Posted on 01/22/2006 7:04:33 AM PST by devane617
OK, so I am getting old, but still remember my favorite time of the week -- Sunday dinner at Grandma's house. In the south we call Sunday lunch, dinner. For an unknown reason, when I awoke this morning, I was thinking about all the happy times as a kid spent at Grandma's house and how much I miss those easy Sundays. On the menu would be:
Pot Roast, Fried Chicken, or Baked Ham.
Fresh veggies from the garden:
Purple hull peas, Butter beans, Sweet potato's, Yellow Squash, Creamed corn, Bread dressing, Cornbread, and Busicuts.
For dessert:
Carrot Cake, German Chocolate cake, Chocolate pie, and Lemon meringue pie.
As kids we would be sent out in the yard to play. Never thought about watching TV, or video games the entire day.
On the way home from Grandma's my Dad would stop by a small country store that had huge Ice Cream cones. I would always have Lime Sherbert.
What, no Kentucky Fried Chicken? That's the only thing I EVER remember eating at your house!!! ;)
Another Tennessean here.
On Sunday both grandmas made homemade fried chicken, ham, bisquits, chicken and dumplins, cornbread, fried corn, corn on the cob, blackeyed peas, pinto beans, mashed potatoes or quartered potatos cooked in pork neck bones, creasy greens, and when in season, squash, fried okra, and a variety of other vegetables they grew in their gardens.
There was always sweet tea (unsweetened tea was unheard of), buttermilk, and milk.
My paternal grandma's house ALWAYS smelled like blackberry cobblers. She always had one of these baking, would spend summer days picking blackberries and can them. All their vegetables they grew and home canned.
Both grandmas always had plenty of desserts, always a banana pudding, coconut cream pie, banana cream pies, carrot cakes, etc.
When I think of Daddy's mother I automatically smell blackberry cobbler.
Both grandmas had pinto beans and cornbread daily, usually weekdays were strictly vegetables, and then on Sundays they wring a hen's neck for Sunday dinner. They both also raised hogs, and had smokehouses.
Old Man Winter is getting to me this morning: I just can't wait for summer, I just can't wait anymore!
That's funny, I remember my paternal grandmother with such great fondness. The menu seldom varied. She died in 1958, and ordered her groceries delivered. She was terribly crippled with arthritis, her whole body deformed, but she kept her 10-room victorian house immaculate with no help. She had to wash in the basement and hang everything on the clothesline.
I remember accompanying her hobbling down to the garden to dig potatoes for supper once. She dug them with a butcher knife which I still have.
The menu was usually chuck roast, boiled potatoes, lots of gravy, fill up on bread and gravy, can't remember the veggies, homemade pie, elderberry stands out the most, but also apple, cherry and peach. She made her own preserves out of those little husk tomatoes called ground cherries and black raspberry jam. She also made the best ranger cookies and tapioca pudding, the kind where you would fluff it up by beating the egg whites. I never got it as good as hers. And, of course, the homemade pickles and relish. Christmas and Thanksgiving was always the works, turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, fruitcake, etc. Once we had goose.
She had a whole row of fruit trees including those little white peaches which are wonderful. Now they have nectarines that taste very similar. They are very hard to can (nobody grows them any more) and you have to slip the peeled ones in water so they don't turn brown right away.
It's almost impossible to get black raspberries any more. I picked some I found growing wild, covered them with water, stuck them in the freezer. A year and a half later, they were still good so I made a pie 'cuz I'm trying to clean my freezer out. Yum.
Shortly after she died her house burned down, somebody built a beautiful new bungalow, bulldozed the barn, orchard, grape vines, chicken house (she kept chickens for awhile), my treehouse I built, all the trees, eveything. It was an acreage on the edge of a small town. It doesn't look right now and is a sad memory. She had the most huge rolltop oak desk I have ever seen, a beautiful grape stained glass hanging light fixture above the dining room table, and a stick telephone on the stand by the window. So many memories, gone forever. The family saved what treasures they could. I used to go up into the attic and play with my father's antique toys. Now I have seen similar ones on ebay and they are getting good prices. I have her clock which winds up. It's beautiful wood with carving.
It's amazing how long fruit will keep in the freezer. I've got one batch of cherries left form at least two years ago. I'm eating applesauce I canned at least 5 years ago. It is fine if the seal doesn't break. Most people would advise me not to eat it.
Many of us have that same regret...
(sigh)
My grandmother made THE BEST blackberry cobbler.
Served hot with ice cream...it was almost a religious experience!
I never did like my gas grill compared to charcoal. It doesn't taste the same. I even had those lava rocks or whatever they were.
LOL. Hmmm. What would Jesus do? I know, go to Popeye's!
Roast beef, rice pilaf, manhattans, kids at their own table making mischief, vanilla ice cream with cherries, 7-up, sliding down the stairs on our bellies....rugburn.....
I miss my grandma and grandpa!
Ahhh, latkes...
2 lg. potatoes, peeled and coarsely grated
1 sm. onion, grated
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 eggs
Oil
1 1/2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
Salt and pepper
Applesauce, sour cream, preserves or granulated sugar sprinkling
Caramelized Applesauce (recipe follows)
In large bowl, combine potatoes, onion, lemon juice, eggs and 1 tablespoon oil. Mix well.
Blend in flour. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly.
Alternately, if using food processor, insert metal blade and mince onion.
Add eggs, 1 tablespoon oil, lemon juice and flour and process to blend.
Use shredding disk to shred potatoes into onion mixture. Remove disk and replace with plastic knife and process to combine.
Transfer mixture to large bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
In large heavy skillet, heat 1/4 inch oil to 375 degrees. By tablespoonfuls, spoon potato mixture into hot oil and flatten with back of spoon.
Brown on both sides, turning only once, about 3 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately with applesauce, sour cream, preserves or granulated sugar for sprinkling over latkes and Caramelized Applesauce. Yields about 2 dozen.
CARAMELIZED APPLESAUCE:
6 lg. Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
Juice and grated peel of lemon (4 tbsp.)
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. orange marmalade
1/2 c. orange juice
In large bowl, toss together apple slices, lemon juice and peel. Set aside.
In large heavy saucepan, combine sugar, marmalade and orange juice.
Cook over medium heat, stirring until sugar and marmalade dissolve. Bring syrup to boil, reduce heat and simmer 3 to 4 minutes, just until sauce begins to thicken.
Add apple mixture to syrup and toss to coat apples. Simmer, covered, 10 to 15 minutes, until apples are soft.
Transfer to glass bowl and cool to room temperature. Gently mash apple mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and chill. Serve with latkes.
HINTS FOR PERFECT LATKES:
Latkes are at their best when fried just before serving. Keep the first batches warm in the oven at 200 degrees while frying the remaining batter.
Before grating potatoes for potato latkes have all other ingredients ready so potatoes don't have time to turn brown.
For crisper latkes, fry in very hot oil, turning only once.
To freeze latkes, fry on each side until only golden. Drain on paper towels. Freeze in single layers on baking sheets lined with foil. Once frozen, latkes may be removed from baking sheets and placed in plastic bags. They will not stick together if frozen this way. Place frozen latkes in one layer on foil lined baking sheets and bake at 400 degrees until crisp and brown, about 5 to 10 minutes.
I know what you mean. Gas grills are great for convenience though. I have a New Braunfels charcoal grill for leisurely Sunday afternoons and a fancy, double walled propane unit for quick suppers. The key to both of them is having the meat get saturated in its own hot smoke. Oh my, my.
The trouble with Italian food is that three days later, you're hungry again.
God bless my Nana.
My Italian Nona started out each meal with homemade soup, either chicken or Minestrone.
The main course was Lasagna and spaghetti or Gnocchi if we were lucky. There was always a meat dish, either roast, veal or lamb.
Fresh spinach with olive oil and garlic, fresh green beans and fresh Artichokes in season.
She bought her bread and crusty rolls from the Bakery. Even the children were always offered a tiny glass of home made wine and the desert was sponge cake, ice cream, or cookies. A shot glass of Anisette completed the feast.
After dinner, the men would retreat into the parlor to smoke cigars and sleep. The women ALL pitched in and cleaned up. Those were the BEST years of my life. Thank you, my Nona :)
sw
My very old parents now have a live-in who's 100% American, but of Hispanic heritage....we've slowly broken her into some of the folks' favorites, such as black eyes.
Still working on Okra, though. She ain't got the hang of that one yet.
Isn't it amazing how memories and smells can be so intertwined!!?? When I think of my grandmother on my dad's side I immediately smell eggs with lots of pepper frying!!! She lived on a farm and every morning would cook up a huge breakfast for the everyone (eggs, sausages, bacon, cottage fried potatoes, biscuits and grave and a bottomless pot of strong dark coffee) ~ when staying there in the summer I always awoke to the delicious aroma of wafting up from her country kitchen.
For some reason, of all the wonderful smells coming from that cozy room the eggs frying with lots pepper aroma is the one that really stuck with me! When I think of her I smell them and when I smell them, I think of her!
BTW, I spent a great deal of my youth picking blackberries and love them dearly!!! Blackberry cobbler with heavy cream poured over it is one of my all time favorite desserts!
My family nearly bows to me when I make my chicken-n- dumplin's.
Nope. Not gonna mention the secret ingredient of my dressing...
Sonic has the best onion rings on the planet. imo
What a great thread! I lived in the City of Pittsburgh and every sunday after Church we would walk to Grandma's house about a 30 minute walk. Grandma spoke better Italian than English and boy could she cook. I can still see her rolling the pasta for the home made ravioli. And yes, we always ate the salad last. As kids, one thing I wasn't crazy about was Grandma's cookies - we used to call them Grandma's "Goofy Cookies". Today they are known as Biscotti. Grandma's were warm from the oven and I'm sure I'd appreciate them more today.
After dinner, we would often sit around and listen to the Pirates on the radio! Who from Pittsburgh will ever forget the 1960 World Series? I was 10 that year and still remember the details of our celebration.
Sunday dinner would be for 15 and my grandmother would make roast beef with gravy and Carolina rice. I remember it like it was yesterday.
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