RE: Grandmom's Home Cooking

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DesFIP -> RE: Grandmom's Home Cooking (6/2/2011 5:32:37 AM)
I use garlic powder when I'm making my own seasoned bread crumbs. I save leftover bread and run it through the food processor when the bag in the freezer is full, then put in a slow oven, stirring occasionally. Then I add the spices so I have it all ready when I'm frying chicken or chops. Onion powder would be a nice addition also.

mynxkat -> RE: Grandmom's Home Cooking (6/2/2011 5:58:21 AM)
I learned a little about cooking from my grandmothers, but most of that was soak in through the skin type stuff since they both passed away when I was very young. One thing I remember from one grandmother's kitchen that I would LOVE to know how she made it was her fried fruit pies. Those were the best things ever. But then, she had a garden that was well over an acre in size to work with, including several nicely mature apple, peach and fig trees. I remember climbing up into the apple trees to get the fruit my grandfather couldn't reach. My mother was a fairly indifferent cook. It wasn't something she enjoyed doing, so she never made much of an effort at it. Her food was mostly prepackaged 'just add water' sorts of things. Edible, but not inspiring. I do enjoy cooking, and I've gotten to be VERY good at it. I've learned to make 96% or more of the foods I prepare from scratch, or as much from scratch as I can manage. I've recently been working on various sorts of breads, and I'm getting good at it. I just need to get the sizes right on things like hamburger and hot dog buns. But my sourdough bread is just awesome. One thing I've noticed is that what I'm coming more and more to think of as 'real' cooking, that is, starting with basic ingredients and assembling dishes from those is that it doesn't take all THAT much longer than cooking from boxes and packages. Mostly. Things like bread take quite a long time, but most of that is waiting for the yeast to do its thing. And unless I goof up on a new item I'm figuring out how to fix, it tastes a LOT better. Even some of my goofs have wound up being quite tasty, just not what I had intended them to be.

suhlut -> RE: Grandmom's Home Cooking (6/2/2011 7:51:49 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: DesFIP I use garlic powder when I'm making my own seasoned bread crumbs. I save leftover bread and run it through the food processor when the bag in the freezer is full, then put in a slow oven, stirring occasionally. Then I add the spices so I have it all ready when I'm frying chicken or chops. Onion powder would be a nice addition also. MMM Des...now youve given me reason to go check out my spice supply and see if I have any bottles of garlic ond onion powder around still. I loveeeeeeee homemade croutons for salads. Save leftover bread much the same as you.. but cube it slightly before placing in freezer bag, then when its time to make croutons throw the bread cubes in a deep fat fryer and continue frying til they are crunchy. Toss into a paper bag that has garlic and onion powders and italian seasonings and shakeeee. cool by spreading out on the counter. Yum.

suhlut -> RE: Grandmom's Home Cooking (6/2/2011 8:09:39 AM)
This all also reminds me.. three Thanksgivings ago, I suddenly came to the realization that id never had a completely by scratch Thanksgiving meal.. ever So, Since I am the extended family's holiday chef and everyone comes to my house for every holiday meal.. I'd surprise everyone there with a by scratch meal. Aside from breads, which I havent ever tried making as of yet.. So, Turkey.. of course... with homemade gravy.. of course... but no more boxed prepared stuffing. That was homemade. Mashed potatoes of course No more canned sweet potatoes, Instead I bought fresh sweet potatoes and wrapped them in foil and baked them, and served real butter and a dish of brown sugar as side toppings No more canned squash.. I bought acorn squashes, cut them in half, removed the seeds, and filled the cavities with butter and maple syrup. (omfg.. I think that acorn squash was my favorite part of the meal.. yuummm Dinner rolls..were sadly..store bought. but for dessert.. mmmm Homemade pumpkin pies. Made from real pumpkins..you cut them in half, scoop out the seeds and then bake the pumpkins til soft. Scoop the flesh from the skin rinds and toss into a blender or food processor. Blend til smooth and looks like what comes in the canned crap.. then mix with the spices.. and evaporated milk. then i make my super flaky, to die for pie crusts.. and place into pie plates and pour in pumpkin mixture..and bake. Nobody ever tells ya... that canned pumpkin.. isnt really pumpkin at all, but is really a squash. I think its wrong to lie on the lable.. but, there ya have it.. its not really pumpkin. From scratch pumpkin pie... is soooooo much better then using that canned crap. At the time, I figured I'd only do the by scratch meal one time only.. but.. well I discovered it wasnt as hard as it might seem..to do. and it was soo much better then how i used to do things...that I will never go back to doing it the other way. Its only once a year..afterall.

calamitysandra -> RE: Grandmom's Home Cooking (6/2/2011 10:31:06 AM)
DesFip, would you be willing to share that banana bread recipe?

LinnaeaBorealis -> RE: Grandmom's Home Cooking (6/2/2011 12:33:37 PM)
I tend to make everything from scratch except for breads. I don't eat a lot of bread. Making from scratch is how I learned to cook. I don't remember a whole lot of packaged foods back then. I tried the hamburger helper stuff when it first came out & I thought it was disgusting besides being extremely unhealthy. So I make something like it from scratch & we call it "I Don't Know". When I worked for a County Health facility, we got paid once a month on the first. The secretary to the director would invariably plan potlucks for a few days before payday. This was back in the 70's & she was not a liberated woman. She'd assign pop & plates & that sort of thing to the men, because men weren't expected to cook in her world. The women were required to provide the food dishes. I was paid very little in this job so my money was pretty much gone by potluck time. One day I grabbed some stuff out of my cupboard & browned up a lb of hamburger. I threw everything into the crock pot along with some herbs & spices & took it to work & plugged it in behind my desk. As the morning wore on, it was smelling better & better. People would come by my desk & say, "That smells delicious! What is it?" I would reply, "I don't know." They'd say, "What do you mean you don't know? You made it didn't you?" I said, "Yes. But I'm not really sure what it is." The dish turned out delicious & got rave reviews. I still make "I Don't Know" & it's one of my daughter's favorite things that I make. Sometimes there's rice, sometimes various forms of pasta, sometimes hamburger, sometimes chicken, ground turkey, whatever. It's always different & always delicious. My last situation was as cook & housekeeper to a couple in MD. They only ate packaged & processed foods. They weren't adventurous at all so I had to learn to make the dishes that they liked. I would try to make separate food for myself, but sometimes I had to eat theirs. And I also had to learn to salt everything. A lot. So not only was there all that sodium in the foods already, but they insisted that I add salt. I'd always take my portion before adding the extra salt & I put them on sea salt exclusively, but my feet still swelled up & I gained a lot of weight. I am so happy to have my own little place & my own kitchen now.

LaTigresse -> RE: Grandmom's Home Cooking (6/2/2011 12:55:22 PM)
Suhlut........the way you cook is why I always plan to have a day off work, all to myself, in the kitchen, on the day BEFORE a big family gathering!

ResidentSadist -> RE: Grandmom's Home Cooking (6/2/2011 5:32:43 PM)
My Grandma was Russian and her sister was married to a prince under the Czar. Fearing the Russian revolutions which had already sparked in 1914, the prince hired a gypsy caravan to smuggle them all out through the mountains to Armenia in 1915. My grandma picked up many gypsy dishes along the way. After landing in Armenia, being grandma was beautiful and15 years old, they married her off to a wealthy Armenian merchant. She picked up a lot of Middle Eastern cuisine. Grandma spoke 9 languages and cooked in as many ethnic cuisine styles. My father was Lithuanian, an epicurean and excellent chef. I lived in Detroit, Mexico and New Orleans and I learned to cook so many ethnic dishes between all these teachers, I cannot list them all. I excel at Middle Eastern, European, Mediterranean, classic southern (USA) and Cajun cuisine. I can make egg plant caviar, szekely gulyas, red beans and dirty rice, pizza from scratch, dolmades, gumbo file, paella, borsch & borscht Polish or Russian style, knish, kibbe(e), goulash, paprikash, chicken tortellini with walnuts and roquefort dressing . . . I remember that one was show stopper. Food . . . I love food.

Aileen1968 -> RE: Grandmom's Home Cooking (6/2/2011 7:07:28 PM)
I didn't learn to cook from my grandparents, but from my mom. She was German and Slovak but cooked killer Italian for my Sicilian dad. I can perfectly duplicate her stuffed cabbage, chicken soup, pasta fagioli, her spaghetti sauce, chick parm, eggplant parm. She made great potato pancakes and stuffed artichokes that I haven't been able to come close to. Shorey has taught me how to make fantastic Italian soups and homemade pizza. He is a great cook.

BurntKitty -> RE: Grandmom's Home Cooking (6/2/2011 8:40:22 PM)
My mother taught me how to make reservations. I taught myself by buying cookbooks & watching cooking shows. (5 Ingredient Fix is my 'go to' show.)

DesFIP -> RE: Grandmom's Home Cooking (6/3/2011 4:56:50 AM)
I actually believe in getting ready for major holiday meals a week ahead. Iron tablecloths and polish silver. Buy all non perishables. Make and freeze whatever dishes can be frozen. I make twice baked potatoes for Thanksgiving and they freeze really well. As do quick breads; pumpkin or cranberry. Make your stuffing cubes and season, keep in a ziplock bag.

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