Growing-up cooking stories: please share

[tlg4942]

  Mom was a good cook when it came to country food and southern food.  Her cornbread was excellent and most of the family has tried time and again to reproduce it. None of us have been able to.  She also made gumbo that was different than any I have ever seen anywhere. It was good and all the kids wanted to take home left overs.
  Almost all of our vegetables came from dads huge garden(I still shutter at the thought of working in it.)  I miss those veggies today!
 When my mom cooked meat it was rest assured "well done". But it was edible and pretty good.
Dad made steaks or hamburgers and hot dogs on the Hibachi most Sundays.   Well done... but not over done. He excelled when it came to stew. He made really great venison and beef stews. 
 Now when Thanksgiving came there was moms dreaded stuffing.. Oh the horror! Corn bread mush is more accurate. we all held our comments in fear of dads hand across whatever part of our anatomy he reached first though. But even he didn't like the stuffing I firmly believe.
 She made that stuffing until she died and we ate it in fear dad would rise from the dead if we didn't.
I have to say though most of my family were and are pretty good cooks. I was lucky to have so many great influences when it came to cooking. It is almost all country cook'n with game and seafood on the side.   I wouldn't trade it for the world though.
 

[Smokin Don]

This is not a story of when I was growing up but one growing with my wife cooking in our marriage, one our kids would tell! We are going on 50 years together now! My wife's Mother was a great cook but never taught her. My wife said because her Mom was afraid she would ruin it for her Dad who ruled the roost. After we got married my wife said she never told me she could cook!

That was pretty evident; she seemed to always burn any meat she cooked! After a while she got better and would only burn one side; and she would serve it burnt side down! The kids and I would turn the meat on our plate to see if it was burnt or not! 

She did improve and didn't burn the meat but her weekly menu was the same. She liked to do ham and hominy. She fried the ham in a skillet; removed it to the oven and fried the hominy in the skillet. It was pretty good but she never learned that other things go with ham too.

One day she had a relapse and burnt one side of some meat. I said dang it I might as well go to a restaurant and eat. I wasn’t long after that she forgot to put out napkins. Our son, who was about six said Mom where are the napkins; I might as well eat in a restaurant!

Smokin Don

[drholly]

Smokin Don, my wife is not a BAD cook... but she is afraid to cook. So, most of her meals follow some recipe and as a result are rather... ok.

The best story though, was one night she decided to make tuna helper (from the box.) It wasn't bad - but she forgot the tuna! 

She loves telling that story too!

[hikerman]

Smokin Don, my wife is not a BAD cook... but she is afraid to cook. So, most of her meals follow some recipe and as a result are rather... ok.

The best story though, was one night she decided to make tuna helper (from the box.) It wasn't bad - but she forgot the tuna! 

She loves telling that story too!

David, we better not tell your wife but your story reminds me of the scene in Chevy Chase's Vacation, when at a cookout at "cousin Eddy's",  Clarke says "Eddy there's no meat in this burger." Cousin Eddy says, " Clark that's hamburger helper, but we like it without the hamburger!"

[drholly]

Smokin Don, my wife is not a BAD cook... but she is afraid to cook. So, most of her meals follow some recipe and as a result are rather... ok.

The best story though, was one night she decided to make tuna helper (from the box.) It wasn't bad - but she forgot the tuna! 

She loves telling that story too!

David, we better not tell your wife but your story reminds me of the scene in Chevy Chase's Vacation, when at a cookout at "cousin Eddy's",  Clarke says "Eddy there's no meat in this burger." Cousin Eddy says, " Clark that's hamburger helper, but we like it without the hamburger!"

Exactly!
And, no I won't be bringing this up in conversation....

[hikerman]

Smokin Don, my wife is not a BAD cook... but she is afraid to cook. So, most of her meals follow some recipe and as a result are rather... ok.

The best story though, was one night she decided to make tuna helper (from the box.) It wasn't bad - but she forgot the tuna! 

She loves telling that story too!

David, we better not tell your wife but your story reminds me of the scene in Chevy Chase's Vacation, when at a cookout at "cousin Eddy's",  Clarke says "Eddy there's no meat in this burger." Cousin Eddy says, " Clark that's hamburger helper, but we like it without the hamburger!"

Exactly!
And, no I won't be bringing this up in conversation....

David your story is safe with ALL OF US!   

[aliengriller]

My mom was a pretty durn good cook.   Couple of things come to mind.   I was born a couple of years before WWII broke out so was old enough to remember the rationing and the things we could buy and eat.    We had LOTS of brains and eggs for suppers, plus lots of liver, too.  Mom would never buy or cook kidney, so guess I lucked out there.    Because we lived in a small town with many farms around, we were able to go to friend's farms and get our own chickens.   Not sure they were supposed to sell them to us, but they did.    we'd bring them home and dad would either wring their necks or chop their heads off with a hatchet.   THEN, the BIG pot of boiling water on the stoop outside where we would dunk them to make the feathers pull more easily.    IF you have ever smelled that smell, you never forget it!   

We made a trip to CA (the whole fam damily in 1950--six of us in one car) and discovered charcoal grills.   Mom and Dad bought one at the May Co in San Francisco and had it shipped back home to New Mexico.

That began my grilling career.   A couple of standout moments.    We had steak quite often on Saturday nights and then mom would put a turkey on the rotisserie and let it cook while the fire burned down and we went to bed.    Woke up one Sunday morning to go get the turkey and discovered the prongs had come loose and the turkey was lying on the dead charcoal--totally uncooked and looking exactly like what it was--a dead turkey.

One of mom's other kinda quirky things she did was get a whole bologna from the butcher shop, stud it with cloves and put it on the rotisserie to heat up.   It sure did make a hit with kids my age and younger.   She'd chunk it up in long strips and serve it with hot dog buns, mustard, ketchup, onions and the whole nine yards.  People began asking for it when they knew we were entertaining.    I do not eat bologna these days   Guess cause I ate SO many of them while in college--made a cheap lunch--a bologna sammich!   

Lots of other stories I could tell, but will save them.    These stories are great.    Keep em coming.

[Tailgating is my game]

My Irish Grandma.....Made potatoes in a pot with one layer of potatoes one layer of butter & one layer of cream. She repeated those steps about five times........If I made that now my wife would toss me out of the house. It was outstanding but to this day I have never had them with that much butter & cream. Just thought of this with this thread...the good old days.


 It is great to be young & eat whatever we want. Now that I am older & I can cook whatever I want.......I just can't eat it all everyday  .

[Smokin Don]

Aliengriller reminded me of eating chicken when I was young. Dad would go buy a chicken and chop the head off on an old stump, into boiling water to pick the feathers. The worst smell was Mom would hang it on the clothes line and light some newspaper and singe the fine feather off; now that did stink.

Dad's brother and wife visited once so Dad & Uncle Dale went out and bought two chickens. Dad was going to chop their heads off and Aunt Lonnie said give me those chickens. She grabbed them by their heads and snapped them off. Their were two headless chickens flopping around. My thoughts were dam that lady is tough and I will never mess with her! She was a Georgia girl! Don

[drholly]

My Irish Grandma.....Made potatoes in a pot with one layer of potatoes one layer of butter & one layer of cream. She repeated those steps about five times........If I made that now my wife would toss me out of the house. It was outstanding but to this day I have never had them with that much butter & cream. Just thought of this with this thread...the good old days.


 It is great to be young & eat whatever we want. Now that I am older & I can cook whatever I want.......I just can't eat it all everyday  .

That sounds great for decadent day (not a real holiday - just one I am thinking of inventing...  ) Add some fresh or dried herbs - ok just once in awhile, but it does sound good!

[spuds]

Guess Im different,my folks were excellent cooks,rare was the failure.My Dad was a baker in the navy,and baked bread,wow!!! His failures were in trying to downsize recipes,some worked,some were just plain bizzare,LOL!.

His spaghetti was to die for,Moms soups were of legend. We ate chuck steaks all the time,from the broiler in the oven,and cooked to perfection,no dried out garbage here.Scratch cookers,only Kraft mac and cheese I remember ,and jello,and some campbells soups,all else they made.Boy could they bake,excellent pies and such.

We were also home canners,so veggie sales meant canning times.Buying in bulk,oh yeah!

We ate butter(when money allowed),we ate fats,we ate meat and dairy.And we stayed slim.

So Im lucky,if only I could cook half as well.

Butter!!! Found out why her mashed taters so good,a stick of butter in em,yoowzers!!! i have cut waaaay back on her butter contents in foods.

[drholly]

Guess Im different,my folks were excellent cooks,rare was the failure.My Dad was a baker in the navy,and baked bread,wow!!! His failures were in trying to downsize recipes,some worked,some were just plain bizzare,LOL!.

His spaghetti was to die for,Moms soups were of legend. We ate chuck steaks all the time,from the broiler in the oven,and cooked to perfection,no dried out garbage here.Scratch cookers,only Kraft mac and cheese I remember ,and jello,and some campbells soups,all else they made.Boy could they bake,excellent pies and such.

We were also home canners,so veggie sales meant canning times.Buying in bulk,oh yeah!

We ate butter(when money allowed),we ate fats,we ate meat and dairy.And we stayed slim.

So Im lucky,if only I could cook half as well.

Butter!!! Found out why her mashed taters so good,a stick of butter in em,yoowzers!!! i have cut waaaay back on her butter contents in foods.

Whooo Hooo that is great for you and your family!

[spuds]

Oh oh,homegrown pork and rabbits,YUMM!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Pappymn]

Smokin Don, my wife is not a BAD cook... but she is afraid to cook. So, most of her meals follow some recipe and as a result are rather... ok.

The best story though, was one night she decided to make tuna helper (from the box.) It wasn't bad - but she forgot the tuna! 

She loves telling that story too!

David, we better not tell your wife but your story reminds me of the scene in Chevy Chase's Vacation, when at a cookout at "cousin Eddy's",  Clarke says "Eddy there's no meat in this burger." Cousin Eddy says, " Clark that's hamburger helper, but we like it without the hamburger!"

Cousin Eddie: How do you like yours, Clark?
Clark: Oh, medium rare, a little pink inside.
Cousin Eddie: No, I mean your bun.

[Pappymn]

My mom was a pretty durn good cook.   Couple of things come to mind.   I was born a couple of years before WWII broke out so was old enough to remember the rationing and the things we could buy and eat.    We had LOTS of brains and eggs for suppers, plus lots of liver, too.  Mom would never buy or cook kidney, so guess I lucked out there.    Because we lived in a small town with many farms around, we were able to go to friend's farms and get our own chickens.   Not sure they were supposed to sell them to us, but they did.    we'd bring them home and dad would either wring their necks or chop their heads off with a hatchet.   THEN, the BIG pot of boiling water on the stoop outside where we would dunk them to make the feathers pull more easily.    IF you have ever smelled that smell, you never forget it!   

We made a trip to CA (the whole fam damily in 1950--six of us in one car) and discovered charcoal grills.   Mom and Dad bought one at the May Co in San Francisco and had it shipped back home to New Mexico.

That began my grilling career.   A couple of standout moments.    We had steak quite often on Saturday nights and then mom would put a turkey on the rotisserie and let it cook while the fire burned down and we went to bed.    Woke up one Sunday morning to go get the turkey and discovered the prongs had come loose and the turkey was lying on the dead charcoal--totally uncooked and looking exactly like what it was--a dead turkey.

One of mom's other kinda quirky things she did was get a whole bologna from the butcher shop, stud it with cloves and put it on the rotisserie to heat up.   It sure did make a hit with kids my age and younger.   She'd chunk it up in long strips and serve it with hot dog buns, mustard, ketchup, onions and the whole nine yards.  People began asking for it when they knew we were entertaining.    I do not eat bologna these days   Guess cause I ate SO many of them while in college--made a cheap lunch--a bologna sammich!   

Lots of other stories I could tell, but will save them.    These stories are great.    Keep em coming.

I know that chicken smell from my youth. It never quite leaves the nose.