What's for dinner?

[jp1]

Catherine’s mention of roast remind me that earlier this week I put a pork shoulder roast in the oven. I’m trying to use up things in our freezer so we will have fewer things to move. It was a little overdone, reminding me of my mothers Sunday roasts that were always overdone which reminds me why I never put roasts in the oven. When I cook hunks of meat it’s usually in the slow cooker.

My brother and I laugh about our mothers Sunday roast and how nearly inedible they were.

I don’t know about the rest of your mother’s cooking but my mom was capable of cooking good food from scratch but rarely did so. She’d grown up in a small town in the 30s/40s and when she moved to the big city discovered the center section of the grocery store. She’s been gone 16 years but my sister and I still laugh about some of the things she thought were great. Salsbury steak TV dinners anyone!? 😃

[JaneV2.0]

My mother wasn't particularly interested in cooking--what she made was always palatable--but I used to joke that she had a rotating menu of about five meals--typical fifties' fare. Steak, fried chicken, fish, a baked potato and vegetable. She'd have much rather been stripping furniture or trimming her rose bushes than cooking. I come from a line of adamantly non-domestic women.

[jp1]

We used to have canned vegetables with dinner every night and canned fruit as "dessert". One day when I was maybe 13 or 14, to express my annoyance, I removed all the labels from the cans of veggies in the cabinet. (my point being that they were all equally bad and it didn't matter what we had on any given night). My message was completely missed because my mom thought it was great fun that we would be having "mystery veggies" every night for dinner for the next month.

I think part of the reason mom liked the packaged food was that it was easy to have dinner on the table at EXACTLY 5:30 on weeknights and 6:00 on Saturday*. The box would tell you exactly how long it needed to sit in the oven so she just had to work backwards.

*sunday was her "day off". She was a housewife but on sunday she didn't do any chores and didn't cook dinner. Either my dad went out to get mcdonalds or some other fast food or we went out to a sit down restaurant of some sort.

[happystuff]

Chicken! (Picked up a two pack of whole chickens from Aldi's this week. Put one in the cp to cook overnight and have the second one in the cp now. Will do the normal picking clean, saving broth, etc.) Not sure what I'll make with it, but chicken and dumplings is sounding really good in the cold spell we are in. Or just some easy chicken soup.

[razz]

We are having a seriously cold day with brilliant sunshine so not complaining as my walk with dog was enjoyable with the right clothing to break the wind chill. But will make some split pea soup for supper with leftovers for tomorrow. Nothing better than a solid soup on a cold day.

[JaneV2.0]

Finger food: sharp cheddar, truffle cheese, deli turkey and salami, olives, and marinated artichoke hearts.

[pinkytoe]

Eggplant parmesan casserole and salad

[iris lilies]

My mother wasn't particularly interested in cooking--what she made was always palatable--but I used to joke that she had a rotating menu of about five meals--typical fifties' fare. Steak, fried chicken, fish, a baked potato and vegetable. She'd have much rather been stripping furniture or trimming her rose bushes than cooking. I come from a line of adamantly non-domestic women.

Oh yeah Salsberry steak was a thing back then. And salmon patties —how I hate salmon patties. The salmon of course was ground up salmon from a can.

my mom always bemoaned her cooking skills, and unfortunately that mindset is kind of come with me, and I’ve learned more about cooking from my husband than I ever learned from from my parents.. But I also know that my cooking skills are entirely mediocre because I have friends who are super good cooks.

[catherine]

My mother was a good, functional cook. I think most women in the 50s and 60s were that. (jp, your stories of your mother really hit home). This is how it went down for my mother and MIL:

My MIL: same weekly routine: one night mince, one night stew, one night chicken, one night fish 'n chips, Saturday night out to eat at Le Gai Penguin in White Plains--everyone got steak of course.

My mother: unfortunately all too often when she was dealing with my dad, dinner was cereal or eggs. She wouldn't eat with us, and of course, neither would he. But when she remarried, she orchestrated a nightly routine that coincided with my stepfather's return home from his job as a draftsman at an asbestos plant nearby. DH actually thought we were "rich" because I told him that our Friday fish night, as Catholics, was swordfish. To him that was "la-di-dah"--but it was just normal to us. We certainly weren't rich.

[happystuff]

My mom was actually a good cook, especially considering the size of the meals she had to make AND try to please everyone! The "try to please everyone" ended up meaning the meals were bland/unseasoned as we all had to do our own seasoning to our own tastes. The result being that I tend to do the same and everyone must season their own portions - LOL. The other result is that I always ended up cooking LARGE meals, but leftovers have never really gone to waste. I am learning to scale back and use spices. Always something to learn.