One of my favorite childhood food memories would have to be . . . Sunday mornings at home. Books and brunch. Saturday mornings were for cartoons and cereal, but Sunday mornings were devoted to books and brunch. My mom and I would sleep in late, and then she would make a big beautiful brunch - and my mom cooks a *great* breakfast. Whether it was French toast or pancakes or waffles or biscuits, plus bacon or sausage (and often amazing homemade hashbrowns), brunch was always hearty, elaborate and delicious. We'd then both spend the entire morning/afternoon reading books (*never* schoolbooks or homework - always reading for pleasure). I have nothing but fond memories of those lazy Sundays filled with good books and beautiful food!
French toast! You just HAD TO, didn't you? I've been craving this for some time. What a thoughtful and familial literati way to spend a Sunday. Was this something she initiated in an encouraging way for both of you, or did you follow her in her way of her desire to read?
It was definitely a reading household. I grew up surrounded by books. While we both love to read (my mom is the most avid reader I know), her encouragement undoubtedly made me the reader I am today. And books and brunch was indeed the best way to spend a Sunday!
One of the memories I treasure from my childhood related to food is also from my mom. In the late 70s, during my childhood, we lived in the Ravenna neighborhood of Seattle. It was just the two of us at the time and since my mom was a single mom who worked full-time, we often went out for dinner in the evenings. My mom happened to love Asian food of many varieties and since we were conveniently located in Seattle, a cultural hub for just that, we often found ourselves at the city's plethora of Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, Korean and Mongolian restaurants. It was a culinary awakening for me that turned into a lifelong love of Asian food for the rest of my life. Thank you mom!
That's wonderful! Your mom was definitely "educating your palate" as they say. No wonder you have such excellent taste! (And also why you always manage to find the best Asian restaurants and markets no matter what city in the world we're living in.)
What an adorable picture of the two of you with your Grandma Belle!
Both my Mom & Dad cooked, but rarely at the same time. If Dad cooked, Mom cleaned up. If Mom cooked, Mom also cleaned up. Dad did all the cooking when we went camping. He also made great fruit cakes during the holidays that included large quantities of whiskey or bourbon which is probably why they were so good. Mom made the best chili and potato salad. Neither parent ever used measuring cups, measuring spoons or even a written recipe so it was really hard to nail down a recipe.
"If Mom cooked, Mom also cleaned up." LOL! I can taste that fruit cake right about now.
I've always been a chilli fan, especially homemade. My mom never made it spicy, which I would have preferred but never knew until I started making my own from scratch. Was his spicy? Who can turn down a good potato salad?! Here in Spain, they make a potato salad, they call it "la ensalada rusa" or Russian potato salad. What's Russian about defies my understanding. It's all the basics of a potato salad, except they DUMP a three-finger layer of mayonnaise all over the top- they don't mix it in. I tried it- once. It wasn't real mayo either. Potato salads are so versatile in their manner of making and variety of ingredients.
Try Lebanese potato salad, if you ever find the recipe. Your mom & dad made some hits!
I just had a recovered memory about Mom's chili. Dad was a hunter and ground venison was often used in the chili. I'm sure that was the secret ingredient.
Is grandma Belle still alive? She looks adorably spry in this photo!
I have two food related, take your pick. One is when I was very young living with my grandparents on a ranch in Washington State. The area's housing was sparse with quite a distance between them. On the "back forty" where my girlfriend Diane and her cousin would go have our exploratory "naked parties" all rather innocent, we were all around 5 or 6 years old, there were these blackberry bushes growing all around and over these long stretches of barbed wire fence- we had cows . . . Come summertime, my grandparents, mother and aunts & cousins would come over. We would go out there with several five pound coffee cans and pick these juicy, ripe and very sweet blackberries, filling the cans, emptying them and returning to collect more berries. Then, my aunt, mother and grandmother would start up the still and begin making blackberry preserves! These preserves would be jarred and vacuum sealed with pectin & wax and distributed among the family.
To this day, I have NEVER tasted blackberries that even come close to the sweetness. All of the berries I have found were tart and / or bitter.
My second choice- cuz Del Mar can't stick with just one! is going to the drive-in theater!
My mom, uncle and grandmother would drive clear out to hell and a'gone to the drive in in Portland Oregon. My favorite junk food was of course the popcorn, but also the pizza slices and hot dogs, the long ones. Not only that, but just the trip to the snack bar to get these was exciting for me as a kid and "Mother, Juggs & Speed," and "What's Up, Doc?" made this food all the better.
These are fantastic souvenirs of your childhood! Thank you for sharing both of them!
Funny enough, my Grandma Belle (who is sadly no longer with us) used to make every manner of preserves and her own kosher dill pickles and keep them in the garage of my great grandparents' house in Seattle. Whenever the grand kids came, we always got to take home a jar of her amazing jam and a jar of her tart dill pickles.
And then, similarly, my dad and I spent many many weekends at the drive-in theater in Tacoma and it was always one of my favorite moments getting to run to the snack bar for red vines and a giant butter popcorn! Good times!
Haha! Red vines! Funny, my first experience with tasting licorice was tasting the black licorice. GAG me with a spoon. I went on for years thinking that the red ones must have tasted like the black kind. Wrong! Red vines are WONDERFUL. I can't believe, well I can, that you can't get reds (snicker) in Albania. They must have an equivalent, if they have black, they must have red. I may have seen them here, but it could be wishful imagining.
No American specialty stores there? Here they have Taste of America, Taste of Home (UK), they don't have such a place there?
Great memories! When I would occasionally visit my dad's family in the summer, he would often take us all to what was probably that exact same drive-in movie theater in Portland, OR! I do remember that the popcorn, pizza slices and giant hot dogs were all unnaturally delicious.
It had to be the same, Ryan. There weren't many, as I recall. There was one on SE Powell and another on Foster Road, aka The Foster Road Drive-In. I doubt they are there.
Thank you so much, Cheryl!!! This feedback makes everything we do worthwhile. Honestly. We're so overwhelmingly pleased that you enjoy the content and that it gives you things to check out. That's 100% the idea.
We're honored that you're digging what we do. Truly. Thank you for all of your continued support and amazing feedback.
my favorite childhood memories of food stem from my mother’s cooking. She was a fantastic cook. And although my entire family lineage comes from the Great Britain, my mother became a fantastic Italian cook because her sister was engaged to an Italian man for a while, whose mother taught them how to cook authentic Italian food.
So for many holidays, we would have Italian food rather than the traditional.
Thank you for sharing your memories of your mom. How wonderful you got to grow up eating amazing Italian food from your mom! Sounds like she was a fantastic cook. And you were so lucky to get some homemade, authentic Italian dishes for the holidays!!! Cheers to that!
Well I have to give Grandma Belle credit for this one. My favorite meal was always when Grandma Belle made her delicious beef brisket with rice.
While everyone else got dessert of ice milk (which in those days they thought was healthy ice cream) I always went for more of the rice that had been cooked with the brisket.
What a lovely souvenir of Grandma! I loved her brisket with rice too. I wish she'd taught me how to make that! I had rice for dinner tonight but it definitely wasn't as good as hers!
One of my favorite childhood food memories would have to be . . . Sunday mornings at home. Books and brunch. Saturday mornings were for cartoons and cereal, but Sunday mornings were devoted to books and brunch. My mom and I would sleep in late, and then she would make a big beautiful brunch - and my mom cooks a *great* breakfast. Whether it was French toast or pancakes or waffles or biscuits, plus bacon or sausage (and often amazing homemade hashbrowns), brunch was always hearty, elaborate and delicious. We'd then both spend the entire morning/afternoon reading books (*never* schoolbooks or homework - always reading for pleasure). I have nothing but fond memories of those lazy Sundays filled with good books and beautiful food!
How absolutely delightful! And yes, your mom does cook a fantastic breakfast. I still can't even come close to poaching an egg as well as she does!
French toast! You just HAD TO, didn't you? I've been craving this for some time. What a thoughtful and familial literati way to spend a Sunday. Was this something she initiated in an encouraging way for both of you, or did you follow her in her way of her desire to read?
It was definitely a reading household. I grew up surrounded by books. While we both love to read (my mom is the most avid reader I know), her encouragement undoubtedly made me the reader I am today. And books and brunch was indeed the best way to spend a Sunday!
One of the memories I treasure from my childhood related to food is also from my mom. In the late 70s, during my childhood, we lived in the Ravenna neighborhood of Seattle. It was just the two of us at the time and since my mom was a single mom who worked full-time, we often went out for dinner in the evenings. My mom happened to love Asian food of many varieties and since we were conveniently located in Seattle, a cultural hub for just that, we often found ourselves at the city's plethora of Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, Korean and Mongolian restaurants. It was a culinary awakening for me that turned into a lifelong love of Asian food for the rest of my life. Thank you mom!
That's wonderful! Your mom was definitely "educating your palate" as they say. No wonder you have such excellent taste! (And also why you always manage to find the best Asian restaurants and markets no matter what city in the world we're living in.)
Wow I had forgotten about that. I still
love Asian food.😊❤️
Me too! Probably the food I crave the most, actually.
What an adorable picture of the two of you with your Grandma Belle!
Both my Mom & Dad cooked, but rarely at the same time. If Dad cooked, Mom cleaned up. If Mom cooked, Mom also cleaned up. Dad did all the cooking when we went camping. He also made great fruit cakes during the holidays that included large quantities of whiskey or bourbon which is probably why they were so good. Mom made the best chili and potato salad. Neither parent ever used measuring cups, measuring spoons or even a written recipe so it was really hard to nail down a recipe.
"If Mom cooked, Mom also cleaned up." LOL! I can taste that fruit cake right about now.
I've always been a chilli fan, especially homemade. My mom never made it spicy, which I would have preferred but never knew until I started making my own from scratch. Was his spicy? Who can turn down a good potato salad?! Here in Spain, they make a potato salad, they call it "la ensalada rusa" or Russian potato salad. What's Russian about defies my understanding. It's all the basics of a potato salad, except they DUMP a three-finger layer of mayonnaise all over the top- they don't mix it in. I tried it- once. It wasn't real mayo either. Potato salads are so versatile in their manner of making and variety of ingredients.
Try Lebanese potato salad, if you ever find the recipe. Your mom & dad made some hits!
Mom's chili wasn't very spicy and it also wasn't thick. I wish I knew exactly what she put it. Lebanese potato salad sounds intriguing.
I just had a recovered memory about Mom's chili. Dad was a hunter and ground venison was often used in the chili. I'm sure that was the secret ingredient.
Oooohhh, venison chili! Yum!
Great memories! Thank you for sharing them!
I'm thinking I could wolf down some of your parents' chili, potato salad and fruit cake right about now!
I *love* that picture of the two of us with Grandma Belle. She was so kind. She always made sure I knew that she considered me part of her family.
She adored you and definitely considered you a part of the family! She was the glue that held our family together! Miss her all the time!
Is grandma Belle still alive? She looks adorably spry in this photo!
I have two food related, take your pick. One is when I was very young living with my grandparents on a ranch in Washington State. The area's housing was sparse with quite a distance between them. On the "back forty" where my girlfriend Diane and her cousin would go have our exploratory "naked parties" all rather innocent, we were all around 5 or 6 years old, there were these blackberry bushes growing all around and over these long stretches of barbed wire fence- we had cows . . . Come summertime, my grandparents, mother and aunts & cousins would come over. We would go out there with several five pound coffee cans and pick these juicy, ripe and very sweet blackberries, filling the cans, emptying them and returning to collect more berries. Then, my aunt, mother and grandmother would start up the still and begin making blackberry preserves! These preserves would be jarred and vacuum sealed with pectin & wax and distributed among the family.
To this day, I have NEVER tasted blackberries that even come close to the sweetness. All of the berries I have found were tart and / or bitter.
My second choice- cuz Del Mar can't stick with just one! is going to the drive-in theater!
My mom, uncle and grandmother would drive clear out to hell and a'gone to the drive in in Portland Oregon. My favorite junk food was of course the popcorn, but also the pizza slices and hot dogs, the long ones. Not only that, but just the trip to the snack bar to get these was exciting for me as a kid and "Mother, Juggs & Speed," and "What's Up, Doc?" made this food all the better.
These are fantastic souvenirs of your childhood! Thank you for sharing both of them!
Funny enough, my Grandma Belle (who is sadly no longer with us) used to make every manner of preserves and her own kosher dill pickles and keep them in the garage of my great grandparents' house in Seattle. Whenever the grand kids came, we always got to take home a jar of her amazing jam and a jar of her tart dill pickles.
And then, similarly, my dad and I spent many many weekends at the drive-in theater in Tacoma and it was always one of my favorite moments getting to run to the snack bar for red vines and a giant butter popcorn! Good times!
Now I have only one question . . .Where can we get red vines in Albania?
Do they have a Carrefour there, in Tirana? I recall seeing it, might be that wishful again . . .
Haha! Red vines! Funny, my first experience with tasting licorice was tasting the black licorice. GAG me with a spoon. I went on for years thinking that the red ones must have tasted like the black kind. Wrong! Red vines are WONDERFUL. I can't believe, well I can, that you can't get reds (snicker) in Albania. They must have an equivalent, if they have black, they must have red. I may have seen them here, but it could be wishful imagining.
No American specialty stores there? Here they have Taste of America, Taste of Home (UK), they don't have such a place there?
Great memories! When I would occasionally visit my dad's family in the summer, he would often take us all to what was probably that exact same drive-in movie theater in Portland, OR! I do remember that the popcorn, pizza slices and giant hot dogs were all unnaturally delicious.
It had to be the same, Ryan. There weren't many, as I recall. There was one on SE Powell and another on Foster Road, aka The Foster Road Drive-In. I doubt they are there.
I loved this podcast so much! I can’t remember all that you talked about. All I kept thinking was that you need an agent! You two are so unique!
But beyond that, I loved the reading of the poem by Robert Duncan by Ryan E.
Also, I am excited to watch the YouTube, coverage of PBS cooking shows.
Your story of your grandma Belle and her borscht, and how much she loved both of you really touched my heart.
Also Mr. Bates versus the post office is so shocking. I had read a little bit about it this week, but didn’t really understand what had happened.
I had tears in my eyes a couple times during your podcast. Thank you for all that you introduced to us!
Thank you so much, Cheryl!!! This feedback makes everything we do worthwhile. Honestly. We're so overwhelmingly pleased that you enjoy the content and that it gives you things to check out. That's 100% the idea.
We're honored that you're digging what we do. Truly. Thank you for all of your continued support and amazing feedback.
my favorite childhood memories of food stem from my mother’s cooking. She was a fantastic cook. And although my entire family lineage comes from the Great Britain, my mother became a fantastic Italian cook because her sister was engaged to an Italian man for a while, whose mother taught them how to cook authentic Italian food.
So for many holidays, we would have Italian food rather than the traditional.
Thank you for sharing your memories of your mom. How wonderful you got to grow up eating amazing Italian food from your mom! Sounds like she was a fantastic cook. And you were so lucky to get some homemade, authentic Italian dishes for the holidays!!! Cheers to that!
Well I have to give Grandma Belle credit for this one. My favorite meal was always when Grandma Belle made her delicious beef brisket with rice.
While everyone else got dessert of ice milk (which in those days they thought was healthy ice cream) I always went for more of the rice that had been cooked with the brisket.
What a lovely souvenir of Grandma! I loved her brisket with rice too. I wish she'd taught me how to make that! I had rice for dinner tonight but it definitely wasn't as good as hers!