Favorite Foods of the Ancestors
In Spanish class we recently learned a little bit about the Day of the Dead holiday. This is where on November 1 and 2 you honor your dead relatives. The fictional family we learn about while watching our educational TV show has a tradition of serving favorite foods of these dead relatives.
So there's no escaping Grandma's horrible casserole. That was my first thought. (Not that any of my grandma's made horrible casseroles, but surely someone's does.)
My second thought was that I don't even know what my relatives' favorite foods are. After a lot of thought, I would guess steak and baked potato for Mom and pizza for Dad (based on restaurant choices).
Nevertheless, I do associate foods with my relatives, but it's all favorite foods of mine that I learned about from them. For example:
Mom - I use her recipes for spaghetti, egg salad, tuna salad, devilled eggs, french toast, teriaki meatballs, sweet and sour chicken, chicken parmesan, matzo ball soup, toffee squares (chocolate chip bar cookies), butter cream frosting, pumpkin pie, meringue pie, and peanut butterscotch pudding. I also use the same chili mix when I'm not trying to replicate it with my own recipe. I also have her challah recipes, though I haven't tried them yet.
Dad - blue cheese dressing, chef salad, sandwiches involving peanut butter and whatever's handy
sister - taco soup
brother - biscuit dough for pizza
Grandma Miller - salt on cantaloupe is actually good (though I like it without salt, too, so I don't add salt)
Grandma Dottie - chocolate bread pudding; also mayonnaise makes good fruit salad (though I prefer something healthier)
I don't just get food ideas from my relatives though.
Girl Scouts - homemade ice cream in flavors such as peanut butter, grape soda, and of course various Girl Scout cookies. Also, I perfected my peanut butter cookie recipe and created my peanut butter cake recipe while earning the cooking badge. And I learned to cook at Girl Scout camp, so I still think of things like cheese graters and sharp knives as luxury items that I'm fabulously lucky to have. Also, Mom and I learned to make Shipwreck (scrambled eggs with potatoes, sausage, cheese, and anything else handy) from Girl Scouts.
Gladys - Golden Chicken Nuggets
Cynthia - brownies
Carl - tuna biscuit bake (aka whop biscuit bake), ham quiche, hamburger quiche, and meatballs Scandia; his family also believes that the birthday boy or girl gets all the extra frosting (who knew there could be such a thing?)
Bill and Dave - rice pudding, crepes, hazelnut chocolate spread; also, the concept that ice cream is a staple (I also now consider chocolate chips and cocoa to be staple foods)
Dave - chocolate ecstacy (aka flourless cake, though there is a bit of flour in this recipe)
Ri Jen - best chicken ever (why didn't I write down the ingredients after I asked him?)
McKath - banana bread, pumpkin cheesecake, hot fudge sauce
Matt's friend (can't remember his name anymore) - chocolate bread (still haven't perfected that recipe, though I'm making do with a banana chocolate bread recipe these days)
Lyn - pumpkin pie cookies; also spinach and artichoke hearts can taste good; also I now generally eat mushrooms on my pepperoni pizza because of her
James - chocolate frosting
Jack's mom - meatloaf (still trying to replicate)
Tammy - taco salad
Erin - fruit salad (with canned peach filling as the sauce)
Robin - chicken surprise, Mediterranean salsa; also you don't need fat to make gravy or many other things tasty
John - asparagus (I haven't yet copied his)
Jennifer - wartime/depression chocolate cake, muffins with kale in them
Micheal Jacobs of Frog's Leap Cooking School - the chocolate chip banana pancakes I got from them via a newspaper or something are now a family tradition--not only do I make them, so do my mom and sister
My mom also likes a potato cheese soup recipe I found in a cookbook.
Finally, I'd like to mention some general family traditions involving food.
* There can never been too much chocolate.
* There can never be too much cheese (my sister disagrees--she thinks triple-cheese thin-crust pizza is going too far).
* Thanksgiving dressing is made with bread, not cornbread. (I like both, though.)
* Gravy is made with flour, not corn starch. (I think I might like corn starch gravy a little better, though.)
* Cornbread should not be sweet.
* Hot peppers are not necessary--they are generally a thing to be tolerated.
* Instant Breakfast makes a perfectly respectable breakfast.
* Beaters should be licked before cleaning.
* We are all picky eaters except my sister. I know Dad doesn't like beans, rice, peas, and many other vegetables. I know Mom doesn't like mustard on sandwiches, raw onions, or mushrooms. My brother and I dislike most vegetables.
* You have to finish your food before you can have dessert (if you have a pickiness problem; this is not true if you are not picky and have a weight problem).
* Grandpa Miller is in charge of the Clean Plate Club.
I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting, but this seems plenty long already!
Polite food data of the day - Boycott Egg-Land’s Best & Land O’ Lakes Eggs - "How can you avoid buying eggs from companies that use synthetic methionine as a crutch that allows them to skirt organic’s outdoor access rule? ... [O]nly buy organic eggs that are “pasture-raised.” That claim is most credible when it’s backed up by a third party certification like Animal Welfare Approved or Certified Humane." - I'm going to try for that in the future.
So there's no escaping Grandma's horrible casserole. That was my first thought. (Not that any of my grandma's made horrible casseroles, but surely someone's does.)
My second thought was that I don't even know what my relatives' favorite foods are. After a lot of thought, I would guess steak and baked potato for Mom and pizza for Dad (based on restaurant choices).
Nevertheless, I do associate foods with my relatives, but it's all favorite foods of mine that I learned about from them. For example:
Mom - I use her recipes for spaghetti, egg salad, tuna salad, devilled eggs, french toast, teriaki meatballs, sweet and sour chicken, chicken parmesan, matzo ball soup, toffee squares (chocolate chip bar cookies), butter cream frosting, pumpkin pie, meringue pie, and peanut butterscotch pudding. I also use the same chili mix when I'm not trying to replicate it with my own recipe. I also have her challah recipes, though I haven't tried them yet.
Dad - blue cheese dressing, chef salad, sandwiches involving peanut butter and whatever's handy
sister - taco soup
brother - biscuit dough for pizza
Grandma Miller - salt on cantaloupe is actually good (though I like it without salt, too, so I don't add salt)
Grandma Dottie - chocolate bread pudding; also mayonnaise makes good fruit salad (though I prefer something healthier)
I don't just get food ideas from my relatives though.
Girl Scouts - homemade ice cream in flavors such as peanut butter, grape soda, and of course various Girl Scout cookies. Also, I perfected my peanut butter cookie recipe and created my peanut butter cake recipe while earning the cooking badge. And I learned to cook at Girl Scout camp, so I still think of things like cheese graters and sharp knives as luxury items that I'm fabulously lucky to have. Also, Mom and I learned to make Shipwreck (scrambled eggs with potatoes, sausage, cheese, and anything else handy) from Girl Scouts.
Gladys - Golden Chicken Nuggets
Cynthia - brownies
Carl - tuna biscuit bake (aka whop biscuit bake), ham quiche, hamburger quiche, and meatballs Scandia; his family also believes that the birthday boy or girl gets all the extra frosting (who knew there could be such a thing?)
Bill and Dave - rice pudding, crepes, hazelnut chocolate spread; also, the concept that ice cream is a staple (I also now consider chocolate chips and cocoa to be staple foods)
Dave - chocolate ecstacy (aka flourless cake, though there is a bit of flour in this recipe)
Ri Jen - best chicken ever (why didn't I write down the ingredients after I asked him?)
McKath - banana bread, pumpkin cheesecake, hot fudge sauce
Matt's friend (can't remember his name anymore) - chocolate bread (still haven't perfected that recipe, though I'm making do with a banana chocolate bread recipe these days)
Lyn - pumpkin pie cookies; also spinach and artichoke hearts can taste good; also I now generally eat mushrooms on my pepperoni pizza because of her
James - chocolate frosting
Jack's mom - meatloaf (still trying to replicate)
Tammy - taco salad
Erin - fruit salad (with canned peach filling as the sauce)
Robin - chicken surprise, Mediterranean salsa; also you don't need fat to make gravy or many other things tasty
John - asparagus (I haven't yet copied his)
Jennifer - wartime/depression chocolate cake, muffins with kale in them
Micheal Jacobs of Frog's Leap Cooking School - the chocolate chip banana pancakes I got from them via a newspaper or something are now a family tradition--not only do I make them, so do my mom and sister
My mom also likes a potato cheese soup recipe I found in a cookbook.
Finally, I'd like to mention some general family traditions involving food.
* There can never been too much chocolate.
* There can never be too much cheese (my sister disagrees--she thinks triple-cheese thin-crust pizza is going too far).
* Thanksgiving dressing is made with bread, not cornbread. (I like both, though.)
* Gravy is made with flour, not corn starch. (I think I might like corn starch gravy a little better, though.)
* Cornbread should not be sweet.
* Hot peppers are not necessary--they are generally a thing to be tolerated.
* Instant Breakfast makes a perfectly respectable breakfast.
* Beaters should be licked before cleaning.
* We are all picky eaters except my sister. I know Dad doesn't like beans, rice, peas, and many other vegetables. I know Mom doesn't like mustard on sandwiches, raw onions, or mushrooms. My brother and I dislike most vegetables.
* You have to finish your food before you can have dessert (if you have a pickiness problem; this is not true if you are not picky and have a weight problem).
* Grandpa Miller is in charge of the Clean Plate Club.
I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting, but this seems plenty long already!
Polite food data of the day - Boycott Egg-Land’s Best & Land O’ Lakes Eggs - "How can you avoid buying eggs from companies that use synthetic methionine as a crutch that allows them to skirt organic’s outdoor access rule? ... [O]nly buy organic eggs that are “pasture-raised.” That claim is most credible when it’s backed up by a third party certification like Animal Welfare Approved or Certified Humane." - I'm going to try for that in the future.