Saturday, June 21, 2008

Comfort Food

Top Ten Dishes from my mom's diner:
  1. Olive Casserole. Browned hamburger with onions, canned tomatoes, macaroni and a can of black olives.
  2. Fried Mush. Left over cornmeal mush, made into patties and fried in bacon grease, served with maple syrup.
  3. Liver with Bacon and Onions. A weekly staple that I hated. I remember Dad telling me I could go up on the roof with him if I ate my liver. (I needed incentives.)
  4. Spam Sandwiches. I loved these because Mom let me turn the little key to get the lid off the spam tin.
  5. Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast. Mom made a white sauce, then added chipped beef from a cute little glass (we saved them all as juice glasses) and served it over buttered toast.
  6. Hash. Hamburger browned with onion, combined with hashbrown potatoes and a can of corn. My dad made this for mom over a campfire on one of their first dates. It has always been one of my favorites.
  7. Sardines on Saltines. I have the same roof-bribe memory from a time when Dad coaxed me to eat these smelly little morsels. (Maybe he spent a lot of time on the roof?)
  8. Pork Chops. Browned, then baked in a casserole dish with a can of green beans, and served with baked potatoes.
  9. Artichokes. My mom boiled whole artichokes and we dipped the leaves in mayonnaise and ate the soft part. Mom saved the heart for herself.
  10. Thinnies. Swedish pancakes–like crepes–smothered in melted butter and sugar, then rolled up and served as fast as we could eat them.
What are some comfort foods you remember from your mom's kitchen?




10 comments:

mama jo said...

going through those...remembering...
1.i loved that...
2.don't remember it..
3. ugh..
4. what?
5. yes
6. yum
7. yuck
8. yes
9. love em
10. my favorite

now i'll add:
meatloaf, hot chocolate and toast, pork sandwiches dripping in butter,
jello salads, shortbread, choc. mousse dessert,
mom was a great cook so we were pretty lucky...

kenju said...

Your #5, and I haven't had it in years! I loved that when I was sick.

My mom's best menus included fried chicken and gravy, turkey and all the trimmings, spaghetti, fried fish, meatloaf and her best - apple pie!

Annie said...

Mmmm. Chipped beef on toast was one of my favorites and I haven't had it for years (and never have tried to make it). Others: Chicken Divan (broccoli and chicken and cheese casserole), quiche, my mom's spaghetti sauce.

Ink Poison said...

Lentil soup. Pork chops and sour kraut. Steamed fresh garden vegetables and her homemade bread.

Lindsey said...

I sooooooooo love the artichokes. My sister said they are awesome roasted! You boil them, cut them in 1/2 and spray them with some EVOO and bake.. Yum o.

Anonymous said...

Marty,

My Mother made a stewed chicken dinner that my sister and I called "The United States Steel " dinner.

We called it that because my sister and I had to do the dishes and my Mother used EVERY pot and pan we owned to make it.Jed (my sister) said with all those metal pots and pans on the stove and in the sink and on the counters, the place looked like US Steel. The kitchen was an absolute wreck by the time dinner was on the table.

The dinner consisted of Stewed chicken, mashed potatoes,yellow chicken gravy,steamed rice and spinach.

Can you imagine what our kitchen looked like after that meal was prepared by someone who knew THEY didn't have to do the dishes.....

But, it was delicious and I would give anything in the World to be back in that kitchen now, washing up all that US Steel stuff for my Mom.

MissKris said...

I have a little something for you here:

http://missykrissy2005.blogspot.com/2008/06/sharing-love.html

KJ said...

chocolate chip cookies with raisins. fried chicken. 5 hour beef stew. cinnamon toast. ghoulash: short pasta combined with browned ground beef, onion, and jarred marinara sauce.

The World According To Me said...

Good post! Some good comfort food.

I love my mums roast dinners and her home made vegeatable soup.

I'm suddenly very hungry.

Anonymous said...

I make mom's porkchops, the olive and noodle casserole and thinnies regularly...the other stuff not so good.. but I agree with Jo on the hot chocolate and toast, any meat sandwiches dripping in butter any of mom's desserts. She was a great cook.