What did your grandparents cook?

[Cat of Ulthar]

I always like hearing stories from how life is and was in other parts of the world, and was thinking about how both sets of grandparents had very similar meals, which I think must have been typical of that era in that part of the Netherlands...

So how did your grandparents eat? Was there difference between grandparents?

For my grandparents (born in the 1910-20s, living in the south of the Netherlands), breakfast was porridge (dad's parents) or sandwiches with smoked meat (mum's parents), and dinner was sandwiches at both sets. The main meal of the day was eaten at midday (12.00 prompt) and was a starter of vegetable soup from a packet, then a main course of meat, boiled potatoes and boiled vegetables. The boiled potatoes were put on the plate whole, then mashed with the fork and a little dip was made in it in which the meat juice was poured, this meat juice was then mixed with the potatoes. Some would go further and cut up the meat and mix potatoes, meat and veggies together in one nutritious clump.
Dessert was "vla", a dairy product of a custardlike viscosity, coming in the tastes vanilla, chocolate or raspberry. My dad's parents had the to me disgusting habit of eating everything of the same plate, first soup, then main meal, ok, I'm fine with that, but then vla off that as well. I couldn't do that and would demand a clean bowl, or wash my plate up first.

With dinner was drunk tea with milk.

[Pigs in Space]

Pretty much meat with 3 veg.

The meat was typically a lamb chop, grilled until black, and the 3 veg were boiled.

[Harry]

My Tennessee grandparents ate very much country food. Eggs, grits and pancakes in the morning. Cold biscuits and ham at lunch. Greens, pole beans, cornbread and fried pig parts for dinner, with plenty of cold tea. Chicken on Sunday. Holiday dinners were the same, with added chitterlings, turkey, rolls and cake. My North Carolina family ate cereal at breakfast, cold and hot, sandwiches and cold cuts for lunch, and fried fish or chicken for supper with sides of corn and whatever else was fresh in the garden. At holidays, my North Carolina family ate take out NC BBQ.

[Lady Fury]

My mom's parents generally ate fruit crepes and bacon or sausage for breakfast. Lunch was noodles and meat with fresh veggies. Dinners were always changing. They'd have everything from stew to liver and onions. Yuck!
My dad's mom (I never knew my grandfather because he died when my dad was a kid) would have toast and coffee in the morning. Lunch would be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Dinner always interesting. She'd make stuff peppers a lot. Homemade mac n cheese. Lots of yummy soups.

[Ergeheilalt]

Hmmm.

My Dad's folks were steak, potatoes, carrots - nothing green.

My Mom's folks were steak, potatoes, carrots, spaghetti, soups, chili, hamburger, pies, cakes, etc.

My mom was all about quick food - hamburger helper, crock pot, jarred pasta sauce, etc.

My dad was all about breakfast and the grill - burgers and hot dogs mostly.

Me? I'm a foodie. Last week I made curried veggies, some cream-cheese tart things for a party this weekend, a couple stir frys with in-season organic veggies. Home made pizza, too, and a pasta putinesqua (sp?) with braised brussel sprouts.

But tonight, after getting back from a job at Apple, it's supermarket pizza. After a 13 hour day, there is no firing up the kitchen and making magic happen.

[Brynja]

Paternal grandparents ate:

Breakfast- Yoghurt, fruit, cheese or breads
Lunch- Cold soup and some cured meats and breads
Dinner- whatever my grandmother could get the best deal at that day at market with risotto, pasta and sauteed veggies.

Maternal grandparents ate:
Breakfast- Taylor ham egg and cheese or cereal or oatmeal
Lunch- Cold cuts on rye with pickles
Dinner- much the same as above whatever she could haggle at the market but always lots of veggies.

[Harry]

I knew my family was country, but I thought the food I grew up around was there because everyone back in the old days ate like that. That it was us modern types who civilized the table. Judging from what has been presented so far, no... my family is just country.

[Harry]

Oh, and my great-grandmother took her coffee in a cup on a saucer, then poured the coffee from the cup into the saucer and sipped it. Rather lady-like, except for the slurping. And the dip.

[Brynja]

my families are just off the boats...so take with that what you will

[Lady Fury]

My mom's side came to America when she was young. They were very poor. A family from the church sponsored them. They ate what came out of the garden and from what their friends farms produced until my mom was nearly grown.

My dad's side was a little different because my grandmother grew up in a native american home but married a man from New Jersey. He changed her eating habits.

Harry I've never heard of anyone slurping coffee from a saucer. Thanks for the mental image.

[Harry]

My family did get exotic at holiday dinners. You could expect candied yams, yams with marshmallows and raisins, and plenty of casseroles sprinkled with French fried onions. That's pretty European, right?

Harry I've never heard of anyone slurping coffee from a saucer. Thanks for the mental image.

Big Mama was something special. I loved her dearly, even if she did dip.

[Lady Fury]

My family did get exotic at holiday dinners. You could expect candied yams, yams with marshmallows and raisins, and plenty of casseroles sprinkled with French fried onions. That's pretty European, right?

I believe so. My family did that as well.



Big Mama was something special. I loved her dearly, even if she did dip.

That brought a huge smile to my face. :win:

[Name Lips]

My grandpa's favorite snack was red onions with vinegar.
He also ate his cereal with water instead of milk.

They had a huge garden which has been my mental image of the "perfect" vegetable garden my whole life. Tons of food. Eggplants, cucumbers, squash, green beans, onions, garlic, watermelon.... every time I visited there was fresh veggies. They had fruit trees too, orange, apple, persimmon, and fig. So few people these days know what a fresh fig tastes like, right off the tree.

My granpa also was part owner of a walnut orchard. He would send us huge cardboard boxes of walnuts every fall, and they were a staple all through the holiday season and far into the next year. We'd spend hours cracking them. He also sent dried figs and under-ripe persimmons (so they'd make it in one piece). I was the only kid in the neighborhood who thought persimmon cookies were a regular holday treat.

He was especially fond of cantelopes. A cantelope should allow a spoon to glide through it "like butter." He despised store-bought melons and only gave us cantelopes from his garden.

He also kept ducks. They served the dual purpose of keeping down the snails and providing an endless series of extra-large eggs. One egg was plenty for breakfast.

He died years ago. :(

My grandma is still alive, but nothing she did with food sticks out in my head. I remember tuna sandwiches... but that's it.

[Varaj]

Children. :(

They were arrested in 1952 for cannibalism.

[Brynja]

Varaj please tell me you are kidding and my humor-dar is busted.

[Space Cadet B^3]

My grandfolks were quite a bit older, so my memories are limited. I remember Sunday dinner with fried chicken and mashed potatoes and rolls, I'm sure there were veggies too.

My dad's folks were divorced & remarried and his mom was a rotten cook, family dinners there were exercises in camoflage and deception.

My mom's mom died when I was 5, but one time when I was staying there I remember Chocolate Malt-o-meal for breakfast.

[Varaj]

Varaj please tell me you are kidding and my humor-dar is busted.

From what I was told they were arrested in 1952 in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Quickly tried and hung. Since it was a small town it was quietly covered up. Very sad business and somewhat of a dark family secret. My mother was taken and raised by her aunt and uncle before the age of one.

[Kastil]

Poor= lots of spaghetti. My Papa used to make us jumbo sandwiches (that's bologna to some of you) and my Grandmother.... she used to make homemade cocoa by combining Hershey's Cocoa and canned (evaporated) milk.

Ahhh... the memories.

[King Vyper]

Some things that stick out in my memory about things my whole family cooked they were all wildly different.

Grandparents

Green Pea Croquets
Pan Fried Pork Chops & Pan Gravy
Pan Fried Cube Steak & Pan Gravy
Apples baked with tab
Mac & Cheese
Meatloaf
Peanut Butter, Bannanna & Onion Sandwiches


My Uncle

Deep Fried Catfish
Venison Chops cooked w/ Wild Turkey
Venison Spagetti


My Father

Dried Cuttle Fish
Kimbop
Grill Roasted Corn
Grill Roasted Salmon
Boiled Blue Crab

[doc]

Never knew my grand- parents but we ate typical American food, lots of beef (cause we raised our own), veggies from the garden