As a kid living in Brooklyn has some special memories of the foods that we're special. Whenever we would stroll down Grand Street with my parents or friends and if we should pass the German bakery we had to stop in to get a Charlotte Russe. For me this is the most delicious dessert ever created bye man. It had a cardboard centrical container similar to push ups that are on the market today. The container with hold one or two very light and delicious pieces of cake filled with whipped cream and a cherry on top. A push on the bottom of the container would bring this delightful dessert up so you can devour every millimeter of it. I could still feel the cream on my upper lip just delicious. I search for places locally on Long Island that make Charlotte Russe, the only place I could find is on Staten Island which is a difficult drive for me. We'd walk and eat our Charlotte Russe, heaven forbid you drop it, your heart will drop with it, it was that good. I haven't seen them in about sixty years but I still miss them.
In the 70s I work for a department store as manager of small appliance and carrying-in TV repair and parts. We always had a TV running either one that was being bench tested or my little personal TV on my workbench. While repairing I would watch David Wade's cooking show bon appetit. He originated out of Texas and for me was better than Julia or the Galloping Gourmet or any of the of the chefs at the time. Not only did I copy recipes but he gave me inspiration to create my own recipes or modify his. There was one in particular that I occasionally crave for, one of these days I'll find the recipe. I remember it as stew beef, sauteed and cooked in a beef gravy and tomato sauce mix. Rice cook to near completion, then to a casserole dish lined with bacon, the rice and beef are added and layered, the casserole dish is covered and put into the oven. The cover is important to catch any evaporation, it will drip back onto the rice keeping it moist. One of these days I will try to recreate this long-lost recipe.
I can't think for a specific food memory, but I have a general food one. When we moved to Virginia in the early 60s, my mother would buy fresh bread from the local bakery. There was a row of maybe 6 shops on the street front with a sidewalk, and you parked in the back or at the grocery store around the side and walked to the front. We would park in the back and take the rear entrance, walking through the kitchen to the store. The bakers would always had me and my brothers a cookie as we passed through. The bread was sold in whole loaves, and you could ask the counter lady to run it through the slicer. The woman who worked this place always had a cigarette hanging out of her mouth (the good old days), with a 2" ash dangling off the end, threatening to land on your loaf of bread. It never did. I guess the only specific food memory that comes to mind is the Yorkshire pudding my mother used to make in the cast iron pan she just did the roast in. Man, that's some good stuff.
The Wednesday Washington Post food section had the grocery store ads and the weekly recipes. I would try to cook at least one "different" dish from there each month, just to do something I would not normally seek out to cook. I recall one recipe named "Drunken Papaya Chicken." Chicken thighs + papaya + mango + rum, cooked in a roasting pan. Yeh, it was good. Stir Fried Asparagus, Beef & Black Bean Sauce was recipe I found there was right tasty, too. I've subbed shrimp and it's equally edible.
I apologize if I offended I was trying to make a joke I have no problem as matter of fact I find it a nostalgic. I've had similar things happened to me back there in those days, including hot dog wagon that the owner dropped hot dogs pick them up and threw them in the water.
I'm sorry, buddy. I was agreeing with you. My comment was directed to those who lack our common sense...and our robust immune systems. I was on a social site called Next Door, and people were talking about this small seafood shop that I frequent. I "know" the owner in that I'm in there often. Dave is a local good ol' boy who grew his love of fishing and seafood into this great little business. Dave smokes. Sometimes Dave smokes inside his small shop. People were on Next Door commenting about the great food and selection Dave offers. One pants-wetter steps in and says "He smokes in his store. That should tell you all you need to know about what he thinks of his customers." sigh. It's not about you, sweetheart.
I miss my mother's cooking. I can never replicate her pumpkin pie or her biscuits, and for years I have wished I had written down her recipe for Brunswick Stew. There's not a single online recipe for that that comes close.
It's true even with the recipe it's hard to duplicate. My daughter made a small cookbook of my mother's recipes before she passed, I can't get one of them right they just have the Magic Touch.
The problem with my mother was that she didn't use recipes; she just had that cooking instinct. I think a lot of our moms were that way.
You're absolutely right that's why my mom's cookbook never worked. She actually watch my mom cook these recipes but had to judge what the measurement were, it was all in her head or feel.
I miss real mince pie. In the fall, my dad and Grandpa Bailey went deer hunting, and after the venison had been all cut up, Grandma Bailey used the scraps and made mincemeat. Then, at Thanksgiving and Christmas, she made mincemeat pies, and they have always been my favorite pie. Of course, you can find the canned mincemeat (very expensive) and it is mostly apples, raisins and spices, with very little, if any, meat in it, and certainly never any venison like Grandma Bailey used for her pies.
One. Of my aunt's made an appetizer called spec-t. The one thing that I know was in it was bits of bacon. They were delish. My wife on the other hand has her unique recipe for potato salad. My aunt made a really with my wife to swap recipes. Judy, like my aunt's daughter, believed my aunt and made the swap. Unfortunately my aunt didn't keep keep her part