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Post by patriciaanne on Oct 5, 2021 20:13:48 GMT -5
My mother was not much into cooking and she wasn't even an actress. 😁 My mother was what I call a "utilitarian cook." She cooked enough to keep us alive and in good enough health. We ate lots of meat. Meat that was barely seasoned with anything, but to my inexperienced palate tasted ok. All veggies came out of a can (this still makes me cringe) and marinara sauce was Ragu. 😮 I had no idea that people even made their own Italian gravy until I was in college and dated an Italian guy. My mother also didn't bake, so all desserts were by Entenmann's, unless it was a special occasion and we got something from the bakery.
I asked her in the recent past..."Didn't you ever want to get a cookbook and try something new?" And she said ... Nope.
I wasn't really allowed to cook in her kitchen. I also wasn't allowed to use the dishwasher (she was convinced I would break it). That left me feeling very insecure in the kitchen as an adult, as I'd never really been taught to cook. I was adventurous, however, and I did buy cookbooks to try different things -- mostly because I enjoyed entertaining. I usually just got take-out food for the day to day because I lived alone.
When my husband moved in two years ago, I started cooking every night. The internet is such a great source for all kinds of recipes. And I can even watch videos if I want to see how something is done. I am proud to say that I have NEVER even had a can of vegetables in my home. ☺️ I make Italian gravy from scratch (if you count using canned tomatoes as from "scratch"). And I've even baked bread and biscuits. Whoo hoo! I have a blender that actually cooks, so my next thing to try making from scratch is soup. I have a huge yellow squash from my garden, so I may use it to make soup. I also have a nice butternut squash (not from my garden, though) and I'm thinking of making soup with that as well.
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Post by nedandres on Oct 5, 2021 22:28:13 GMT -5
Hahaha, not very good word placement in my post!!
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Post by flossieskid on Oct 6, 2021 4:32:24 GMT -5
Easton, your response about “cooking yourself “ really made me laugh!
I am not a gourmet cook, Ned, but so many nights my Mom wasn’t home to cook dinner and our maid wasn’t staying, so around age 12 I started making simple dinners. Although, I think I mentioned once, before I read the directions correctly on a cake box, I put a 2 layer cake mix in one round pan and it overflowed all over the oven! But, I am really a much better baker now!
I enjoyed trying new recipes when our kids still lived at home. Now, I am an avid fan of the cooking shows of Tricia Yearwood, Valerie Bertinelli and Molly Yeh on The Food Network. My husband seems to enjoy what I cook, even if I think he doesn’t. He never fails to thank me for “a tasty dinner.” But, my favorite cookbooks and recipes are the ones with only 5 ingredients - they are simple and delicious!
Before the pandemic, we use to have Family Dinner Night - all four of us. We went to a different restaurant every week with each family member picking the place to eat. Usually, we would go to places close by, but once a month (we would rotate), a family member, whose turn it was to pick the restaurant, had to choose a new place we had never been to before.
We have been doing this for almost 5 years ! Luckily, in LA, there never is a shortage of restaurants. Let us hope a lot of our favorite places to eat survived the pandemic!
I had often wondered how the Waltons fed 11 people?!? I never saw chickens or milking cows on the property. Plus, when Olivia would go to Ike’s and run into Flossie or Cora Beth, she never walked out with more than 2 bags of supplies. But, Ike didn’t carry a lot of food, did he? So. where in the heck did Olivia or grandma get all the fixins’ for their vittles?!
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Post by Easton on Oct 6, 2021 8:53:59 GMT -5
I had often wondered how the Waltons fed 11 people?!? I never saw chickens or milking cows on the property. Plus, when Olivia would go to Ike’s and run into Flossie or Cora Beth, she never walked out with more than 2 bags of supplies. But, Ike didn’t carry a lot of food, did he? So. where in the heck did Olivia or grandma get all the fixins’ for their vittles?! The props department?
There were chickens, but they were mostly for the eggs. There certainly weren't enough chickens to feed 11 people week after week. I suspect they either bartered for the feeding chickens or kept them free range somewhere else on the property. There was a smoke house that Grandpa tended and a root cellar to keep the smoked meat in. They did a lot of canning and preserves, but I have no idea where they got all their potatoes and vegetables.
The little garden near the house was handy, but certainly not big enough to feed everyone. There was a lot of land on the property so I suspect that portions of it were tilled for potatoes, carrots, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, and such. (Going by what I experienced growing up in a rural area in the 50s. We, too, had a small garden near the house and fields of other necessary vegetables and berries. My grandfather's property had wild cranberries, our property had 3 cherry trees, and each year we would travel north to pick wild blueberries. I suspect the Waltons did similar stuff. It just wasn't shown or mentioned, but it would have been essential. By the way, we were a family of 9.)
I can't find any clear photos of Ike's store shelves, but it looks as though he mainly sold essential items which the Waltons couldn't provide for themselves: coffee, tea, chocolate, sugar, flour, baking soda and powder, cereal grains, canned salmon, and such.
By the way, something else was supposed to be in this paragraph, but I forgot was it was. Nothing to see here. Please, move along.
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Post by patriciaanne on Oct 6, 2021 14:38:33 GMT -5
I should mention that I have been cooking since I was in college (I would clip recipes out of newspapers and magazines). And I've made many Thanksgiving dinners and almost every single Christmas Eve dinner since I moved into my current home 24 years ago. (I also cooked family dinners when I lived in my apartment before that.) It's just that I didn't do everyday cooking. My favorite thing to do is to set a table. I love holiday tables -- choosing the linens, the dishes, the flatware. Sometimes I make a flower arrangement for the center of the table. Other times I use individual flowers in old medicine bottles and little vases. Then I choose the candles. I usually use a variety of candles -- tapers and pillars. I always have a seasonal theme and I usually have a "scatter" of pinecones or rose petals, depending on the season. Anyway, I learned a long time ago that no one is coming over to my house to look at my table if there's no food on it. 🤣
As for the Waltons' garden...I always think of the garden near the house as the "cottage garden." That's where they would grow the food they would use on an everyday basis, so they would have convenient access. Then they would grow additional crops -- for canning and storage -- in one of their fields. With enough space, they could grow enough potatoes to last them a year. My cousin's do that in PA. I'm always amazed their potatoes stay good that long, but they do. I'm sure with a good sized root cellar, they could grow other root veggies and keep them a long time too.
So that's why Olivia wouldn't need much from Ike's. They had the cow for milk, which would also give them cream, butter and cheese. They had the chickens for eggs. They likely would have had meat chickens somewhere. We know they had pigs, and that's likely what the smokehouse was for. I guess you can also smoke beef. With needing to "freshen" their milk cow each year, the smart thing to do would have been to breed their milk cow to a beef cow and raise the calf for beef.
It's amazing to think how much a family can provide for themselves.
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Post by carol on Oct 6, 2021 16:45:39 GMT -5
I had often wondered how the Waltons fed 11 people?!? I never saw chickens or milking cows on the property. Plus, when Olivia would go to Ike’s and run into Flossie or Cora Beth, she never walked out with more than 2 bags of supplies. But, Ike didn’t carry a lot of food, did he? So. where in the heck did Olivia or grandma get all the fixins’ for their vittles?! The props department? There were chickens, but they were mostly for the eggs. There certainly weren't enough chickens to feed 11 people week after week. I suspect they either bartered for the feeding chickens or kept them free range somewhere else on the property. There was a smoke house that Grandpa tended and a root cellar to keep the smoked meat in. They did a lot of canning and preserves, but I have no idea where they got all their potatoes and vegetables. The little garden near the house was handy, but certainly not big enough to feed everyone. There was a lot of land on the property so I suspect that portions of it were tilled for potatoes, carrots, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, and such. (Going by what I experienced growing up in a rural area in the 50s. We, too, had a small garden near the house and fields of other necessary vegetables and berries. My grandfather's property had wild cranberries, our property had 3 cherry trees, and each year we would travel north to pick wild blueberries. I suspect the Waltons did similar stuff. It just wasn't shown or mentioned, but it would have been essential. By the way, we were a family of 9.) I can't find any clear photos of Ike's store shelves, but it looks as though he mainly sold essential items which the Waltons couldn't provide for themselves: coffee, tea, chocolate, sugar, flour, baking soda and powder, cereal grains, canned salmon, and such. By the way, something else was supposed to be in this paragraph, but I forgot was it was. Nothing to see here. Please, move along.
You occasionally saw the chicken coop. More often than not someone, usually Grandma was feeding the chickens. There was an episode The Legend the side story was a fox kept getting into the hen house and John, his old WWI army buddy and John Boy went after the fox and the army buddy accidently shot Reckless, the dog, instead. I think there was another episode about a chicken hawk getting into the hen house. The family seemed to eat an awful lot of fried chicken. I wondered how when it would take at least 3 chickens to feed all 11 people one meal. Even during the war years with rationing they always seemed to have sugar and coffee. |
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Post by Easton on Oct 6, 2021 18:55:59 GMT -5
I'm always amazed their potatoes stay good that long, but they do. I'm sure with a good sized root cellar, they could grow other root veggies and keep them a long time too. As long as potatoes are kept in a cool, dark place (such as a basement or root cellar), and they're cleaned of sprouts occasionally, they will last until the next harvest if there are enough of them. A lost of the flesh is lost in growing the sprouts. They should also be checked for spoilage. Potato rot spreads easily. |
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Post by nedandres on Oct 27, 2021 10:52:14 GMT -5
Easton, your response about “cooking yourself “ really made me laugh! I am not a gourmet cook, Ned, but so many nights my Mom wasn’t home to cook dinner and our maid wasn’t staying, so around age 12 I started making simple dinners. Although, I think I mentioned once, before I read the directions correctly on a cake box, I put a 2 layer cake mix in one round pan and it overflowed all over the oven! But, I am really a much better baker now! I enjoyed trying new recipes when our kids still lived at home. Now, I am an avid fan of the cooking shows of Tricia Yearwood, Valerie Bertinelli and Molly Yeh on The Food Network. My husband seems to enjoy what I cook, even if I think he doesn’t. He never fails to thank me for “a tasty dinner.” But, my favorite cookbooks and recipes are the ones with only 5 ingredients - they are simple and delicious! Before the pandemic, we use to have Family Dinner Night - all four of us. We went to a different restaurant every week with each family member picking the place to eat. Usually, we would go to places close by, but once a month (we would rotate), a family member, whose turn it was to pick the restaurant, had to choose a new place we had never been to before. We have been doing this for almost 5 years ! Luckily, in LA, there never is a shortage of restaurants. Let us hope a lot of our favorite places to eat survived the pandemic! I had often wondered how the Waltons fed 11 people?!? I never saw chickens or milking cows on the property. Plus, when Olivia would go to Ike’s and run into Flossie or Cora Beth, she never walked out with more than 2 bags of supplies. But, Ike didn’t carry a lot of food, did he? So. where in the heck did Olivia or grandma get all the fixins’ for their vittles?! So glad you didn't "cook yourself" or we would not have you here on the forum with us. HAHA! |
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