Middle Aged Memories

Buddy was his son, but on Hee Haw they introduced him as Buck's nephew.  He started a dinner/performing restaurant here and there is lots of memorabilia and history all over the place. He and Merle Haggard brought attention to our city, not to mention Dwight Yokum buddying up with Buck.

You're faster than I am!

SlowDeep - we should have been at the same table & we could have been sharing.  I didn't like the cherries.

Another food note - my 45 year old son accuses me of serving only Iceberg lettuce when he was growing up.  Well for heaven's sake - if you weren't on a farm that was all you could buy in the stores.

Same here - I didn't know there were other kinds of lettuce either.

My Mom sure made a great Italian salad with the iceberg though.

At Dad's house, if a salad was made, it was iceberg lettuce, maybe some tomatoes, with Wishbone Italian dressing dumped on top.  At Mom's house, it was mixed greens with avocado, nuts, fruit, whatever was fresh, and homemade dressing.

Growing up, dinner at Dad's was hot dogs or spaghetti with Wonder bread with chunks of butter in it!  Or peanut butter...lots of peanut butter.  Until he remarried.  Then it was overcooked beef (cheapest cuts), white potatoes, and iceberg lettuce "salad."

My dad gave me a grilled cheese (white bread) with a dill pickle.  His other specialty was that chipped beef business, in Campbell's mushroom soup.  Spaghetti-Ohs from the can once in a while.  I liked when I saw him open a can, so I could be sure what I was getting, because he was tricky.  He was the kind of guy that would pass off ground venison as "a hamburger" when one bite would make me gag and cry.

My mom was not a wiz in the kitchen, but she did expose me to avocado, artichokes and asparagus at an early age.  Yes, we had the big old heads of iceberg lettuce, but once in a while had Bibb or romaine too.  Speaking of your green leafy vegetables...We also had a green called rapini, which I never see anymore.  Where did it all go, I wonder?

Favorite food as a child?  Probably pizza.  Several neighborhood pizzarias to choose from, all good, not like the nasty chain places of our present times.  I also made the frozen Appian Way individual pizzas at home.  Those were kind of nasty, but in their own signature nasty taste way that you could actually come to like.  (You know, like how it was with space food sticks.)

(Memories gang, I'm posting lots less these days, but have enjoyed this thread greatly.  Keep it going!)

Loral - Stauffers still makes that chipped beef & I still like it.  

I still love Lipton Noodle Soup.  We make it with 1/2 water & 1/2 milk.  My favorite childhood food was either a) Chinese or b) steak and macaroni w/butter.  My Dad traveled a lot when I was young and when he was gone we could have breakfast food for dinner - waffles or french toast.  Even though I was raised in Northern California, the veggies were mostly canned in the late 1950s.  Oh that horrid slimy canned asparagus.  Of course now fresh is one of my favorites.  And you're right Eli, I had forgotten Mother occasionally served butter lettuce or bibb lettuce for "ladies luncheons" - under the molded jello salad. Remember those? LOL.

I guess I've become a food snob, because the pictures of chipped beef, Wonder bread, and thoughts of canned pasta, etc., turn my stomach!  I hated canned everything when growing up!  Probably my all-time worst:  stewed tomatoes, Manwich gunk, and Eli's beloved Spaghetti-ohs.  I'll also add my stepmother's ground up overcooked beef roast sandwich mixture to the list!  And Spam.

One thing that brings a smile to my face today is the thought of peanut butter and sweet pickle sandwiches.  Dad loved them!  At the time, I thought it was the grossest thing you could consider eating. Now I get it.  And I eat peanut butter, banana and honey on toast quite frequently.

Dad is turning 80 next week and we are celebrating Saturday.  I should probably pick up some pb & sp!

My Dad made PB & Mayo   YUKK    PB & Syrup  ok. My Favs PB & BrownSugar or PowderedSugar, PB& Sweet or even BETTER  DILL Pickles!!!  Too bad so many kids are allergic to such a great food as PNUT BUTTER.

Never had that, and oh so thankful.  

When dad was in charge of making something for us it was usually "pizza bread", a slice of sandwich bread topped with tomato sauce and a sprinkle of oregano and grated cheddar cheese under the broiler until the cheese melted.  He also like making us the treat we affectionately called "Crispie Critters"  which was saltine crackers prepared the same way. (Although they received the name crispie because of the times they were placed to close to the broiler and they might have come out black-ish.

It's always so amusing to hear about the "Dad" concoctions.

Someone should write a recipe book. LOL

hahaha staynsane, that's what would make it so funny. All the things they can do with those few ingredients. 

My Dad NEVER cooked or made anything when I was a kid - my mom did it all. He started cooking once I was in my teens. He was fascinated with the microwave. I remember when I was in high school, my friends would come over and he would offer to cook them a chicken. LOL My friends still remember that. They said most parents would offer you something to drink, but your Dad offered to cook us a chicken.

luvmygoats, we never ate wheat bread growing up. I never knew it existed. I eat it now because it's supposed to be better for you. But, I am definitely a white bread gal. When I was a kid I used to squeeze it in a ball and eat it. I still do that occasionally. Especially the Hawaiian rolls. But, I try not to eat them too often.

It's funny how we made toys out of such simple things.

I remember making whistles!!