<p>When I was little if any of us had a stomach ache, a headache, a bad day, whatever, my father would take down one of the good teacups (never a mug) put a spoonful of sugar in the bottom, fill it with boiling water and then pour a drop of mint extract out of the bottle on to a spoon and then very carefully pour it back into the bottle. He would stir the sugar water with the mint coated spoon and give us peppermint tea. It always worked and to this day I do not know if it was the concoction or the ritual that was magic.</p>
<p>Crackers and milk is one of my dad’s staples, and both of my kids (and I) love it. Miracle Whip and fresh tomato sandwiches is another favorite. My mom always took the left-over pie crust (she always made too much) and spread a little butter, sprinkled cinnamon sugar on and baked it with the pie. Another thing my kids enjoy and it always makes me remember her. We had blackberry bushes and my sister and I would eat the really ripe ones in the yard. I still prefer them hot rather than refrigerated.</p>
<p>Two posters have mentioned Miracle Whip – is it mayo or something else? I’ve seen it on the grocery store shelf next to the mayo, and I’ve always wondered how it differs from mayo.</p>
<p>It’s very similar to mayo, but I prefer it (probably because I grew up eating it).</p>
<p>Miracle Whip is essentially a spiced, low-fat mayonnaise. It used to be meaningfully cheaper than mayonnaise; I’m not sure if it still is. It was an early example of tech-based food, relying on new types of equipment to emulsify a mix of ingredients that could not have been emulsified with standard tools like mixers and beaters.</p>
<p>(I was raised with it, too, and can’t stand the stuff. But it’s not like I use a lot of mayo, either. Use-by dates are a real issue with my mayo.)</p>
<p>Mushrooms and blackberries. I would pick both of them with my grandmother, wandering all over the hills laughing and singing together for the better part of the day. The mushrooms would make it back to the kitchen; the blackberries seldom did. My mom hates mushrooms, but would still saute them just for me after my grandmother was gone. She also made my grandmother’s chicken and dumplings, which I didn’t learn to make until I was 40. It’s four eggs and two cups of flour; I always used to get those ingredients mixed up. :p</p>
<p>This may sound odd, but I always think of one of my gfathers’s when I buy instant oatmeal. It was a newish thing, I think, when I was a child and much too expensive for my mother to buy for four children. He bought it though and would serve it to us for breakfast along with a buttery piece of toast whenever we spent the night. He would also add a big glob of butter in the middle. The novelty of it made it the best oatmeal ever.</p>
<p>Thanks over30 and JHS. I don’t have much experience with mayo, probably because it was unavailable where my parents were reared, but I’m going to find an excuse to try MW.</p>
<p>Chocolate chip cookies made in the shiny aluminum bowl. My mom made the best but now I get the raves.</p>
<p>I can’t stand Miracle Whip. Mom would serve it with salad as the salad dressing. I finally managed to wean my husband from it (did everyone eat it back then?). Now we eat mayonnaise.</p>
<p>For some reason, my mom’s people weren’t very good cooks - I suppose because they farmed and were frugal. I do remember her mom’s beets though - yum.</p>
<p>My mother was a very talented pianist. She taught piano lessons for many decades. When I was very little I used to sit under the piano near the pedals as she played, and the beautiful music would pour over me like a waterfall.</p>
<p>My father was a career military man, and his favorite march was Under the Double Eagle. It was the march that band was playing when he boarded to ship to be shipped out to The Philippines just prior to the outbreak of WWII. And coincidentally it was also playing five years later when his ship docked welcoming him back to the US after nearly four years of suffering in a Japanese POW camp. So consequently he requested that piece a lot. It meant a lot to him. My mother could easily play it from memory. </p>
<p>So whenever I hear Under the Double Eagle, especially if played on a piano, I am immediately taken back to being a little kid - with the music pouring over me.</p>
<p>When we were little on cold gray mornings my mother would take a warm damp washcloth and wash our faces to wake us up, it felt so good you always got up in a good mood. I used to do the same thing with my kids and the loved it also. A couple of weeks ago I needed to get up early and my 21 year old son came in my room with a warm damp wash cloth…</p>
<p>the cement-y smell of my grandparent’s basement in Ohio. Filled with homemade fishing poles, old tools, and my grandmother’s old washing machine with the built-in wringer (which I managed to get my arm sucked into one year).</p>
<p>Sigh- what’s a grandma? Mine died before I could know them and my mother died before becoming one. My birthday is coming up soon- no garden green beans or raspberries (mashed with sugar) on ice cream for my birthday dinner as I remember from childhood, it was always iffy for enough raspberries. The best part of a summer birthday- never got to bring school treats…</p>
<p>Sorry wis75, yesterday was my birthday and H made me a salad with cold shrimp, garden green beans and raspberries for dinner. He did say he had to scour the raspberry bushes for the handful of berries he got. But it was an excellent dinner. Followed up with crepe suzette made by S2!</p>
<p>My dad sprinkled black pepper on his summer cantaloupe. We thought that was THE grossest thing! I’ve tried it in my adulthood and, guess what?, I like it, kinda different! Not for every slice of melon, but sometimes–just to honor his memory! </p>
<p>I close my eyes and can smell him, even though he’s been gone over 30 years–a combination of tobacco smoke and Palmolive soap! A wonderful aroma that say “Daddy” to me! …Something about smells and association with people in my life…</p>
<p>oh the miracle whip…used to have it as a kid…miracle whip sandwich…just miracle whip and bread. also miracle whip and townhouse crackers…just the miracle whip and the crackers put together as a little sandwich. today…i don’t seem to like the taste of miracle whip (it’s too sweet and tangy)…and prefer mayo.</p>
<p>memory…my grandmother used to make sugar cookies and they were toped with colored sugar sprinkles. round cookie shapes. she would keep them year round on hand and they were in a decorated coffee can on her counter. i think she may have had a different can for me and for each of my cousins. grandfather would buy fresh butter from a local dairy and also when we visited, he would give us bread topped with the fresh butter. </p>
<p>my mom made the pie crust cookies each time she baked pies…which was a weekly thing.</p>
<p>My dad would surprise us every once in a blue moon by making pancakes for dinner. Not just ‘any’ pancakes but each one was the size of the pan, and perfectly cooked. He worked nights, so first having him home at dinner was a treat and then these gigantic pancakes…well, you can imagine in the eyes of 2 kids…sigh.</p>
<p>Miracle Whip, peanut butter, and lettuce on white bread. Ate a lot of these as a kid (can’t say I would now, though…).</p>
<p>And my grandma and mom used to make “bumblebees”. When they trimmed off the pie dough from the edge after laying it in the pan or over the filling, they took those strips and smeared them with butter. Then sprinkled liberally with sugar and cinnamon, cut into about 3-4" lengths, rolled up, and baked on a cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes. Yum…</p>
<p>Liver and yellow turnips (rutabagas or swede to you purists).</p>
<p>I’m serious.</p>
<p>These were two of my grandmother’s favorite foods, and she often served them when I visited her because she knew that I liked them, too.</p>
<p>My good memories of my grandmother, who was one of my favorite people when I was growing up, are very much tied up with the tastes of liver and yellow turnips.</p>