A couple of months ago we went to a birthday party, a friend of ours just turned 50. So I took a dish that was probably a staple 50 years ago, chile mac. Basically browned ground beef, chile sauce and elbow macaroni. Folks enjoyed it, many talked about how often they ate it as kids decades ago. Mission accomplished.
A couple my mom would make.. Oyster stew.. this was just canned oysters and their liquor with milk and butter - add plenty of crumbled saltines. She would make a cast iron skillet dish called "cornbread tacos" .. I think she would bake a thin layer of cornbread in the skillet, then add ground beef with taco seasoning over it with cheese on top and then throw it back in the oven to melt the cheese. She would make fried salmon patties. Basically canned salmon mixed with diced onion and bellpepper with an egg, then spooned out into a cast iron skillet and fried until crispy on both sides.
She definitely did the sloppy joes too! Spaghetti, and hamburger helper made regular appearances with four kids and a tight budget. One of my favorites she'd make from scratch was chicken and dumplings. I'm 35 so I don't know if they are retro per se, but a lot of dishes are classics anyway.
One dish my grandma made that I still make is macaroni, bacon and tomatoes. So simple, so delicious and a def trip back in time for me. She also made muskrats, ragout of pigs feet, killer fresh water fish, etc. My grandfather made the best pancakes. He would beat the egg whites and fold them into the batter - they were so fluffy they seemed to float.
From my other grandmother came the German stuff - spaetzle, sausages, duck, goose, stuffed things and sticky buns. I don't make spaetzle much anymore, or the sticky buns, but the savories I do.
One dish my grandma made that I still make is macaroni, bacon and tomatoes. So simple, so delicious and a def trip back in time for me. She also made muskrats, ragout of pigs feet, killer fresh water fish, etc. My grandfather made the best pancakes. He would beat the egg whites and fold them into the batter - they were so fluffy they seemed to float.
From my other grandmother came the German stuff - spaetzle, sausages, duck, goose, stuffed things and sticky buns. I don't make spaetzle much anymore, or the sticky buns, but the savories I do.
Now if only I had read this a couple days ago I would have took pics of true made in Sweden by Swedes Swedish meatball for a 1000 people. Took us a "couple" hours but we rolled 130 kilos of beef into about 10000 balls. Along with 150 kilos of boiled potatos, 30 kilos of lingon and a hearty beef brown sauce(40 liters) with chocolate coconut balls for dessert. That was fridays lunch.
Now, ive had a hankering for my childhood favorite of Spaghetti and meatballs. Ill do it next weekend if the fates allow.
Spätzle flour is not that special - you can use any bog-standard pasta flour for it. It's just the German version. The only hassle is to clean up your cutting board after hand-scraping them, if you do not have a Spätzlereibe.
thats what I always thought, I use manitoba cream when I nake it but they insist on a partucular brand and I have to say it is really good. Probly just the cook as she had been making it for 70 years
Good option available on Amazon.de, but really, generally I just go with any pasta flour I have at hand. You most certainlyy look at her technique more than at her ingredients!
Oh, yes, food from the 50s and 60s! I have a few feet of bookshelf dedicated to cookbooks from this period and earlier.
We have a couple of restaurants in our area devoted to Wisconsin supper club food from the period. The restaurateur is a Beard award-winner for other properties (not these though): http://www.joeygerards.com/menus/dinner/ Cheeseheads from that period (and still, I would insist) expected to find a crock of liverwurst spread, pickles, olives, celery and carrot sticks and green onions on crushed ice, and crackers on every table as part of the couvert. It's reflected on this menu, too.The decor and music in these places is Rat Pack.
I almost hesitate to bring this up in a perfectly lovely discussion of sentimental food from my childhood, but it's been a long time since we giggled ourselves sick over this site: http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/ Click at your own risk. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/eek.gif
Oh my! My pop used to take the canned salmon and mix it with a can of sardines and make croquettes. Than god for flash our German Shepard!! The only saving grace was the pasta side.
Then my Mom would have a Tab soda and use it as an ok to eat 2 pieces of grain pie. LOL what was that all about?
@panini I was about to say "Tab?" you are dating yourself my good friend. But, realized by mentioning salmon loaf I was dating myself. I actually liked the salmon loaf it was not bad at all. The croquettes sound great can you send me the recipe.
Salmon Patties, Macaroni & Cheese with jarred pickled beets on the side. Tuna noodle casserole but I can never bring myself to use canned mushroom soup or do the potato chip topping. Too unhealthy
@ColeenS I thought that was everyday food. I've served several of those to our church group in the past year for our Wednesday fellowship meals. Of course there is a lot of gray hair at the meals and their mothers made it for them and they made same for their children. But it is a nice list of old favorites you gave.
How about the "bird in the nest" .. where you cut a circle out of bread and fry the bread along with an egg in the center? Not sure if that is retro but I remember my brother doing it 25+ yrs ago and I was impressed!
My mom definitely did the tuna macaroni salad, with frozen peas! Another dish that would make regular appearances was this over toast!
Sloppy joes always makes me think of that song Adam Sandler sang with Chris Farley ("Sloppy joes, slop sloppy joes..."). And yes they bring back great memories. In fact, we had sloppy joes last night.
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