Kitchen

[Cyndog]

My husband was brought up by Italian women so he's been a great cook all his life. His grandmother from Italy would pick dandelions from the yard and cook them. When you came from poor regions you would make do. No mention was ever made of me learning to cook when I was brought up. My mother did everything and that's how it was.

[Pqfan]

I like simple well made food with good ingredients too.

[SharkE]

I stick with the Taste of Home magazines and Paula Deen's used to be good till she got to be a diabetic, then, I noticed the change and the recipes. I want the butter and sugar LOL

No, I'm not a diabetic, so, I can enjoy life a little longer.

[RedTop]

I have lived in southern WV my entire life, and was raised on the most simple of basic home cooking. Every one of our meals was based around food raised and grown on the farm. We always had plenty to eat, and it was good plain food that filled our bellies and nourished our bodies. The only things I didn't like was rhubarb, fresh butter and fresh milk, but I didn't have a problem eating chicken, turkey, beef, pork, or venison, knowing it had once lived and walked on the farm.

I learned to cook in the plain, basic style as my mother and grandparents, and to this day, would feel very comfortable whipping up a pan of biscuits or cornbread and baking it in the oven of the woodstove. I have broadened my cooking interests over the years, and while I like to stick to simpler recipes, I look for flavorful recipes. I am not interested in recipes with a long list of ingredients, or umpteen steps to a finished product, but I do like eating a dish boosted with flavors that linger on my palate. Therefore, I enjoy a hint of spice, or a sauce that adds a little extra something to the dish. My mother has always overcooked meat; particularly venison and pork, so I have strived to learn to cook those meats differently than how she taught me, so they are enjoyable.

[house cat]

On 3/8/2014 cyndog said: My husband was brought up by Italian women so he's been a great cook all his life. His grandmother from Italy would pick dandelions from the yard and cook them. When you came from poor regions you would make do. No mention was ever made of me learning to cook when I was brought up. My mother did everything and that's how it was.

My grandma did this, too… and they were good in salad. I'm not sure where she got them, since they lived in the middle of a concrete jungle. Maybe I'm better off not knowing.

[shoekitty]

On 3/8/2014 house cat said:

On 3/8/2014 cyndog said: My husband was brought up by Italian women so he's been a great cook all his life. His grandmother from Italy would pick dandelions from the yard and cook them. When you came from poor regions you would make do. No mention was ever made of me learning to cook when I was brought up. My mother did everything and that's how it was.

My grandma did this, too… and they were good in salad. I'm not sure where she got them, since they lived in the middle of a concrete jungle. Maybe I'm better off not knowing.

I live in California, and Dandilion greens are still savored by many. People who gather them (because it takes a million to make a cooked bowl full) take a sack a day after a good rain. They have said this is when they are the best. I guess they sprout real quick. They gather the dandilion grrens and mustard greens. They will go out in the field and gather a burlap sack full. I think the burlap sack allows them to breath and not wilt up in a plastic bag.

[Cyndog]

Yes, my husband still loves any kind of greens.

[Boehm Collector]

On 3/8/2014 house cat said:

On 3/8/2014 cyndog said: My husband was brought up by Italian women so he's been a great cook all his life. His grandmother from Italy would pick dandelions from the yard and cook them. When you came from poor regions you would make do. No mention was ever made of me learning to cook when I was brought up. My mother did everything and that's how it was.

My grandma did this, too… and they were good in salad. I'm not sure where she got them, since they lived in the middle of a concrete jungle. Maybe I'm better off not knowing.

My grandmother too!!!

[AuntG]

You are not alone. I stick with many of the same things my mom and her aunt cooked. I like things like scalloped potatoes, meatloaf, chili and casseroles. In fact, I even made a jello salad which DH really likes. I might try to post it later today.

[Boehm Collector]

On 3/8/2014 house cat said:

On 3/8/2014 Boehm Collecter said:

Hi house cat .... my paternal grandparents left Italy and moved to Pennsylvania (my grandfather worked in the coal mines) then to Brooklyn then to Dix Hills in Long Island (near Huntington). They were quite poor and left Italy to make a better life for themselves and their children. My maternal grandparents never left Italy. They were definitely not rich ... but better off than my father's family. My maternal grandfather was a very talented carpenter. In fact he was so good that he was commissioned to make one of Mussolini's bedroom sets. He was not a Fascist but in those day he could never have even dared to refuse an order from Mussolini. My aunt and cousins are still there.

I apologize to the OP for taking these off topic comments, but I can really relate to this. My grandfathers were both artisans in Italy, arrived here just in time for the Depression to derail them. Their brothers who stayed in Italy did just as well as my grandfathers did here in America. Those years were devastating to everyone.

But speaking of plain food… my mother's family is from the Abruzzi region of Italy. They lived in a teeny-tiny mountain town called Salle. Most of their recipes have two ingredients, and rarely any meat.

Yes, I also need to apologize to the OP. I got carried away. House Cat .... maybe I'll start another thread where we can continue this conversation. Best, Maria