Most Memorable Food Experience as a Kid?

[htc]

Don't remember how old I was...my siblings and I almost caught the house on fire cooking a Totinos frozen pizza.

My parents used to work nights when we first came over to the U.S. and my oldest brother would take care of us when they were working. So, night time would be when us kids got to eat American food (Mom only made Chinese/Vietnamese food). One of my brothers dumped water on the burning pizza and the flames got bigger then someone got smart and put a towel over it and beat the flames down.

Another memory...my older siblings (jerks) ran around the house with a dead eel chasing my little brother and me. Scared the crap out of us. I dont remember what we ended up making with the eel.

 

[Lugaru]

One that has always stuck with me was my first american hotdog.

My hometown has maybe the best hotdogs in the world and well some time when we where visiting the us my dad got me a hotdog at a race track. He keeps telling me I freaked out because it was a boiled weenie on a cold bun with mustard and ketchup.

 

[Bangbang]

Eating my grandmothers Mince Meat Tarts. Yummy :!: Oh......and my other grandmother showing me how to make a bowl in mashed potatoes for gravy.

 

[JohnL]

My first raw oyster when I was about 4 years old.
I slurped it down, but it flew right back up!
Love them now though.

 

[PA Baker]

I was probably about 4 and went to a friend's house for lunch. Her mom made us peanut butter and butter sandwiches. I'd never heard of such a thing (ate tons of my mom's PB and jelly but never with butter) and I was amazed that there was a whole different world of food beyond my family's kitchen. From that point on I was always interested in what other people at and how it was made.

 

[pdswife]

Two come to mind...

First would have to be the "GREAT FINGER JELLO FIGHT"
5 Teenagers and a large plate of finger jello.. oh what fun!
Oh what a mess! Oh what a lot of trouble we got in!!

Or
Watching my grandmother make home made chocolate
pudding and then eating it while it was still warm.

 

[wasabi]

The smell of my Puerto-Rican grandmother's kitchen at Christmas.

 

[luvs]

my 1st taste of liver and onions. not good eats.
also, making 'cheesy nut balls'. (Kraft singles and chopped peanuts smushed together and rolled into balls. my Aunt actually braved one. i think i was about 7.

 

[tweedee]

I was about 6 or 7. I was spending the summer with my grandparents and my grandma decided to fix me tuna sandwiches for lunch and I'd never had tuna before. Anyway I don't know how many sandwiches were on the plate that she handed me but I'll almost bet that there were at least 4 to 6, all cut into fourths. Those sandwiches were the best thing I'd ever tasted and I ate every last bite.

 

[SierraCook]

My grandmother used to make cinnamon rolls at Christmas and Thanksgiving. I used to help her it was alot of fun and they tasted so good.

Thursday night was taco night when I was a kid. My brother and I would help mom make dinner. It was fun to cook the taco meat, shred the cheese, dump the refried beans out of the can, etc. That was the only time that we ever got to have Pepsi with dinner.

When we used to have tostadas for dinner my dad always used to overload his. It always would crack in the middle and make a big mess. He typically went through several napkins. He would also put guacamole on top and would get it in his moustache.

One of the funniest moments was when my dad passed gas at the dinner table when we were visiting his parents. My grandmother told him immediately to go to his room. I thought my brother and I were going to die from laughing so hard.

 

[middie]

my sister said sometihng funny one night when we were eating chili. guess who had a kidney bean shoot out of the nose? man did it BURN
my mother got kind of grossed out but it made it that much funnier to me

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Middie, Luv'sFood, and SierraCook; you all told stories that made me snicker audibly, almost brought tears to my eyes with the effort of not disturbing the rest of the house with laughter.

My two most memorable childhood experiences with food were not the best. The first, I was hungry for some cooked fish. I checked the fridge and freezer. There was none to be had. I looked in the cupboard of canned goods for some canned salmon, to make salmon patties. All I could find was a can of sardines. I opened it, dredged them in some farina, and fried them up in a bit of oil. I guess I was about 9 or 10 at the time. No one else was home. If I recall, they actually tasted pretty good. But as I jsut finished eating them, my parents arrived. The first words our of their mouths were "What's that awfull smell?" I didn't get in trouble but was asked to make myself something a little less offensive to the nose, like fried eggs or something.

The second and definitely most memorable experience came in an alleyway behind my grandpa's house. I was with a freind who was a year or so younger than me. I was about eight years old with this one. My buddy, Gordy, said he'd heard that they ate worms in Africa. Me being a child during the 60's, I had no internet, or other resources to confirm or disprove what Gordy said. I said something to the effect that we had nothing to cook them with and so couldn't see if it was true. Unfortunately, we did have a freshly used paper cup and some matches. And my grandpa's place was a great place to pick nightcraawlers for fishing, so turning over any fair sized rock would usually produce good worms.

Yep. It's true. I place a big nightcrawler into the paper cup, lit the cup on fire, and cooked the little critter in the flames. It only took one bite to convince me how totaly wrong Gordy was. The powerful and fowl flavor was indescribable. It was just plain bad, if harmless. Lifter, if you read this, you (and anyone else who fishes with nightcrawlers) can attest to the stench created by forgetting a box-full of worms in the car-trunk on a hot summer day (my Dad did that a couple of times. I did it with a chicken from the supermarket, similarly foul, but different). There is no worst odor. That's the same way they taste. I still shudder at the memory. I bet the worm wasn't too happy either

That's the most memorable I've got.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[middie]

ewww goodweed you ate a worm?
that's gutsy i'd never have the nerve
lol

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Middie; I have always been the adventurous kind of guy at most everything. But I think that one has more to do with stupidity that being gutsy. My only excuse is that I was very young.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[PA Baker]

Those are great stories, goodweed! I admire you for cooking something so out of the ordinary for such a young child (the sardines, not the worm!). Most kids would have settled for some cookies or crackers. Obviously your love of food and cooking was present from a young age. Very impressive!

The worm on the other hand.....well, I'll just echo what middie said! Guess it's a boy thing!

 

[buckytom]

i remember going out to rockaway beach with my family during the summer to visit cousins and spend the day swimming and playing, and eating. mom would always make broiled chicken legs and thighs, and hard boiled eggs, and tuna and ham sandwiches the night before.
we'd all swim and play for a while, then gather around the chairs and blankets and chow down. my cousin patty and i would share our hard boiled eggs; i didn't like the whites, patty didn't like the yolks. we were a good team.
before we went home, we would always stop at a fish market and get a big block of frozen shrimp and some locally made frozen french fries, then stopped at dairy queen before the long ride back to jersey. it was kinda strange, but as soon as we finished the ice cream, we all couldn't wait to get home and have the shrimp and fries. mom would make 1/2 as shrimp cocktail, 1/2 fried shrimp. and the fries were great; big thick steak fries. those were some of the best foodie days i can remember as a kid.

 

[pdswife]

Middie, Luv'sFood, and SierraCook; you all told stories that made me snicker audibly, almost brought tears to my eyes with the effort of not disturbing the rest of the house with laughter.

My two most memorable childhood experiences with food were not the best. The first, I was hungry for some cooked fish. I checked the fridge and freezer. There was none to be had. I looked in the cupboard of canned goods for some canned salmon, to make salmon patties. All I could find was a can of sardines. I opened it, dredged them in some farina, and fried them up in a bit of oil. I guess I was about 9 or 10 at the time. No one else was home. If I recall, they actually tasted pretty good. But as I jsut finished eating them, my parents arrived. The first words our of their mouths were "What's that awfull smell?" I didn't get in trouble but was asked to make myself something a little less offensive to the nose, like fried eggs or something.

The second and definitely most memorable experience came in an alleyway behind my grandpa's house. I was with a freind who was a year or so younger than me. I was about eight years old with this one. My buddy, Gordy, said he'd heard that they ate worms in Africa. Me being a child during the 60's, I had no internet, or other resources to confirm or disprove what Gordy said. I said something to the effect that we had nothing to cook them with and so couldn't see if it was true. Unfortunately, we did have a freshly used paper cup and some matches. And my grandpa's place was a great place to pick nightcraawlers for fishing, so turning over any fair sized rock would usually produce good worms.

Yep. It's true. I place a big nightcrawler into the paper cup, lit the cup on fire, and cooked the little critter in the flames. It only took one bite to convince me how totaly wrong Gordy was. The powerful and fowl flavor was indescribable. It was just plain bad, if harmless. Lifter, if you read this, you (and anyone else who fishes with nightcrawlers) can attest to the stench created by forgetting a box-full of worms in the car-trunk on a hot summer day (my Dad did that a couple of times. I did it with a chicken from the supermarket, similarly foul, but different). There is no worst odor. That's the same way they taste. I still shudder at the memory. I bet the worm wasn't too happy either

That's the most memorable I've got.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

No body likes me
Every body hates me
I'm going to go eat worms.
First ya bite the head off
then you suck the juice out
then you chew the rest like gum!!
Yum
Yum!

lol.

Great story Goodweed!

 

[PA Baker]

then you chew the rest like gum!!
Yum
Yum!

lol.

I never heard that line before! Ick!

 

[pdswife]

then you chew the rest like gum!!
Yum
Yum!

lol.

I never heard that line before! Ick!

My son taught it to me years ago.
I sing it to him now when ever he refuses to come
over for dinner. lol

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

[quote="pdswife1




No body likes me
Every body hates me
I'm going to go eat worms.
First ya bite the head off
then you suck the juice out
then you chew the rest like gum!!
Yum
Yum!

lol.[/quote]

My eldest daughter has said that little piece to me as well. But I'll let her be the ownere of that one in my family, and continue to drive everyone nuts with "Dad jokes". I wonder if they realize that Dad jokes are told by dads because of their annoying nature, not because they're actually funny. I don't have to be clever anymore. It's more fun amusing myself at my kid's expense. After all, they've driven me nuts for over twenty-five years now. But I wouldn't change one of them. They make me proud in some way alsmost every day.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North