Easy question for me. Beirocks aka runzas in some parts of the country (N/S Dakota, Nebraska, etc,). My family is German-Russian & settled in Portland, OR. Beirocks are my single most missed ethnic food. Don't get me wrong -I make perfectly yummy beirocks. But, they are not my Mom's beirocks. I can't even tell you what's the difference. I think it's just that she made them and I miss her.

/tricia

For Nana, Apple Cake with Maple Icing and Colcannon......but not together!!

For my Mom, Butter Tarts and Spaghetti with meat balls.

My grandma used to make home-made noodles just on Christmas and chicken and noodles was always our first course. We all LOVED them. When I got married, I decided I would try to make them myself. Grandma was no longer alive and I'd never seen her make them. Well, not knowing what I was doing, when I tried to roll them out, it was like trying to roll out a rubber band. I couldn't get them thin enough to even cut them. I never had luck with them until many years later when I got a pasta maker. I just roll them thicker like hers were...not as good, but edible at least.

My Grandma made good chili.
My Mom excelled at apple pie, all gravy's and stuffing for in a turkey.

Mom tried, but she usually didn't season things much. But then, maybe I should just say, I grew up on bland Mid-West cooking... :)

Nancy

My mom's red-cooked pork belly, with my mother's own preserved red rice. I've tried making it but it just doesn't taste the same.

My grandmother was an awful cook.

Cheryl

My grandmother's sour milk chocolat4e cake....often too crumbly because she added too much baking soda....but the dark chocolate icing held the crumbs together nicely!

My mother's lamb stew....made with breast of lamb. I am sure I could duplicate it if I could buy the proper lamb.
And cod fish cakes....made with boxed salt cod and mashed potatoes and served with scalloped tomatoes.

Oh yes and Grandma's watermelon pickles....never could find a proper recipe.

Fried chicken, boiled shrimp, chicken fricassee, pound cake and blueberry muffins. I wasn't into vegetables back then although we had plenty.

My mother was an unenthusiastic cook (still is) but with 6 kids to feed she baked a lot of bread and did a lot of canning from our very large vegetable garden. My favorite "home at last" food would be her homebaked bread, warm from the oven and her home canned end-of-summer vegetable soup. As we grew up, my siblings and I would fight over jars of that soup to take home with us.

seagrass

Linda,

On my first trip to Boston's North End salt cod was what I purchased. Being a CA kid, I had no idea what to do with it so I left it on the kitchen table still wrapped in the paper from the Italian shop. In the middle of the night my Chow, Blackjack, started howling. DH went down to check expecting a prowler but when he opened that kitchen door from the hallway the smell just about bowled him over! (big grin) No wonder the dog was howling! DH tossed the cod out the back door to deal with in the morning. Wasn't there - some animal must have carted a treature off. Whew, did it ever stink.

How do you cook with that stuff? I know you are supposed to soak it several times but how do you keep it in the house long enough to prepare? Seriously, I'd try again but it really was horrific after just a few hours. The Italian shop had them hanging by the dozens from the ceiling & it didn't seem all THAT bad in the store. Geesh.

/tricia

Chicken & sausage gumbo. Or, alternatively, crawfish etouffee. Or, if you're really gonna get down to basics, rice and gravy. I could eat a plate of just that.

Having just posted in the "Cooking Channel's 50 States Claim to Fame Dishes" about dishes from Ohio, and more specifically from Cincinnati had got me thinking about this.

Cincinnati-style chili - beanless chili served on spaghetti, topped with shredded cheddar cheese.
Bratwurst with sauerkraut - The brats there are different from what most other places sell as bratwurst.
Canned Mock Turtle soup - Although I don't know what a "mock turtle" is.
Goetta - Ground beef and pork, and oats cooked together, cooled, sliced and pan fried. "Its like scrapple, except it actually tastes good" :-)

Whenever I post the recipe, I always include the line "DO NOT BROWN MEAT! " in all caps as the first line of the method section, because that's the way my mother originally wrote it on the hand-written recipe card.

My mother can't cook. She thinks she can but no one else thinks so.

My grandmother's cooking was tasty but very basic. She rarely seasoned with anything but salt and pepper except for Thanksgiving when she put powered sage in the stuffing which was flavorful but the texture of a moist brick. I can't say I miss my grandmother's cooking nearly as much as I miss her. She did make tasty fried chicken, something I have never made. And I was fond of her fruitcake which was not soaked in booze. They were teetotalers.

I think I will make fruitcake this year in her honor. Mine will be boozy. I don't think she'll mind.

E

My Gram, being from Great Britain- it would be Steak and Kidney pie. She made it in a large pan(probably a 9x13). I remember her placing a blue tea cup in the center of the pan so the crust would not droop into the filling. I would eat the steak and potato parts but not the kidney!
My mom it would be tuna noodle casserole. I just love the stuff! Even though it is all "canned" cooking it still makes me smile when we have it and I could eat the whole pan full. NancyLouise

Stuffed green peppers and dumplings(cooked in the tomato sauce that the peppers were cooked in).
Or, Kolache(it was pronounced kolach-kee by my Bohemian mother).

During her lifetime, hundreds of people enjoyed my mother's cooking and baking. She always did a lot of entertaining, in addition to helping cook for church and community organizations and making her specialties for bake sales and potlucks.

For her memorial service, I made a little booklet with her most popular recipes. Sand tart cookies, chicken pot pie (the square noodle kind, not the kind with a baked crust), lemon chiffon cake, PA Dutch potato filling, and pot roast were the ones that said "home at last" to me.

I included some food stories too, like the time an out-of-town member visited the VFW hall where she was president of the women's auxiliary to find a dozen brawny men rolling out noodle dough under her supervision. Another time she complimented a restaurant chef on his potato filling only to discover her recipe for it from a community cookbook pinned to a bulletin board in his kitchen.

I put the booklets near the doorway so people who came to say their goodbyes could take them home. I'm sure my mom would have liked that.

Wow, Ruthanna, what a moving tribute to your Mom. I'm sure she was smiling.

Any chance you'll post that PA Dutch potato filling recipe?

My Mom (family arrived 1743, lived in Northampton & Bucks County, maiden name - Hertzel/Hartzell) was PA Dutch. Some of her family's recipes survived the family's eventual landing in Oregon but after she married Dad she cooked mostly German-Russian, very different cuisine.

/tricia

My Mom and Dad were Ohio born and raised. When I was little we lived on a farm there and then we moved to town. My Mom and Grandmother's all cooked down-home stick to your ribs food. It was ALL good. Fried chicken, pot pie with lard crust, apple pie with the same lard crust, pork chops with scalloped potatoes layered together. Meatloaf made with bread crumbs and a wide strip of catsup on the top, the best tangy cabbage slaw, wonderful potato salad with creamy mayo dressing that had yellow mustard in it and = parts vinegar/sugar to make it zingy, any homemade soup but especially vegetable beef made with the beef she and grandmother canned. Chicken and noodles...made again with their canned chicken. I could go on and on...what a wonderful thread. c

Tricia, I'm on my iPad and the recipe is on a flash drive at home, where I probably won't be for a couple of days but I know the one on the link below is nearly identical, except for my mom using about half the amount of celery and onion. I believe it was posted there by the father of Cindy who used to post here.

The PA Dutch recipes on Teri's site are very authentic, at least in comparison to the way my relatives made those same dishes.

There are still many Hartzells in this area. I live in Lehigh county, which is right next to Northampton county.

Here is a link that might be useful: Potato filling

My mom is an eclectic but very good cook. She made a lot of the usual hippie fare - but unlike many of my friends mom's she made it taste good. For some reason grape leaves stuffed with venison became a thanksgiving tradition in my family. She also made really good granola and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.

Her mom was from Ohio and came from a meat and potato background. Her dad gave her a weekly meal ticket at a local hotel so she would get some meat in her young days in Columbus before and during the depression. Well into her nineties she prepared herself lovely elegant meals. She made delicious broiled lamb chops, filets and drumsticks glazed with sherry. She also made an incredible peach pie with fresh peaches and a lot of whipped cream.

My Mom's Kolache! YUM! Sure miss those!

Here is a link that might be useful: kolache

I am lucky that my mom lived long enough such that I copied and used many of her best recipes, and incorporate them into my family's routines. Overall, I think I'm more adventurous, particularly when it comes to "ethnic" food. She cooked fairly plain, wholesome food (potatoes, usually mashed 5 times per week), and never used garlic until she was past 90.

I was only 10 when my maternal grandma passed, but I remember spending several summers with her. She must have taught mom to cook...lots of potatoes, but then, Grandpa was Irish. One little thing I do remember was the icing Grandma used on cakes/cupcakes. It was different than Mom's. I remember asking her how she made it and she showed me. It seemed to be the very same butter icing, ingredients + methods, as Mom's. But it was different. I can't really explain. I never did figure it out. My icing is like Mom's...

My grandparents were all gone before my memory started but my mother's memories:
- Meatloaf with the good crust on it.
- Pot roast
- Turkey in the electric roaster at the holidays
- Homemade dinner rolls for special occasions
- Meatballs
- Fried fish

Bound to be more but these are off the top of my head.

Both my Memeres died long before I was born but their recipes have been handed down. Favorites are: Baked custard, home cured ham, Ragu, pork cabbage soup and Tourtieres.

My favorites from my mother are her Thanksgiving stuffing, beef marrow bone soup, country style chicken and Creton. I can duplicate those dishes pretty well but my absolute favorite was Mom's pot roast. I watched her make it numerous times and I have followed her instructions but mine never comes out the same. I was convinced it was the pan so I hunted an exact duplicate down through an antique dealer and purchased it. Even with the pan, my pot roast does not come out like Mom's.

Ruthanna, I'd love to get the chicken pot pie, PA Dutch filling and pot roast recipes of your Mom's. What do most folks serve the filling with?

My NC grandmother made some wonderful food: "fried" June (early, tart) apples with the peel on, chocolate pound cake with caramel icing, biscuits and sausage gravy (my "last meal"), fresh cooked green beans and new potatoes, fried chicken, the home canned tomatoes she would bring to me when I was in college, etc. My grandfather made us floats with vanilla ice cream and fruit flavored sodas.

Sure wish I could duplicate my mom's stewed beef in gravy she made in her pressure cooker. Maybe it is time we have a session in my kitchen with my pc making her stewed beef? Mom also makes the best macaroni and tomatoes which my sisters and I love. And her Mexican Cornbread is just the best. Too many other favorites to recall just now.

My mom hears a lot from me about the CF and she loved getting the results of our Spanish Bar quest for recipes a number of years ago. She has made the Orange Marmalade cake from Jan Karon's Mitford books. At 86 she still does a lot of cooking from scratch and shares it with her family, neighbors, and the staff at the Memory Center where my dad lived for the past two years.

Teresa

Theresa, follow that same link for the potato filling above and click on PA Dutch Recipes, then chicken pot pie. That is just how she made it, except for adding a Tbs. of liquid chicken fat to the Grandma noodle recipe. That was her secret ingredient. I will post the pot roast recipe next week when I get home.

My grandmother's homemade bread - always ready for breakfast with butter and her strawberry jam - that's the reason I bake and make preserves. And her Swedish meatballs - I've never been able to duplicate the taste, though I've tried, I wonder if the recipe from "I Remember Mama" might work!

My mother - Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner - they were the best, not only for the food, but the family. Her roasted meats were always perfect, and mashed potatoes and gravy had no equal. No burnt offerings from her.

Grandma - "German Pancakes"; she'd call them "panny-cakes". I've never been able to duplicate them. Thin, rich, rollable and delicious.

Mom - amazing pies but she didn't make them often enough for me, maybe a couple times a year. My favorite pie is still custard-rhubarb she'd make with hot-house rhubarb. Oh my gosh, soooo amazingly good. She made a mean tuna casserole - I loved it with bread, butter and jelly on the side (yep, we were simple folks!). Pork chops and applesauce. Baked halibut, scalloped potatoes, cole slaw and blueberry muffins was another big favorite. Turkey dinner! She roasted that bird to perfection. I'm still trying to duplicate her flavorful, moist stuffing and rich giblet gravy. Orange & brown sugar glazed yams and creamed pearl onions always made an appearance. She'd often forget to put the Parker House rolls in the oven to warm before we all sat down to scarf up all the goodness. Gosh, who needs rolls when you've got a legitimate feast going on? :) Miss my Mama!

I wonder what my kids would say they remember about my cooking? Hmmmm....

My mom made porcupine meat balls which i really loved.

But my grandmother from Germany made a nut cake. It was similar to fruit cake but had only nuts. I have never found a recipe that matched what I remember. If any of you have something you could share I would be so appreciative!
Diane

In younger years my mother's Swiss Steak, Lamb Chow Mein, junket, puddings and her wonderful chocolate dessert with ladyfingers and Droste Icing. Later years...steak, lamb chops, spaghetti and meatballs and some awful lowfat salad dressing. Her cooking skills or her taste seemed to wane.

My grands (5&7) think I make awesome scrambled eggs, chicken drumsticks and lemonade. I wouldn't have thought those were my specialties! LOL

Ruthanna, I just wiped a tear from the corner of my eye.
Thank you for aharing your story.

What a great thread. I miss grandma/bubbie! (Yes, I had one of each!)

Mom's mom was Dutch, and I don't remember anything remarkable about meals at her house, but she had an awesome garden and fresh home grown produce says "Home at last" to this Michigan girl. I remember eating fresh picked blackberries with cream at grandma's. But the "home at last" moment for me always when visiting grandma (mom drove us up about once a month) was walking into her house and going straight to the cookie jar on the front closed in porch. Almost always there would be my favorite molasses cookies. I have grandma's recipe but it makes enough for an army so I don't make them too often. She also made a very bland sugar cookie I didn't much care for, and homeade cake donuts. I never much cared for those like the molasses cookies. "Home again" at grandma's and also at my mom's house means someone will put the kettle on for afternoon tea. That almost always includes a little something sweet, like the cookies. Sadly, these days due to having to be on a low acid diet, I can't drink tea. That is the saddest thing for me. But I try to make do with afternoon low acid decaf coffee!

Bubbie lived in our hometown, and we used to go there on Sundays for the whole shebang--homeade chicken soup with either homeade noodles or matzoh balls, roast chicken with the stuffing in the bird, homeade applesauce, boiled or mashed potatoes, salad, cooked vegetables and usually macaroons, jelly candies or chocolates for dessert. Bubbie made oatmeal cookies too, which I loved. Her kitchen had big windows and was always kind of shadowy because she probably didn't turn on the light in there often to save money. She had one of those old fashioned little refrigerators with the rounded edges and big chrome handle, and a big porcelin sink hanging from the wall with a skirt around it. Linoleum on the floor. How I miss that kitchen, with the chrome table and the chrome chairs with naugahide, and Bubbie would make me another one of my favorites--lukshen noodles, which is a noodle pudding but Bubbe's version was just noodles, cottage cheese and cinnamon sugar.

It is one of my great sadnesses that I don't have a family that wants to get together for one of those Sunday family meals. Oy vey, all those carbs!!

My own mother was a similar cook to her mother--from her I gained an appreciation for vegetables and fresh fruits. And afternoon tea. Her specialties are potato salad made with grey poupon mustard and dill weed and lots of eggs, and a cucumber and sour cream salad made with chives. Dad is uber picky so mom wasn't able to spread her culinary wings much. But I really loved those summer meals--burgers with homegrown tomatoes on top, home grown corn, and those salads! Home grown watermelon or muskmelon for dessert. And for Sunday brunch, waffles with strawberries and sour cream and MI local maple syrup.

Luckily, I carry on most of their traditions, I just sadly don't have any children in my life to pass these traditions on to.

No particular dish as all of them were great! Both my grandmothers and my mother were excellent cooks. Coming home from school was pure heaven with the smell in the kitchen.

Back home to me is Germany. I would like a nice serving of Rouladen, red cabbage and potatoes, with nice dark gravy of course.

TIA

:)

Moni

My Mom was an excellent cook and baker. In her kitchen it would be slow cooked home made spaghetti sauce, prime rib of beef with Yorkshire pudding, pot roast, batter dipped & fried chicken with corn fritters, and lots of baked goods like cakes, cookies, cupcakes and pies.

I don't really remember a lot from my grandmother's kitchen because she was getting pretty up there when I was young. All I do remember is there was always a pot of tea. I had mine with lots of milk & sugar and cookies.
Clare

Clare that's how I had my tea at grandma's too, on the good china, with lots of milk and sugar and cookies. One of my favorite parts of going to grandma's. My grandma had 7 sisters and one brother, so every special once and a while, the "girls" (at least the five of them that lived nearby plus their one brother and his wife) would get together for a tea. Many of them were hard of hearing from a childhood measels bout, so that was a real kick of shouting and misunderstandings! What I wouldn't give to go back to that time!!