Childhood food memories, good and bad

Good: I remember that when I was a small child, my mother would bake each of us a chocolate cake on our birthday. She did not use a mix, everything was baked from scratch, and because my parents did not believe in a lot of desserts, those wonderful cakes were memorable, the deep rich scent of real chocolate wafting through the house, making our birthdays special.

Bad: My father grew up during the Depression times where they ate stuff many of us don't eat today. He also had a rule when we were growing up that we could not refuse a new food unless we actually tasted it. One day, at a restaurant, he ordered calves brains and insisted that we tasted it. I can still remember retching; yeah, it was food prejudice, but bleahh!!!!

Do you have any particular good/bad food memories from your childhood (or other times in your life?)

anytime my parents made pork i would absolutely refuse to eat. Anything on the plate that touched it, would be avoided too!!

To this day, except for the very very rare time that i actually do eat it from someone who knows how to cook it correctly ( with no gristle and lots of seasonings ) I Avoid the meat. Dunno why, i just really really cannot stand the flavor or the texture.

I ate just about everything else though. I loved spinach and lima beans as a kid, and most veggies, ( though as a kid i wouldnt eat squash because of the color/name! LOL, but now i love them more than potatoes.)


Nowadays i actually even avoid beef, and try to eat more chicken and fish. ( though sometimes you just need a good burger or steak!) venison is another on the list of favorites. Liver and the meat. ^_^ yum.

My mom (RIP) was a great woman, but not-so-much when it came to cooking. Meat was cooked one way - well done. Pork chops were cooked, like, an extra 20 minutes to make sure they were 'safe'. When I was about 5, I used to put a bunch in my mouth, try to chew it, then go to the bathroom and spit it into the toilet. Maybe that's why I spent 12+ years as a restaurant manager.

I was glad we had a dog that liked to eat spinach.......

My mother would put fresh stewed tomatoes on her shepherds pie. I was not allowed to leave the table unless I ate them

To this day, I cannot eat stewed tomatoes...i "like" the taste...but for some reason, I cannot swallow them

I'd rather eat kitty litter than have ANY of my moms shepherds pie...

ew

I have tons of good memory with food in my family. We cooked A LOT, everything from my mum's side of the family(the scottish side) to my dad's side(scilian/german). I can basically whip up anything if given the slightest bit of directions. My sister decided to take this passion for cooking and became a su-chef at the Wynn casino in Las Vegas. I cook just to wow the hubby, and anybody else that eats .

A bad experience that I have is corned beef. I cannot STAND the smell of it, the taste of it, or the texture. Why? because my dad decided to cook it one year, and whatever he did stunk the whole house up. We refused to come in the house. And he refused to make anything else so we were forced to eat a couple bites. Gross yuck ick.

Good: I love my Mom's potato salad--unfortunately she would only make it for family get-togethers. She would use 5 lbs of taters and whip up a concoction of mustard & mayo (along with trade family secret ingredients), mix it together, and WOW. I love it so much that I started making potato salad sandwiches. Hey, if egg salad is acceptable, so is potato salad!
I have never been able to duplicate it exactly, but I've come close. Now, though, whenever we have get-togethers and asks what she can bring, I tell her potato salad. I'm guaranteed to get my fill of tater salad sandwiches at least 3 times a year; more if I'm lucky!

BAD: during my formative years (and by that, I mean POOR) we lived in the country up north. My step-dad had his own construction company, and that meant that he couldn't work during the worst of the winter. Consequently, we ate, ummm, 'healthy.' It wasn't always good, but it did the job. We ate so many different kinds of beans as main courses. Then there was bean soup, bean casserole, beans on the side. We ate so many beans that my baby sister (at 6yo) would walk around mumbling "beans, beans, beans--that's all we ever eat...red ones, black ones, white ones, green ones..." It was so sad!
I do love my beans, but now I incorporated them into dishes with MEAT!

Now if you want to hear FUNNY childhood food memories, just say so...I got a pork rind story that will make you lol!

I grew up really poor.. so we had to do the food shelf thing.

to this day I can not eat corn flakes or peanut butter.

*shutters*

I love a good old-fashioned pb&j ANYDAY!

Originally Posted by Tiger Lilly

I love a good old-fashioned pb&j ANYDAY!

I did work at an organic co-op type place.. they had almond butter.. and real peanut butter and such..

that actually wasn't bad

so fresh, was tolerable


But. I also hate re-heating food. We lived for 3 years in a place with no stove, (as well as no indoor plumbing.. yeah.. in the middle of a national forest in WI.. *shutters*)

so EVERYTHING had to be cooked in the microwave.. so I have a block against using those for anything other then popcorn. LOL