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Fondest Childhood Food Memory - Page 2

post #31 of 42
3/5/10 at 7:08am
Finally, I figured out how to reply in this new format!  I don't know why I've been so confused.


My fondest childhood food memory would be the gardening season.  We lived across a small field from my grandmother and would share a large garden.  My mother, grandmother, sister,and I all worked together to put up the bounties for the winter months.  We would spend the day shelling beans and/or peas, canning tomatoes, and more.  At lunchtime, Grandma would cook dinner.  We would have wonderful fresh beans, ripe and juicy tomatoes from the garden just sprinkled with a little salt and pepper, fresh okra cooked with cornmeal that neither my mother nor I have ever been able to replicate, and fried chicken, fatback, a roast, or whatever Grandma decided to make that day.  She would also make biscuits or cornbread (the griddle fried lacy kind with a nice crunch, not sure the correct term for it).  Those memories are what sparked my desire to garden as an adult and I'm sure contributed to my love of food and cooking.
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post #32 of 42
3/5/10 at 2:27pm
Yes, my grandmother too sliced EVERYTHING in her hands and never got cut.

Siduri... my Italian grandfather cut peaches, overripe peaches, into red wine and they were the best!!

However, my fondest memory as a kid was at my Nana's house... my German mom's mother.. and that was on New Year's Day.   For dinner it was Sauerbraten, red cabbage and potato dumplings.   That Sauerbraten marinated in brine for week and was tremendous.  However, it was the potato dumplings that were the best... potato mixed with farina to make them light but they were around 3 cubes of toasted bread that she made.  The bread was the anchor to hold them together.   She'd cube the bread and toast them in a frying pan with butter and some salt.   We all hoped for the extras as they were a great snack.

She's been gone a number of years now but I can still taste her cooking!!  MMMMM.
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post #33 of 42
3/5/10 at 2:38pm
 My fondest foodie memories were mostly on our family holidays in the South of France. Just French bread, Camenbert cheese and red wine (yes they would even let me have a little wine) and the very first time I tasted an oyster I was only 4/5 years old but I loved it 
 http://tiny.cc/jixyl 
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post #34 of 42
3/5/10 at 2:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by FL Italian View Post

Siduri... my Italian grandfather cut peaches, overripe peaches, into red wine and they were the best!!
 
My uncle did the same, and it always looked so appetizing, but i HATED the taste.  I think i don;t like alcohol because they were always trying to get me to taste it!  "Here, just dip your finger in it, it;s good" and i would dip into the promising bright red liquid that looked so sweet and BLAAAA it was SOUR!  I'm still not into wine.  Can appreciate it but am mainly indifferent, and often dislike it.  I thought it ruined the sweetness of the peaches - still do for that matter!
"Siduri said, 'Gilgamesh, where are you roaming? You will never find the eternal life that you seek...Savour your food, make each of your days a delight, ... let music and dancing fill your house, love the child who holds you by the hand and give your wife pleasure in your embrace.'"
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post #35 of 42
3/5/10 at 7:26pm
 Christmas Eve at my grandmother's house, waiting for her to finish the crabmeat au gratin.  I can still smell the white wine simmering with the heavy cream.  She also added mushrooms with the wine and cream but pulled them out before serving.  Truly, it is a dish that brings back memories of my youth.  I also fondly remember my mother frying shrimp on Friday evenings during Lent.  She would toast small loaves of french bread and pile them high with hot, golden, crispy Gulf shrimp.  What a treat that was.
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post #36 of 42
3/13/10 at 2:08am
Man there are some lucky people here. Such great memories thanks for sharing them, its like being there. I'm only reading them and I'm all at once I'm moved, a tad jealous of a few of you and hungry!

My favorite food memory is being awoken by the overwhelming aroma of baking bread in the house.  Fresh bread baking in the oven, the smell of yeast, it made me wake to instantaneous, ravenous hunger. By the time it came out of the oven I felt like I had consumed half my own liver with grumbles and pangs, just waiting, anticipating warm bread straight from the oven. So hot it can't even be cut yet, tearing apart a loaf over Moms protests to leave the bread to rest and slathering it with fresh butter that would melt so fast and drip hotter than can be believed onto your hands if you weren't careful. I spoiled many a breakfast with hot bread and suffered many a belly ache while my mother gave me that "I told you so, you should know better, you deserve that bellyache" look.  Every. single. time.

Bread ... love. it.
If I want it bad enough, I'll learn to make it myself!  I'm not afraid to fail, I'm afraid of going without!
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post #37 of 42
3/13/10 at 8:52pm
I love all the farm and garden stories:)

I think my favorite memories are just the time spent with loved ones cooking and cleaning up.  

My dad has always been a great cook and whenever we go visit him we know we're going to eat good...but after the meal we are always expected to handwash and dry the dishes together. I used to hate it but as I've gotten older I cherish that time with family members.  My grandma was known as the pie lady in her small Ill. town and I've loved her apricot pie all my life.  She's 92 now and hasn't made one in about two years and I'm a little freaked out at the thought of never having that particular taste and pie. I have her recipe and I need to work on that.

I also love my dad's feijoada, it's one of his staples and it reminds me of my childhood.

My mom is always baking and she always brings over pies and cakes....to this day. She would also make our birthday cakes every years in some funky way....I mean that in a good way:)
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post #38 of 42
3/13/10 at 9:16pm
 My fondest childhood memory was really a dish more than a moment.  It's a Yellow Squash Casserole that my mother makes.  She still won't tell me what the secret is.  I've been eating it about twice a month for almost my whole life and I still can't figure it out.  

I know the ingredients.  It's squash, spanish onion, butter, cheddar, cream, eggs, bacon, salt, white pepper, and just a heavy pinch of cumin.  

I know the technique.  Make a custard, spice that with the salt, pepper, and cumin.  Layers of onion and squash.  Pour the custard over that.   Top with the cheese.  Oven to 375 for about 45 minutes.  Broiler for about 5 to brown the cheese.

No matter what I do, the taste is still off when I make it.

Either way, when she made it, it meant that the whole family was coming over for dinner and it would be a great time.
Dammi un coltello affilato e vi mostrerò l'arte più belle del mondo.
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post #39 of 42
3/13/10 at 10:23pm
peanut butter sammys with mums homemade apple jelly!
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post #40 of 42
3/14/10 at 3:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dicey View Post

peanut butter sammys with mums homemade apple jelly!

My mother was Italian with a vengeance - she looked at you as if you were the worst idiot on the planet if you wanted anything she called "American" - so i had to bring these dry 3-day old rolls to school with salame or capocollo, dry and hard and not what a 7 year old likes to eat, while the other kids got to eat those nice soft sandwiches with soft, slightly sweet bread and creamy tuna salad or peanut butter and jelly!  (Well, i'm ignoring those who had the baloney sandwiches - a slice between two slices of white bread and nothing more - I didn't envy them).
Once in Kindergarten i remember, we used to get out at 12 and eat at home but that day there was a school event that we stayed on for so the cafeteria sent up a box of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  They were on soft bread, of course, and they were all squashed together from the weight of them all in the box.  To this day, I can almost taste that squashed soft bread and sweet-salty filling and still love it. 
"Siduri said, 'Gilgamesh, where are you roaming? You will never find the eternal life that you seek...Savour your food, make each of your days a delight, ... let music and dancing fill your house, love the child who holds you by the hand and give your wife pleasure in your embrace.'"
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post #41 of 42
3/25/10 at 6:11pm
Mom's Homeade Oatmeal with Cinnamon and real Canadian Maple Syrop on Cold Winter mornings warmed us up for the frosty days
Mom's homeade Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches for rainy days in Spring
Dad's Summer Backyard Giant Corn Roast over open-fire ....can still taste the butter running down my chin
Dad's Amazing Thanks-Giving Turkey with Mom's Parsley, Sage ,Rosemary and Thyme Stuffing... Roasted Sweet Potatoes,Mash Turnip,, BrusselSprouts and Of course Mash pots with the Turkey Dripping Pan Jus .............and what we all waited for all year :
Mom's Homeade Pumkin Pie  warm with fresh Whipped Cream   ....Pumpkin's grown in are own backyard!

I got the knick name pumpkin cause I couldn't wait to stuff that first peice in my mouth....lol     memories such a wonderfull thing to have
My feet are firmly planted in mid air
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post #42 of 42
3/26/10 at 8:11am
I come from a large Italian family - so food is always the focus of every get together. Holidays especially. Christmas Eve was always filled with seafood including lobster and a traditional Italian seafood stew called "Cioppino". It's delish especially with a bit of garlic bread dunked in!

Christmas day always started with Baked Lasagna and moved into some sort of big roast - then dessert is filled with biscotti, cakes and pies galore!

Mmm, is it December yet?? :)
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