"Store-bought" when you were growing up... was it any different than today?

[Mrs. Robinson]

My mom cooked dinner every night before going to work. She always worked swing shift,Silicon Valley job before Silicon Valley existed. Always from scratch,no dessert ever,unless there was company. Weekends we were usually here at the lake,so my dad grilled. Mom always cooked big breakfasts here though-not at home because she slept in,not going to bed until 2am or so,after work. We did,on rare occasions,have Chinese food delivered,but never pizza.When I was 4 or 5,my mom made homemade pizza,and I was sick as a dog all night long. I didn`t eat pizza again until I was 15,on Mr. Robinson`s and my first date.

As far as dinners out,also pretty rare.If we weren`t traveling to the lake every weekend,it probably would have been never.But sometimes,for convenience,we would stop on the way for dinner.

 

[Aunt Marg]

I wanted to eat a TV dinner so badly; I had seen the advertisements of families sitting in front of the TV eating TV dinners off TV trays and it looked so...….sophisticated...… Mom finally caved in and bought me one. It was meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn and a brownie. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy....here it comes!!!!

It was terrible! Nasty meatloaf, gluey potatoes, mushy corn and an awful brownie. I had to pretend to like it; there was no way I was going to admit I hated it.

Back to Mom's good old-fashioned from-scratch home cooking.

ROFLMAO!

My long-time saying is, and always has been... there is no substitute for good old-fashioned home-cooked goodness!

 

[Aunt Marg]

My mom cooked dinner every night before going to work. She always worked swing shift,Silicon Valley job before Silicon Valley existed. Always from scratch,no dessert ever,unless there was company. Weekends we were usually here at the lake,so my dad grilled. Mom always cooked big breakfasts here though-not at home because she slept in,not going to bed until 2am or so,after work. We did,on rare occasions,have Chinese food delivered,but never pizza.When I was 4 or 5,my mom made homemade pizza,and I was sick as a dog all night long. I didn`t eat pizza again until I was 15,on Mr. Robinson`s and my first date.

As far as dinners out,also pretty rare.If we weren`t traveling to the lake every weekend,it probably would have been never.But sometimes,for convenience,we would stop on the way for dinner.

Your mention of Chinese food made my mouth water!

I remember when dear husband and I first got married, we'd occasionally order Chinese food and bring it home to eat, and just thinking about it I can still smell the mouth-watering delight coming from the assortment of containers we'd order!

 

[RadishRose]

I wanted to eat a TV dinner so badly; I had seen the advertisements of families sitting in front of the TV eating TV dinners off TV trays and it looked so...….sophisticated...… Mom finally caved in and bought me one. It was meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn and a brownie. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy....here it comes!!!!

It was terrible! Nasty meatloaf, gluey potatoes, mushy corn and an awful brownie. I had to pretend to like it; there was no way I was going to admit I hated it.

Back to Mom's good old-fashioned from-scratch home cooking.

LOL- I had the roast turkey, I ate the dressing under the turkey, that was all. Then it was the fried chicken; one piece wasn't bad.

That was about it.

 

[Butterfly]

when i was growing up we had home made clothes-the man down the street raised turkeys and chickens--our clothes were made with chicken sacks that we got for 5% the fabric was pretty--we had canned soup-hash in a can- no tv dinners--the only time we had jello was in the winter we didnt have a fridge

When I was little, my mom made us dresses from those sacks the chicken feed came in. Sometimes we went along to the feed store to pick out the prints. Feed sack dresses sounds pretty terrible, but it really wasn't. The sacks were cotton with nice prints and made quite cute little dresses for us, and the big feed sacks had plenty of fabric.

 

[Butterfly]

Absolutely, the generation many of us here grew up in, frugality ruled.

Nothing got wasted in our house.

Not in my house, either.

 

[Sassycakes]

This brought back a lot of memories of when I was young. My Mom always cooked and I think I was about 13yrs old was the first time she ordered something and it was pizza. Because my sister loved soda my Dad would go to the soda shop near us and buy a pitcher of soda. Of course at least once a week my Dad would take us all to the ice cream Parlor.

 

[AnnieA]

Pre-packaged foods, ready-made meals, TV Dinners, disposable this, disposable that... how much or how little did store-bought make it's way into your childhood home that you remember?

Gradually as availability increased. We always had store bought napkins, poultry and dairy products. But most of our vegetables and fruit came from the garden and fruit trees. I remember my mom canning and freezing much of that. Dad grew it and and she put it up with our help as soon as we were old enough even if that only meant holding the freezer bag upright and open. I took my first vacation day off my first job in HS to shuck and silk corn on 'corn day' which was an all day event. At 77 and 82, they still do grow food, can and freeze though not as much as in their younger days. We also butchered our own beef and venison. When we kids were too young to use a knife, we were taught to wrap the cut meat in butcher paper for freezing. As we got older, we helped from start to finish.

Mom always cooked from scratch and started teaching me when I was eight or nine. At thirteen, I (oldest of three) cooked full meals complete with homemade biscuits during planting and harvest times of the year when dad was in the fields from sunup til sundown and mom was on surgery call. She still cooks a lot from scratch.

This year I've started canning again ...even meats which we didn't do growing up. I've thoroughly enjoyed it. Am waiting on corn to come in the next few days so I can put up spicy corn relish.

 

[Aunt Marg]

Gradually as availability increased. We always had store bought napkins, poultry and dairy products. But most of our vegetables and fruit came from the garden and fruit trees. I remember my mom canning and freezing much of that. Dad grew it and and she put it up with our help as soon as we were old enough even if that only meant holding the freezer bag upright and open. I took my first vacation day off my first job in HS to shuck and silk corn on 'corn day' which was an all day event. At 77 and 82, they still do grow food, can and freeze though not as much as in their younger days. We also butchered our own beef and venison. When we kids were too young to use a knife, we were taught to wrap the cut meat in butcher paper for freezing. As we got older, we helped from start to finish.

Mom always cooked from scratch and started teaching me when I was eight or nine. At thirteen, I (oldest of three) cooked full meals complete with homemade biscuits during planting and harvest times of the year when dad was in the fields from sunup til sundown and mom was on surgery call. She and I still cook a lot from scratch.

This year I've started canning again ...even meats which we didn't do growing up. I've thoroughly enjoyed it. Am waiting on corn to come in the next few days so I can put up spicy corn relish.

OMG... the spicy corn relish sounds so delicious!

 

[Aunt Marg]

Special big thanks to all who have taken the time thus far to drop-in on this conversation to share a little something!

 

[Aunt Marg]

Gradually as availability increased. We always had store bought napkins, poultry and dairy products. But most of our vegetables and fruit came from the garden and fruit trees. I remember my mom canning and freezing much of that. Dad grew it and and she put it up with our help as soon as we were old enough even if that only meant holding the freezer bag upright and open. I took my first vacation day off my first job in HS to shuck and silk corn on 'corn day' which was an all day event. At 77 and 82, they still do grow food, can and freeze though not as much as in their younger days. We also butchered our own beef and venison. When we kids were too young to use a knife, we were taught to wrap the cut meat in butcher paper for freezing. As we got older, we helped from start to finish.

Mom always cooked from scratch and started teaching me when I was eight or nine. At thirteen, I (oldest of three) cooked full meals complete with homemade biscuits during planting and harvest times of the year when dad was in the fields from sunup til sundown and mom was on surgery call. She still cooks a lot from scratch.

This year I've started canning again ...even meats which we didn't do growing up. I've thoroughly enjoyed it. Am waiting on corn to come in the next few days so I can put up spicy corn relish.

Same in our house, Annie, mom canned each year, everything from veggies off the garden, to fruit off the trees.

 

[Butterfly]

My mother didn't can. She distrusted the whole process after several extended family members got VERY sick after eating improperly canned food. She did freeze all kinds of things, though. I have a vague in spots memory of her getting little white carton things that held some kind of upright freezer bag type things that she specially sealed. She blanched and froze all kinds of vegetables, fruits, etc., most from the garden, but some from the market when they were cheap in season.

I used to roast and freeze quite a bit of green chile, but haven't done that in years.

 

[Kadee]

We had a poor diet as youngsters ,as I did most of the shopping using my push bike from about the time I was 10 years old so know exactly what was bought into the home ,we’d get half a lamb side every two weeks and mostly potatoes ,no packaged items like breakfast cereals or biscuits ,the store where we bought food would often give us left over pies / pasties / broken biscuits.

( no supermarkets where I lived till about 1970) when I would have been 24 .
My parents money went on their lifestyle of spending all the time they could in the local club
drinking / smoking . Not feeding or clothing the 8 kids

 

[Aunt Marg]

My mother didn't can. She distrusted the whole process after several extended family members got VERY sick after eating improperly canned food. She did freeze all kinds of things, though. I have a vague in spots memory of her getting little white carton things that held some kind of upright freezer bag type things that she specially sealed. She blanched and froze all kinds of vegetables, fruits, etc., most from the garden, but some from the market when they were cheap in season.

I used to roast and freeze quite a bit of green chile, but haven't done that in years.

I recall my mom quitting canning beans from the garden... can't remember why, but poisoning was part of it.

 

[Aunt Marg]

We had a poor diet as youngsters ,as I did most of the shopping using my push bike from about the time I was 10 years old so know exactly what was bought into the home ,we’d get half a lamb side every two weeks and mostly potatoes ,no packaged items like breakfast cereals or biscuits ,the store where we bought food would often give us left over pies / pasties / broken biscuits.

( no supermarkets where I lived till about 1970) when I would have been 24 .
My parents money went on their lifestyle of spending all the time they could in the local club
drinking / smoking . Not feeding or clothing the 8 kids

Very saddened to know you kids went without proper clothing and food growing up, Kadee.

Glad those years are behind you now.

 

[Kadee]

thank you @Aunt Marg I buy the best of food for us (Mainly fresh food ) and I’ve never drank or smoked
My parents paid the price by dying in early 60’s I’m 74 still fit and healthy

 

[Aunt Marg]

thank you @Aunt Marg I buy the best of food for us (Mainly fresh food ) and I’ve never drank or smoked
My parents paid the price by dying in early 60’s I’m 74 still fit and healthy

Love, love, love happy endings!

May you enjoy many more healthy and happy years, Kadee!

 

[AnnieA]

My mother didn't can. She distrusted the whole process after several extended family members got VERY sick after eating improperly canned food. ...
I used to roast and freeze quite a bit of green chile, but haven't done that in years.

I recall my mom quitting canning beans from the garden... can't remember why, but poisoning was part of it.

Most people used to can everything using a water bath canner. Water bath is fine for acidic fruits and vinegar based recipes, but vegetables need pressure canning for safety.

 

[Gary O']

Other than canning/cooking supplies, about the only thing I remember having from the store was
peanut butter
milk
butter

One time, just the one time, we had TV dinners
For me, it was heaven
No vegetables touching
No juices defiling other stuff

But...alas...it was just that one time

 

[Aunt Marg]

Most people used to can everything using a water bath canner. Water bath is fine for acidic fruits and vinegar based recipes, but vegetables need pressure canning for safety.

You nailed it right on the head, Annie! I think that's why my mom stopped canning beans, because she couldn't afford a pressure canner. Always water-bath canning in my childhood home.

 

[MarciKS]

today's tv dinners are expensive and most are just plain awful. those things are snack size to me. not enough there to be considered a "dinner." it's more like having cheese and crackers. i found some i like but, they're just entrees and they want $8 for them. i don't buy them anymore.

 

[Aunt Marg]

today's tv dinners are expensive and most are just plain awful. those things are snack size to me. not enough there to be considered a "dinner." it's more like having cheese and crackers. i found some i like but, they're just entrees and they want $8 for them. i don't buy them anymore.

Expensive they are, and nowhere near as tasty as good old-fashioned home-cooked goodness, and nowhere near as nutritious either.

 

[MarciKS]

Last time I got an actual dinner the meat looked like it was a 2 oz piece. And it tasted terrible.

 

[Aunt Marg]

Last time I got an actual dinner the meat looked like it was a 2 oz piece. And it tasted terrible.

It doesn't surprise me.

 

[AnnieA]

You nailed it right on the head, Annie! I think that's why my mom stopped canning beans, because she couldn't afford a pressure canner. Always water-bath canning in my childhood home.

Besides the inital expense of the canner, there's that issue of following correct procedure to a 'T' ...gotta keep an eye on that pressure gauge!