Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Ten on Tuesday - Quite a mouthful

Today's Ten on Tuesday is quite a mouthful, both literally and figuratively (also creative and interesting!) - 10 Foods You Eat Regularly Now That Were Exotic (or unheard of) When You Were a Kid. None of the foods I eat now are particularly exotic, but I was a kid in the late fifties through the seventies, so remember that jello salads were exotic, and spaghetti with Ragu was an ethnic dish!

1. Yogurt
I had never even heard of yogurt before I was in college, and then it was the fruit-on-the bottom Dannon. I made my own with a yogurt maker in the seventies, but since it stopped working, I just use the crockpot-wrapped-in-a-towel method.

2. Whole wheat bread
We only ate white Sunbeam bread (Batter Whipped?!) when I was a kid, but during that broadening of my horizons that was college, I discovered whole wheat bread. Now almost all of the bread we eat (except for homemade cinnamon rolls!) has some whole wheat flour in it.
 3. Muesli
I had never heard of this until some European friends shared theirs with us 30 years ago. It used to be impossible to find, but Amazon and health food stores make it easy now.

4. Chard
I honestly hadn't eaten this before my husband started planting it in our garden about five years ago. It's not one of my favorites, but I'm experimenting with new and better ways to prepare it, so I like it a little more every year.

5. Fresh tomatoes
I grew up in a non-gardening family, and we ate supermarket tomatoes, even in the summer. Once I tasted fresh tomatoes from my father-in-law's garden, there was no going back to the sad supermarket imitation of a tomato.

6. Turnips
My husband loves these, so we eat them often since we've been growing them in the garden. Crapshoot (our version of clapshot) is my favorite way to fix them.
 

7. Brussels sprouts
These were definitely not in my mother's rotation of frozen vegetables when I was a kid, but I have my husband to thank for these also. I probably like the way they grow and their cute miniature cabbage appearance a bit more than the taste, but growing them yourself does make them taste better.

8. Marinated anything
While marinating isn't terribly exotic, my mother didn't marinate anything. I found the world's best beef/game marinade about 15 years ago, tinkered with it over time, and now use it weekly, especially in the summer. I'm still looking for the world's best chicken marinade, so I'd love your suggestions!

9. Game meats
I'm lucky enough to have a family with two hunters, so we eat a lot of game meat. The taste was an acquired one for me, but I'll always choose venison or elk over beef now. Venison is a staple in our house; we've also enjoyed elk, squirrel, rabbit, and bear.

10. Pad Thai
I'm thankful that my older son helped me branch out and eat a tiny bit more adventurously. We searched for Pad Thai during our road trip across the country to move him to Colorado, and had fun trying all the Thai restaurants in Fort Collins. My area back in NJ is woefully deficient in decent Thai food, so I may try making my own Pad Thai as soon as I can find rice noodles, fish and oyster sauces, and tamarind concentrate!

6 comments:

  1. I, too, was a child of the 60s/70s. I could have every single item on your list . . . on my list, too! (Whole wheat bread? Who knew. . .)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pad Thai is something I love, too! It interesting to see everyone's veggies. In my family, we had so many of them, because my mom was raised a vegetarian (definitely before it was fashionable!). I envy you your garden!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am so enjoying these lists!

    Oh God, white bread. At least you ate a "brand" - ours was always the cheapo store brand, which made Wonder Bread seem artisanal ...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Turnips and chard are definitely things I came to as an adult, too. Greens meant spinach and sometimes collards.

    ReplyDelete
  5. My parents were "foodies" back in the day and willing to try new stuff. So I was the freaky kid who always brought a lunch from home that was a sideshow in the cafeteria. Crumbly brown bread and weird healthy desserts. I still eat that way, though, and am grateful for the variety. Great photos of your veggies. And I'm jealous of your sprouts. Can't seem to get them through the summer!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yogurt and pad Thai are the only two on your list that would be on my list, all the other foods you've named I've had as a kid. My dad was quite the adventurous gardenerr and foodie before his time :)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting and taking the time to comment! :-)