2. Can we make your favorite meal together, or do you have a recipe you can share?
I hope everyone had in their youth something their parents cooked that evokes warm memories to make. These dishes need not be anything special. Indeed! Comfort foods from childhood are often simple things. The recipes I inherited from the matriarchs of the family aren’t especially fancy; they are hardly gourmet. When you are a child this is ‘how mother made it’ and that is what counts.*
Over the years of blogging I have written out several Spo-recipes; here are a few of them:
I did not grow up eating haute cuisine, rather I was fed Midwestern faire. Food was fuel more than an experience; fancy cooking and spices were not made nor wanted. It was a disappointment. I often tried to coax Mother to try new and exotic dishes but she never did. Now I cook just that – most of the time. From time to time I get out Auntie’s recipe for hamburger hot dish and I make it and eat it with relish and happy memories.
Tell me about a family dish you grew up with remembered with fondness.
*Someone told me a tale from his youth about a church picnic when several church ladies brought their own ambrosia salad, all with slight variations from their families’ recipes. This resulted in a less-than-Christian-charitable fracas over which one was best. It fell to the minister to decide. Apparently he didn’t know the tale of The Judgment of Paris and the dimwit choose one as most delicious. The church was never the same afterwards.
Spo-Reflections 
47 comments
May 24, 2024 at 4:17 AM
Anonymous
we have very old recipes for , pound cake, jam cake, macaroni salad, and about twenty others. DwightW.
May 24, 2024 at 6:18 AM
Urspo
Do you make them I hope?
May 24, 2024 at 12:44 PM
Anonymous
yes. DwightW. also an 150 year old year old banana bread recipe
May 24, 2024 at 4:34 AM
Paul Brownsey
Re the minister’s ‘Judgement of Paris’: in the 1960s, in the town nin which I was a newspaper reporter, there was a retired doctor who did a huge amount for the elderly, including setting up an employment agency to enable those who wanted to work and were able to work to find jobs. (Our newspaper used to do regular reports on old folk who had found new jobs thereby.) On one occasion Dr Snelgrove was the guest of honour at an Easter party at a care home. He was asked to judge the Easter Bonnet competition. Unlike the minister in your story, he took refuge in evasion and decflared that they were *all* winners.
Re remembered foods: I still have not managed to recreate my grandmother’s rice pudding–the rice cooked just right but not mushy, plenty of nutmeg-flavoured hot milk not absorbed by the rice, and the delicious burnt skin on the top. I and my husband much enjoy my rice puddings–but my Gran’s remains a sort of unachievable Platonic ideal.
May 24, 2024 at 6:49 AM
Urspo
One of the troubles of old time recipes is there often isn’t one. The cook just did what they knew and only later perhaps wrote it down upon request. I remember my grandfather saying his mother’s best cookies he saved them as long as possible after her death knowing there would be no more. I remember as a child wondering why he didn’t learn himself – I would do different.
I recall in the original myth of The Judgment of Paris the task is originally assigned to Zeus who for once showed restraint to say no way no way and turfed it to anyone who would do it. I forget how Paris came to do it. It ends badly.
May 24, 2024 at 4:44 AM
Mistress Borghese
Both my grandparents had multiple recipes that were delicious and still used today. Don’t know I had a favorite, there were quite a few. Both grandmothers were good cooks.
May 24, 2024 at 6:49 AM
Urspo
Good for them!
Neither of my grans were excellent cooks but staid midwest faire.
May 24, 2024 at 5:00 AM
Sam
My son, the food police, even has a few grandma’s favorites on both sides he still loves. I got admonished for buying ice cream to have in freezer, and I rarely eat it. It was for him and my daughter who asks about ice cream every time she’s here. I digressed.
May 24, 2024 at 6:51 AM
Urspo
oh oh a food police on the premises. That ain’t good. I went through that phase myself: finding proper ways and recipes. No good that is.
May 24, 2024 at 5:19 AM
Old Lurker
Oh dear. Did the church go to war for ten years? Were there wooden horses involved?
From my youth, I miss curried chick peas served on rice. I am capable of making a passable version of such, but it is not the same.
May 24, 2024 at 6:52 AM
Urspo
According to Someone his Southern Baptist church were always arguing and fighting over something. It may be his perspective but it certainly sounded a cantankerous congregation.
May 24, 2024 at 4:43 PM
Sluggy
This is why Southern Baptist congregations are known to split off frequently. They are all righteous and know best. lol
May 24, 2024 at 7:22 AM
rjjs8878
Neither of my grandmothers ever hosted a dinner. My paternal grandmother would occasionally boil hot dogs for us. My mother was a horrible cook. She overcooked everything. The only exception was her apple pie which was stellar.
May 24, 2024 at 7:39 AM
Urspo
Good for her! There is always something, one thing – or so I hope.
May 24, 2024 at 7:37 AM
Debra She Who Seeks
Speaking of ambrosia salad, one of my aunties often made that for special celebrations and it was a favourite of mine! No wonder I’m a diabetic today. The same auntie was also great at making Yorkshire puddings to go with roast beef and gravy. My Mom didn’t or couldn’t make either ambrosia salad or Yorkshire puddings, so having them was always a treat.
May 24, 2024 at 7:42 AM
Urspo
I am not sure if I have ever had Yorkshire pudding; I would like to try one.
As for Ambrosia salad I am not a fan. The notion of fruit in mayonnaise seemed an unnatural pairing (said by a man who does that himself). Also, I am not a fan of coconut. The relations who made the stuff included coconut in theirs and the notion of keeping it out for my taste was not considered.
May 24, 2024 at 8:11 AM
Debra She Who Seeks
I don’t like coconut either so my auntie always left it out.
May 24, 2024 at 4:58 PM
Anonymous
Ina Garten has a show called Be My Guest. Celebrity comes to her house and they cook something. Last episode was Yorkshire puddings. Easy peasy – muffin tin and only about three ingredients. MS Nell
May 24, 2024 at 7:41 AM
Robzilla
Nothing comes to mind, but my father loved steak and fries for dinner on Saturdays. I continue that tradition in my home.
May 24, 2024 at 12:25 PM
Urspo
What kind of steak? I am just about to learn the types.
May 24, 2024 at 5:02 PM
Robzilla
I prefer leaner stuff like boneless New York Strip, but I’m a sucker for a boneless ribeye once in awhile.
May 24, 2024 at 8:45 AM
David Godfrey
My grandmother made a macaroni and cheese that was baked into a near solid, you could cut it with a knife. It is my standard for what a baked Mac and cheese should be. None live up to it. And Welsh Stone Cakes, sort of a pastry cookie with light leavening, baked on a griddle, with raisins. I have made them a few times. (J adores them.) Bread and butter pickles with extra mustard. Beyond that, she was not famous for her cooking. But I learned so much from watching and helping her in the kitchen. She was fearless.
May 24, 2024 at 12:57 PM
Urspo
I guess everybody’s childhood M and C is what the feel is the proper one. I did not grow up with any – can you imagine?
Lucky fellow to have had a fearless gran.
May 24, 2024 at 11:32 AM
Debbie W.
My mother is not much of a cook, but I always think of her when I eat what she calls: “cold cucumbers”. It’s just peeled and thinly sliced fresh cucumbers and onions, with white vinegar and a little sprinkle of sugar. SO good on a hot summer day!
May 24, 2024 at 12:58 PM
Urspo
My mother made something similar, although sometimes she adds sliced tomatoes to the cukes and onions.
May 24, 2024 at 7:01 PM
Parnassus
My mother’s family made pretty much the same thing, and called it gurkensalat. It was quite popular, although I personally never favored cucumbers.
–Jim
May 24, 2024 at 12:50 PM
Blobby
My paternal grandmother never made a thing in her life. Growing up, and after marriage, always had “help”. She might have been able to eke out a pimento cheese spread sandwich for us if under the gun, but no one was eating it.
May 26, 2024 at 4:38 PM
Urspo
Some matriarchs were like that. No fun recipes from them alas.
May 24, 2024 at 12:54 PM
Robert
Your family’s recipes sound innovative. You could spice them up a bit. I loved my mother’s stew of lamb or beef with onion, carrots, potatoes, and fluffy suet dumplings. Maybe this is why I adore soup.
May 26, 2024 at 4:39 PM
Urspo
I have been spicing up my upbringing recipes for some time. Now nothing tastes right if it doesn’t have hot sauce on it.
May 24, 2024 at 4:50 PM
Sluggy
My mother’s cooking mojo was thwarted by my father who only ate about 10 items total. Every time she cooked “greens” father had to be out of town on business as he said the smell was gag-inducing. Lots of great cooks on mom’s side, from Grandmother and Grandfather to Great Grandmother and my Grandfather’s sister.
As for the other side of the family-cooking was a chore and it was best to get on with it quickly and that Grandmother? I don’t have any memories of nice dishes she made besides soft boiled eggs, chopped up with butter in a bowl and served with toast. She watched me when I was little. 😎
May 26, 2024 at 4:39 PM
Urspo
Often when I asked mother to try something new she said Father wouldn’t like it. I wonder how much this was true or it was she wouldn’t like it.
May 24, 2024 at 5:48 PM
BadNoteB
My grandmother participated in an oral history project with our State University some 50 years ago, recalling life in a small mining town during her youth. None of the family was aware of this until I stumbled on the published interview on the web several years ago. What an odd way to learn of life experiences none of us ever thought to ask about while she was alive – and, oh, the many unasked questions the family would like to know today.
I’ll put in a word with St. Honoré for this weekend’s culinary adventures. If all else fails, don’t forget tomorrow is National Wine Day!
May 26, 2024 at 4:40 PM
Urspo
Drat I miss Wine Day!
However in the summer nearly every day is Wine day – a glass of white or rose.
May 24, 2024 at 7:01 PM
Parnassus
The problem here is that by the time you are a grandparent, you are no longer allowed to eat your favorite recipes.
–Jim
May 26, 2024 at 4:40 PM
Urspo
Indeed so. I’ve saved so many recipes for ‘later’ many I should not eat anymore.
May 24, 2024 at 9:39 PM
Anonymous
If my father did not like it, or for whatever reason did not want it, my mother did not cook it. She was not a gourmet cook but everything was wonderful and flavorful. She only used salt and pepper for savory dishes. However, she did flavor foods with celery, garlic, onions and such.
I guess one of the things I loved and remembered was her spaghetti. She gave me the recipe which was gone with the house. I managed to recreate it from memory. I did help with this.
The other dish was chicken and dumplings. I recreated it by the memory of the smell. It was chicken, broth, and dumplings with salt and pepper. There were no vegetables in the dish like the ones on the internet.
After making both these dishes decades after her death, I was comforted beyond belief.
May 24, 2024 at 9:41 PM
Anonymous
The spaghetti and chicken and dumplings memories are from
Practical Parsimony
May 26, 2024 at 4:41 PM
Urspo
thank you for sharing them PP !
May 24, 2024 at 11:53 PM
Anonymous
Ruud Hietbrink – Amsterdam.
I’ve been interested in your blog for years, and it often gets me thinking. I never felt the need to respond—until now. I’m a grandfather myself, 92 years old, with a complex past. I lost my parents when I was 6. From 1938 onwards, I was raised by an aunt and uncle who ran a hotel restaurant.
You posed a very down-to-earth question. In my youth, there weren’t any warm meals, prepared by my foster parents, that I still remember today. The food came from the excellent kitchen of the restaurant, and there were certainly dishes that were my favorites. For example, fried liver with fried bacon and onions, but also red meat. There were only two evenings a year (!) that remind me of a favorite meal. These evenings were exclusively accompanied by excellent cold snacks, I don’t really remember what, along with very good wines. These evenings started late and they were Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. The restaurant closed, and on all other evenings, work had to be done. On those evenings, it was just the three of us: my uncle, aunt, and myself. We chatted, nothing lofty or reflective, but it was a family evening that we didn’t have the rest of the year.
I really don’t know if it was all ‘Haute Cuisine’. But I grew up with an appreciation for good food. During the war (WWII), this slowly but surely shifted to just food, plain and simple, and it ended with eating crows. Because mussels were available for a while and we had a propaganda cook for them in house, I developed a great dislike for mussels. To this day, I really can’t eat them.
I certainly think of that time with a sense of warmth. I still cook for myself, but there’s nothing I could call a favorite. I try to vary and use lots of herbs and peppers. I cook by feel (probably also memories) and not by recipes.
May 26, 2024 at 4:44 PM
Urspo
I am always amazed when I discover someone has been reading this, not only for a long time but from far away. I thank you so much for doing this – and for taking time to write out your comment and share this tail.
Being Dutch on my mother’s side. I have down to someday make Snert, something my great grandmother made often. I have the recipe in my laptop. As a child I thought the name amusing but the ingredients unappetizing. Now I want to make it.
Your comment made my weekend.
Dank u
May 25, 2024 at 7:36 AM
larrymuffin
My Mom was a good cook, she made everything from scratch and we loved her recipes. The favourite was her Tomato Soup Cake. I have also her own handwritten recipe, she had beautiful penmanship.
May 26, 2024 at 4:45 PM
Urspo
You gave me a copy of it I am honored so.
May 25, 2024 at 12:07 PM
Mike in LAS
Zuchinne, Patate, Piene – Stuffed Zucchini and potatoes in a tomato sauce. Very much an Italian dish my father loved. We ate meat and polenta or potatoes for every meal. My mother’s midwestern roots dictated she feed her boys meat so they would grow up to be strong men. My grandmother made sure we had plenty of Italian food (ravioli, polpete, focaccia, etc.)
Bagna Calda – anchovy fondue with plenty of garlic. This is still my favorite today
May 25, 2024 at 12:30 PM
Anonymous
Thanks for long-forgotten memories, Mike… my grandmother used to make baked stuffed zucchini. Practically the only vegetable I’d eat as a kid, she’d also slice a zuke into thin rounds to bread and fry. As a young man I had Basque neighbors who would host Bagna Calda parties… memorable not only for the fun food experience but red wine stains on our clothes from the bota bags.
May 26, 2024 at 4:46 PM
Urspo
Indeed so !
May 26, 2024 at 4:46 PM
Urspo
I was unfortunate to have no Italian ancestry meaning no Italian dishes at all when growing up – worse luck. You are a fortunate man to have had such.