What is the traditional holiday menu item from your childhood that you have eliminated and don't miss it, not one little bit?

those pioneer days really werent that long ago . thats what i love about the usa -- were still settling this rugged land .

europe by comparison was long ago so built up that land and single family homesteads are out of most peoples financial means .
if a poor working person in america has any gumption he / she can buy a piece of dirt and build themselves a shack .

if they dont , they dont want it badly enough .

30 fish, I am drooling. I loooove fresh trout almondine.

One time I invited a couple for a fresh fish dinner and I prepared enough for leftovers and they ate 18 fish at 1 sitting. I didn't have any left and I think that they would have eaten as many as I cooked.

I never invited them for fresh fish again, it is to hard to come by where I live.

Cap,

Look at the first pioneers. Many died trying to survive. Lots survived though.

My oldest daughter signed up to go to Mars! One way trip! Said she wanted to be part of history. Hahaha

Too funny.

One day, it’s going to happen I suppose and there will be volunteers to colonize Mars.

That’s what I think, ITRL. Would be relaxing. She said they would teach me. She lives about 45 minutes to an hour from me.

My cousin keeps telling me how much they ‘catch.’ They just bought a boat. Louisiana has great fishing. They had 30 fish. Redfish and trout. I don’t know what they normally catch but that’s a lot of fish to me. I guess they froze them. No one can eat 30 fish. Or they would have to share them.

I love hiking. I have to say that I am horrible at horse back riding. At least I was years ago! Oh my gosh, my horse was crazy. He scared me and I know that I scared him. The trails we rode on had a creek crossing. My horse raised up his front legs. He would not cross the creek. This was in Picayune Mississippi. They had trail riding.

I took him back to the stable and asked the man for a half dead, old plow horse. He cracked up! Then said that he would give me ‘Big Red.’ This horse was giant. Being only 96 pounds I couldn’t get on the horse. He picked me up and put me on the horse.

I thanked him for finding a gentle horse for me. My friends were all great riders. In all honesty, I probably should not have been on a horse. My friend said they can sense if someone is uncomfortable.

lol isthisreallyreal ,
i concur . if them shts aint biting in about 10 minutes im over it .

we have a 2 room cabin out there back about a mile of lane . its called drapers cabin and can be found online .

the cabin isnt anything special but the " holler " setting is breathtaking .

it makes me kind of sad realizing that not that long ago people were so content with the most stark basics . i imagine the occasional trip to town was for not much more than some shotgun shells .

Need, fishing is fun, but catching is great. 2 entirely different activities 😁.

If it was easy it would be called catching, not fishing.

You should seriously consider taking it up, it is fabulous therapy.

its an eventuality that guests at the forestry are going to question me about the established hiking trails ( which i know little about ) .
i figure i'll tell them to " head on over the hill right there -- it'll all work out " ( 24,000 acres of hilly forest ) ,
" and roll your pantlegs up -- the rattlesnakes hate that " .

Captain,

The frog I dissected in biology class was pregnant. The eggs went all over when it was sliced open!

I would like to learn to fish. So funny because I never ever had an interest before in fishing! I’m a city girl. But it seems relaxing. I think I could do it.

Definitely would feed for a week! Grandma did not have a deep freeze. I guess they shared with others when grandpa would go hunting. I know they gave to the neighbor. He was a good neighbor, like a son to them. Their own son did not live close by. My uncle lived in New Jersey. It’s funny. the neighbor had the same name as my uncle.

He was a good man. No air conditioning then. Window fans. Grandma would play music. He would holler for her to crank it up.

When she died we gave her old fashioned record player and her albums to him. He said he couldn’t take them because those were beautiful pieces of furniture then but we insisted that he have it.

They enjoyed the music together and so I think grandma would be happy that he had them.

my luck id slice ' her ' and ten babies would rush out and every one of them bite me right on the sack .

cwille,

They weren’t lazy. Very active! Grandma hung clothes in the yard. House was always spotless. No dishwasher. Grandpa gardened, would fish and hunt. He was a shipbuilder. They were always moving!

i was shocked at the ( midriff ) size of a timber rattler my first day at the forestry . they are protected by law but if i ever find a freshly ( accidently ) killed one id love to try some of those lean planks of meat .

aint like a little squirrel . this animal ( reptile ) would feed a person for a week .

Grandma made peach too. So good! Strawberry too.

Okay, being from Louisiana we eat alligator here. Even local Chinese restaurants will put it on the menu. Food is very regional.

It actually depends where in Louisiana too. Southern Louisiana uses more seasoning than northern Louisiana.

In New Orleans it’s a blend of creole and Cajun, creole cooking was refined and for the city people. Creole cooking was for the aristocracy. Cajun cooking was for the everyday people in the more rural areas. Both are delicious.

In Lafayette, it’s Cajun. Then Paul Prudhomme brought Cajun cooking to New Orleans when Ella Brennan gave him a job at Commander’s Palace. She gave him a chance to cook it and people loved it. He left Commander’s and opened his own restaurant, K-Paul’s.

i agree cwillie ,
animal fat is imperative for good brain health .

i made homemade ice cream once with fresh peaches and it was really good .
never had that good of results again .

somehow i screw up fudge 9 times out of ten but it ends up being great ice cream topping .

the banana split pie is the sht . look that sucker up .

That cast iron skillet was also primed with a healthy spoonful from the can of leftover drippings - back them people worked hard and ate less processed crap and the extra fat added flavour and tenderness and didn't hurt them at all.

in the presence of atmospheric pressure only 212 degrees can be reached . your water and steam go airborne at that temp .
thats the pressure cooker secret -- higher temperatures can be achieved .

Sorry Captain, but homemade syrup when done correctly rocks!

I use homemade vanilla, made with christian brothers brandy and Madagascar vanilla beans, then age it for a year, organic maple syrup and real dark brown sugar with molasses and it is a treat everytime. I personally don't like real maple syrup straight, but as a flavoring it is awesome.

It is all personal preference.

Dinner, sauteed snow pea leaves and grilled chicken.

Captain,

I don’t know but it’s funny that you mentioned both of those. My grandma and grandpa had chickens, ducks and turkeys. I got to help collect the eggs. It was fun until I saw a snake!

She had an old cast iron skillet too. Oh my gosh, she could cook!

Very true! They retain heat. She could make anything tasty. Grandpa made homemade candy, pralines and peanut brittle. She made the ice cream in an old fashioned hand crank ice cream maker.

As a kid it seemed like it took forever and a day but oh boy, what a treat! Worth the wait. She only made it once in awhile. I remember the rock salt. I remember her mixing in the ingredients and sometimes I got to turn the handle for her.

They had a fig tree and a pecan tree. Grandma made fig preserves and pecan pie. Grandpa had a green thumb. Could grow any vegetables.

I know grandpa went hunting and fishing too. Sometimes he brought home deer. He caught fish, shrimp or crabs. He was a shipbuilder. He knew all the good fishing spots.

They may not have been wealthy but they were very resourceful. Nothing better than fresh seafood.

i always wondered how those old timer women could fry up a tough old yard rooster so well it nearly fell off the bone .
duh
when youre frying in an iron skillet with a snug lid you are for all practical purposes pressure cooking .

Captain,

Those were old recipes. I don’t think people some people were very creative with cooking. Some food that doesn’t cost a lot done by creative cooks is actually delicious. My grandma had very limited funds but everything she made was absolutely fantastic.

I do hate those stupid cooking contest shows on Food TV where they give weird ingredients and hardly any time to cook a meal and chefs judge the meal afterwards.

I prefer watching cooking shows on PBS that are instructional shows made with proper ingredients and everyone can learn something and enjoy the show. The other goofy shows are only entertainment. No one is going to cook with ridiculous ingredients.

the jello with fruit cocktail .
also my sisters used to make salad dressing with mayo and sugar . pretty lame .
worse was the homemade pancake syrup -- sugar / water boiled .

im not meaning to fuss . we were pretty poor and just doing the best we could but some of that crap was pretty skus - ted .

yea , fire that fruitcake into the sun . dont want to take any chances of it spreading .

What a waste of sour cream! Uggg - herring?

To be fair - I don’t like fish of any type. Never have. Every now and then I try it. People always say “Oh, but you just haven’t had it cooked correctly”. So, I try it. Nope. It’s always just tastes so.... fishy.

No lutefisk in my memory. Not many care for it. But, Sons of Norway clubs have a lutefisk dinner every holiday season.

What we did have was herring in sour cream. I don't know how close that is to lutefisk. Mom loved the herring, I to enjoyed it. But, haven't had it for a limited ng time. Mom's hubby like the pickled herring.

Just a link to an interesting article on lutefisk.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/12/15/505389094/whats-a-holiday-without-lutefisk-and-a-little-white-lye

Although I didn't grow up in MN nor am of Swedish heritage (my hubs is) every holiday there was... lutefisk. All lutefisk should be packed into a rocket and launched at North Korea and ISIS. Blech. Then in a close second place: fruitcake. Launch that also. Back in the 60s and 70s my Aunt made it using that horrid genuine simulated citron that seemed to be concocted in a chemical factory and probably caused a lot of cancer and insanity. Also, many comments about eggnog but just want to say homemade eggnog is incredible and nothing like the slime sold pre-made.

" yams and marshmallows "
that oughtta be final meal fare for death row convicts .
bletttch !!