For me, chocolate pudding pie is high on my list. My grandmother made one using Jell-O Chocolate Pudding topped with fresh whipped cream; each needing to be beaten with her hand mixer, thus giving me and my sister two beaters each one of each flavor to lick clean. Another is fried okra… a southern staple at most big family dinners. My grandfather got me started eating this vegetable, by calling it pop-corn. Boy was I surprised the first time I went to the movie theater and discovered what they called popcorn.
Fried Okra
Ingredients:
1 pound okra
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cups buttermilk
2 cups self-rising cornmeal
vegetable oil for frying
Wash okra and drain well. Remove tip and stem end; cut okra into ½ inch slices. Sprinkle okra with salt; add buttermilk, stirring until well coated. Let stand at least 15 minutes; then drain okra well. Dredge in cornmeal. Deep fry okra in hot oil at 375 degrees F until golden brown; drain on paper towels.
Serves 4 to 6
__________
Sometimes foods remind me of my childhood because they were kid-oriented dishes, like Fruit Loop & Coco-Pops - both sugar filled cereals with little nutritional value. I also loved Animal Crackers & Cracker Jacks, and other sugar high treats. And I can’t forget Campbell’s Chicken & Stars soup and PB&J’s… I think I lived most of grade school eating peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches… and if it was a little bit smashed from being in the bottom of your knapsack– so much the better!
__________
My most memorable food was my Dad’s secret nighttime snack… vanilla ice cream with his secret chocolate topping… I would always stir it until completely mixed, like a thick soup and then I would slowly eat it one little taste at a time, so it would last forever. As I grew older, I discovered Dad’s chocolate topping was Hershey’s Chocolate Sauce. But to this day, I remember his magic chocolate kid treat.
__________
Other times, our favorite kid’s food will take us back to a certain place, like a grandmother's kitchen or a great-aunt’s dinner table or a best-friend house. So tell me…
Fried Okra
Ingredients:
1 pound okra
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cups buttermilk
2 cups self-rising cornmeal
vegetable oil for frying
Wash okra and drain well. Remove tip and stem end; cut okra into ½ inch slices. Sprinkle okra with salt; add buttermilk, stirring until well coated. Let stand at least 15 minutes; then drain okra well. Dredge in cornmeal. Deep fry okra in hot oil at 375 degrees F until golden brown; drain on paper towels.
Serves 4 to 6
__________
Sometimes foods remind me of my childhood because they were kid-oriented dishes, like Fruit Loop & Coco-Pops - both sugar filled cereals with little nutritional value. I also loved Animal Crackers & Cracker Jacks, and other sugar high treats. And I can’t forget Campbell’s Chicken & Stars soup and PB&J’s… I think I lived most of grade school eating peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches… and if it was a little bit smashed from being in the bottom of your knapsack– so much the better!
__________
My most memorable food was my Dad’s secret nighttime snack… vanilla ice cream with his secret chocolate topping… I would always stir it until completely mixed, like a thick soup and then I would slowly eat it one little taste at a time, so it would last forever. As I grew older, I discovered Dad’s chocolate topping was Hershey’s Chocolate Sauce. But to this day, I remember his magic chocolate kid treat.
__________
Other times, our favorite kid’s food will take us back to a certain place, like a grandmother's kitchen or a great-aunt’s dinner table or a best-friend house. So tell me…
What foods or dishes take you back to being a kid?
I immediately thought of the lunch I took to school a lot as a kid. White bread, lots of butter, sliced radishes and chives. I could eat it right now. Also chocolate pudding made with Argo cornstarch and my mom's German lebkuchen for Christmas. Thanks, George, for taking me on this ride.
ReplyDeleteI was surrounded by wonderful food as a child. It did not, however, come from my mother's kitchen. Mama was not a cook. Knowing that, you'll better understand why popcorn is the food I most fondly remember from her kitchen. She would make it every Friday night, using a rectangular pan with a mesh lid and long handle that was designed for use in a fireplace. We had no fireplace :-). I still love the sound and smell of popping corn. It's one of my favorite treats.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother and her sister owned and ran a bakery when she was younger. So her pastry treats were something I grew up with. However, my favorite was to come home from school for lunch (yes, we actually did when I was a kid) to find homemade noodles hanging on dishtowels over the cabinet doors. Then she would boil them and fry them in butter with some swiss cheese until everything was a crunchy mass. Carb heaven. No wonder I am always on a diet! Look what I grew up with.
ReplyDeleteOh dear....I had such great food in the house all the time...my mom was renowned for her cooking and baking. We were not very well off at all, but my mother managed to keep that fridge full all the time with her delights. Friends would want to come over after school all the time because they knew there would be some fresh cookies, buns or homemade canned goods ready to devour. I, on the other hand, always craved something store bought...even white bread if you can believe it...just to be contrary! Now I know how lucky I was! At this time of the year George...with all the goodness of Christmas baking....I remember my dearly departed Mother's cookies and squares...how she made at least three varieties per child...our favorites...she would phone up and say..what shall I make for your homecoming this year...what is your favorite? And in later years she would send packages as we moved away and on....and then, in the last years she would ask those family members living near the Lodge to make those favorites ...because she knew it pleased us so. Oh my...I am going on but here tis one that I do remember so well....the pinwheel cookie was one I always requested. Eating it around and around, breaking off the delicate chocolate swirls away from the white cookie it was mixed with...do you remember doing that?
ReplyDeleteWhat immediately came to mind was rice pudding and Sunday pasta sauce. I loved ice cream cones from Carvel and would have given my life for a plate of stacked mini-pancakes with syrup.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great post. I loved taking a moment to think of my favorite childhood food. Thanks for sharing yours with us.
Haha. I like your popcorn discovery story.
ReplyDeleteI've never had okra, I guess because it's mostly a Southern thing.
Homemade pierogies take me back. But Fruit Loops cereal always reminds me of coming to America for the first time - it was the first 'American' food I tried. It's my favorite cereal.
oh the Australian crunchie me and my brother used to make, it was on my blog the other day, I love your blog George you have a talent for cooking and writing would you like to do a guest post for Chow and Chatter ?
ReplyDeleterebeccasubbiah at yahoo dot com
rebecca
George, thanks for dropping by my food blog.
ReplyDeleteAs for me, my childhood food is my mom's delicious Chinese home cooked. :) Too many of it to list down.
I think our family trees are grafted together. My brother and I used to stir our ice cream until it was soup. Cocopuffs, rule-- except, now, they shred the roof of my mouth! This might sound weird, but I used to love Swanson's TV Dinners, in the 60's-- the Mexican one with the cocada pudding. I'd love to figure out how to make that. Would you believe I've never had okra? I'm open to trying it. One day.
ReplyDeleteI love fried okra, but I don't remember it as a child. what I do remember is Mom's fried chicken, so crisp and delicious. And her pot pie and tapioca pudding! And her fudge, which she made only at Christmas. I also remember sharing buttermilk with my Dad. Strangely, we would tear up bread and put it in the milk, add salt and pepper and enjoy this bedtime snack together. I love these memories. Thanks for a great post, George.
ReplyDeleteGeorge , Am very inspired by the deep fried okra. I have grown it but usually add it to soups and stews.These look delicious.
ReplyDeleteThis is a fantastic post. I tried okra for the first time this year and loved it. I've never had it fried, but obviously that needs to be changed.
ReplyDeletethere are so many foods that bring me back to my childhood. PB+J's are definitely on the list (but only with grape jelly). My mom also used to make us cream cheese and jelly and cream cheese and olive sandwiches. My mom's chocolate pudding pie is up there on the list as well.
My mother and grandmother were wonderful cooks and the memories of bread baking and pans of caramel rolls with sweet buttery frosting cooling on the kitchen counters are so comforting and wonderful to think about. My mom made the best pot roast in the world.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post, George. It's nice to remember wonderful food memories as the holiday approaches.
For me its totally my mom's homemade mac & cheese! We had some fried okra on our way down south last week. I love it but Matt is still not so sure.;)
ReplyDeleteMy Mom's freshly baked chocolate chips cookies is probably #1 for me. Also her tuna casserole and her hamburger casserole (we were big casserole people!). Chicken & Stars soup was a big favorite of mine too.
ReplyDelete;-)