrup -a jar of instant coffee "for guests" -canned chopped olives -grape jelly -garlic salt -a shaker of homemade cinnamon sugar -Oscar Meyer deli meats -a bag of chocolate chips and a box of brownie mix, always, "just in case". And whenever she'd make brownies, the next day, bam, new box in the cupboard. Just in case. Just in case of what? A brownie emergency? But again, I guess with five kids, brownie emergencies occur. =) Stuff she always had that I keep too: -always had butter on hand, a habit I can't break even if I'm not using it often -evaporated milk for sauces and soups -iceberg lettuce--went through a period of hating it when I became a foodie out of protest for the lettuce of my childhood, only to discover years later that with a nice steak and a good pinot noir, nothing beats a wedge of iceberg with ranch or blue cheese dressing =) -rolls in the freezer -a full sugar bowl on the counter -baker's chocolate or powdered baking chocolate--just in case =) Sat Jan 24 19:27:53 -0800 2009 4245355 19626 thursday 2 4374163 Why no feta? Good feta is delicious in salads and many other things. Fri Jan 30 15:47:13 -0800 2009 4354921 84119 lagatta 1 4357341 Paper napkins Margarine Cool Whip Velveeta (for me- I refused to eat any other kind back then) Parmesan in the paper can Karo syrup (for my dad) Diet soda Low-fat milk Hostess fruit pies, Dolley Madison cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Ho-Hos, etc. from the day-old bakery Roman Meal Bread Van De Kamp's baked goods Oscar Meyer Smokey LInks The big thing, though, that was ALWAYS in my mothers kitchen and is never in mine is a little odd. During the Cuban Missle Crisis in 1961, my mom freaked out and went shopping a few days after everyone else had cleared out the Safeway, apparently, because what she came back with was three GIANT, maybe 50 gallon cans (seriously, these cans were like small oil barrels, about half the height of a person) of 1)pork n' beans, 2)popcorn, and 3)cling peaches in heavy syrup. They stayed there until I was in college in the seventies - they may still be hidden away somewhere in the basement, I don't know. Jesus Christ! Thank god they never dropped the Big One after all! Can you imagine trying to survive on that??!! Sun Jan 25 19:50:56 -0800 2009 4245355 42367 ratgirlagogo 2 4357391 Forgot these: Fresh fruits and vegetables from the backyard - avocados, lemons, oranges, pomegranates, apricots, loquats. Boy do I WISH I always had these in my kitchen. Ants! You couldn't leave food out more than half an hour without it being covered in black ants. Never lived anywhere with ants like back home. Rock and rye in the bottle with the fruit in it. I don't think they ever opened it. I wish I could buy a bottle today. Sun Jan 25 20:10:46 -0800 2009 4357341 42367 ratgirlagogo 3 4357545 OK, this is the last one, I promise - our landlady downstairs just phoned and tried to give us a leftover container of Cool Whip she got for a party! Is she psychic? Sun Jan 25 21:26:47 -0800 2009 4357391 42367 ratgirlagogo 1 4357919 Bosco Mon Jan 26 05:59:22 -0800 2009 4245355 155855 MARISKANY 1 4374397 margarine instant rice cake mix Jello pudding and gelatin mix celery salt garlic salt Onion salt nondairy creamer canned fruit Parmesan in a can Artificial vanilla extract Sweet n Low Canned fruit Kraft cheese White bread Shredded Wheat Cream of Wheat Miracle Whip Cool Whip skim milk iced tea mix Bisquick Bread Crumbs Frozen concentrated juice frozen Pot Pies frozen TV dinners frozen battered fish frozen pre-fab burritos Rice-A-Roni Minute Rice Cup-o-Soup maple flavored Syrup Fri Jan 30 17:49:40 -0800 2009 4245355 259011 Demented 2 5042936 Grocery day was chili dog day at our house. My mom bought Wrangler hot dogs, Wonder hot dog buns, and Nalley chili with no beans. We were in heaven. If it wasn't chili dogs, it was frozen dinners: Banquet turkey meals in the trays, and one enchilada meal for Mom. Other stuff we had on hand: Banquet frozen pot pies #10 cans of Crisco Wonder Bread huge bags of puffed wheat breakfast cereal Nestle Quik chocolate milk mix Krusteaz pancake mix and Smucker's boysenberry syrup Cream of Wheat or Zoom hot cereal Ground Folger's coffee in cans or vacuum-sealed bricks fish sticks lentils lots of home-canned goods, especially apples, cherries, and peaches at least ten extract flavors for candymaking Gold 'n Soft margarine in the tub Flour tortillas enourmous quantites of potatoes, carrots, and onions bottled lemon juice gravy mix in envelopes egg noodles kimchee, if my dad was able to sneak a jar into the house Kool-Aid in packets Almond Roca (for mom) and Hershey Kisses (for dad)--each had several hiding places Girl Scout Cookies--we ordered dozens of boxes and froze them Now, I'm not saying I don't like any of these foods, just that they never have made it into my regular rotation. Sat Sep 19 18:45:11 -0700 2009 4374397 274906 MissMichal 1 5043083 My stepmother, who never could cook worth a #@! was never without these trusty ingredients: Margarine MSG (Accent) Bologna Pancake syrup Chow Mein in a can Kraft cheese slices Green grapes I am so glad not to have these odious things in my life anymore! Sat Sep 19 20:32:12 -0700 2009 4245355 1099762 CookieWeasel 2 5050271 Here, here... Here's to ridding one's life of all things odious. Tue Sep 22 15:19:23 -0700 2009 5043083 255706 lifespan 2 5072317 I like bologna. And green grapes. But not together. Thu Oct 01 09:57:05 -0700 2009 5043083 113176 jmckee 1 5044278 Instant coffee head cheese - always always in the fridge fruit cocktail miracle whip sardines and saltines oyster crackers Lipton teabags Jiffy muffin mix - I never got to ask her why she kept this, she made her own or mabe these were something when she or my Dad got a craving. Jiffy pop - is that the one in the foil pan?whatever that is, that stuff green stuffed olives pigs feet - jarred oysters in the jar dried beef in a jar white bread -Wonder bread Roman Meal bread canned biscuits canned hormel chili Swanson TV dinners Ice Milk - maplenut and vanilla Hersheys chocolate syrup Twinkies and Hostess choclate cupcakes mini marshmallows so many canned fresh, peaches, pears, apricots jars of homemade apple butter " " apple sauce jars of tomatoes -from the garden jars of homemade green beans and corn - form the garden frozen peas - from our garden ( all of these would be in my perfect world!) frozen sliced meats - like ham and bologne - My Dad had a meat slicer, he sliced it all up oh gosh, I almost forgot. Boxed chocolate pudding - the kind you cook. wow, I started to write my response coming from a place of, " I can't believe that I actually grew up eating this stuff" and now that I'm looking at my own list, I think I should go shopping. It's looking pretty good. Sun Sep 20 14:38:08 -0700 2009 4245355 50431 chef chicklet 2 5044683 'cept the head cheese chef chicklet. If I was down to my last meal, I'd pass on head cheese. Sun Sep 20 17:54:28 -0700 2009 5044278 36312 HillJ 1 5044698 My list: SPAM Maxwell House Instant coffee Canned vegetables Canned fruit Instant potatoes Minute rice Chef Boy ar Dee Beefaroni and Ravioli Sunbeam Bread powdered cheese in the green can Condensed soup DreamWhip Envelopes of spaghetti sauce mix Envelopes of French onion soup Canned Hi-C and Hawaiian Punch Canned cranberry sauce Peanut butter (DW is allergic) Marshmallow Fluff Big blocks of American "cheese" Appian Way Pizza Kit Deviled Ham Tab and Fresca Dad's cheap beer (Nastygansette, Piels, Carling Black Lable, and the like) green stuffed olives But to her credit, we only had real maple syrup and the only mushrooms we used were the ones Dad foraged from the woods behind our house. Sun Sep 20 18:01:31 -0700 2009 4245355 226942 al b. darned 2 5045419 Forgot about those envelopes of spaghetti sauce mix...so very bad. And Dream Whip. Mon Sep 21 06:00:23 -0700 2009 5044698 109573 coney with everything 1 5045808 Lard Oleo Crisco Mon Sep 21 08:35:19 -0700 2009 4245355 247986 JerryMe 1 5050005 Miracle Whip, margarine, campbell's chicken Noodle & Tomato soup, saltine crackers, canned parmesan, iceberg, canned fruit cocktail & peaches, canned vegetables, spam, potted meat, vienna sausage, Carolina rice, Kellog's Cornflakes & Rice Krispies; Cream of Wheat, Wonder Bread, Aunt Jemima pancake mix, fake syrup, Jello gelatin & pudding boxes, kool-aid, sliced bologna, Mrs. Paul's fish sticks, tv dinners & swanson pot pies and cherry vanilla ice cream (you can't find the same type anymore) Tue Sep 22 13:55:23 -0700 2009 4245355 1108638 Cherylptw 1 5050685 Remember Aspergum? My mom used to let my chew this orange-flavored chewable aspirin like candy. Can't believe she let me and can't believe I liked it. Tue Sep 22 17:59:41 -0700 2009 4245355 11995 pikawicca 2 5051065 Oh I remember that stuff. Talk about a flashback! I can't believe I liked that stuff either! Ew. Tue Sep 22 21:04:16 -0700 2009 5050685 173425 Jen76 1 5051390 I grew up in the Midwest. Our kitchen had:- American cheese slices (yuck) Pinconning cheese Pre-grated parmesan and Romano cheese Swiss Miss mixes Fritos and their accompanying bean dip in the can diet pop up the wazoo, mostly in the garage and for my Dad - we hated it sloppy joe mixes Coffee Mate mini-frozen pizzas peanut butter with swirled in jelly in a jar overly sweet kid cereals like Lucky Charms Total cereal for my Dad Weird flavored instant oatmeal made with just hot water and not cooked in the microwave donuts and sweet rolls for breakfast from the bakery section of local store Uncle Ben's rice Jello Twinkies Ding Dongs Hostess Fruit Pies - these were all for our school lunches Limburger Cheese in a jar - this was served with rye bread, raw onions, s&p and beer. I like it but can't find it over here. Vernor's ginger ale - makes a good float! My mom had a schizo idea of nutrition. Wed Sep 23 04:58:46 -0700 2009 4245355 213547 cathodetube 2 5061217 you can't find weird stinky cheese in Europe? My grandmother loved Limburger. Sat Sep 26 23:51:45 -0700 2009 5051390 163722 hill food 3 5079536 The closest to Limburger I have found here is Munster cheese. I put that on rye bread with the onions. Yes there is tons of stinky cheese here; it's just the Limburger in a jar I haven't ever seen. Wonder if it is still available in the US. Ever had Stinking Bishop? I never really liked cheese until I came to live over here. Right now I am in St. Ives in Cornwall which has a lot of local cheeses, including Yarg, goat's cheese and cheddar I am doing a good job of resisting the numerous ice-cream stores. Cornwall is known for its ice-cream and clotted cream. Anyone for a cream tea with home-made scones? Mon Oct 05 06:21:54 -0700 2009 5061217 213547 cathodetube 4 5080822 Cream tea and homemade scones are two of the items on the menu of Heaven. :-) Mon Oct 05 14:24:01 -0700 2009 5079536 1107449 tonina_mdc 4 5080823 Cream tea and homemade scones are two of the items on the menu of Heaven. :-) Mon Oct 05 14:24:02 -0700 2009 5079536 1107449 tonina_mdc 4 5094215 yes, you can still get limburger! i believe there is just one factory in monroe, WI that makes it in the u.s. i just saw an impressive display of limburger when i ventured into western WI, cheese-hunting, this week. it was right next to an equally impressive display of german brick cheese. apparently my dad's dad liked limburger a lot, but he had to relish his treat eaten off of a special plate, with a special knife and fork reserved only for limburger-- my dad's mom hated the smell so bad, and claimed she could never get it off of the good house plates, so there was a bit of family drama which ended with this compromise--hee hee. Sat Oct 10 18:47:15 -0700 2009 5079536 46030 soupkitten 5 5146933 I see it in the jar in DC all the time. Had a good chuckle when a woman asked the cheese guy if it was good for a party. Sun Nov 01 10:26:52 -0800 2009 5094215 163722 hill food 6 5153166 hey hill food, shaogo might want to take limburger as the "appetizer" to his next swingers' party -- just in case he needs to open it and then make a quick escape! Tue Nov 03 14:34:12 -0800 2009 5146933 105717 alkapal 7 5153821 Mixes milk and meat - can't be kosher. Tue Nov 03 18:51:08 -0800 2009 5153166 36661 Sam Fujisaka 1 5052782 VicksVapoRub Wed Sep 23 12:21:43 -0700 2009 4245355 140140 mrbigshotno.1 1 5052783 Laughing, and shuddering at many of these delicious lists. We had a good portion of most stuff on here, but there is one key ingredient to most of my moms fancy meals missing from my cabinet. Saucy Susan! It was some ultra sweet weird apricot flavored jam. I wonder if they even make it anymore? Wed Sep 23 12:22:53 -0700 2009 4245355 192643 sunangelmb 2 5052888 They do. Look in the ethnic section of your grocery store. My aunt uses this (or something similar) for her holiday meals as well. Wed Sep 23 13:00:51 -0700 2009 5052783 152043 TampaAurora 1 5061452 Since my family was poor, they didn't have as much instant food around as many families on this list. However, my mother drank instant tea (powdered) and my father drank instant coffee. Both drank their beverages with Cremora powdered non-dairy creamer. We also usually had fruit cocktail and canned beans. Besides that, there was often government-issue cheese for poor people around. I never have any of these things. I'm not sure I get all of the contempt for things like celery salt, onion powder and garlic powder. What is it that people use when they make things like egg salad, tuna salad, or want to season a burger with a bit of garlic but not mess with cloves or fresh mince? Does everyone have all of the time in the world to work with whole spices? I make all of my own soup and use whole ingredients for it. I also make all of my own bread. So, I don't have a problem with doing it all from scratch, but sometimes powdered spices make more sense because it's expedient and works better than the real thing. Sun Sep 27 07:16:43 -0700 2009 4245355 98208 Orchid64 2 5063311 In my case, my mom had garlic powder in lieu of fresh garlic--she NEVER used fresh garlic. I will confess to using granulated garlic in dry rubs, but that's about it. Mon Sep 28 05:22:38 -0700 2009 5061452 109573 coney with everything 2 5146940 I use garlic powder with no shame, sometimes it's ease, others an issue of texture. my issue is with garlic SALT. while were weren't exactly poor, I too know the fruit cocktail and actually I like the government cheese I've tasted - beats the commercial over-processed american cheese. Sun Nov 01 10:29:58 -0800 2009 5061452 163722 hill food 1 5064772 I forgot, those little plastic lemons with "juice" in them; and bottled lemon juice Mon Sep 28 13:39:19 -0700 2009 4245355 109905 laliz 2 5171252 You know, there's a plastic lemon with acceptable juice in it. It's from Sicily. I can't remember what's it's called, but it doesn't have that nasty tang that the RealLemon has. Tue Nov 10 16:22:28 -0800 2009 5064772 45208 somervilleoldtimer 1 5065397 Fish sticks, Fizzies, McCormick's Salad Supreme Seasoning, Bottled Green Goddess Salad Dressing, Miracle Whip, Instant Breakfast, onion juice, lemon extract, frozen XLNT tamales, bottled lemon juice, Hawaiian Punch (although it is good mixed with iced tea!), Olympia Beer (RIP). And did anyone else ever feed their dogs "Fives" dogfood? It came in a big box, and the five delicious "flavors" of kibble were each a different day-glo color?No wonder the poor devils always ran away.... Mon Sep 28 18:05:01 -0700 2009 4245355 44682 mothrpoet 1 5067806 Sanka. My father switched off caffeine in the 80s. The switch did not make him any less uptight! Horrible kraft preshredded parm (and my father is 2nd-generation Italian! Good God!) Spices that were kept for 20+ years, including garlic salt and celery salt. My mother still has some of the ones from my childhood. Crisco that stayed in the cupboard for 5 years at a stretch and was only used for fried chicken. Instant flavored oatmeal and instant grits packets. Sweet'n'Lo Frozen waffles, pot pies, and OJ concentrate International coffee powder mixes (and those were cool till I was 14 and tried real coffee) Margarine Rice-a-Roni Canned veggies Cadbury cream eggs (my mother would hoard them and snack on them year-round) Old El Paso taco mixes Tue Sep 29 15:34:15 -0700 2009 4245355 1107449 tonina_mdc 2 5071586 I swear my mom had spices (and a bottle of Tabasco) that she'd gotten as a wedding present in one of those little spice rack dealies. Same bottle of oregano for 25 years. Thu Oct 01 05:43:46 -0700 2009 5067806 109573 coney with everything 3 5072223 Oh yeah. After my parents divorced, my father sold our old house and moved to a different one with his new wife. He actually moved some of the same spices they'd had since the 1970s with him. Unbelievable. Don't ask me how or why my mother ended up with some of the spices from the same time period. Seriously, who raids the spice drawer for the then-25-year-old spices when she's leaving a spouse? I thought of a couple of other things my mother always had that make me shudder: Vienna sausages. Ewwwww! Disgusting bright orange kraft "French" dressing, aged at least 5 years because no one ever used it. Wonder bread (at least in the 1980s) Bottled liquid sassafras tea mixture. It smelled decent, but I'm creeped out by my lack of information as to this mixture's actual ingredients. Thu Oct 01 09:28:58 -0700 2009 5071586 1107449 tonina_mdc 4 5074896 I remember that sassafras tea mix too. Here's the brand we always had... http://www.sassafrastea.com/home/ Fri Oct 02 11:39:02 -0700 2009 5072223 233294 cuccubear 5 5074995 Oh yeah, that's the one! I'd recognize that bottle anywhere! Fri Oct 02 12:23:23 -0700 2009 5074896 1107449 tonina_mdc 6 5085336 We tried that once. My mom always had actual sassafras tea around. The mix disappointed her. Wed Oct 07 08:47:31 -0700 2009 5074995 113176 jmckee 7 5085477 What is actual sassafras tea and how is it made? I've never seen or tasted the real thing. Wed Oct 07 09:34:45 -0700 2009 5085336 1107449 tonina_mdc 8 5086056 Don't know how "authentic" this is, but was an interesting read anyhow. The recipe is about half way down the page http://www.southernangel.com/food/sassafras.html Wed Oct 07 12:26:20 -0700 2009 5085477 233294 cuccubear 9 5087224 Interesting! I thought it was some kind of root. I didn't know the US had banned the sale of sassafras tea. Thanks for the link! Wed Oct 07 19:25:37 -0700 2009 5086056 1107449 tonina_mdc 9 5090283 What a great article. I grew up on sassafras tea in NJ. We used to make it every summer. I was always chewing on the twigs, It doesn't seam to grow up in Maine. Chew spruce gum instead. Thu Oct 08 23:34:30 -0700 2009 5086056 93538 Passadumkeg 10 5090478 Oh, I have always wanted to do that, ever since I read about it in the old "Anne of Green Gables" series of books when I was a kid! I never figured out what spruce gum actually was, though (never having lived in an area with many spruce trees.) I always figured it was something like a glob of sap. So what is spruce gum, actually? Fri Oct 09 05:33:15 -0700 2009 5090283 1107449 tonina_mdc 11 5090557 A glob of sap;often from a scar or at a broken branch. An aquired taste, I chew it when deer hunting. Fri Oct 09 06:21:39 -0700 2009 5090478 93538 Passadumkeg 12 5090974 I thought so. I really am going to have to try it, even if it is an acquired taste. It just sounded so cool and alluring whenever described in the Anne books. Of course, a lot of things about Prince Edward Island sound that way to me, landlocked midwesterner that I am! Fri Oct 09 08:51:46 -0700 2009 5090557 1107449 tonina_mdc 13 5091264 As an aside, Claey's (based in South Bend, IN) has the best Sassafras hard candy that I've yet found. It's artificially flavored of course, but generally pleasing. Fri Oct 09 10:26:41 -0700 2009 5090974 233294 cuccubear 14 5091821 COOL! Thanks! You may have just helped me find a stocking stuffer for my mom. Fri Oct 09 13:41:53 -0700 2009 5091264 1107449 tonina_mdc 1 5072380 Jello! She had a whole drawer FULL of Jello- I cant stand the stuff so I never have it around- but man- every flavor under the sun!!! Thu Oct 01 10:16:47 -0700 2009 4245355 180029 fmcoxe6188 1 5074128 I love this topic! Bac-os Five Alive frozen juice Boullion cubes Kitchen Bouquet Gallo jug wine Good Seasons dried "Italian" dressing with a special glass carafe Kraft sweet & sour sauce La Choy soy sauce and canned dinners Carl Buddig chopped and formed lunch meat with the horrible gritty texture boil n bag meals... I do miss those though Fri Oct 02 05:59:45 -0700 2009 4245355 257980 scoutmom1973 2 5097009 OMG! I LOVE Five Alive, and not just because it reminds me of the movie "Short Circuit." ("Johnny Five is ALIVE!") Sadly, it is not available in my region. It makes a nice mixer. Mon Oct 12 09:34:25 -0700 2009 5074128 220968 mattwarner 3 5099641 Sorry scoutmom1973, I LOVE the Good Season's Italian dressing...we can't get it here in Canada any more (could when I was a child)...I always bring it back from the US when I visit...I think it makes a good vinagrette type dressing... Tue Oct 13 09:34:52 -0700 2009 5097009 113420 tochowchick 4 5101708 Also the mix is good in marinades, or sprinkled on roasts. Great blend of flavors. Wed Oct 14 01:41:51 -0700 2009 5099641 11097 coll 1 5079827 Velveeta Spry TV Time popcorn, with the corn, shortening and salt in one package Mon Oct 05 08:27:04 -0700 2009 4245355 189169 ChrisOC 1 5080915 chicken powder in a can very old meat in the freezer frozen "seafood mix" in a industrious bag pickled veggies, homemade big tubs of vanilla or strawberry flavored yogurt large vats of rice beans stored, always ready for famine, natural disasters, war etc... Mon Oct 05 15:15:19 -0700 2009 4245355 133265 jeniyo 2 5080943 Okay, how old is very old meat? I might have some items that qualify in my freezer.... Mon Oct 05 15:25:59 -0700 2009 5080915 1107449 tonina_mdc 2 5082076 I've got to ask...what is "chicken powder"? Tue Oct 06 05:10:25 -0700 2009 5080915 109573 coney with everything 3 5082163 I've got to ask...what is an "industrious bag"? Tue Oct 06 06:02:41 -0700 2009 5082076 65804 grampart 4 5094218 don't say that about my great-aunt hilda! Sat Oct 10 18:48:22 -0700 2009 5082163 46030 soupkitten 3 5094670 Add hot water and you get a full roast chicken. Sun Oct 11 05:59:26 -0700 2009 5082076 36661 Sam Fujisaka 1 5083096 Speaking of “old food”, I was at my parents a few weeks ago and got a 20oz bottle of Ginger Ale from under the sink. My first clue was no “pffft!” when I unscrewed the cap. I looked at the date on the bottle after spitting out the first horrible mouthful, and saw the expiration was sometime in 2006! Also, my father asked me if I wanted a couple packs of leftover cheese/peanut butter crackers. I checked the date…October 2003! No thanks, Pop! These are just a few of the things my mother had on hand that I never will! Tue Oct 06 11:29:05 -0700 2009 4245355 233294 cuccubear 1 5083218 My parents are recent empty nesters, and I'm convinced they don't eat meals. They DO however always have on hand: a huge box of Morton's kosher salt (which I can never bring myself to purchase, since I move so frequently, and who wants to lug a 5lb box of salt with them?) a bizarre number of spices (which I'm regretting not having stolen before moving out again) that are used maybe annually: pumpkin pie spice, allspice, whole cloves AND ground cloves, nutmeg, etc etc etc. tinned tuna Frozen salmon jarred minced garlic iceberg lettuce Tue Oct 06 12:08:43 -0700 2009 4245355 1112644 ec_washington55 2 5088767 Funny Post, ALWAYS on hand Vitamin C, kept in the spice rack????? She said that is where it belonged Sardines Vienna Sausage Campbell’s soups we had a ton of them. Thu Oct 08 11:29:22 -0700 2009 5083218 131643 RetiredChef 1 5089900 Little cans of B 'n B mushrooms Thu Oct 08 19:09:31 -0700 2009 4245355 12296 steakman55 1 5090013 Alfred's (?) meat tenderizer, which I remember is/was made from papaya. Thu Oct 08 20:06:23 -0700 2009 4245355 45208 somervilleoldtimer 2 5090445 Adolph's! Mom had that too! I'm thinking Adolph as a product name....maybe not the best choice after 1939! Fri Oct 09 05:12:49 -0700 2009 5090013 109573 coney with everything 3 5098980 Right, right -- it was Adolph's! Maybe that's why I couldn't remember. Tue Oct 13 05:10:32 -0700 2009 5090445 45208 somervilleoldtimer 1 5094247 Bacon grease Sat Oct 10 19:06:01 -0700 2009 4245355 1102186 kswilli 2 5094348 Dry powder milk Lard!!! Sat Oct 10 20:41:29 -0700 2009 5094247 1110393 CHEFINTHECLOSET 3 5094678 I use powdered milk when making yogurt (along with whole milk) and I can't make tamales without lard. Sun Oct 11 06:05:27 -0700 2009 5094348 36661 Sam Fujisaka 1 5099018 Here are a few biggies: Canned veggies, usually Del Monte. One of the joys of adulthood for me was discovering you can buy real vegetables and cook them yourself (as opposed to heating up mushy asparagus or peas. Ugh.) Instant coffee. I don't think my mother even remembered how to make brewed coffee after the 1950s. Maybe even 40s. Ancient jars of spice. I presume she must have replaced stuff like celery salt over the years because we used it a lot in salads (like tuna), but there were also spices more than 20 years old. Also ice milk, tv dinners, quart-size cans of juice "drinks" (like Hawaiian Punch), iceberg lettuce, Wonder Bread, Tasty Cakes or Ring Dings or even Little Debbie snack cake type stuff. In retrospect I ate remarkably poorly compared to people whose moms cooked from scratch and used fresh vegetables. We did always have fresh fruit in the house, but my mother was definitely of the school that canned vegetables were freeing her from housewife drudgery. A farm was a place my first grade class visited so we could see what real cows and such looked like, none of us connected a place like it to the food we ate. Tue Oct 13 05:47:32 -0700 2009 4245355 178560 SharaMcG 2 5099458 "Ancient jars of spice" - that phrase just reminded me of a running joke with my mother. She has this ancient jar of "A&P Crushed Red Pepper Flakes" that she would bring out when we had pizza. We would always fake astonishment at its age and the .40 cent price tag. The punchline, only the jar was old. She kept refilling it with fresh she'd get at the farmer's market. She did that with a lot of spices, only she knew which ones we *really* old. Tue Oct 13 08:36:33 -0700 2009 5099018 233294 cuccubear 3 5102504 Shake 'n' Bake, Prego or Ragu, and Little Debbie Oatmeal pies. Wed Oct 14 09:56:46 -0700 2009 5099458 99966 theminx 4 5111281 Oh yes, Little Debbie stuff STILL shows up regularly in my mother's pantry (she gets them for my stepfather's work lunches.) She also uses Prego for sauce, which I have tried and tried to get her to stop doing, but to no avail. My father makes real from-scratch sauce and always has, but my mom just doctors up that Prego (which is usually so overpoweringly flavored that I can't imagine adding anything else to it) and declares it to be "homemade sauce." Ewwwww! Prego is a bit better than Ragu, but that's all I can say for it.... Sat Oct 17 18:42:41 -0700 2009 5102504 1107449 tonina_mdc 1 5134496 Lots of Japanese food ingredients that I can't get here in Colombia (although I have a lot that I bring back from the US and from Asia). Tue Oct 27 09:30:48 -0700 2009 4245355 36661 Sam Fujisaka 1 5135193 My mom's pantry stored a small bottle of Pompeii Olive Oil that I never saw used in my first 18 years of life(today, my family goes through gallons of olive oil each year!). Always had liverwurst. Great school lunch sandwich slathered in yellow mustard. (Was going to buy a two pound roll recently on a grocery shopping trip with my wife. Her comment: "Are you going to eat it all?" So...it stayed in the case.) Deviled Ham (in the small tin with the white wrapper) A delicacy then. Haven't tasted it in four decades! Mom & Dad NEVER had margarine in the house. Something about the dye used to color "that abomination." (I loves my butter). Tue Oct 27 12:57:39 -0700 2009 4245355 184517 RedTop 2 5146953 I know that little bottle of Pompei - actually got used when they moved back from Spain, just couldn't figure out why the food didn't taste as they remembered. Sun Nov 01 10:34:32 -0800 2009 5135193 163722 hill food 1 5144610 My mother's kitchen was pretty much like mine is now, mostly fresh foods, a few convenience products, a smattering of junk food. I grew up in Chicago, but we spent two years in Berkeley in the early 70s while my father was getting a degree, and I think that being around that early foodie culture made my mother into less of a typical Midwestern mom than others. We didn't have a lot of that typical "church basement" food, although my mom's turkey tetrazzini could make a grown man cry. Things she had that I don't have are dried parsley, cheese in a can, ranch dressing packets, tapioca and instant iced tea. She was also mildly obsessed with the lemon curd and orange marmalade that come in the cream colored jars. My grandmother's house, on the other hand, was a veritable wonderland of processed food. Miracle Whip (ugh), lunch meat (including head cheese), chipped beef, white bread from the bakery, There was ALWAYS ice cream, and Canfield's 50/50 and hamburgers fried in butter. A special treat was ordering chop suey from the Chinese restaurant in town, which was horrifically salty and one of our favorite things about staying over with my grandparents. It all sounds so good right now! Sat Oct 31 00:12:06 -0700 2009 4245355 86221 lulubelle 2 5168760 Turkey Tettrazini! I love it! That's what I do with the leftover turkey and broth, post- T-giving! Plus it freezes well. Mon Nov 09 18:04:49 -0800 2009 5144610 45208 somervilleoldtimer 1 5145968 Passive-Aggressive tendencies. Sat Oct 31 18:47:57 -0700 2009 4245355 220968 mattwarner 2 5146105 HA! Sat Oct 31 21:03:57 -0700 2009 5145968 86221 lulubelle 1 5146110 Lipton instant tea TAB......OK I still can find it and drink it occasionally Kraft mac and cheese..old school box variety Campbell's tomato soup Lipton dried French onion soup-used for dip Velveeta Frozen OJ Canned fruit Crisco Fleschman's (sp?) margarine Jello instant pudding I thank God my mom never served us canned veggies...They were always fresh or frozen. I think if the canned fruit drowning in syrup and cringe. Sat Oct 31 21:09:17 -0700 2009 4245355 12633 rHairing 1 5147350 Things in mom's late1950's cupboard: 1. mixes! lots of them- sloppy joes, sweet sour chicken, taco mix, gravy mix 2. canned vegetables especially string beans and spinach mixed with eggs for burritos. Can't remember eating fresh vegetables. 3. canned corned beef for taquitos 4. spam 5. Lawry's salt with spice- put on flour for fried chicken 6. Mom was queen of ground hamburger. Can't remember eating any other kind of meat except for chicken in that sweet and sour mix . 7. Never Hamburger Helper (maybe introduced in the late 60's (?)) 8. Manischewitz wine for Good Friday meals-lasted years 9. Processed kraft cheese and Oscar Mayer bologna for sandwiches 10. Grits 11. cornmeal 12. space snacks 13. lard 14. lots of flour must have been a 25 lb. sack! She made lots of home made flour tortillas with lard. Needed something to slap that ground beef and canned vegies in! Used to make doll clothes from the sack cloth. 15. white tequila that the kids took a swig every once in a while. I think we filled up the bottle with water. We told her it was old and the flavors died out. Time to buy more! 16. Spices? still must be in her cupboard! Good memories! We never went hungry that's for sure. Sun Nov 01 14:03:42 -0800 2009 4245355 171058 kanosis 2 5151162 HA! I'll skip the fillings, but would have loved to learn her tortilla method - not rocket science, I know but there's always a deceptively simple trick in so many things. Mon Nov 02 22:11:49 -0800 2009 5147350 163722 hill food 3 5153643 Yup, I think it was the little things that made those homemade flour tortillas so good...like pork fat after rendering the chicharrones. She also let those little balls of dough rest before rolling. Tue Nov 03 17:26:13 -0800 2009 5151162 171058 kanosis 4 5153696 Something my mother usually had on had was a daisy ham. She used it when making greens and beans. I haven't seen that type of ham in many years. Maybe it was just a back east thing. Tue Nov 03 17:47:01 -0800 2009 5153643 219682 Babyducks 1 5169872 A little tin of bacon grease that was kept by the range. Nothing like a fried bologna sandwich that was fried in a little bit of bacon grease. Now that I think about it I never have the grease, and I also never have bologna in my kitchen. Tue Nov 10 08:08:53 -0800 2009 4245355 14445 swamp 2 5171256 Does anyone else keep old grease in a coffee can under the sink? It's not for eating, it's just stored until the can is full and then it gets thrown away. But it's a problem that I've been buying Trader Joe's coffee and the can is cardboard, not metal -- what will I store fat in? Tue Nov 10 16:25:04 -0800 2009 5169872 45208 somervilleoldtimer 3 5172797 My mother used to do this, and thus me too when I began keeping my own house. Don’t do it anymore for the reason you gave, no more large metal cans! Now, I pour the grease outside. This might be a terrible thing to do, but the birds like to peck at it. Wed Nov 11 09:18:24 -0800 2009 5171256 233294 cuccubear 3 5173601 My mom (and grandma) always used a glass jar. Not pretty, but hey, it's under the sink. Wed Nov 11 13:32:56 -0800 2009 5171256 139180 Blush 3 5191045 I don't purchase as much canned or jarred food as my mother used to so storing used fat has been a logistical conundrum. I purchased an industrial-sized can of chicken broth when I moved into my new apartment so I have been using that, pouring fat into used freezer bags when the can is full. Wed Nov 18 07:00:58 -0800 2009 5171256 68363 JungMann 4 5195977 I usually just wipe out my pan with a couple of paper towels. That's my solution to the grease storage problem. When I want to save a little bit, I just pour off the drippings into a pint size chinese food container, and keep it in the fridge. As my husband likes to point out - we don't need to store more than a pint of drippings for our personal use! Fri Nov 20 06:06:43 -0800 2009 5191045 124908 jeanmarieok 1 5171647 Gin. Tue Nov 10 19:29:48 -0800 2009 4245355 15521 Querencia 1 5171909 My Dad's best friend. Tue Nov 10 22:13:03 -0800 2009 4245355 260733 slewfoot 1 5180295 Salad dressing mix - it came with a cruet pudding mix a whipped pudding mix that was bright pink Kraft Macaroni and Cheese - for the baby sitter to feed us Nestle's Quik UBet for the Seltzer Italian Seaosning Parkay lunch box food - chips, hostess goodies etc... Fri Nov 13 18:43:17 -0800 2009 4245355 26442 roux42 2 5190750 par-kaaaaaa-yyyyyy, the flavor says, "butter." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVWQYeiB6JI&NR=1 "now made with real milk" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBH5dRsPyXs&feature=related Wed Nov 18 04:12:11 -0800 2009 5180295 105717 alkapal 2 5191635 I remember really liking that Good Seasons salad dressing you're referring to. And the cruet seemed so "high class" to my 8-yo self. Wed Nov 18 09:53:41 -0800 2009 5180295 150094 ChristinaMason 3 5192268 Good Season dressing mix was so good, my Italian MIL switched to it after tasting mine. She liked it better than scratch. I still have my cruet, but use it for homemade nowadays. I use the dressing mix for actual seasoning (meats) more than anything. Wed Nov 18 13:23:27 -0800 2009 5191635 11097 coll 2 5193597 good seasons still sell that cruet and their mix! the cruet *is* handy. https://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10052&productId=391029&catalogId=1&krypto=QJrbAudPd0vzXUGByeatog%3D%3D&ddkey=http:ProductDisplay http://www.gerritysdelivers.com/4300097868.html Thu Nov 19 05:24:32 -0800 2009 5180295 105717 alkapal 3 5195939 I remember that Good Seasons dressing was the more "gourmet" choice than bottled salad dressing! Fri Nov 20 05:33:38 -0800 2009 5193597 109573 coney with everything 4 5195982 I have a good recipe some place for marinated button mushrooms that you boil in a mixture of good seasons, vinegar, and a few other things. They were a great addition to an anitpasto platter. I haven't thought about those in years. Fri Nov 20 06:08:32 -0800 2009 5195939 124908 jeanmarieok 5 5195990 i've made mushrooms a la greque, but i don't think they were as good as those good seasons marinated mushrooms. ;-)). Fri Nov 20 06:13:37 -0800 2009 5195982 105717 alkapal 1 5192495 A chip pan. Bisto Wed Nov 18 14:44:36 -0800 2009 4245355 154622 Paulustrious