My mother is a very good cook. She made excellent spaghetti and meatballs, great homemade bread and potato salad. Those 3 were probably her signature.
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I grew up on a MN Dairy Farm so we had our own beef. My Dad didn't cook except for toast. My Mom was a meat and potatoes cook and a good baker. We had meat and vegetables about any way they were fixed in the 60s with lots of homemade bread and always washed down with pie, cookies, or cake. Every couple years my Dad bought a hog to butcher from a neighbor since he didn't raise them. They didn't do their own butchering but made a great Pork Sausage that I sure wish I had the recipe for. I think they used Morton Tender Quick for Seasoning?Comment
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My father didn't cook except on his Hasty Bake. His specialties were kebabs and country style ribs. Both turned out really well.
My mother was a good cook, although most vegetables were cooked to mush. Sunday pot roast was a staple. But my father insisted on burgers most Saturdays. Looking back, I now realize her burgers were very close to smash burgers. There were several years when she made her own ketchup because her father grew so many tomatoes. She also made killer bread and butter pickles. Maybe my next smash burgers will need some bread and butter pickles in her memory...Comment
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My parent’s were married in the 30s. Both my mother and father are of German heritage, but we didn’t have any German food. The family adopted rapidly to the customs and culture of New Orleans where both they and I grew up. My mother cooked with a Creole influence and my dad took care of all the raw seafood - oysters, crab, shrimp and crawfish. The New Orleans tradition was that Monday was wash day, so a pot of red beans went on the stove to cook all day. My mother used a pressure cooker with either a ham bone or salt pork in them. I suppose if I had to request a last meal it would be red beans and rice. Her Creole seafood gumbo was one of the best. Even though we were not Roman Catholic we pretty much kept the tradition of seafood for supper on Fridays. So, My mother’s fried seafood was special, too, along with my dad’s boiled seafood. My mother didn’t use fancy names for what she cooked, so Shrimp Creole was Shrimp Stew and Daube was Red Gravy Roast. By and large what we ate might be described as down home cooking, and Sunday’s were special in what we ate typically belong fried chicken or beef or pork roast. The thought of all those foods stirs fond memories of growing up in an era that Michael_in_TX ‘s parents grew up in. My wife and I were married in 1968.Comment
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Great topic!
My Dad was born in 1919 and my Mom in 1922; they were married in 1946 after my Dad got out of the Navy; and had five kids of which I am the (much) youngest: 1948, 49, 50, 53, and then me in 1960. We were solidly middle class and I had a very good, happy home life with parents who not only loved each other very much, but really LIKED each other. At their 50th anniversary extravaganza, my brother made the cogent observation that it's easy to love someone, but much harder to master the art of LIKE. I never lose sight of how very fortunate I was to have this upbringing.
We were the classic nuclear family in those days, Mom ran the house and Dad brought home the bacon. She was an excellent cook and had many great dishes, but if I could have just one it would be her classic fried chicken dinner with mashed potatoes, skillet gravy, corn, and salad. She also had a to-die-for chocolate cream pie, everything from scratch. Sublime. Honorable mentions: pot roast, chicken and dumplings, Thanksgiving turkey dinner.
In the mid-1970s when my Dad was in his mid-50s, he had a couple of serious heart attacks, and underwent a major set of life changes both physically and mentally. Changed from the arch-typical "meat and potatoes" guy to a much more adventurous eater, willing to try things he never would have before, and started to experiment with making some things of his own. He perfected a meal he would make on New Year's Eve, something like six courses spread slowly over the evening, with filet of Dover sole as the eventual entree and crepes suzette to finish at midnight. Everyone dressed to the nines, wine flowed copiously all evening, some of my best memories. He also got really good at baking cookies, so every holiday season he'd keep the house well provisioned in those goodies.
It will be 20 years since my Dad died before his time at age 82 coming up in just a couple of weeks. My Mom made it to 90 and passed in 2013. They were my very best friends and I miss them terribly every single day. Thanks for this thread and giving me the chance to relive these memories... but who's chopping the onions up in here??? Got something in my eye...Last edited by DaveD; October 5, 2022, 05:13 PM.Comment
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I was remiss in including that my lovely bride learned every secret of the fried chicken dinner and the chocolate cream pie from my Mom, and nails them PRECISELY. Literally, as good as dear old Mom used to make. My sisters have all tried, but none of them ever succeeded like my baby
I'm a lucky so-and-so.
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This is an easy one here: my pop tries to cook but whew, some things are best left to mom (sorry dad, is what it is 😁).
Mom was born in Indiana, moved and grew up in SoCal, heavy Hispanic influence area. They crafted a dish named California Casserole. It is a mix between a hardy meat lasagna and a taco casserole. Green onions, black olives, sour cream and such are added to the lasagna to meld the two together. A wonderful spin on both dishes. It is the only dish I ever request
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We were a family of 8. Mom and Grandma ran the kitchen, Dad did the outdoor cooking. Everything was good with the exception of those nasty fish sticks and those frozen blocks of vegetables.
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My Mom was and still is a great cook, although she sometimes forgets an ingredient here or there. Some staples growing up;
Escarole & bean soup - my gma's recipe passed down. Broth made with prosciutto ends, canellini beans, escarole carrots onions etc
Pasta Piselle - ditalini pasta in a light tomato broth with onions and peas and tons of locatelli grated on top
Roast Chicken, chicken cutlets, veal cutlets
Pasta with a tomato sauce with zucchini & prosciutto
Meatloaf - ketchup, locatelli, egg, parsley with a special K binder. Seared on both sides then brasied in mirepoix and tomato sauce. served over rice. I still make this 1x per month
Eggplant Parm
Marinated eggplant - passed down from gma. This is a classic still gets made for every family get together
Crumb cake - basically a coffee cake with a yellow box cake base and a just as thick layer of crumbs on top. You eat this over the sink like a savage
My dad got really into Chinese American (cantonese) cooking back in the 80s and still does full meals to this day. His wok is about as old as me (I'm 40) maybe older tbhComment
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My grandmother was a great southern cook, and my mother still is to this day. Our table was always filled with good food, and also homemade condiments like relishes, pickles, and chutneys from the garden. That said, I was never served a steak that wasn't well-done until I was 18 years old. Up to that point I thought I hated steak. One thing that I will never forget is the smell of custard cooking on my grandmother's stove. She would let me eat it right out of the pot before it was churned in the ice cream maker and it was the most delicious comfort food I'll probably ever have.Comment
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I *hated* steak as a kid, and always thought it was too hard to chew. At some point I just begged them to throw me two hotdogs on the grill any time the rest of the family ate steak. I didn't know what a good steak could be until I had one when I was in college. -
It is certainly wild that I had never had a "properly" cooked steak until I was sixteen years old.
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Mom could cook pretty much anything - I remember her roast being top notch. She also could make brisket, but with unconventional ways (in the oven and Claude’s Brisket sauce - it was great!).
My dad could grill and that’s really what he did. Mom did most of the cooking as she was the CEO of the household while dad worked. They still make dishes that make me happy, Dad on the smoker and both of them in the kitchen making some New Mexican food.
But, the best dish was something they both made and to this day, oh my! Kasespatzen were a treat! And for Christmas dinner, we had spatzen and Rouladens. I’d say those were the most memorable dishes!Comment
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When I grew up, when the dinner bell rang, us kids would run to the car and wonder where we’re going for dinner! 😂
My kids are spoiled as any kid I’ve ever met. We make homemade bacon, bread, croutons, bbq… I can’t wait for them to go over to another family’s house and realize…. Actually my parents can cook!Comment
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My mother was a great cook. She made a dish she called Kakaltten (I'm not sure she would have spelled it). It was basically an elongated meatball (but large) cooked with onions and mushrooms in a dark, light gravy that would be reminiscent of french onion soup. A far as I know, she was the only one who made it (but likely got it from her mom) and I have never found anything with that name (or close).
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Dad couldn’t boil water until the day he died. Mom was an average cook on a good day. Terrible cook overall. She over cooked everything. And bland. Just little flavor. But if there was anything she did mostly well, it was baking. Cakes, pies, and cookies.Comment
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Parents born in 30 n 32. He had a twin bro that is still alive. He passed in 02. Lung cancer. Chesterfields n volunteer firefighter ( before compressed air btls) He made round steak on the grill that was cooked to death. He was soo proud of the fact we could afford to eat steak.
Mom always cooked. John Marchetti, elbow Mac n hamburger w/green pepper n onions a layer of Veveeta on top. In the CI skillet.
Standard fare was link sausage(Bob Evans) and Kraft "dinner" Mac n chee fr a box.
Mrs. Paul’s fish sticks, swiss steak (roast w/Tom paste n potatoes n onion n carrots. Press cooked. Thanksgiving was my fav time of the year! Mom’s dressing was out of this world!
Our S. O. S. was creamed chipped beef on wht toast. Turkey ala king was a favorite w/ Chinese noodles. The dry crunchy ones. They had four boys n we all cooked n cleaned n made menus shopped those menus n split the chores. I have been cooking since I could reach the stove.Comment
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