What kind of (different/unusual) foods did you enjoy at a friend's home during your childhood? (ingredient, diet)
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I can’t top any of those things, but when I went to my cousins house we had margarine instead of butter and I loved the taste of it.
When I stayed at my friend’s house if her parents were out, we made things like Appian Way Pizza from a box, or TV Dinners, neither of which we had at home.
TV Dinners, Swanson in the foil tray, were a special treat for us on the rare occasion that my parents went out on a date and we didn't go stay at my grandma's house. We rarely had hired babysitters who came to the house, but when we did, that was the menu...that and Jiffy Pop popcorn on the stove top. I still remember the scorching hot whipped potatoes in a Swanson's Salisbury steak TV dinner...also corn and cherry or apple crisp.
When I lived in NC, we had some Greek neighbors. I mean, they actually had the old grandmother who was tiny tiny and who dressed all in black and even wore a black scarf over her head and also didn't speak a lick of English. But wow, could she ever cook!
One of the things she made was some sort of Greek version of spaghetti which I LOVED. She also made baklava and some other sort of honey flavored pastry dish.
They had a huge TV in their living room (probably wouldn't be huge now days but it seemed huge back then in the 1970s) and after school all the neighborhood kids would run over there and gather around and watch Spider Man and eat baklava! It was always a special treat if they invited me to stay for dinner after some of the other kids dispersed. I was like "SCORE!"
When we moved to Georgia, I will never forget the first time I tasted Brunswick stew. I thought it was fabulous. We had a neighbor who would make it during hunting season and always bring us a big batch of it.
One time, though, my parents went out of town and left my brother and me with some friends of theirs for a weekend. This was my introduction to beef liver. Now, why would ANYONE serve liver to some visiting kids - and sit there and insist we eat it all? I remember thinking "This is the absolute worst thing I have ever put in my mouth."
Served liver to their friends' kids. Hmmm. That is outright malicious.
Nearly everyone in our small town was Scandinavian so our eating habits were similar plus that fact that we were pretty much farm to table before it was hoighty-toighty. But there were variations depending on which region of the country the ancestors had come from. In those days the regions were still divided by lack of communication so right over the fjord people were using a slightly different recipe and language.
Mom never bought pre-packaged baked goods and though I saw other kids eat them they just looked like "toy" versions of real food to me. So I've never had a Ding-Dong, Twinkie, Banana Flip, Fruit Pie, any of that stuff. Don't even know if I've been deprived!
Served liver to their friends' kids. Hmmm. That is outright malicious.
Nearly everyone in our small town was Scandinavian so our eating habits were similar plus that fact that we were pretty much farm to table before it was hoighty-toighty. But there were variations depending on which region of the country the ancestors had come from. In those days the regions were still divided by lack of communication so right over the fjord people were using a slightly different recipe and language.
Mom never bought pre-packaged baked goods and though I saw other kids eat them they just looked like "toy" versions of real food to me. So I've never had a Ding-Dong, Twinkie, Banana Flip, Fruit Pie, any of that stuff. Don't even know if I've been deprived!
On that last part, I assure you that you're missing nothing! Even back in the 70s, those fruit pies tasted like thick chalky balls of lard, but Hostess cupcakes, ding-dongs, twinkles, and Chocodiles were not as bad as their retooled recipe versions are today.
Would have loved some Scandinavian fare, I've actually never had any before.
By the way, I did always think that there was some underlying (and weird and unhealthy) reason for serving visiting kids beef liver - especially the part about making us eat all of it.
Even if they thought it would be "funny" - well, it really wasn't.
It's funny now though - but I don't think they'd appreciate why I think it's so funny! Every time I remember this particular family (which ended up having all sorts of unsavory family drama down the road) I think "What odd and generally unpleasant people." The interesting thing is, this was a couple who really went out of their way to be "mod." They were both really good looking, always dressed to the nines, their house was decorated in the latest 1970s fashion (ugh!) but wow, what generally unpleasant people. I remember that shortly after my parents' return, they decided for whatever reasons to put some distance between their family and ours - and later on I figured out why!
I'll just say that the beef liver was just the tip of the iceberg - LOL.
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There were 9 of us kids, so as you might expect, we were not invited to dinner often. I do remember one time when we visited friends in the country, and had fried chicken for dinner. It turns out that the 2 chickens had been running around their yard the day before. Fried chicken is not unusual, but that fresh is.
On that last part, I assure you that you're missing nothing! Even back in the 70s, those fruit pies tasted like thick chalky balls of lard, but Hostess cupcakes, ding-dongs, twinkles, and Chocodiles were not as bad as their retooled recipe versions are today.
Would have loved some Scandinavian fare, I've actually never had any before.
I have never been fond of Hostess anything but used to go to the "day old" bakery in Sac in the mid 70s and would stock up for the kids lunches. The biggest problem: our son would wait until I wasn't paying attention and raid the freezer of the stuff. Some things are just made for kids I guess
Love this thread. When I was child in Canada we had next door neighbors from Armenia (I think that's where it was) and I absolutely loved going over to their house. It smelled amazing in their kitchen and I was always hoping they would share some delicious bite with me. My parents were immigrants themselves, but from the UK, and didn't make anything like that delicious kofta I was always hoping to find.
When I was 12 we flew across the seas and I met my grandmother, who was Lebanese. Her kitchen was an exotic blend of passion fruit, mango, dark chocolate and warm spices. I only met her a couple of times, but I thought she was the most amazing person and cook and I acquired her love of all things culinary. I've never really pursued the cuisine for some baffling reason, but I am going to change that. Actually, I think the reason is because I've never wanted to compete with the nostalgic aroma in my memories. My spouse was just overseas for work and a Lebanese food truck was parked outside his hotel. He sent me a picture with the comment "This is amazing. I really wish I knew your grandmother." My food goal is for my kitchen to smell like hers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mattie
At the home of my childhood friend from Ireland, baked beans on buttered toast. I loved it. At the home of another childhood friend, Yorkshire pudding. I loved that too.
We had this all the time as kids too! Parents from the UK.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TabulaRasa
TV Dinners, Swanson in the foil tray, were a special treat for us on the rare occasion that my parents went out on a date and we didn't go stay at my grandma's house. We rarely had hired babysitters who came to the house, but when we did, that was the menu...that and Jiffy Pop popcorn on the stove top. I still remember the scorching hot whipped potatoes in a Swanson's Salisbury steak TV dinner...also corn and cherry or apple crisp.
Haha...I had to chuckle at this. My mom made all our food and we rarely ate out, but when my parents both had to go out she would buy Swanson dinners for us. I've never had one since, but I loved them as a kid.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KathrynAragon
What a fun thread! When I lived in NC, we had some Greek neighbors. I mean, they actually had the old grandmother who was tiny tiny and who dressed all in black and even wore a black scarf over her head and also didn't speak a lick of English. But wow, could she ever cook!
My neighbors now are Greek and they can COOK. We get a big tin of baking every Christmas and it's something we look forward to every year. I also remember my first taste of Brunswick stew in Georgia. It was so good!
These are not different or unusual but they are two things that my friends had at their houses that we did not ever have in ours:
- Real Butter
- Kid's Breakfast Cereals
- For some reason, my mother NEVER bought real butter, we just had that tub margarine like Imperial or Blue Bonnet (blech). Upon having real butter slathered on toast for breakfast on an overnight at my best friend's house, I begged my mother to get us some, which she never did.
Since becoming an adult, I have never purchased or eaten any butter substitutes and never will.
- My mother would not allow us to have any of the kids's sweetened cereals; this was the early 70's but no Captain Crunch, no Count Chocula, no Booberry, no Sugar Smacks, etc. at our house. We just had boring old Rice Krispies and Corn Flakes my ENTIRE CHILDHOOD. The only time I got to sample these wondrous cereals was at my friend's houses, and I felt SO deprived.
Needless to say, I am now pushing 60 and very often treat myself to these cereals to make up for what I feel was a true VOID and oppression in my childhood!
My mom was a from-scratch cook who was into fresh ingredients and whole grains, so food didn't have to be too exotic to be new to me. It just needed to be heavily processed.
I recall a friend's mom gave me a bologna sandwich on white bread. I'd never had either (and didn't like it).
Another friend proudly served a coffee cake she'd made herself...from Bisquick. I didn't think that was so great either!
Now, a family down the street had an Armenian father, and his German wife had learned to cook some of his favorite specialties. Their daughter was my sister's best friend, and at their house we used to get the most delicious homemade baklava. At that time, it wasn't a common treat in the US. She also made something called burek (sp?) which was a turnover made of phyllo with a spinach and cheese filling. Delicious!
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