Childhood memories associated with food

[foodnfoto]

OK, this is very interesting....
For the egg fried in a slice of bread thing we have quite a few names-
Humpty Dumpty Eggs
Egg in a Hole
Egg in a Nest
Toad in a Hole
Egg in a Frame (my daughter's name for it)
Any others?
Childhood food memories-
My sister's Caraway Rye Bread-the best!
My Mom's Sherry Cake, her Blintzes (Friday Night-no homework!) her Lasagne and Beef Stew (I still cannot reproduce it).
On a scary note-my Mom's Shrimp Curry-Eawww! I could smell it down the street as I walked home from the bus stop! Thankfully, it was a long enough walk to solicit a dinner invitation from one of my friends. Everything else she made was fabulous!

[Isa]

Reading Risa's story about bread reminded me of the first time I taste home made bread. My mother is a great cook but never really baked much. I was at my friend's house, must have been 7 or 8 her sitter had just taken out of the oven a loaf of bread. She handed us a piece, the butter was melting on the bread. I never forgot the taste of that bread, it was heavenly.

[SeattleDeb]

Every Thursday like clockwork mom baked loaves of homemade bread and her great cinnamon rolls (every few weeks)...amazing how the other stay at home mom's kind of wandered over mid afternoon. Best aroma ever was that bread baking.

[ May 17, 2001: Message edited by: SeattleDeb ]

[Pastachef]

My dad was the cook in our family. I remember many rainy, chilly days where the smell of something special bubbling on top of the stove...spaghetti sauces, chili...stews...homemade pastas, filled the air. It was always accompanied by classical music on the HIFI, or his playing the organ, and a fire in the fireplace. I think I'm the only person in the world who loves rainy days and sees them as cozy. I try to recreate this atmosphere at home and at work when the weather is 'nasty.'

[monpetitchoux]

I love the Fall. On my dad's one day off (he was a restaurant worker, too), he'd pick us up from school. When he told me to spread newspapers on the table when we got home, that could only mean one thing: Steamed Crabs! I grew up in the East Coast so they were blue crabs. We didn't have much money but we ate well.

Then there were chestnuts. My mother could buy them when we had enough money (they were expensive back in the 70's) and boil them. Then she'd divide them amongst us. I used to steal my sister's because she didn't have the patience to peel them.

On my birthday, my mother allowed me to request one dish for dinner. Sometimes I'd ask for shrimp with lobster sauce but when I really wanted to feel special, I'd ask my mom to make stuffed carp. It was really involved and took 2/3s of the day to prepare. You had to skin the whole fish without breaking the skin. The bones (they were tiny) would have to be removed from the flesh. Then the flesh was chopped fine with pork and aromatics to form something like a pate. Then it was stuffed back into the fish skin and reshaped to resemble a fish. Then it was braised. Then a sauce had to be made...No I was not a brat to tax my mother so. I only asked for this twice at most. And I was in the kitchen with her every minute of it. My alterior motive was to finagle a cooking lesson for a fancy Chinese dish from my mother, a woman with very little patience.

[Shimmer]

I think a lot of my childhood food memories also have to do with winter time. I grew up in the country (well, okay, I'm only 22, so I'm still pretty much a child, but I'm remembering a few years back anyway!), and our house was surrounded by trees. It was a very common thing to have the power go out for two or three days at a time. We used to cook meals on the fireplace using camping equipment, and hot chocolate always makes me think of that.

At Christmas time, I remember making Christmas chowder (cheese chowder with celery, tomatoes, bacon... mmmm....) and the smell of boiling sugar and water will always bring back memories of my Dad making the peanut brittle. I tried it once, and it didn't take half as long... I think it was just that he enjoyed it so much.

Then in the summertime, when we spent a lot of time picking fresh fruits and vegetables, either in our garden or in orchards. We canned a lot, but my favorite smell was freshly cooked apples, either for apple butter or applesauce.

Now, when I celebrate holidays, I feel like I have to have certain foods, because I always associated those foods with that holiday. Chex Mix on New Year's, for instance.

Makes me miss my family....

~~Shimmer~~