Your childhood meals
- Thread starter Pinga
- Start date
Welcome to Wondercafe2!
A community where we discuss, share, and have some fun together. Join today and become a part of it!
Pinga
Room for All
So, I'll start
My mother was the cook. She did all the meals. Dad bbq'd which meant that he burnt the meat -- he really thought it wasn't done until it was charcoal.
I loved, in the winter,Monday's meal. Sunday was always roast beef, mashed potatoes,gravy, etc, but, Monday. Monday was hot roast beef sandwiches, and most importantly, homemade french fries. Mom had a chip pot, and I (and my grandma) would have chip butties. oooh, so yummie.
For me, the memory is of coming home from a long walk home from school at lunch to mom having lunch ready for me and often hot chocolate too. She made her own chocolate fudge syrup.
My mother was the cook. She did all the meals. Dad bbq'd which meant that he burnt the meat -- he really thought it wasn't done until it was charcoal.
I loved, in the winter,Monday's meal. Sunday was always roast beef, mashed potatoes,gravy, etc, but, Monday. Monday was hot roast beef sandwiches, and most importantly, homemade french fries. Mom had a chip pot, and I (and my grandma) would have chip butties. oooh, so yummie.
For me, the memory is of coming home from a long walk home from school at lunch to mom having lunch ready for me and often hot chocolate too. She made her own chocolate fudge syrup.
ninj
Well-Known Member
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Her
My mother did the cooking....she was a SAHM for most of my childhood, so we ate home-cooked meals all the time. If we got fish and chips or a hamburg out somewhere was only occasional -- maybe once in a year. She was a good cook. We always had a roast on Sunday too. I have a whole sensory experience of Sundays past involving a walk in the fall air, the smell of the roast beef and turnips, and the 20th Century with Walter Cronkite on tv.
The rare times my father cooked, it was always the same concoction that he called "plarch" (the sound it makes when it hits the plate). It was composed of whatever was in the fridge along with Worchestershire sauce. He baked bread sometimes too.
My mother shopped weekly at the market year round and we ate seasonally. My mother sometimes made jam and pickles.
My favourite meal when I was a kid was Creamettes macaroni with canned tomatoes and grated cheese baked in the oven. I still make it once in a blue moon as comfort food.
The rare times my father cooked, it was always the same concoction that he called "plarch" (the sound it makes when it hits the plate). It was composed of whatever was in the fridge along with Worchestershire sauce. He baked bread sometimes too.
My mother shopped weekly at the market year round and we ate seasonally. My mother sometimes made jam and pickles.
My favourite meal when I was a kid was Creamettes macaroni with canned tomatoes and grated cheese baked in the oven. I still make it once in a blue moon as comfort food.
Mendalla
Happy headbanging ape!!
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
We must all be from the same family. 
Mom was the kitchen cook, Dad did the BBQ and was pretty handy on the grill. We had a rotisserie so did whole chickens and that sort of thing as well as burgers, steaks, etc. My mother was also a baker, so lots of home-baked pies, cookies, squares, and so on around (I'd be in serious trouble if I had been diabetic back then).
I wouldn't say Sunday was always a roast, but it was something fairly "big". Roast beef, pork loin, roast chicken, slow cooked roast or stew once she got a slow cooker (put it on before leaving for church).
Saturday, OTOH, was basically light, fast stuff because we often had skating lessons or other such activities. Burgers (BBQ in summer, fried in winter), mac & cheese (also creamettes, I think) type of stuff. I make the latter myself a lot but it's more of a lunch dish now (make a large pot, eat some fresh, freeze the rest for future use).
I remember my mother doing that on occasion. For sundaes mostly.
Yep, walking home from a friend's place on Sunday inevitably meant inhaling the delicious fumes of assorted Sunday dinners in the oven.
Mom was the kitchen cook, Dad did the BBQ and was pretty handy on the grill. We had a rotisserie so did whole chickens and that sort of thing as well as burgers, steaks, etc. My mother was also a baker, so lots of home-baked pies, cookies, squares, and so on around (I'd be in serious trouble if I had been diabetic back then).
I wouldn't say Sunday was always a roast, but it was something fairly "big". Roast beef, pork loin, roast chicken, slow cooked roast or stew once she got a slow cooker (put it on before leaving for church).
Saturday, OTOH, was basically light, fast stuff because we often had skating lessons or other such activities. Burgers (BBQ in summer, fried in winter), mac & cheese (also creamettes, I think) type of stuff. I make the latter myself a lot but it's more of a lunch dish now (make a large pot, eat some fresh, freeze the rest for future use).
I remember my mother doing that on occasion. For sundaes mostly.
Yep, walking home from a friend's place on Sunday inevitably meant inhaling the delicious fumes of assorted Sunday dinners in the oven.
Redbaron
Pirate fan since the dark ages
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Main cook at home for my early years was Mom. One of her specialties for Sunday dinner was fried chicken, in batter. The chicken was great but the batter was wondrous. She also did potato soup and drop Bisquik biscuits. Later on 2 older sisters helped out with the cooking, and I can honestly say they tried really, really hard....
Dad's main dish was chili, not too spicy but often salty.
Dad's main dish was chili, not too spicy but often salty.
ninj
Well-Known Member
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Her
Through the week we had things like sausages, meat loaf, hamburgers, liver and onions, stew, pork chops with mushroom soup, etc. "Meat and potatoes". Maybe chili or stew Saturdays. Desserts were simple and we didn't always have them. Canned fruit, jello, rice pudding and maybe pie on Sunday. We didn't often have cakes and baked goods. Sometimes homemade biscuits. For some reason, my mother didn't bake much. My aunt was the cookie baker. I often went whole days without sugar!
My Mom did most of the cooking and she wasn't great at it.....although for some reason her skills shone for Christmas dinners and Thanskgivings.
She never baked but bought donuts and bar cake really well....when we had them(rarely) Lots of jello though.
We had liver until it was crispy, hamburgers that became the size of postage stamps and therefore mostly bun, canned beans on toast, hamburger helper....fried hamburger mixed with either tomato soup and macaroni or with baked beans. We farted alot.
Sandwiches and canned soup for lunches.
My Dad would make us breakfast every morning....and it was good.
I think we were poor but I didnt know it at the time....so maybe why meals werent so creative.
She never baked but bought donuts and bar cake really well....when we had them(rarely) Lots of jello though.
We had liver until it was crispy, hamburgers that became the size of postage stamps and therefore mostly bun, canned beans on toast, hamburger helper....fried hamburger mixed with either tomato soup and macaroni or with baked beans. We farted alot.
Sandwiches and canned soup for lunches.
My Dad would make us breakfast every morning....and it was good.
I think we were poor but I didnt know it at the time....so maybe why meals werent so creative.
BetteTheRed
Resident Heretic
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Her
My mother was a truly appalling cook. She overcooked all meat to grim grey dryness. She had no concept of seasoning. I'm not entirely sure how she felt about any of "her job", but cooking wasn't in her repertoire. She did claim that it was growing up during WW2 and rationing.
She was pretty good at baking, and often made a pie for Sunday dessert, but her cooking skills were truly minimal. She thought hamburger helper was her saviour, and for many years, it was "Tuesday and Thursday" night dinner. Got to a point that no-one came home for dinner on those nights.
She was pretty good at baking, and often made a pie for Sunday dessert, but her cooking skills were truly minimal. She thought hamburger helper was her saviour, and for many years, it was "Tuesday and Thursday" night dinner. Got to a point that no-one came home for dinner on those nights.
BetteTheRed
Resident Heretic
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Her
Dad bbq'd during the summer, on an old Webber take-off. His burgers and hot dogs were pretty good.
Pinga
Room for All
@Waterfall your comment "we farted alot" made me laugh out loud.
oh, wow, we must have all grown up in variants of the same home.
Mom was an exceptional baker, and i thought a good cook, but, really she had a limited repertoire and what she did, she did fine, though, the overcooked liver...my gosh, that rang bells.
I don't think either thought that meat should be juicy, that was what gravy was for.
Meat/potatoes -- that was the regular.
I do remember when hamburger helper came in.
I also remember when "tv dinners" were a treat.
The extent of the fish was salmon sandwiches for lunch.
oh, wow, we must have all grown up in variants of the same home.
Mom was an exceptional baker, and i thought a good cook, but, really she had a limited repertoire and what she did, she did fine, though, the overcooked liver...my gosh, that rang bells.
I don't think either thought that meat should be juicy, that was what gravy was for.
Meat/potatoes -- that was the regular.
I do remember when hamburger helper came in.
I also remember when "tv dinners" were a treat.
The extent of the fish was salmon sandwiches for lunch.
Last edited:
BetteTheRed
Resident Heretic
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Her
We had fish every Friday, Mom having grown up RCC. If we were lucky, it was fish sticks. If we were not lucky, it was the worse presentation/taste of smoked/salted cod I've ever been unlucky to partake in.
Pinga
Room for All
Oh, that is a good point. My grandmother who lived with us when young was from Yorkshire, though, no RC in our background.
Once in a while, we would get halibut from "Dot's Fish & Chips", and, after they closed down, "Golden Fish 'n chips".
I think that they liked it because it didn't taste like fish.
Once in a while, we would get halibut from "Dot's Fish & Chips", and, after they closed down, "Golden Fish 'n chips".
I think that they liked it because it didn't taste like fish.
KayTheCurler
Well-Known Member
My mother was at home - not from choice I later learned. She was a poor housekeeper and an indifferent cook. The best meal was the Sunday roast with roasted spuds, carrots and maybe a boiled veggie. This was England so of course, Bisto gravy. Variations on fish arrived on Fridays and were usually pretty good, fried, baked with potatoes and veg. Other meals were variations on stew, sausages, ready made meat pies, liver occasionally, egg and bacon pie - frequently without the pastry, various iterations of 'fry up'.
The memorable food was made by my dad - bread, Yorkshire teacakes, baps, pancakes that were tossed with a flourish, fudge at Christmas. Dad also made the mince pies and sausage rolls (Nana made the pudding).
My diet changed drastically when I came to Canada and met such oddities as jelly salad, rice instead of potatoes, casseroles with pasta in them, pizza, perogies, and herbs and spices!
The memorable food was made by my dad - bread, Yorkshire teacakes, baps, pancakes that were tossed with a flourish, fudge at Christmas. Dad also made the mince pies and sausage rolls (Nana made the pudding).
My diet changed drastically when I came to Canada and met such oddities as jelly salad, rice instead of potatoes, casseroles with pasta in them, pizza, perogies, and herbs and spices!
Mendalla
Happy headbanging ape!!
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
At home, we mostly did fish and chips (frozen fish and fries), but at the cottage, fresh lake trout was usually had at least a couple times a summer. Smaller ones done done in a frying pan, big ones on the grill. We did eat smallmouth bass, too, but they are a smaller fish and not as tasty as trout IMHO. Though Mrs. M did a nice red-cooked bass once when we were up there (caught by my cousin who was up at the same time as us).
Pinga
Room for All
Veggies have changed so much since my childhood, both in the variety of vegetables and the way we presented them.
@KayTheCurler , i remember when I first had vegetables around a roast, instead of having them boiled to death. Oh, they were so tasty.
My favourite vegetable was turnip, which was with most roast beef dinners.
************************************************************
My cousin was 20 years older than me, her children were our age. We often would head to Puce (near Windsor) to visit them for a few days.
My cousin's husband was Lebanese, and we would sometimes be treated to a Lebanese dinner. My cousin had spent time with her mother-in-law learning how to make Lebanese food, and oh, she was a good cook. It was SOO different from our traditional meals. I enjoyed it.
@KayTheCurler , i remember when I first had vegetables around a roast, instead of having them boiled to death. Oh, they were so tasty.
My favourite vegetable was turnip, which was with most roast beef dinners.
************************************************************
My cousin was 20 years older than me, her children were our age. We often would head to Puce (near Windsor) to visit them for a few days.
My cousin's husband was Lebanese, and we would sometimes be treated to a Lebanese dinner. My cousin had spent time with her mother-in-law learning how to make Lebanese food, and oh, she was a good cook. It was SOO different from our traditional meals. I enjoyed it.
Lastpointe
Well-Known Member
I also grew up with a pretty typical British diet. Meat potatoes, frozen peas, roast for Sunday dinner.
my mom was a good cook, great pie maker. My dad was a fussy eater. Minimal vegetables and then oddly like asparagus
at church pot lucks my dad would only eat what my mom brought
when my mom was out or away, my Dad either made french toast for supper or scrambled eggs. His big lunch was tomatoe soup and tuna sandwiches. Doubt he could make anything else
my mom was a good cook, great pie maker. My dad was a fussy eater. Minimal vegetables and then oddly like asparagus
at church pot lucks my dad would only eat what my mom brought
when my mom was out or away, my Dad either made french toast for supper or scrambled eggs. His big lunch was tomatoe soup and tuna sandwiches. Doubt he could make anything else