Encore le Menu!

The last post generated so much response in the chat room that the topic of TTF(Typical Tasteless Food) begs for a sequel.

At every dinner of my childhood, 4 slices of white bread on a serving plate graced the table.  Everyone was expected to eat one slice each. (Remember the butter and sugar?) We never had pasta of any kind. Ever.But we did have potatoes--boiled, baked and mashed. No rice--that was breakfast food.

In addition to not allowing casseroles, soups were likewise banned. But chili beans were permitted. After all, Daddy was from Texas! How we loved that dinner. We could TASTE it! Also, chili powder was added in addition to the de rigeur salt and pepper. (Did I mention that hot dogs were on the banned list and hamburgers were reserved for kids' birthdays only.)

Although it came perilously close to spaghetti(banned as was pizza) porcupine balls were another staple. Did anything taste better than that can of Del Monte tomato sauce poured over those ground round balls with the rice inside? I admit it was a bit tough going if Mama hadn't had time to cook the porcupine balls long enough to get the rice completely cooked but that was the exception.  It was only later on when I was asked if such a delicacy wasn't difficult to obtain did I catch the double meaning.

Since Daddy was a career Marine, like many military families, SOS was a regular item on the menu. We were told it stood for "Same Old Stuff" and that was close enough. Since not leaving a clean plate wasn't an option, we ate it dutifully--somehow thinking we were making a patriotic statement by choking it down. Semper Fi!

 

 I mentioned canned hominy but left out canned waxed beans. Actually if anything came in a can, it made an appearance on our dinner table--beets, brussels sprouts, asperagus, beans, lima beans, navy beans, pork and beans and even carrots. Fresh veggies were limited to tomatoes, radishes and green onions. Period. 

Please don't think we felt deprived. It was quite the opposite! We felt we were the luckiest people in the the most fortunate country in the world to have all this food just one (hand) can opener away. Even though everyone said the vegetables in the can were already cooked, they generally got a minimum of half an hour extra cooking aka BOILING just to be on the safe side.

 If entrees seemed mundane, we excelled at desserts! Back then, dessert was obligatory. I'd lick the milky SOS gravy off my plate just to get the ice cream--2 flavors, vanilla and not vanilla, store-bought cookies, Betty Crocker cake with powdered sugar frosting, brownies(good ol' Betty again), frozen pies(after we got the larger freezer in the ice box), jello(with tons of sugar) or canned fruit cocktail if Mama's bridge game ran late and she didn't have time to thaw the pie. The only dessert I could never get excited about was--I am not making this up--crumpled up soda crackers or corn bread in milk--with LOTS of sugar!

Thank you for bearing with me in this walk down meals from history. Maybe some day I will relate the ONE time Mama decided to surprise the family with stuffed bell peppers. Now--where did that new can of Cheese Whiz go?