FOOD Foods of our childhood.

N

night driver

ESFP adrift in INTJ sea
I have managed to find A&P Coffee (8 O'clock) in K-cups.

I have found most of the frozen confections I grew up with (dang they ARE different now).

I can't seem to find what was a signature delicacy from A&P. (yeah I grew up in a SMALL town in central NY)

"Great Atlantic and Pacific Food Company"

They had a dessert cake that I pine for now and then.

They called it Spanish Bar Cake and it was DISGUSTINGLY good, as a kid.

Any idea on finding it nowadays??
 
Jeff B.

Jeff B.

Don’t let the Piss Ants get you down…
If I recall their house brand was “Ann Page”.

As a kid, I loved their apple pie. We had an OLD A&P Store that was our town original grocery.

I remember King Kullen, Bohack and Waldbaums.

Jeff B.
 
AlaskaSue

AlaskaSue

North to the Future
Welp, I grew up the oldest girl in a big family - with a ton of aunts, uncles, cousins. I sure wish that was the case now….but…I baked bread that won blue ribbons at the state fair before I was 13. Created birthday cakes for all my family because Momma thought that was what I wanted to do. In Corpus, my Home Ec test was a meal made from scratch and I did fresh shrimp paella. I was literally too tired to eat but the fam loved it.

On the road trip to Alaska I made (from scratch, with all the folding) Napoleons. Sis and brothers still talk about that ;). But mostly as a kid, I remember beans. Lots and lots of beans. We were, after all, poor Okies ;)
 
Melodi

Melodi

Disaster Cat
The problem for those of us over 40 or so, is that most of our childhood treats were reformulated with High Fructose Corn Syrup and other changes a couple of decades ago.

I will never forget a trip back to the US in the late 1990s or early 2000s and I got myself a childhood favorite as a treat which was Dr. Pepper - it was horrible! I thought OK, maybe my tastes have changed and I threw that out and got an A and W Rootbeer, it too was absolutely horrible.

On the next trip, I got a payday bar and it was disquesting!

This was about the time I learned about HFCS and how it changes the tastes of everything. For a few years, I could get IBC rootbeer for occasional treats at the PX in Germany or England - it was made with Sugar. Then about five years ago we were at a conference in California and I decided to get one (it was about 100 degrees outside) but I read the label and I turned to Nightwolf and said: "IBC Rootbeer has gone to the Darkside..."

So almost nothing tastes like it used to and it really isn't just changing adult tastes, it is that the basic ingredient in most sweet delights was replaced by something that tastes very different.

On my last trip to the West Coast about three years ago now, we were in a hurry and got drinks through a drive-through. They didn't have many options so I went for Dr. Pepper (again it was very hot and I can't drink aspartame). It was so vile, I couldn't drink and traded with the driver for some way over-sweetened (but with sugar) iced tea.

The few salting things I used to really enjoy don't taste right either (most now have a million ingredients on the side) and besides almost all of them used GMO ingredients.

I don't even bother with most of the "American" sections that have sprung up in Irish Grocery stores, compared to the other "international" sections, the American one is almost all sweet stuff: processed breakfast cereal (even Lucky Charms), pop tarts, twinkies, etc. My husband likes real Hersey Bars which is why I bother with them at all.

While the other international sections: Polish, Russian, Italian, Mexican, Greek, etc all have some local goodies - special cookies and cakes from Eastern Europe, Japan, popular candies from Spain or Greece; the entire section isn't nothing but "sugar."

It has a lot of things like pickled vegetables, sushi rice, flatbreads, canned beats, Italian pasta, etc.

But the American section is almost all pure junk at very expensive prices - 12 dollars for a box of twinkies anyone? Except they don't taste like twinkies anymore...*sigh*
 
Jeff B.

Jeff B.

Don’t let the Piss Ants get you down…
I don't even bother with most of the "American" sections that have sprung up in Irish Grocery stores, compared to the other "international" sections, the American one is almost all sweet stuff: processed breakfast cereal (even Lucky Charms), pop tarts, twinkies, etc. My husband likes real Hersey Bars which is why I bother with them at all
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How about “Irish Spring” soap?



Jeff B.
 
D

dvo

Veteran Member
SOS. Thought it was pretty good as a kid. We were never malnourished. But...I was pretty skinny until I hit 30 years. Wife and I agree...we dint have nuffin. I made up for that eventually. Now the battle is in the opposite direction.
 
M

mudwrench

Senior Member
night driver said:
I have managed to find A&P Coffee (8 O'clock) in K-cups.

I have found most of the frozen confections I grew up with (dang they ARE different now).

I can't seem to find what was a signature delicacy from A&P. (yeah I grew up in a SMALL town in central NY)

"Great Atlantic and Pacific Food Company"

They had a dessert cake that I pine for now and then.

They called it Spanish Bar Cake and it was DISGUSTINGLY good, as a kid.

Any idea on finding it nowadays??
Click to expand...
 
M

mudwrench

Senior Member
night driver said:
I have managed to find A&P Coffee (8 O'clock) in K-cups.

I have found most of the frozen confections I grew up with (dang they ARE different now).

I can't seem to find what was a signature delicacy from A&P. (yeah I grew up in a SMALL town in central NY)

"Great Atlantic and Pacific Food Company"

They had a dessert cake that I pine for now and then.

They called it Spanish Bar Cake and it was DISGUSTINGLY good, as a kid.

Any idea on finding it nowadays??
Click to expand...
was made by nickles bakery close to massillon ohio they
night driver said:
I have managed to find A&P Coffee (8 O'clock) in K-cups.

I have found most of the frozen confections I grew up with (dang they ARE different now).

I can't seem to find what was a signature delicacy from A&P. (yeah I grew up in a SMALL town in central NY)

"Great Atlantic and Pacific Food Company"

They had a dessert cake that I pine for now and then.

They called it Spanish Bar Cake and it was DISGUSTINGLY good, as a kid.

Any idea on finding it nowadays??
Click to expand...
it was probably made by nickles bakery...just south of massillon ohio they stopped making it quite a few years ago used to stop at their thrift store and inquire about it no more spanish bar cake that was good stuff
 
Sicario

Sicario

The Executor
mudwrench said:
was made by nickles bakery close to massillon ohio they

it was probably made by nickles bakery...just south of massillon ohio they stopped making it quite a few years ago used to stop at their thrift store and inquire about it no more spanish bar cake that was good stuff
Click to expand...
They used to make excellent fruitcake too! :)
 
Ku Commando

Ku Commando

Inactive
Stouffers LOBSTER NEWBERG

STOUFFERS-1960s-LOBSTER-NEWBURG-seafood-vintage-frozen-food.jpg
 
T

Terrwyn

Veteran Member
I eat the same now just about. I do remember those giant ears of yellow corn and wild game. My Mom hated duck and stuff with a passion. She also hated homemade butter. Also remember the huge watermelons. The seeded ones now days are 1/3 the size. I do miss my Grandmas homemade bread and pies. And those popcorn balls made with Karo syrup.
 
Kathy in FL

Kathy in FL

Administrator
_______________
Dennis Olson said:
Southern fried chicken livers.
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My parents love gizzards and livers. I finally found them a little hole in the wall not far from here that sells them. Mostly Spanish clientele but that's not a big deal. You should have seen how sweet they were to my parents. The owner made up a to go box for them himself and now my mother stops there herself once a week. It is their treat.
 
packyderms_wife

packyderms_wife

Neither here nor there.
Kathy in FL said:
My parents love gizzards and livers. I finally found them a little hole in the wall not far from here that sells them. Mostly Spanish clientele but that's not a big deal. You should have seen how sweet they were to my parents. The owner made up a to go box for them himself and now my mother stops there herself once a week. It is their treat.
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I love chicken livers and gizzards deep fat fried.
 
T

texkat72

Veteran Member
If you go to drpepper.com, you can find DP made with pure cane sugar. Idk if it will be as good as the original, but it should be closer to it. Several years ago, we had family who travelled through Stephenville, Tx. The stores there carried original recipe DP. We had a standing order with them to bring us a case of it. I don’t know if it is still available or not.
 
db cooper

db cooper

Resident Secret Squirrel
The subject at hand is foods when we were kids. That would be meat and potatoes with another veggie and a homemade desert. As a teen I worked on farms that fed me like my Mom - roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob and apple pie.

I recall Mom serving whole chickens on Sundays. My brother would laugh at me, for I had to eat the heart, gizzard, neck and wings while the rest cobbled on the breasts and legs. My brother would say I ate the guts, and to this day I cannot stand to eat innards or giblet dressing.
 
TammyinWI

TammyinWI

Talk is cheap
We had a lot of tasty homemade stuff. Apple butter was soooo good back then, that and butter on whole wheat toast...yum. But I also liked these, of which I have to avoid these days, as the ingredients were changed since then:

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packyderms_wife

packyderms_wife

Neither here nor there.
TammyinWI said:
Mexican Cola Cola: non-gmo. Great idea and yum!
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Try the watermelon soda some time, I can get it at Abelardos here in town or the Asian grocery stores here locally. Otherwise I wait until I’m in Des Moines and buy a six pack at the large Mexican grocery store there.

OC says the pineapple soda is also good, they’re always out of grape.
 
db cooper

db cooper

Resident Secret Squirrel
fish hook said:
My grand mothers rice pudding, with raisins and a meringue. Good stuff. Fried potato sandwiches with mayonnaise. Other grand mothers orange cake, I have tried for many years to duplicate it, without success.
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It's sad, the folks of yesteryear could cook up such good stuff with recipes in their head, and when they pass on no one can get it right. My Mom's home made bread and some of her cookies just cannot be duplicated.
 
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