Memories of days gone by remember when

[HalfSmoked]

Great stories guys and again bring back memories for me zachd my dad's dandelion wine was kick ass awesome he made 10 gallons at a time. Sad but I don't know where the recipe is.

Warren

 

[mowin]

I've got my dad's sausage recipe book when he and my uncle's would try different batches of sausage after butchering a hog or three. The dates are in the early to mid '60's. It's funny to read the notes as they tried to find the correct amount of spices.
Several are simply "X" out, but some say " this stuff sucked, or garbage and my favorite, dog food. Lol. They gradually got better reviews and eventually they came up with a recipe they loved. I've made it many, many times over the years, but the best memories are the ones where I would wake up to the smells of sausage in the fry pan.

 

[HalfSmoked]

Wasn't it great waking up to the awesome smells coming from the kitchen. My 8 year old granddaughter did that just last Sunday waking and saying to her mom pop pop making sausage gravy. One of her favorites.

Warren

 

[KrisUpInSmoke]

Wasn't it great waking up to the awesome smells coming from the kitchen. My 8 year old granddaughter did that just last Sunday waking and saying to her mom pop pop making sausage gravy. One of her favorites.

Warren

One of my favorites too. I didn't grow up with homemade sausage gravy, but I always got it at Bob Evans when we went. I've learned to make it myself and, "Mmmm, Boy!," it's gooooood!

 

[chopsaw]

My 8 year old granddaughter did that just last Sunday waking and saying to her mom pop pop making sausage gravy. One of her favorites.

Awesome , and another point to the fact that we like what we like because that's what we had . My Mom made what she called ground meat and noodles . I think east coast calls it American chop suey . I make it still . Simple and just good .

 

[bluewhisper]

Respect your elders and show them that you can cook what they taught you.

http://www.draugas.org/news/making-koldunai/

Edited to add, my father and a friend rocking a Weber 22 back in the 70s

 

[HalfSmoked]

I posted this thread back in July and everyone that looked at it seem to enjoy it and I though it was time to bump it up just this morning in 2 of today's post was memories of times past. Salted mackerel by Bear also in my memories and smoked fish.

Warren

 

[Bearcarver]

I posted this thread back in July and everyone that looked at it seem to enjoy it and I though it was time to bump it up just this morning in 2 of today's post was memories of times past. Salted mackerel by Bear also in my memories and smoked fish.

Warren

LOL---After I posted that comment, I asked Mrs Bear if she ever sees "Salt Mackerel" in the stores she shops.
I always loved it, but it was a bit salty, even after the soaking.
I remember you didn't eat the skin---You just scraped it off the flesh onto a pile.
The skin was Black, Gray, and White, and was like about a 50 weight oil.

Bear

 

[HalfSmoked]

Yup we always had it for Sunday morning family breakfast. I always put vinegar on mine.
Use to come in wooden buckets and you picked out what you wanted.
Last I found was in Giant Food in cello packs. Tried can and its not that good.

Warren

 

[Bearcarver]

Yup we always had it for Sunday morning family breakfast. I always put vinegar on mine.
Use to come in wooden buckets and you picked out what you wanted.
Last I found was in Giant Food in cello packs. Tried can and its not that good.

Warren

Thanks Warren!! I forgot all about those "Wooden Buckets"!!!
I told Mrs Bear to keep her eyes open for it at Giant & Weis'.

Bear

 

[noboundaries]

Warren, I'm glad you bumped the thread. I missed it somehow!

My maternal grandparents, "grandpa" and "nonni," were from Calabria, Italy. They had a huge garden, the bulk of which was tomatoes, peppers, onions, and zucchini. They had other veggies, but I distinctly remember those four.

Grandpa made the most tasty and memorable sausage; hot, mild, and liver. Grandma would cut each link into thirds, and fry them in a big, cast iron pan, building up a nice base of fat. She'd put the cooked sausages in a covered bowl, then crack eggs into the hot fat, splashing the fat onto the top of the eggs to cook them on both sides. Her homemade bread would be sliced and laid on a cookie sheet, then toasted under the broiler in the oven. The breakfast drink of choice for the men was coffee with a splash of Jim Beam bourbon.

Grandpa also made all his own wine, always red, bottled in gallon jugs. That wine was consumed over a great range of aging; from mouth puckering green, to the point it was vinegar enough for salad dressing.

Holidays at my grandparents' house were the most memorable and food centric. Christmas Eve involved a feast of the fishes, so much food it covered the table like a buffet, and people had to eat on folding TV trays. Food safety? Bah humbug! That food stayed on the table all night as a constant stream of family and friends came by to eat from dinner to after midnight mass. No one ever got sick, go figure.

Grandma never used recipes. They were all in her head. Through experience alone, she passed them on to my mom. I asked my mom to write them on the back of computer punch cards after I went to university. It was those cards that started me on my path to becoming the cook I am today.

Here's the only picture I have of my Nonni and Grandpa. She's 4'11" BTW.

 

[HalfSmoked]

Awesome at least you were able to save some. I thought when you first started your post with all those veggies you were going to say she combine them all together in a stew. We do pepper, onions, squash and tomatoes together.
Warren

 

[johnmeyer]

My memories are of all the parades, especially Memorial Day. Here is a link to one of many Memorial Day parades from my home town outside Chicago:



If you want to see more, here is a link to ALL of the parade film I have transferred for both family members and friends over the years:

Parade Films

And here is my mom's recipe for what are now called Spice Cookies, but she called them "Molasses Crinkles."

 

[noboundaries]

BW, your picture of your dad and a friend rocking a 22" Weber reminded me of a neighbor we had when I was a teenager in Tennessee. Every weekend, when the weather was descent, he would grill chicken. He and his wife had three teenage boys and a pre-teen daughter. He had some off-brand grill, but he'd grill 8-10 parted chickens a weekend, taking several hours, drinking beer and talking with my dad and other neighbors. It was a ritual that included horseshoes, lawn darts, and just about anything else you could do outside to pass the time.