In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
"holiday" meals at your house?
Spartacus
Member Posts: 14,415
when i was growing up (italian/jewish household) we were lower middle class.
certain meals were meant for certain days, mostly because of $$, but occasionally religion.
every easter Mom would pick up the specially ordered leg of lamb (from Sal, the butcher) and Dad would spend the day grilling it to perfection.
christmas eve was always shrimp and baccala.
christmas day was turkey and ham and lasagna
new years day was veal. either piccata or parmagian.
the veal cutlets were cut thin, by Sal the butcher, and they were expensive. we only had them that one time each year.
on birthdays we would go out to the chinese restaurant . one from column a and 2 from column b. wanton or egg drop soup and vanilla or chocolate ice cream.
what were your special meals growing up/now.
tom
certain meals were meant for certain days, mostly because of $$, but occasionally religion.
every easter Mom would pick up the specially ordered leg of lamb (from Sal, the butcher) and Dad would spend the day grilling it to perfection.
christmas eve was always shrimp and baccala.
christmas day was turkey and ham and lasagna
new years day was veal. either piccata or parmagian.
the veal cutlets were cut thin, by Sal the butcher, and they were expensive. we only had them that one time each year.
on birthdays we would go out to the chinese restaurant . one from column a and 2 from column b. wanton or egg drop soup and vanilla or chocolate ice cream.
what were your special meals growing up/now.
tom
Comments
ham or turkey would alternate each year
Clam Chowder. Now I always grill steaks and Shrimp...
So basically everything I ate tasted the same, and nothing was special. Then I got married and discovered what "home cooked meals" were supposed to taste like. [:D]
Yum, Christmas Goose Dinner, Green Beans, Mashed Taters, Fruit Compote cooked with Onions........
Easter Hams
Memorial Day and Fourth of July "Cook Outs" with Hamburgers or Brats and all the Different Salads, Macaroni and Cheese, Chips and Dips and Fresh Veggies, with Home-Made Ice Cream....
On New Years Day, we would alternate between Hambone Bean Soup, or Corned Beef and Cabbage.
Sometime During every Summer, we would go to a Farm, and buy a Goat and a Pig, and Butcher them for use during the Season. We would always make a Huge Pot of Killer Chili with Rough-Cut Beef and Goat meat.
Special treat whenever I visited my Grandmother in NYC - I would get to go to a Jewish Deli and order Lox and Cream Cheese on a Bagel.
Not sure about the italian angle though. [;)]
quote:Originally posted by buschmaster
I thought you said you were black???
Today, the Mrs. and I make a point to have prime rib on Christmas day. Christmas Eve supper might be a host of snacks: creamed herring, oysters, etc.
We are beefeaters, and barbecuse a lot. Steaks once or twice a week. I suppose the grandkids will someday post on GB about how they remember those meals with nostalgia.
I would like that.
adopted.....[;)][:D]
There was never any money for extras ...
We never had them on any certain occasion but we always enjoyed steamed blue-claw crabs, those were a special treat. One time we went to a wedding, the night before we bought a half bushel and ate them in the hotel room. I think blues are about the tastiest crab out there, I have had fresh (caught myself) kings and snow crabs, don't think they hold a candle to blues.
+1 I grew up in S.Jersey,we ate a lot of blueclaws.I still love them but I cook them a little different than most.
I put the live crab on ice to put them to "sleep".Then I clean them BEFORE cooking...Saves on spices and really gets the flavor into them.
quote:Originally posted by 317wc
We never had them on any certain occasion but we always enjoyed steamed blue-claw crabs, those were a special treat. One time we went to a wedding, the night before we bought a half bushel and ate them in the hotel room. I think blues are about the tastiest crab out there, I have had fresh (caught myself) kings and snow crabs, don't think they hold a candle to blues.
+1 I grew up in S.Jersey,we ate a lot of blueclaws.I still love them but I cook them a little different than most.
I put the live crab on ice to put them to "sleep".Then I clean them BEFORE cooking...Saves on spices and really gets the flavor into them.
I have heard of that method however now I have to order them overnight and have'nt found anyplace that sells them like that. I also think part of the fun is cracking them open yourself
One time I went to visit some friends down by Bayville/Toms River, they lived right off the ocean, we went and sat on their dock with some chicken tied to a string, and fished for crabs. Got about a dozen or so for lunch, so good.
The upside is that I now have a great appreciation for quality food of all types as well as being able to enjoy a wide variety of food.
My mother was not a good cook. Meat was not through cooking until it was well done to shoe leather. She also never shook the depression mentality from her childhood and so would not spend money on quality ingredients. One of the worst meals I had as a child was ribs. I never knew until I was served ribs at a friends house years later that ribs came with meat on the bones as well as barbeque sauce. Ribs as a child meant chewing gristle off bones with no sauce. I have looked as an adult and I still cannot find anyone selling just the bones like that. I think she asked the butcher for bones for the dog, boiled them , and served them to us.
The upside is that I now have a great appreciation for quality food of all types as well as being able to enjoy a wide variety of food.
I am assuming since you refer to your mother in the past tense, that she is departed?
Your post shows me why I am glad I never had kids,......total disrespect IMHO.[xx(]
on a random tuesday, we could expect to sit down to a turkey dinner or a frozen lasagna. on year on christmas we had thai(granted, we were dining at a member of the extended families, hence the abnormal fare).
we didnt eat the best of everything at all times. i remember many times when a ham sandwich was dinner; but we didnt limit eating "the good stuff" to specific occasions.
quote:Originally posted by skicat
My mother was not a good cook. Meat was not through cooking until it was well done to shoe leather. She also never shook the depression mentality from her childhood and so would not spend money on quality ingredients. One of the worst meals I had as a child was ribs. I never knew until I was served ribs at a friends house years later that ribs came with meat on the bones as well as barbeque sauce. Ribs as a child meant chewing gristle off bones with no sauce. I have looked as an adult and I still cannot find anyone selling just the bones like that. I think she asked the butcher for bones for the dog, boiled them , and served them to us.
The upside is that I now have a great appreciation for quality food of all types as well as being able to enjoy a wide variety of food.
I am assuming since you refer to your mother in the past tense, that she is departed?
Your post shows me why I am glad I never had kids,......total disrespect IMHO.[xx(]
i wish my mom was still here to cook until it was well done to shoe leather[:(]
Who was it, I think it was one of the Blue Collar comedians, said he had to teach his wife that the kitchen smoke alarm was NOT the cooking timer? [:D][:D]
quote:Originally posted by skicat
My mother was not a good cook. Meat was not through cooking until it was well done to shoe leather. She also never shook the depression mentality from her childhood and so would not spend money on quality ingredients. One of the worst meals I had as a child was ribs. I never knew until I was served ribs at a friends house years later that ribs came with meat on the bones as well as barbeque sauce. Ribs as a child meant chewing gristle off bones with no sauce. I have looked as an adult and I still cannot find anyone selling just the bones like that. I think she asked the butcher for bones for the dog, boiled them , and served them to us.
The upside is that I now have a great appreciation for quality food of all types as well as being able to enjoy a wide variety of food.
I am assuming since you refer to your mother in the past tense, that she is departed?
Your post shows me why I am glad I never had kids,......total disrespect IMHO.[xx(]
You misunderstand. Yes my mother is gone and I miss her very much. She had many fine qualities and I love her as much as any boy loves his mother. My fond memories of my mother have nothing to do with what she did with meat. It just wasn't her strong suit. She never had any interest in in quality. That is just the way she was. Meat was supposed to be well done and cheaper was always better.
My mother played piano and sang in barbershop quartets and got silly at gatherings, was in the middle of every activity at church and was fun to be around. She laughed easily and enjoyed a good joke even if it was sometimes at her own expense. There were no shortage of hugs and I always knew she loved me. She didn't serve bad meals because she was mean or didn't love us. It just didn't register with her.
I choose to remember my mom as she was. The good and the bad. This topic is about traditional food and I enjoyed reading about the different meals all of you remember from your youth. I remember some meals like that from when my grandmother was still alive but I was very little and don't remember too many details. The meals when I was old enough to remember them were as I have illustrated. If you were lucky enough to have good food then perhaps you will appreciate it more with the realization that it isn't always the norm.
For the record, I'd eat burnt meat with every meal if that would somehow bring my mom back but it doesn't work that way.
not quite the same, but Mom always tried to feed us beef liver. disguised it with tomato sauce, cheese, you name it. she said it was "healthy" for us.
my dad forbid it to be served. he said that's all the could afford during the depression and he didn't want to be reminded of it.
he said that before the depression folks would go to the butcher and ask for beef liver "for the dog"
tom
Mom is a horrible cook - think Tofu "chicken surprise" at Christmas.
Mom is the reason I'm so skinny, never wanted 2nds.
Most people went to Army Basic Training and lost weight.
I gained weight!
My sister and her family stop at McDonald's before heading to grandma's (mom) house for dinner.
I have memories of mom saying (regarding leftovers) "here eat some of this before I throw it out, it's going bad."
My Mother cooked like a master chef.She was Pennsylvania Dutch and made the best wet-bottom shoofly pie I have ever tasted.
The fried rabbit,squirrel,quail,pheasant ans venison still stand out as my best and favorite meals.
not to mention the Blue Claw crab feasts during the summer time.
I learned a lot about food and proper preparation from her,I just wish I had paid better attention...
Ahh forgot about shoofly pie, have'nt met many people that have even heard of it.
I even know how to MAKE IT !! From the molasses soaked bottom crust,to the brown sugar crumb topping!![:p][:p]
I can eat it till i'm literally sick!!