Cool, Interesting, or Bizarre Cooking Techniques Our Parents used back in the Day

[UncleBuck 6455]

I guess one that sticks in the head are Sunday roasts after church. My mom would get up early, poke some holes in a roast and shove little slivers of pickled jalapeno down into the roast. Sometimes she's throw potatoes and carrots in the pan with, other times she wouldn't, and would just make mashed potatoes when we'd get home. She'd season it up and throw it in the oven and then go get dressed for church. And when I say church, I mean she had to rehearse with the "praise and worship" music group, we all had Sunday school. Then we had big church, which normally lasted a decent bit, but longer if somebody got hit with the holy spirit and everyone else decided they'd like some of that also. So when we'd finally get home from a long morning of churching we were starving, and that smell would hit you right in the face as soon as we opened the door. She'd take the roast out and start the sides, and the "roast gravy" from the juices. My step-brother thought it was called "Gross gravy," so he never ate it until maybe five years ago (like 25 years later) and he likes it now, though Mom doesn't cook much anymore. 

I also remember her making what they call "fleischkuekle" up in North Dakota/South Dakota (pronounced "flesh-keek-lay" or "flesh-keek-luh"). Basically a fried pie of hamburger meat mixed with onion, wrapped in some dough and fried. You just eat it with ketchup and fries, really. It's a Germans-From-Russia thing (google it), and my dad was a 2nd generation German-From-Russia born and raised in North Dakota, who descended down upon the Lone Star State to spread his seed amongst its fertile women (he'd at least marry them for awhile). We think my mom was the last one, as he never admitted to any more kids after me. Anyway, some people he knew from ND who were down here just before I was born showed my mom how to make fleischkuekle, and it was one of my childhood favorites. OF course we didn't have it much, because my step brothers and step dad didn't like it.

I've asked my mother a billion times for the recipe, and she gives me this bullshit about using a store bought bread dough from the freezer section and I really think she's lying to me and I cannot figure out why. I tried doing it and it does not fry up close to how her's did when she'd make them. She's gotten bad with her short term memory, so I'm thinking about asking her every 5 minutes for the rest of her life to see if she gives me the real answer one of these times. 

Edited July 30 by UncleBuck

[CooterBrown 18306]

1 minute ago, stc said:

my parents recently bought a new microwave and needed help getting rid of the old one. i picked it up for them and noticed it was the same GE microwave i remembered from childhood. the date on the back was 1979...a 45 year old microwave! it still works too, the only reason they got a new one was because the interior light went out. 

My parents still have my grandmother's microwave from the 60s. They don't use it but it still works.  There are no buttons or settings at all. You just turn the dial to however many minutes you want and the dial cranks down to zero as it cooks.  

[gofuckyourself 9242]

Mom was the cook but Dad was the chef.

When he started a dish, I'd get excited and it felt like a special night.

Nothing too remarkable as far as techniques go, although he did have a red Imperial Kamado long before the green egg became a thing.

When he fired that up, it was a culinary event. Bacon wrapped shrimp that are still the greatest seafood dish I've ever eaten.

His other dishes I need to re-engineer as, unfortunately, he passed before I got the recipes. His multi-layer deep dish lasagna took hours and is the best I've ever had.

[dcbc 14677]

28 minutes ago, huge said:

Married at 38, had second kid at 43.  Missed dbcb's dad by 20 years.

Well, he had the advantage of a second wife, who was thirty years younger than he was for siring my sister (11 years older/no pics) and me.

 

Also, @UncleBuck Dads from the Dakotas represent.  My old man was born in Deadwood.  And yes, I have at least one relative featured in the show---his aunt/my great aunt.  He came to Texas in the 1940s by way of Denver.

Edited July 30 by dcbc

[huge 3832]

1 minute ago, dcbc said:

Well, he had the advantage of a second wife, who was thirty years younger than he was for siring my sister (11 years older/no pics) and me.

So he had kids at 52 and 63?

 

I don't plan on doing any of that.  

But 30 years younger you say?  

[dcbc 14677]

9 minutes ago, huge said:

So he had kids at 52 and 63?

 

I don't plan on doing any of that.  

But 30 years younger you say?  

Yep.  Hence why I got a vasectomy after two.  Mom was a dance instructor/model and Miss Houston 1960.  Dad was into oil (and all that implies).  They got set up on a blind date.  She swore she wouldn't marry a man who drank (her dad had issues with the booze).  My dad ordered a scotch and water first thing at dinner on their second date at Vargo's in Houston.  He had other things going for him.  So she decided to let it slide.

 

I have/had 3 half-brothers, all of whom were around her age, give or take.  Two are departed sadly.  

 

Other than grilling, the only other cooking my dad did was pancakes, sausage, bacon, and eggs on Saturday mornings.  He had a garden at a ranch we had outside of Houston.  So there were a lot of fresh vegetables, as well as cantaloupe and strawberries.  I used to eat half a cantaloupe with salt and fine black pepper on it.  

 

He also was a fan of Blue Bell Cookies and Cream, microwaved for about 20 seconds to soften it, eaten straight out of the half-gallon carton.

 

Lastly, he had his sandwich.  He got teased about it a good deal, but he had very humble beginnings (Parents were very poor share croppers).  The sandwich comprised two pieces of wheat bread, Oscar Meyer bologna, Coleman's hot mustard, peanut butter, american cheese.  I tried it once.  It's not bad, but I wouldn't make it for myself.

Edited July 30 by dcbc

[UncleBuck 6455]

9 minutes ago, dcbc said:

 

 

Also, @UncleBuck Dads from the Dakotas represent.  My old man was born in Deadwood.  And yes, I have at least one relative featured in the show---his aunt/my great aunt.  He came to Texas in the 1940s by way of Denver.

Nice. Last time I was up in North Dakota to visit my grandma ('13) we came back down through the Black Hills. We were close to Deadwood but were strapped for time the next day so skipped out and hit Mount Rushmore instead. It was April and snowing. 

[dcbc 14677]

5 minutes ago, UncleBuck said:

Nice. Last time I was up in North Dakota to visit my grandma ('13) we came back down through the Black Hills. We were close to Deadwood but were strapped for time the next day so skipped out and hit Mount Rushmore instead. It was April and snowing. 

I still haven't been.  It's on my short list.  He didn't talk about it much.  His dad told him he wouldn't amount to anything, and he pretty much cut ties.  His dad was long-since-dead when I came along.  I recall being told they were so poor, his mother would make biscuits out of beans.  That recipe didn't get passed down.  He was more fond of his time in Colorado.

[Al_4_ISU 12725]

My grandparents were late silent generation (all born in the mid 30's) and were raised by parents who weathered the depression or immigrated from Germany/Eastern Europe (6/8 great grandparents were immigrants).  There wasn't much for fun/cherished traditions amongst these relatively hard people, but my grandma (Dad's mom) learned how to stretch what you have in ways to feed a bunch of hungry kids.  The thing that always stuck out to me was a post-Easter dish my grandma just called "creamed eggs".  She'd chop up all the left over hard boiled eggs we had dyed for Easter, and roast them in a big saucepan with heavy whipping cream, salt and pepper.  Then she'd fry up some bacon, make toast, chop up the bacon and dump the creamy egg mixture on top of the toast and sprinkle the bacon on top of that.  Cheap, simple, and I always looked forward to the week after Easter because it was the only time there were enough boiled eggs around for it. 

As I've gotten older, I appreciate the "waste not/want not" ethic more every day, and I think I'm nostalgic for this dish because it kind of exemplifies that unsophisticated, non-artistic approach to cooking that I was raised with, but don't necessarily embrace.  I'm still a huge proponent of making use of all your food, never throwing anything out, etc but I guess having less energy directed towards simply staying alive has given me the opportunity to experiment more with making interesting food.

16 minutes ago, UncleBuck said:

Nice. Last time I was up in North Dakota to visit my grandma ('13) we came back down through the Black Hills. We were close to Deadwood but were strapped for time the next day so skipped out and hit Mount Rushmore instead. It was April and snowing. 

This is not a rare occurence.

[UncleBuck 6455]

7 minutes ago, dcbc said:

I still haven't been.  It's on my short list.  He didn't talk about it much.  His dad told him he wouldn't amount to anything, and he pretty much cut ties.  His dad was long-since-dead when I came along.  I recall being told they were so poor, his mother would make biscuits out of beans.  That recipe didn't get passed down.  He was more fond of his time in Colorado.

Biscuits out of beans? Wow. Have never heard of that. Gunna go to the google machine

[Al_4_ISU 12725]

"Making biscuits out of beans" sounds exactly some codger saying for getting by with whatever you got on hand.

[Texzilla588 772]

My sisters and I always had fond memories of my mother’s cooking, especially her potato salad, casseroles, and deserts. However, we discovered a darker side of her after she died when we found some contributions she made to her church’s cookbooks. Truly horrific sounding recipes like a jello salad made with canned salmon and canned asparagus. Just awful sounding concoctions that we kept just for laughs. 

My grandmother made that congealed salad. But subbed tuna fish. Canned fucking asparagus is horrible but that was fancy eating to my mom and she preferred it over the fresh. It’s why I avoided it until later in life. She’d make this salad for fancy dinners with canned asparagus, le seuer peas, lettuce leaves and blue cheese. The congealed salads all had some kind of lofty name. Jello made a fortune selling basically boiled cow hooves to all these ladies.

[Zepol87 9373]

Gonna have to think a little more about this one but my grandma used to make extra turkey on Thanksgiving and use that meat to make tamales. She said she only started doing it to get rid of leftovers and it was cheap but kept doing it because we all loved it. 
 

[dcbc 14677]

1 hour ago, Al_4_ISU said:

"Making biscuits out of beans" sounds exactly some codger saying for getting by with whatever you got on hand.

Except, in this case, sadly, I think it was true.  He would never talk about it.  My mom told me about that little nugget of his past.  He had four brothers and sisters and they didn't have shit for means.  He played football in high school, but had to quit to get a job to support his family.  The coach put him on a guilt trip about it and he felt like he let his team down.  He never went to college and went to work instead.  He was a self-taught engineer (it was the old days, whattayagonnado?), and made it out of poverty and then some.  My mom used to ask him if he wanted to move out to the ranch and sell the place in Houston.  His response was consistent: "I was born on the farm.  I have no intention of dying on the farm."

Edited July 30 by dcbc

[Al_4_ISU 12725]

2 hours ago, dcbc said:

Except, in this case, sadly, I think it was true.  He would never talk about it.  My mom told me about that little nugget of his past.  He had four brothers and sisters and they didn't have shit for means.  He played football in high school, but had to quit to get a job to support his family.  The coach put him on a guilt trip about it and he felt like he let his team down.  He never went to college and went to work instead.  He was a self-taught engineer (it was the old days, whattayagonnado?), and made it out of poverty and then some.  My mom used to ask him if he wanted to move out to the ranch and sell the place in Houston.  His response was consistent: "I was born on the farm.  I have no intention of dying on the farm."

Oh, I didn't doubt that at all.

[dcbc 14677]

 

/ @Al_4_ISU  I kid. I kid.  I figured it wasn't meant that way.

Edited July 30 by dcbc

[Brisketexan 107146]

My old man didn't cook much, but when he did, he'd get creative.  One time, he wanted chocolate mousse.  He started making it, then realized he was short some ingredients.  So, he used his chemistry brain to come up with some substitutes, and proportions, and made the mousse.  That night, after it chilled, we all ate it, and commented "holy crap, this is amazing, how did you make it?"

My dad agreed, and looked down glumly - "I have no idea how I did it.  And I'll never be able to do it again."

Otherwise, my family and grandparents had no unusual cooking techniques.  Just standard coonass, mexican, and S. Texas type-stuff.  Seemed exotic to some of my friends, but really, ordinary stuff.

[mooseoutfront 3652]

My mom used a pressure cooker for a lot of things.  Black eyed peas, beans, chicken for chicken and dumplings, chili, stews, etc.  She also had her big canning pressure cookers that she used to can the veggies that come out of the garden.

I've never used a pressure cooker in my life.

[DFWTexEx 280]

I remember their old school way of cooking a turkey.  Thanksgiving meal for our family was served at noon.   The prayer was literally at noon, not minute after.  We ate, relaxed, had dessert.  And then people left or stayed to watch the Cowboys at 3.

So, mom and dad would wake up at some crazy time, like 4 am and put the turkey in the oven to cook forever, with a little basting when they remembered.  No brining, no fancy wine soaked cloths, salt and pepper only.   It's the opposite of what we are told to do now.   But, in the end, they made the best, juiciest turkey I have ever had.   Dad passed away this February and I guess I will have to make the turkey this year. 

[Wiler77 1640]

Is a microwave cool, interesting, or bizarre?  Because my mom microwaved the shit out of everything.  Here's some chicken with rubbery skin.  Not to be outdone by the microwaved salmon or orange roughy.  So much orange roughy.  Turns out you need a knife if you microwave it long enough.  Want some veggies?  How about some microwaved asparagus, broccoli, or cauliflower with american cheese on top.  It was a bit bizarre how much she used the microwave now that I think about it.

At least it was a home cooked meal every night.  And for that I am thankful.  Except the microwaved cauliflower.  Fuck that.

[Braff Zacklin 13679]

41 minutes ago, mooseoutfront said:

My mom used a pressure cooker for a lot of things.  Black eyed peas, beans, chicken for chicken and dumplings, chili, stews, etc.  She also had her big canning pressure cookers that she used to can the veggies that come out of the garden.

I've never used a pressure cooker in my life.

 

5 minutes ago, Wiler77 said:

Is a microwave cool, interesting, or bizarre?  Because my mom microwaved the shit out of everything.  Here's some chicken with rubbery skin.  Not to be outdone by the microwaved salmon or orange roughy.  So much orange roughy.  Turns out you need a knife if you microwave it long enough.  Want some veggies?  How about some microwaved asparagus, broccoli, or cauliflower with american cheese on top.  It was a bit bizarre how much she used the microwave now that I think about it.

This thread has taken a very dark turn.

[Brisketexan 107146]

How about this approach that's different from our parents' time?  On road trips, or going to the beach, or whatnot....the folks packed a cooler with sandwich stuff.  There was no "let's swing through the Burger King drive thru" shit....or if there was, it was a super-special treat.  Otherwise, it was packaged ham, slices of cheese, bread, mustard/mayo, maybe some lettuce leaves if my mom was feeling super-fancy.  And store brand potato chips from a large bag (single serving bags?  At those prices?  Our name isn't "Rockefeller.")  Pull over to a rest stop, make some sandwiches, a few chips on the thinnest, flimsiest of paper plates.  Oh, and a cold can of store brand soda of some sort.  L-I-V-I-N.

It was a big deal when, after a full day at the beach, on the drive back to Houston, we'd stop at the Denny's at Broadway and 61st for a hot dinner of some sort.  I'd have the chance to wash my hands at a real bathroom, get a big iced tea, and a burger, breakfast for dinner, or whatnot.  Then crash and fall asleep in the back seat on the drive home.  Good stuff, but man, eating restaurant food on the way back from the beach was living fancy.

[Wiler77 1640]

39 minutes ago, Braff Zacklin said:

 

This thread has taken a very dark turn.

LOL, it's one of the reasons my wife and I try to include our kids in the cooking process.  We want them to be comfortable in the kitchen and be able to make a variety of different things.  My 12 year old loves making quesadillas.  Not difficult, but he's understanding how to use a skillet and appropriate temperatures.  That has turned into being able to cook a really good fried egg.  So on weekends if we want to sleep in, he is capable of cooking breakfast for himself and his brothers.  The 10 year old will toast bread while the 7 year old cuts and mashes an avocado, which will then be topped by the fried egg the 12 year old makes.

The 12 year old also likes making cookies and learning what I do on the grill.

Hell, if nothing else all of them can turn on the gas burners on the stove to properly heat a tortilla to fill with whatever the hell they can find in the fridge.  That's a skill they'll need 5 nights a week when they are living on their own.   

I got to college and had to learn how to use simple household cooking tools.

[dcbc 14677]

11 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

How about this approach that's different from our parents' time?  On road trips, or going to the beach, or whatnot....the folks packed a cooler with sandwich stuff.  There was no "let's swing through the Burger King drive thru" shit....or if there was, it was a super-special treat.  Otherwise, it was packaged ham, slices of cheese, bread, mustard/mayo, maybe some lettuce leaves if my mom was feeling super-fancy.  And store brand potato chips from a large bag (single serving bags?  At those prices?  Our name isn't "Rockefeller.")  Pull over to a rest stop, make some sandwiches, a few chips on the thinnest, flimsiest of paper plates.  Oh, and a cold can of store brand soda of some sort.  L-I-V-I-N.

It was a big deal when, after a full day at the beach, on the drive back to Houston, we'd stop at the Denny's at Broadway and 61st for a hot dinner of some sort.  I'd have the chance to wash my hands at a real bathroom, get a big iced tea, and a burger, breakfast for dinner, or whatnot.  Then crash and fall asleep in the back seat on the drive home.  Good stuff, but man, eating restaurant food on the way back from the beach was living fancy.

I have a distinct memory of my wife making PB&Js to order for our kids while I drove to a family reunion when they were "little shavers."  I mostly remember it due to the mass of peanut butter she put on those things.  She may have just been trying to shut them up for a bit longer with that mouth-glue.

[Hook1997 5555]

20 hours ago, Texzilla588 said:

On my dad’s side family get togethers usually included that most dreaded of Texas food traditions : the congealed salad. My grandmother and her sisters would make these awful things. Like lemon jello with tuna fish, pineapple and pecans. Or lime jello with mayo and sour cream with pimentos, peaches, ham, and marshmallows. Awful. My dad just made me try a bite of everything. If I didn’t like it fine. But those jello salads were always terrible.

My grandma make the lime jello, with pecans, ham and marshmallows ect crap in it, it was so bad.  She married a German baker who owned bakeries in Denver when she was 86, he made some badass rolls every Sunday with lunch. No clue the recipe though.  

[Deej 78079]

1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

How about this approach that's different from our parents' time?  On road trips, or going to the beach, or whatnot....the folks packed a cooler with sandwich stuff.  There was no "let's swing through the Burger King drive thru" shit....or if there was, it was a super-special treat.  Otherwise, it was packaged ham, slices of cheese, bread, mustard/mayo, maybe some lettuce leaves if my mom was feeling super-fancy.  And store brand potato chips from a large bag (single serving bags?  At those prices?  Our name isn't "Rockefeller.")  Pull over to a rest stop, make some sandwiches, a few chips on the thinnest, flimsiest of paper plates.  Oh, and a cold can of store brand soda of some sort.  L-I-V-I-N.

It was a big deal when, after a full day at the beach, on the drive back to Houston, we'd stop at the Denny's at Broadway and 61st for a hot dinner of some sort.  I'd have the chance to wash my hands at a real bathroom, get a big iced tea, and a burger, breakfast for dinner, or whatnot.  Then crash and fall asleep in the back seat on the drive home.  Good stuff, but man, eating restaurant food on the way back from the beach was living fancy.

[TheStoicPaisano 9965]

1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

How about this approach that's different from our parents' time?  On road trips, or going to the beach, or whatnot....the folks packed a cooler with sandwich stuff.  There was no "let's swing through the Burger King drive thru" shit....or if there was, it was a super-special treat.  Otherwise, it was packaged ham, slices of cheese, bread, mustard/mayo, maybe some lettuce leaves if my mom was feeling super-fancy.  And store brand potato chips from a large bag (single serving bags?  At those prices?  Our name isn't "Rockefeller.")  Pull over to a rest stop, make some sandwiches, a few chips on the thinnest, flimsiest of paper plates.  Oh, and a cold can of store brand soda of some sort.  L-I-V-I-N.

It was a big deal when, after a full day at the beach, on the drive back to Houston, we'd stop at the Denny's at Broadway and 61st for a hot dinner of some sort.  I'd have the chance to wash my hands at a real bathroom, get a big iced tea, and a burger, breakfast for dinner, or whatnot.  Then crash and fall asleep in the back seat on the drive home.  Good stuff, but man, eating restaurant food on the way back from the beach was living fancy.

 

[Texzilla588 772]

How about this approach that's different from our parents' time?  On road trips, or going to the beach, or whatnot....the folks packed a cooler with sandwich stuff.  There was no "let's swing through the Burger King drive thru" shit....or if there was, it was a super-special treat.  Otherwise, it was packaged ham, slices of cheese, bread, mustard/mayo, maybe some lettuce leaves if my mom was feeling super-fancy.  And store brand potato chips from a large bag (single serving bags?  At those prices?  Our name isn't "Rockefeller.")  Pull over to a rest stop, make some sandwiches, a few chips on the thinnest, flimsiest of paper plates.  Oh, and a cold can of store brand soda of some sort.  L-I-V-I-N.
It was a big deal when, after a full day at the beach, on the drive back to Houston, we'd stop at the Denny's at Broadway and 61st for a hot dinner of some sort.  I'd have the chance to wash my hands at a real bathroom, get a big iced tea, and a burger, breakfast for dinner, or whatnot.  Then crash and fall asleep in the back seat on the drive home.  Good stuff, but man, eating restaurant food on the way back from the beach was living fancy.

We lived in Memphis when I was young. Most of my relatives would pack sandwiches and food for the trip from Texas. No cooler, though they owned coolers. Just a bag of baloney or ham and cheese sandwiches and a couple bags of chips. Maybe some apples and bananas. A thermos of tea passed around. I guess a throwback to long drives in Texas where there might not be a place open for miles. Wrapped in wax paper. They sucked. Warmed in a car that was unair conditioned or barely so.

My dad lived on the road and knew where to eat everywhere. We didn’t pack shit to eat. “Cant we pack you some sandwiches. It’s so expensive eating on the highway”.

[Gatorubet 30921]

My mom was born and raised in New England.  She apparently thought that the use of any spice was of the devil.  

But if you had a hankering for bland, boiled food, she was your go to source. 

I will grant you that her Swedish immigrant mother taught her how to make a mean Swedish meatball.  And when it was hot in the summer sometimes she would just do a Smorgasbord - with cold cuts, different cheeses, those mimi rye bread loaves, pickled herring, and the meatballs.  

 

[NotActuallyALonghorn 5006]

5 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

How about this approach that's different from our parents' time?  On road trips, or going to the beach, or whatnot....the folks packed a cooler with sandwich stuff.  There was no "let's swing through the Burger King drive thru" shit....or if there was, it was a super-special treat.  Otherwise, it was packaged ham, slices of cheese, bread, mustard/mayo, maybe some lettuce leaves if my mom was feeling super-fancy.  And store brand potato chips from a large bag (single serving bags?  At those prices?  Our name isn't "Rockefeller.")  Pull over to a rest stop, make some sandwiches, a few chips on the thinnest, flimsiest of paper plates.  Oh, and a cold can of store brand soda of some sort.  L-I-V-I-N.

It was a big deal when, after a full day at the beach, on the drive back to Houston, we'd stop at the Denny's at Broadway and 61st for a hot dinner of some sort.  I'd have the chance to wash my hands at a real bathroom, get a big iced tea, and a burger, breakfast for dinner, or whatnot.  Then crash and fall asleep in the back seat on the drive home.  Good stuff, but man, eating restaurant food on the way back from the beach was living fancy.

My MIL will make a whole mess of burritos before a road trip. It's pretty nice just reaching back to grab a burrito when you get hungry. No need to stop or anything. 

[dcbc 14677]

42 minutes ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

No need to stop or anything.

, , , until 20 minutes after you finish that burrito.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11866]

19 hours ago, dcbc said:

Except, in this case, sadly, I think it was true.  He would never talk about it.  My mom told me about that little nugget of his past.  He had four brothers and sisters and they didn't have shit for means.  He played football in high school, but had to quit to get a job to support his family.  The coach put him on a guilt trip about it and he felt like he let his team down.  He never went to college and went to work instead.  He was a self-taught engineer (it was the old days, whattayagonnado?), and made it out of poverty and then some.  My mom used to ask him if he wanted to move out to the ranch and sell the place in Houston.  His response was consistent: "I was born on the farm.  I have no intention of dying on the farm."

It’s apparently possible:

https://www.food.com/recipe/bean-biscuits-407591
 

[dcbc 14677]

12 minutes ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

It’s apparently possible:

https://www.food.com/recipe/bean-biscuits-407591
 

I think that's the website she got the recipe from.

She probably substituted lard for shortening, water for milk, and sand for flour though.  You ate sand?  That's right.  Or maybe, since they ended up there by way of Nebraska, it could have been some sort of cornmeal/sand mixture.

In all seriousness, somebody should try these (not I).  My dad would haunt me.

Edited July 31 by dcbc

[UncleBuck 6455]

15 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

How about this approach that's different from our parents' time?  On road trips, or going to the beach, or whatnot....the folks packed a cooler with sandwich stuff.  There was no "let's swing through the Burger King drive thru" shit....or if there was, it was a super-special treat.  Otherwise, it was packaged ham, slices of cheese, bread, mustard/mayo, maybe some lettuce leaves if my mom was feeling super-fancy.  And store brand potato chips from a large bag (single serving bags?  At those prices?  Our name isn't "Rockefeller.")  Pull over to a rest stop, make some sandwiches, a few chips on the thinnest, flimsiest of paper plates.  Oh, and a cold can of store brand soda of some sort.  L-I-V-I-N.

It was a big deal when, after a full day at the beach, on the drive back to Houston, we'd stop at the Denny's at Broadway and 61st for a hot dinner of some sort.  I'd have the chance to wash my hands at a real bathroom, get a big iced tea, and a burger, breakfast for dinner, or whatnot.  Then crash and fall asleep in the back seat on the drive home.  Good stuff, but man, eating restaurant food on the way back from the beach was living fancy.

I was thinking about that the other day. Even told my kids, "You know, when I was growing up and we came to the beach, your MoMo would fry up a mess of chicken before we left and pack it out with us. That's what we'd eat there, and on the way back if we were hungry." Same with packing a cooler with sandwich stuff on trips. Specifically Schlitterbahn. I remember always wanting to try all of the food I saw there, but NAH UH! Gotta go find our table and make a sandwich. Imagine asking a kid these days to help you carry a giant cooler into Schlitterbahn... No Wagon. Up and down stairs and across small bridges. 

 

[Texzilla588 772]

When Jerry bought the team, one of the first controversies was Texas Stadium banned bringing coolers into the stands. I applauded the move as you had to climb over these fucking coolers to get to and from seats. I didn’t recall any SWC games with cookers in the aisles.

Typically it would be some rubes with a case of Pearl apiece who’d be shitfaced by the end of the first quarter. But the real vocal whiners were the folks that brought the baloney sandwiches and Kmart house brand chips and fake sunny d. “Families can’t afford to go to games anymore!” “Jerry hates families!” “Jerry just wants to sell $2 beer!” Uhh eat your fucking sandwich in the parking lot. It’s a three hour game.

[Ten Bears 2502]

My family were all farmers and ranchers out in Concho Co.  When I was a little kid in the 70s the family would get together for a BBQ, usually on Labor day.  What was meant by BBQ was to go drag a goat from the pens and hang him upside down in the killing tree and cut his throat, skin him and let him bleed out while a big mesquite fire was burning down to coals.  Mesquite was the only hardwood out there.  Then the goat was seasoned with salt and pepper and placed in the big metal pit with coals directly under the meat.  8 hours or so later it was chow time with all the country fixins. 

My 86 yo dad is going cook one this Labor day, per tradition.  His grandad used to cook for the big Millersview Veteran's Day shindig back when it was called Armistice Day starting in 1918.  Before welders were common so they would dig big trenches and fill them with mesquite coals and cover them with net fence for a grill.  They would usually butcher a fat steer for that.  I need to ask my dad if he know where those pictures are.

[dcbc 14677]

42 minutes ago, Ten Bears said:

My family were all farmers and ranchers out in Concho Co.  When I was a little kid in the 70s the family would get together for a BBQ, usually on Labor day.  What was meant by BBQ was to go drag a goat from the pens and hang him upside down in the killing tree and cut his throat, skin him and let him bleed out while a big mesquite fire was burning down to coals.  Mesquite was the only hardwood out there.  Then the goat was seasoned with salt and pepper and placed in the big metal pit with coals directly under the meat.  8 hours or so later it was chow time with all the country fixins. 

My 86 yo dad is going cook one this Labor day, per tradition.  His grandad used to cook for the big Millersview Veteran's Day shindig back when it was called Armistice Day starting in 1918.  Before welders were common so they would dig big trenches and fill them with mesquite coals and cover them with net fence for a grill.  They would usually butcher a fat steer for that.  I need to ask my dad if he know where those pictures are.

Post some pictures of this year's BBQ if you don't mind.  That sounds awesome!

[Deej 78079]

I wish I had been old enough to pay attention, but whenever we'd visit my grandfather in Houston, he make a big thing of sauerkraut with short ribs. Just heaven. He was born in Germany in the 1890's, and came over as a little kid with his aunt and they settled in Houston. He had a pretty interesting life. Owned a clothes cleaning business, an ice cream manufacturing business, and made quite a life for himself. Had a nice big house close to Rice University. But I remember he was one hell of a cook. Never had a bad meal from him. 

[luke duke 6470]

How about this approach that's different from our parents' time?  On road trips, or going to the beach, or whatnot....the folks packed a cooler with sandwich stuff.  There was no "let's swing through the Burger King drive thru" shit....or if there was, it was a super-special treat.  Otherwise, it was packaged ham, slices of cheese, bread, mustard/mayo, maybe some lettuce leaves if my mom was feeling super-fancy.  And store brand potato chips from a large bag (single serving bags?  At those prices?  Our name isn't "Rockefeller.")  Pull over to a rest stop, make some sandwiches, a few chips on the thinnest, flimsiest of paper plates.  Oh, and a cold can of store brand soda of some sort.

Hell, this perfectly describes a 2 week 3,000 roadtrip I just took with the wife and kids, minus the soda. I ate more sandwiches in those 2 weeks than I have since Christmas.

[squib 1133]

On 7/30/2024 at 4:06 PM, Brisketexan said:

How about this approach that's different from our parents' time?  On road trips, or going to the beach, or whatnot....the folks packed a cooler with sandwich stuff.  There was no "let's swing through the Burger King drive thru" shit....or if there was, it was a super-special treat.  Otherwise, it was packaged ham, slices of cheese, bread, mustard/mayo, maybe some lettuce leaves if my mom was feeling super-fancy.  And store brand potato chips from a large bag (single serving bags?  At those prices?  Our name isn't "Rockefeller.")  Pull over to a rest stop, make some sandwiches, a few chips on the thinnest, flimsiest of paper plates.  Oh, and a cold can of store brand soda of some sort.  L-I-V-I-N.

It was a big deal when, after a full day at the beach, on the drive back to Houston, we'd stop at the Denny's at Broadway and 61st for a hot dinner of some sort.  I'd have the chance to wash my hands at a real bathroom, get a big iced tea, and a burger, breakfast for dinner, or whatnot.  Then crash and fall asleep in the back seat on the drive home.  Good stuff, but man, eating restaurant food on the way back from the beach was living fancy.

Yep. Sandwiches by the road. And if a big gust of wind came and blew that cheap ass flimsy paper plate holding your sammich onto the ground. Well, "Wipe the dirt off. You should have been holding it better." 

[Brisketexan 107146]

1 minute ago, squib said:

Yep. Sandwiches by the road. And if a big gust of wind came and blew that cheap ass flimsy paper plate holding your sammich onto the ground. Well, "Wipe the dirt off. You should have been holding it better." 

If you were lucky, y'all stopped at one of those "roadside park"/rest-stop pulloffs with concrete picnic tables.  If it was luxurious, they were covered, to give you some shade.  Picnic lunch at one of those was an A+ experience.  The guys could even go behind those trees yonder and take a piss if they had to.  Womenfolk were shit outta luck, unless they were willing to squat to pee with only partial privacy.

[squib 1133]

Damn that looks like one north of San Angelo. That barrel is rusty because I peed on it 40 years ago. 

Dad opened the front door and the back door on one side of the red suburban to make for a little privacy for mom and sister to squat. 

[UncleBuck 6455]

26 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

If you were lucky, y'all stopped at one of those "roadside park"/rest-stop pulloffs with concrete picnic tables.  If it was luxurious, they were covered, to give you some shade.  Picnic lunch at one of those was an A+ experience.  The guys could even go behind those trees yonder and take a piss if they had to.  Womenfolk were shit outta luck, unless they were willing to squat to pee with only partial privacy.

And even if it was one of those fancy rest stops that had an actual bathroom: I was pissin' behind those trees yonder...

[Brisketexan 107146]

21 minutes ago, squib said:

Damn that looks like one north of San Angelo. That barrel is rusty because I peed on it 40 years ago. 

Dad opened the front door and the back door on one side of the red suburban to make for a little privacy for mom and sister to squat. 

On long road trips through desolate northern Mexico, one  of the tasks my dad and I had was 1) scope out a good-size clump of cactus that could make a screen for mom while she pissed, and 2) check the whole thing VERY carefully for any rattlesnakes.  Cuz mom getting bitten on her ass by a rattler would lead to a lot of bitching and complaining all the way up to Juarez.

[TwiceHorn 32190]

On 7/30/2024 at 8:52 AM, CooterBrown said:

My parents still have my grandmother's microwave from the 60s. They don't use it but it still works.  There are no buttons or settings at all. You just turn the dial to however many minutes you want and the dial cranks down to zero as it cooks.  

Amana RadarRange.  Although available in the 60s, they were prohibitively priced.  Still spendy into the 70s.

My rich aunt had one in the 70s and gave it to my Mom in the 80s.  It lasted another 20 some odd years at least.

[Ten Bears 2502]

46 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

On long road trips through desolate northern Mexico, one  of the tasks my dad and I had was 1) scope out a good-size clump of cactus that could make a screen for mom while she pissed, and 2) check the whole thing VERY carefully for any rattlesnakes.  Cuz mom getting bitten on her ass by a rattler would lead to a lot of bitching and complaining all the way up to Juarez.

In the '80's my dad, his girlfriend, my girlfriend and I took a road trip to Mexico City.  Somewhere between Laredo and Monterrey they girls have to pee so we pulled over and they walked 50 yards out to the only bush for miles.  They came back and made us come look at the piles of shit behind that bush there that were turds of solid pepper seeds.  Mexicans love their chiles. 

[Don Johnson 4852]

2 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

If you were lucky, y'all stopped at one of those "roadside park"/rest-stop pulloffs with concrete picnic tables.  If it was luxurious, they were covered, to give you some shade.  Picnic lunch at one of those was an A+ experience.  The guys could even go behind those trees yonder and take a piss if they had to.  Womenfolk were shit outta luck, unless they were willing to squat to pee with only partial privacy.

[Deej 78079]

2 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

If you were lucky, y'all stopped at one of those "roadside park"/rest-stop pulloffs with concrete picnic tables.  If it was luxurious, they were covered, to give you some shade.  Picnic lunch at one of those was an A+ experience.  The guys could even go behind those trees yonder and take a piss if they had to.  Womenfolk were shit outta luck, unless they were willing to squat to pee with only partial privacy.

Thanks, Texas, for removing all of them. Assholes. 

Edited August 2 by Deej

[burns_312 360]

A pack of King’s Hawaiian rolls sliced in half with slices of jap chee summer sausage in between is what dreams are made of. Works on the boat, in the car or at home.

[Covri 6390]

On 7/28/2024 at 12:29 PM, Texzilla588 said:

Then a dude started doing meals cooked in your dishwasher. Nope.

My dad did this once in the early 90s, it was not a hit amongst me and my brothers. It was basically steamed salmon and had the texture you'd expect from it. For kids whose only real fish experience was fried fish up until that point, well, I shoved mine in my dinner roll and threw it outside when they weren't looking