I eat a lot of fruit and fresh veggies, especially in the summer. I love them with my meal or just as a snack. I did that a lot growing up, so I think it kind of stuck. Yesterday I was eating an apple with a little peanut butter, and I got to thinking back to being a kid.
Back then, there was no such thing at my house as buying junk food at the store. Nope never happened. If we had snacks and goodies, they were either fresh or homemade. There was ALWAYS something satisfying to eat!!
Mom always made pies, cobbler, and crisps with any fresh fruit we had. She also made them in off months with frozen goodies. Black raspberry was my favorite. If there was leftover pie dough, she would add a bit of sugar and cinnamon and bake for crispy little snacks.
Mom even made donuts once in a while.
One of my favorites was peanut butter and syrup mixed together and served with either bread or crackers. Crackers were my choice. I still do this now and then.
Of course popcorn was always a go to for watching TV. She also made popcorn balls! That was usually in the fall months and even given at Halloween at times. She made the best ones ever.
Popcorn was cheap, and Daddy even grew it many times. Still a snack I enjoy when watching TV.
Mom made potato chips every once in a while. That was the best treat ever. Those were the first chips I ever had - and I am sure the very best. I have made them a handful of times over the years.
Even through adulthood, all the while she was able, there were homemade cookies in the cookie jar!!!! She made all kinds during the holidays (dozens and dozens), but the big win was always large sugar cookies that she iced. I would sure love to taste one of those now. Nothing I have made (use her recipe) nor bought has ever compared!
Of course there were rice krispy treats once in a while. There were no bake cookies - I usually made those. That was the first cookie I learned to make in 4-H.
Cinnamon toast was always a treat, and still is.
A big joy of summer was just going out and picking something to eat! Nothing like a warm tomato right off the vine. I did that pretty much daily in the summer. Pulling a fresh carrot and rinsing it under the hose - yum. Fresh apples, peaches, grapes, cherries and raspberries - oh my, what treats. I used to get reprimanded about eating green apples!! I would sit out behind the garage and eat green apples for what seemed like hours! I still love a tart apple. Never had a thought or worry about picking something straight from the yard and eating it. There were no insecticides used or chemicals of any kind in our yard - so there was never a worry.
IF there was ice cream in the house - there were ice cream cones. YUM
If I were sick there would be orange sherbet! That fixed everything!!!!! Sometimes we would get 'raspberry salad' sherbet. It was raspberry flavored with bits of pecans through it. My goodness that was good. I got that when sick IF daddy was craving it!!! LOL
There was always iced tea or a jug of Kool-Aid in the frig. I generally still have one or the other in my frig. If out playing - a drink from the hose was always the place to go!
I remember sitting on the front porch in the summer in the porch swing and having a 'picnic' with one of my friends. We would generally have a PBJ sandwich (maybe bologna), a cookie and Kool-Aid. Then we would play Jacks afterwards! Simple fun - but wonderful fun. Here I am mentioning it, 60+ years later!!!!!!!
Mom made homemade popsicles a lot in the summer using a stronger mix of Kool-Aid (less water). Those were always refreshing. One year I also got a snow cone machine for Christmas - and we would make snow cones with Kool-Aid as well. Those were fun!!!!
Oh my goodness, how many fun days that gift gave me. Cool and refreshing and so tasty on a hot summer day. I felt so special.
Once in a blue moon, I might get a treat from the ice cream man that drove around. Didn't happen much, as there was not a lot of extra money. I still love hearing the trucks. We have one that comes through the neighborhood every evening in summer months!
There you have my memories of fun and inexpensive treats that were had growing up. No major junk food was needed - we always had yummies on hand and enjoyed it immensely.
Do you remember any fun treats that you got as a child?
Did you buy junk food or were your treats homemade as well?
Love the walk back in time with memories!!!!!!!!
WHEN LIFE WAS SIMPLE
Watermelon was a favorite treat in the summer. My dad grew watermelons in the corn field and we had lots of them. There was a pump room on our back porch and the melons were stored in there to keep cool. So many that we could eat the heart out and leave the rest. Mommy used to make fudge using the recipe on the cocoa can. I don't think it is the same recipe as today. Lemon meringue pie was always a favorite. No bake cookies are still a favorite. Years ago there was an ice cream shop in Lebanon called The Guernsey. Best ice cream I've ever had. My favorite was butter pecan. The ice cream was served in small cups with small metal spoons. I still have some of the old spoons in a bookcase with other items from the "olden days". Iced tea was always in the refrigerator. I remember drinking that more than Kool-Aid. Popcorn was usually on Sunday nights, either before or after church. My mom didn't buy snacks but I don't think we ate many either. It's amazing how much real estate snacks take up in the grocery today. It is fun to look back and compare those days to modern times. Good and bad in both.
ReplyDeleteCooler today! The Farmer brought in two large zucchini this morning and there are some peppers to pick. I will be glad to be able to work outside again. Patience is key... Enjoy your day!
Yum that all sounds good. Yes, watermelon is still a cool and refreshing treat for me. IF you can find a good one!!!!!
DeleteI think butter pecan is still my favorite ice cream. I like mint chocolate chip as well (the green one).
It is amazing how much room snacks take up in the stores. Junk galore.
I went out weeding for a while. Still a bit humid - tomorrow will be my big day out.
About 75% of that is my childhood as well. Mom did occasionally buy Nilla Wafers, no sno cone machine and there was no popcorn as both parents had dentures before they were 40. To this day I could easily eat a half box of Nillas-plain, no banana pudding required. I think I bought Oreos for us once last year. On occasion, I'll buy a bag/container of mini oreos and rabidly consume them in the car driving home.
ReplyDeleteOur go-to snack is plain pita chips-yes,I buy Stacey's at Costco. I eat them with hummus and hubster dips them in our homegrown canned salsa. Sometimes we gotta have crunch! I did buy some tortilla chips this last week and promptly forgot about them until just now. Oops.
Cheers to summer and fresh foods :-)
Vanilla wafer are so yummy. I am with you and could eat a ton at one setting.
DeletePita snacks sound good with anything. I buy tortilla chips now and then for taco salad or for cheese dip or salsa. I get a bag of chips every few months. I can make it last!!
My childhood was very much like yours. My friends and I played outside all day during the summer and back outside again after dinner. My mom made popsicles from a recipe that used sugar, water, package of Kool Aide and package of Jello. They were SO good. The only treats that I remember her buying instead of making were fudgesicles, graham crackers and vanilla wafers and they weren't always around. We just didn't snack much and didn't use premade food items often. I still don't buy much. The taste and the cost are so much better when you make things yourself. I smiled at your home made chips. My dad would occasionally make them and they were the best ever. Have a great day!!
ReplyDeleteOh fudgesicles - be still my heart. I could buy a box today and sit and eat half of it in nothing flat!!!!!!!!
DeleteIt is amazing how back in the day, we just didn't have or know about snacking stuff much. We sure survived just fine without it.
Yep, nothing like a homemade chips. For those who have never had them, they are missing out.
My mom and both grandmothers were bakers, so there was always pie, cake, cookies, etc. No one would know it to look at me now, But I wasn't a big sweets eater as a child. I did like the homemade popsicles (my mom used jello), but my summertime "heaven" was fruit. One summer, when a few cousins were living with us, one cousin and I went wandering out of the neighborhood and met an old farmer. He and his wife were probably in their 70s. M and I helped him pick cherries, peaches, berries... when we were done, his wife would make us treats with a few things we'd picked. Peaches and cream was a favorite. Or blackberries over a buttermilk biscuit with a little whipped cream.
ReplyDeleteI also liked freshly picked, warm from the sun cherry tomatoes right off the vines. Like Donna, we didn't have a lot of store bought snack foods around. Potato chips and crackers pretty much were all mom kept in the pantry. Some of the neighbors had ice cream makers and would share their homemade summer goodness with others. Again, I wasn't that much into sweets. I LOVED all the fresh vegetables everyone grew. Yes, indeed, even in the suburbs just about every neighbor on the block designated at least one or two garden beds to vegetables; my mom only grew flowers, but my grandmother grew sweet peas every year and they were a treat we'd sneak and eat raw while visiting her.
I think back over the innocence of those years. There were plenty of ugly things going on in the adult's world, but it was a time when kids were allowed to be kids and were buffered from as much of it as possible. My older brother went to Vietnam, as so many his age did, and what I most remember about that is baking huge batches of cookies with mom that were mailed to him, or waiting for letters and brief phone calls from him. My younger brother was just 3 years old when he was deployed. Sis left for college when he was 4. I knew a little about the protests and such... against the war, the women's movement, etc... but only from the evening news and what I heard adults talking about when we weren't in the room. My focus was basically that of any kid my age: playing with friends and looking after younger siblings. We all had that in common back then. It's part of what I miss most, looking back. Commonality and community. To a degree, that's still alive in this place we retired to. And, of course, right here, Cheryl. As always, thank you!
--Elise
Apologies. I have GOT to stop writing novels here!!!
DeleteYou are fine - memories come pouring sometimes. I liked my sweets, but I preferred all the fresh stuff. Now moms cookies - I would love to have another and another and another!!!!!!!!
DeleteKids got to be kids - that was fun. Not much worried us back then. We would go off and play and ride bikes, go to the creek or the school to play. It was OK. Someone somewhere was watching us (we didn't know it), so parents had a private line of knowing what we were up too. My goodness had we known!!!!!!!! YIKES
Yes, everyone had gardens then. It was what you did.
Biscuits with berries and whipped cream - you lucky girl!
Yes, I think we have that here - and I love it. I wished we all lived closer.
You're in good company Elise! : ) I enjoyed your comment.
DeleteI had that same snocone machine! I grew up with my big Italian family nearby - my grandmother and her 9 siblings always had gardens, raised chickens, etc - everything was homemade - and every one of them save one lived into their 90's with no cancer, even though they smoked and drank homemade wine. I'm convinced it was because of the homegrown, homemade way of eating - no chemicals or preservatives! My mom never let us have Kool Aid but we did get those long stick like popsicles in unnatural colors and I still love them!
ReplyDeleteI think you are on to something. I kind of feel the same way. Young girls looked like young girls when we were little - not woman all developed. Kids didn't seem to have the behavior issues they do today. I do believe it is to do with chemicals and hormones in all the food. Some may think I am crazy - but I believe it.
DeleteSounds like you came from great stock and enjoyed your life and family.
I always liked the blue ones!!!!!!!!
Elise, no need to apologize. I enjoy reading about everyone's memories! Wanita
ReplyDeleteCheryl, your post brought back a lot of good memories for me. My mom was a great cook. We did not buy many treats, but we had two small country stores, one next door and one across the street, and we sometimes took a nickel to buy an ice cream sandwich or a candy bar. But there were always homemade treats available. My mom made homemade bread, and that was one of the best treats with homemade butter and apple butter that my grandma made. Also, I loved it when Mom made homemade noodles to go with our meal. Oh, and she made the most wonderful homemade pineapple rolls (picture a caramel roll filled with a pineapple filling and topped with homemade vanilla frosting! We always had a big garden, and sometimes when the corn was ready, Daddy would build a big bonfire with brush had had collected from our property, and when it had burned down and the ashes were hot, he put the ears of corn in to roast. Yum! Of course, there were always home-grown tomatoes to go with it and maybe salads and, of course, dessert. So many good memories. It really was a great time to grow up. Wanita
ReplyDeleteYou gave me some more memories, that I had forgotten about as well. Gosh, I remember getting a nickel or dime (usually from finding & returning bottles) and would walk to the little family market a few blocks away. They had a old glass front candy counter and I would stand there for ages trying to decide how to spend that change!!!!!! WHAT A TREAT
DeleteThe pineapple rolls sound divine. I remember sneaking noodles to eat as they were drying. I loved them raw! Cooked too. The corn sounds wonderful.
Gosh I am getting hungry! It was a good time then.
Okay, Wanita, my mouth is watering and I have a can of crushed pineapple in the pantry. I'm going to have to look up a recipe that fits your description, which sounds divine!!
Delete--Elise
Just like you everything was homemade and so good! We only had things like chips and sodas on Christmas Eve and maybe on vacation. Never store bought cookies! Mom made desserts and bread and baked cookies. We had a big covered porch across the front and spent hours and hours out there playing. We also had a swing on a pergola on the back of our house and it was fun to swing there with the variation of sunshine coming through. Back then you could go into the state parks at night and Dad would take us and drive slowly while we looked to see animal eyes reflecting in the headlights. I was thrillingly scary of we saw them since all the windows were down. We made mud pies in the backyard and got so dirty. We had a huge raspberry patch and we would stand there and eat berries everyday. We did not like having to weed in the garden or peel those hot tomatoes for canning! What a wonderful childhood we had at home because we only had one car and it was at work with Dad. No need to go here and there because home was the best place to be.
ReplyDeleteSounds like many of us grew up the same. We had one vehicle and daddy had it. It was home or riding bikes. We got the little Cokes on Christmas Ever for Santa - daddy said Santa got tired of milk!! Wink - wink!!
Deleteporch sitting started back then - it sure was fun. Oh I bet that was neat to go through the park at night. What fun!
Eating fresh raspberries was the bomb! Until I had to get in there and pick for real - then I got chiggers!
Yeo home was the best place to be.
A question-anyone have any suggestions for two bags of past date self-rising flour. They were over looked by Hubby in the pantry and I hate to throw them out.
ReplyDeleteJust add a bit of rising agent when making something - that is what I have done before.
DeleteLana, when that's happened to me, even 6+ months out, I test to see if the rising agent is weak by baking a quick batch of muffins or biscuits. Usually there's nothing wrong with the flour at all. --Elise
DeleteMy Nan was an excellent cook, every single meal we ate was cooked by her, we simply could not afford to eat out.
ReplyDeleteShe made wonderful cakes, and was paid by others to make decorated celebration cakes, particularly for weddings. She would often trade for her cooking, taking fresh produce in return for a child’s birthday cake.
Her kitchen was tiny, actually the whole house was tiny. A two bedroom miners cottage built by my grandfather, she did all her cooking on a coal stove. It’s just amazing when you think about it, what she turned out.
Thank you Cheryl for reviving these memories today.
Off topic - it seems Covid has finally found its way into my house. Grrrrr, after all this time, my son and daughter have both tested positive. Louise
Louise, I'm so sorry Covid hit your family. I was pretty sure 3 years ago it was going to be with us to stay. Prayers for son and daughter. And yes, it's amazing what our grandmothers did w/o all the space and convenience we're used to today. Maybe it's just the way memory works, but it seems our grandmothers' cooking was so much better somehow. --Elise
DeleteGlad to have revived some memories today. I love getting refreshed with them. It was totally amazing what they did with what they had. Today, people are just soft. No grit or determination to try new things or be different. It is follow the crowd. And we all know the crowd seems to be going in the wrong direction. I remember the cooking being so yummy and delicious then. Nice thing about memories.
DeleteSorry your family has gotten sick. I think it will be like the flue now and always be around in some form. Hope you stay well.
A quick OT share with you all... the propane co. came today to top up our tank with the summer discount. It's a 500 gal. tank, last topped off before winter hit. Guess what? We only needed 49.16 gallons (after all those months!) and the total, including tax, came to only $145.98!!!!! We were expecting a much, much bigger bill. So, bringing this back OT, everyone here who grew up with frugal parents and happy memories (ie. never feeling deprived), frugal living really pays off! --Elise
ReplyDeleteThat is great! You guys did well. Oh no one could ever convince me that frugality didn't pay. I have been blessed much by it.
DeleteLike many here we didn't have money for extras. I only remember once getting a treat from the ice cream truck that came through the neighborhood. Mom liked fudgesicles so she'd get those at the store. I imagine they were on sale. I didn't like them. I always wanted popsicles. Lol.
DeleteI'm sure I drank gallons of Koolaid. Can't be any worse than a lot of stuff they sell now. Lol.
There was an outlet near us that sold those soft oatmeal cookies with the cream in the middle. They were the misshapened ones sold by the pound. I loved it when we got those! I think Little Debbie sells them.I don't buy them or I'd eat the whole box!! That was when I was a teen. She'd get them to go in our lunch.
Potato chips weren't snacks. They were a treat that we'd get with our sandwich. Mom made all our desserts. Buying premade desserts like pies, cakes, cookies just didn't happen.
Mom told me at her house growing up (on a farm) there's was always a pot of beans and a pot of rice on the back of the stove. If anyone came by and was hungry, grandma had something ready for them to eat.
It's funny but mom snacks a lot more now. Probably because she has the money now.
I tried to teach my kids when I was raising them to eat good food if you're hungry. Snacks don't fill you. I said if you're really hungry have a sandwich! If I put out cut up fruit & they'd eat that. I didn't put out junk food. When there was junk food like chips it was for a treat for a birthday party or holiday party. We didn't reach for chips when we were hungry. I made hundreds of loaves of quick breads. That was our main "snack".
~margaret
Margaret - I am a fudgesicle fan. A favorite of mine. I have Kool-Aid in the frig right now!
DeleteI am with you I could eat a whole box of the Little Debbie oatmeal cookies - probably have at some point in life!!!! LOL
You are so right, about junk food. It does not fill you up. You may feel full for a bit, then you are hungry again. Just empty calories.
Grandma sounds like a smart lady.
I'd rather eat fruit or veggies or a sandwich today if I get snackish. Just tastes better and is better for me.
We didn't eat snacks. Late afternoons my mom would have tea-time, with hot tea and some sort of cookie, toast, something. Supper was later in the evening because dad had to travel to get home. I do remember my mom buying boxes of donuts for my brother once in while but he was in college and was up late studying. Sometimes I'd get into them and there would be a big fuss!
ReplyDeleteWe only had soda (coke) in the house if there was a grownup party, so I never learned to think of it as a beverage, it was special. Don't remember KoolAid at all. If we went out to eat (every now and then) I'd get Cream Soda.
SkyBlue Raspberry popsicles! The icecream truck had those, and if I had the money I'd get one. Oooh, that lovely blue color of my tongue and mouth, mom hated that! :D
Now if I want some crunch, like chips/crackers, I eat plain dry cheerios (or the store brand of them). There's a "mouth feel" that is missing when I cut out all cracker/chip things and the cheerios work for me. Otherwise I'm digging around looking for something, and not being satisfied! ;)
MaryB
That is funny about the donuts. Iced tea and Kool-Aid were our drinks 99% of the time or water.
DeleteI loved the blue ones too!
That is smart on the Cheerios. I eat crackers quite often. Even just saltines is fine and it gets rid of the cravings for me. Ever roasted cheerios with a little butter and salt? That is good too!
Oooh, I bet that is good, never tried it. :) Water was the drink I was offered if it was not mealtime - then it was milk. When I was older I could have iced tea like the grownups, but not as a little kid. Caffein? Don't know.
DeleteMaryB
Milk was always with a breakfast or supper. Kool-Aid or tea or water for lunch. I am sure mom was stretching the milk!
DeleteBet you will like them that way if you try it!
Wow, I've enjoyed reading all of the comments, it's like an old Reminisce magazine!
ReplyDeleteMy mom made homemade popsickles from orange juice sometimes, and yes, we had chocolate ice cream sometimes and the little short cones in colors, I loved a green cone with the brown chocolate ice cream! I was an only child so I was solitaire most of the time with my little treats and baby dolls. My mom also sliced carrots in thin sticks and kept them in ice cold water in a container, maybe a glass jar in the 'ice box' and they were so crispy and good. My mom and dad did enjoy fudgesickles and ice cream sandwiches too...and the colored popsickles as well. When my dad came home at night he loved getting chocolate ice cream in a bowl and pouring orange juice on top! I would eat it too and it was so good, the frozen juice on the spoon that would form because of the ice cream. We would have popcorn too, sometimes jiffy pop. We lived in a very old neighborhood and one halloween, one of the elderly neighbors and his precious wife gave me a popcorn ball, I was fascinated! I was very little with my parents who took me to their sweet home, and for Christmas that same couple, I think he was a WWI vet gave me beautiful ballerina plaques he made with a jig saw and a Christmas poem just for me about the gift from "an old vet" and it had a little story of a little Dutch couple clapping for joy because of our Savior's birth. His precious little wife, I think she was a darling plump lady, knitted me red slipper socks with a big red pom pom ball on top of each. When the elderly neighbor across the street would have her grandchildren over we sometimes would play and I so loved that. I think we too made mud pies once with hard berries to decorate the tops. Sometimes we would put the sprinkler on top of my slide and we would slide into a baby pool, we three little girls would sing: "Downtown" (petula clark) as if we were in a musical. Yes, those were special times. Things have changed now. Now-a-days I don't eat dairy unless goat's milk or pasture cows, I'm allergic to modern factory farmed milk from the factory and don't believe in the way God's creatures, the cows are treated the way the calves are cruelly taken from the mothers (it's horrible) and I can't have sugar these days...So now I do coconut or almond milk w/stevia, so if we do pops I try to make them with that. One of our favorites for our grandchildren are frozen banana slices. It's a good thing our grandchildren are being raised with healthy treats so they think Mimi is A-okay lol....Things are so different now. Back then there were no gmos to worry about etc. Don't want to be a downer but just being true to myself here. I will say we can sure make fun treats with healthy stuff now and not miss a beat!: ) I adore, and soooo cherish the old ways! I would have so fit in the 40s.
I need to try the Cheerios with my free range butter, now that sounds scrumptious!
I'm really enjoying the comments everyone. Yes, I liked those blue pops too Cheryl, the ones in the plastic? So fun. I love, love, love your clown snow cone machine you had! I would have loved that. He is so sweet and cute!
Closing now, must get hubs pasta on! Thursdays are his fast and pray day...So he is ready to eat at 6 sharp. lol Listening to: Nat King Cole, Love is the Thing and More cd. Near perfection.
Have a sweet evening!
Sounds like you had a lovely childhood and some wonderful neighbors. I have ice cream with pop on it but never OJ. Chocolate and OJ - hmmmmm. Not sure that sounds appealing to me! LOL I do love the crunchies pop gives on ice cream - like an ice cream float!
DeleteOh the sprinkler and the hose - funs times!
Isn't it funny how our lives change? You can't eat certain and won't eat others. As kids we just went with the flow.
I guess that is what makes us all unique and special!!!!! I generally always have some banana chinks in the freezer - they are a refreshing treat.
Hand made little slippers with pom poms! Mom used to crochet those for me. I had forgotten about them.
ENJOY your dinner - I bet it will be tasty!
Thank you! Haha, yes, the orange juice with the chocolate compliments actually. I guess you would have had to have tried it. ; ) But one thing Daddy did that never appealed to me was chocolate ice cream with strawberry koolaid on top! It just looked so weird, that red color on chocolate LOL. Oh yes! Coke floats! Those were sooooo good too, the bomb! : D
DeleteIf you have some of your little slippers, that would be so sweet to share here. : )
I sure wish I had some of those slippers still.
DeleteLooks like I posted a novella too! lol
ReplyDeleteLove that everyone shares!
DeleteSo many great memories. I am one of four siblings and the only girl so learned a lot about cooking while the boys were outside learning about chores and grass cutting LOL.
ReplyDeleteWe did not get snacks and chips from the store, parents could not afford them and I think because we weren't exposed to them we didn't miss them. I still don't eat chips, I just don't enjoy them.
We had popcorn and fruit, sometimes pimento cheese on crackers. Peanut butter and syrup and if we got ice cream it was always vanilla so we could dress it with fruit, or mom would make chocolate sauce with cocoa. Ice cream with peanut butter and syrup is really good.
My mom was a plain cook, a really good cook but just didn't get adventurous because she just didn't have time. We truck patch gardened. My favorite meal even today is green beans and potatoes cooked with bacon shreds, corn, tomatoes, cucumber/onion salad and wilted lettuce. Everything from the garden. I took over the baking of cakes, pies and cookies at a young age, because I loved experimenting and as long as I didn't waste and cleaned up my mess, my mom was glad to have the help. I also baked bread. To this day I take the heels off and eat them first, still warm and covered with butter.
Sunday evening we got to watch TV, Disney ...mom would pop a dish pan full of popcorn and we had ice water in pint jars.
We didn't often have kool aid, iced tea and water although my brothers drank milk. Not me though, mom figured out at an early age I can't tolerate milk. Of course they didn't have a name for it them.
Family favorite was when I would make cream puffs.
Funny story, when I was 12 I cooked family dinner for brothers birthday, St. Patricks Day. I tinted everything green LOL green chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes, green beans and green applesauce. I even tinted the biscuits green! My mom said it looked "festive" everyone ate it but mom said maybe next time stick to green icing on the birthday cake. My poor dad. LOL
Great memories, my parents were saints.
JC
What fun memories! You make a good point - you don't miss what you haven't had. Never thought about it before, but mom was a plain cook as well. I always called it country cooking. Those are all of my favorite things still today as well.
DeleteSunday night and Disney..... good memories.
Oh what a funny story. How kind of everyone not to make a bad comment!!!!! Stick to the green icing - LOL!!!!!!
Love all the memories.
What a bunch of great memories! We also had very little money, so my mom never bought snacks. I would take a piece of bread, take the crust off, make a few bread balls and roll them in sugar for something sweet. Another favorite was saltine crackers with miracle whip spread thinly on them. You get pretty creative when you're a kid and you want a snack!
ReplyDeleteThen when my brother and I would have some money, we would walk to the "ice house" on the corner and buy lots of candy. I ate so much candy in those days! And the ice cream truck was always a treat, but it was a race to see if you could run inside and find money before he got on your block!
Memories are fun. Ingenious on the bread balls! Funny, wouldn't have thought of crackers and MW - but hey, whatever works!!
DeleteCandy was so cheap back in the day. I could get a little bag full for a dime. Penny candy. Ice cream trucks were always fun.
(Little Penpen) I love this trip down memory lane. Those were the good ole days, for sure. I remember what a treat it was to have ice cream and cones in the house, too.
ReplyDeleteYes mam, good old days for sure. Every once in a while (every couple years) I will buy a box of cones. Just something about an ice cream cone!
DeleteI love the journey back in time! Good to see you!!!!!!!
What fun reads from everyone! I loved all the stories and sat here with a smile on my face! Many are familiar to me and some aren't.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in Los Angeles is a bit different!! Like everyone else, snacks varied and we're rarely anything boughten. My mom hated baking so she let me start at about 9yo while she sat nearby and did something else. My first bake were brownies from her Betty Crocker cookbook. In fast time, I became the birthday cake baker, class cupcakes baker, little league cookie baker, etc. At about 12, my friend taught me coffee cake and blueberry muffins. My brother says he still has cravings for that coffee cake! I would bake it Saturday mornings and then walk to the little league field. My family would wake up and find it in the cake dome.
We had about 20 lemon trees on the block so we drank tons of lemonade year around. Everyone did. I only had 1 friend that drank Kool aid. I didn't like it. Never iced tea. It just wasn't a thing. I learned to love it in my 20s.
The ice cream truck was a super rare treat because my mom never had money. My grandma was the money bags for that. She had this change purse that had to weigh 10 lbs. lol. I always got something called a Buried Treasure. It was a chocolate ice cream and the treasure was the plastic stick. There was a character on it that you couldn't see until you ate all the ice cream. I collected those sticks!
But the very best food hawker was the Helm's man. Helms was an L.A. bakery and they drove around and beeped this unique horn. Again, grandma was the money bags, but the Helm's man even got my grandpa up lol. They had loaves of bread, rolls, etc, but the best was their back drawers. Those were filled with pastries, cupcakes, donuts, etc. There was no better smell on earth than when he pulled a drawer open. I always got a jimmie sprinkled cupcake, grandpa got an old fashioned buttermilk donut to dip in his coffee, and grandma got a cheese danish. Yum. The big yellow van from heaven lol.
Alright, enough of my blathering!!
You were a little Suzy Homemaker!!!!!!! you could have made a business of that. Nothing at all wrong with lemonade. Free lemons a win.
DeleteI don't remember that ice cream treat. Sounds fun.
We didn't have any one come like that around my area. We had a milk man and a Schwan's truck once in a while (I think that was the name). The pastries all sound yummy.
It is easy to go down memory lane. I love all these stories.
I, too, am loving all these memories!
ReplyDeleteMy mom always baked any and all sweets in our house. We came home from school every day to fresh cookies, bars, or home-made bread...warm from the oven. We would polish off one whole loaf (of4 loaves )with butter and home-canned grape jelly.
Ice cream was reserved for when dad was home, maybe a Sunday night. He made vanilla ice cream with Hersheys chocolate syrup and Planter's peanuts on top. To die for! To this day I can't look at a can of peanuts without thinking of him (and I still love them.) Mom would get mad at dad because sometimes he would open a can, start snacking, and finish off the entire can in one sitting. (she always had him on a diet of some sort I think!) haha.
The ice cream truck was a very rare treat. I don't remember junk food except one New Year's Eve, 2 of my aunts were babysitting while my parents went out, and we were allowed to eat out of the GIANT Num-Num cans...one with popcorn, one with chips. They were manufactured in the 40's in Cleveland Ohio...near where I lived. I don't know what happened to the cans after that. Guess mom hid them from us!
I don't remember drinking anything except milk as a kid, and water from the hose (ice cold!!) Our milkman would come into the back door of the house (no doors were ever locked) and put the milk in the refrigerator in the kitchen. His name was "Smitty".
I was born in 1947, and I truly miss the simplicity of those days. Maybe since I was a kid, life seemed simple. My mom did frugal things that I now see are "in"---she passed away 4 years ago. I miss her...
Lejmom, was Num Num like Charles Chips?
DeleteWe always had homemade cookies in the cookie jar as well. The bread sounds wonderful - especially on a chilly day.
DeleteYour dad's ice cream treat sound like a Peanut Buster Parfait at Dairy Queen. Love that taste sensation. Peanuts - you can't eat just one!!!!!!
How neat the milkman would just come in and leave the milk. Sure wouldn't be so trusting today, would we? I still love a glass of ice cold milk!!!!!!!
I remember Charles Chips in tins! Someone gifted us a tin of them once - we never bought them ourselves.
Simplicity - that is the best description. Our parents and grandparents worked hard to provide for us - but yes, for us it was simple. Mom = our friend!!!!!!!
Debby, similar. But the cans my parents bought were at least 2 feet tall. Huge! I found some likenesses when I searched on the internet. The cans were bright yellow. Charles Chips (and home delivery) came about when I was a teen in Connecticut. So much was home delivery, as most families only had 1 car. We had the milk man, a bread man, Charles Chips, a general grocer-type guy. If we needed bread, we put a star in the window and he would stop.
ReplyDeleteIsn't that something. I remember milkman that we bought from, but not much else. Funny all these years later and home delivery is a thing again! I still have never used it.
DeleteThat is pretty neat!
Loving this trip down memory lane! I remember Grandma's strawberry shortcake, a recipe my mother was never able to quite duplicate. Leaf lettuce fresh from the garden rolled up with a dab of sugar. Just picked corn on the cob dripping with butter. 7-Up and Jello were sick people food, but Orange, Grape, and Strawberry Crush were a special treat. My mother making a dessert with jello, cool whip, and canned fruit cocktail for her ladies' guild meetings. Dad took potato chips and baloney sandwiches to work for lunch, but I don't remember eating chips very often. Mom making cinnamon/sugar pastries from pie crust offcuts. Arguing with my siblings over whose turn it was to lick the frosting bowl. Sitting on the ice cream maker while my father hand-cranked homemade vanilla ice cream. Mom would make cookies: chocolate chip, peanut butter with the fork impression in the top, and pecan sandies for my father who could not eat chocolate. These were made with pecans we picked at my grandparents' farm. Drinks were water, milk, then iced tea (no lemon or sugar) when we were older. Occasionally Kool-Aid for lunch. Penny candy at the Ben Franklin store. Cinnamon toast. If we were hungry between meals, we were told to have some bread and butter (actually margarine). Mom always knew if were were just angling for something sweet and weren't really hungry.
ReplyDeleteGee, this is making me hungry!
--Frances in the Trailer Park
Love this. So many memories we all shared!!! Yes mam, 7-Up was for when you were sick!!! I loved grape Nehi - maybe because it was dad's favorite. I still like all things grape.
DeleteThe pie crust goodies - yum! Penny candy! Still love cinnamon toast. I think I was an adult before I actually had real butter!
You mom sounds like she had her kids figured out!!!!! She knew when you were really hungry or just bluffing to get a treat. Mom's sure were smart!!!!!!!!
Loving the trip down memory lane too! So thankful we have the ability to have memories!
We would eat cinnamon toast, crackers and pb, crackers and cheese as regular snack. She made cakes and pies, few cookies, fudge with pecans on top. We also had a nutcracker or two and a nutbowl to enjoy. We had about ten pecan trees, so there were always pecans. They bought bags of other nuts. We had plum trees, blackberry bushes. If we had a nickel and had permission, we might buy a Baby Ruth. Getting a nickel was easier than getting permission to spend it. If we had ice cream, rarely, it was Neapolitan or Orange Sherbet.
ReplyDeleteOne day, a friend was over and we were playing baseball in the hot sun. I suggested we go in and get a drink. When I was running her a glass of water from the sink, she got angry, saying I said we could get a drink. I was getting a drink of water. She yelled at me, stomped out, slammed the door and went home in a huff.
Sounds like many of us enjoyed a lot of the same snacks. That would be neat to have pecan trees.
DeleteI remember Neapolitan ice cream. Haven't had that in years.
Oh my goodness - I wonder what your friend thought she was getting? A cold glass of faucet water (or hose) was always in order when playing outdoors and getting hot!
Oh, my. I had a friend like that! Was her name Rhonda?! She was incredibly spoiled and her kitchen was a junk food haven. Of course, she had all her front teeth replaced by high school. They were rotted from all the sweets. Her lunches were pb and j, chips, cookies, and a Hostess 2 pack- like Snowballs, Cupcakes, etc. Her thermos had Kool aid. No fruit and all sugar, but for the PB. She also had horrible stomach issues at 11 because she couldn't poop!!
DeleteWell, this morning we have no running water. At least I was able to start a coffee beforehand. Call in to the water company hours ago, but still nothing. We have bottled water, just not enough for anything significant. There's no toilet flushing, dish, laundry or body washing. I say all of that for two reasons:
ReplyDelete--Always be grateful for clean, running water; be grateful every day.
--Throughout all my growing up years, I have NO memories of this happening. I lived all over the country. Water was reliable during Southern hurricane weather and the deep freezes of the upper Midwest, as well during Pacific coast droughts.
May your clean water be plentiful today. --Elise
Oh gosh - I am sorry. Hopefully you get it all back and fixed soon!
DeleteIt is one of those things we take for granted. Turn a faucet and there it is. Good reminder!!!!
Oh no! That happens often enough here that I keep jugs of potable and flushing water on hand at all times. I hope it is back on soon.
Delete--Frances in the Trailer Park (whose current crisis is a dead critter (probably groundhog) under the shed next to the house and stinkin' like crazy!)
Oh Frances - been there and done that. The smell seems to dissipate some after 3 or 4 days. Nothing worse that the smell of something dead. Yuck!
DeleteI love this post -when it was too hot or we were too tired to make our own treats we ate the weird things we imagined in our head. Like peanut butter and syrup sandwiches and we did that peanut butter cracker thing a lot!
ReplyDeleteI think we all had good imaginations and could come up with something! I still love PB and syrup!
DeleteWe didn't whine around - we found something to satisfy us!!