Childhood & Sentimental memories

cathodetube

Olliebeak wrote: »

Hello cathodetube

It's good to get a part-American slant on things .

On my last trip to the States, I went into a huge supermarket in Wisconsin and noticed that there didn't seem to be a big selection of cheeses - some brie, camembert and maybe some gorgonzola but that was about it. And Wisconsin is supposed to be a 'dairy state' isn't it? Have to admit to being a cheese fanatic myself - have you ever tried a bit of Lancashire or Wensleydale with digestive biscuits and maybe a little bit of cranberry sauce on top? Absolutely delicious!!!

I have a cousin in Illinois and she had never heard of Mince Pies - thought they sounded disgusting - she doesn't know what she's missing!

The only tea I've ever noticed in the US is Lipton's - which always reminds me of 'Psycho' as Norman keeps a tin in the kitchen cupboard. I haven't seen that on sale in the UK since the 50's.

The china bird in a pie is called a 'pie funnel' and it's designed to let steam escape from the filling so that the pastry doesn't get too soggy underneath.

Where I grew up, we had an outside toilet, no bathroom and no running hot water until 1970 and that was in quite a large town - not a remote cottage. That meant we had to have chamber pots (or 'guzundas' as we called them - because they 'goes under' the bed)! But they were emptied EVERY morning, thoroughly washed and soaked with bleach, before being put back under the beds with fresh disinfectant in them and ONLY to be used during the night.

We had coal fires as well but could only ever afford coal for the fire in the living room - apart from at Christmas when we would get an extra bag so that we could light the parlour fire when visitors were coming.

Hi Olliebeak, I was born in Wisconsin and the car license plates had "America's Dairyland" at the bottom. My mother used to give us horrible processed cheese in our sandwiches, even though there was better stuff. The best cheese in the States I think is Canadian, called Black Diamond Cheddar. There was another one called Pinconning, a kind of reddish cheddar. I have to take teabags with me when I go back, in order to have my morning cuppa and I leave any leftovers to people who appreciate better tea than liptons. I also found that if I ordered tea in restaurants there they would bring a solitary tea bag alongside a teapot of already boiled water. And sometimes they served cream! with it instead of milk. Ugh. That was because lots of Americans have cream in their coffee instead of milk. My mum used to go to the Marks and Spencer in Windsor Ontario, Canada when we lived in Michigan in order to buy crumpets and stuff like that.

I like cheese in a heated pita bread with chilli jelly on the cheese. Have you ever tried that? I also love French cheese and it is so easy to find here, unlike the States.

I always take over English biscuits and chocolate with me when I go back, like chocolate digestives, and Curly Wurlies and Crunchies. Plus Thornton's toffee and their chocolates. They are to give to people I stay with. It's extremely easy to stay away from American mass produced chocolate, it's pretty disgusting. The only thing I really like is the Reece's peanut butter cups which you can get over here now.

We used to eat peanut butter and jam sandwiches growing up. I liked raspberry and strawberry, but it's also really nice with lemon curd! The best I have found here is the Duchy Organic one.

That's all for now folks!

recovering_spendaholic

Isn't this a lovely thread? I love reading about people's memories. I grew up near Liverpool in the 60's and 70's and remember that at school we used to have a tuck shop which sold little glass bottles of pop for 3d. We always used to take the 3d and a big penny for "tap". You used to get your little bottle of pop and then put it in your mouth and tap like mad on the bottom or the side of the bottle with the penny and all the fizz would fill your mouth. If we didn't have enough money for a bottle of pop we would just ask people for a bit of their "tap" and they would give us a go of the bottle with the penny. I remember the noise of all the clacking bottles every playtime. Imagine what the Health and Safety Police would say about it now? The tuck shop also sold these things called potato puffs - a bit like quavers but not flavoured and much nicer.

passion8

Hello again

I've just read through some of the other posts again and realised there's a recurring theme - bread and sugar sandwiches

Us kids would eat most things in bread, apart from what nuttyrockeress's Dad suggested , and I'm wondering where thin bread went to now Olliebeak lol. Like bommer I'd have brown sauce on bread - HP, and later on, Titbit sauce, (the best lol) which was made in Yorkshire IIRC, but which was taken off the market

We'd have jam sandwiches, lemon curd sandwiches, golden syrup sandwiches and more often than not, toothache lol, and as a poster above mentioned, eating jelly cubes. More jelly cubes were eaten than jelly made lol.

Lettuce and sugar wasn't something I'd ever heard of until reading this, or "milk sops", but I remember having lettuce sandwiches with lashings of salt. It seems that most things went in bread, or were dipped in bread, like bread in gravy. Luverly lol, thanks for reminding me Nix143

Rhubarb dipped in sugar, as many other posters have mentioned, and crisp sandwiches, but not when the crisps came with the seperate twist of salt, and having home-made bread. My daughter inherited my Mam's bread bowl and it seemed huge when I was little. It's still huge, just not as huge as I remember lol, but seeing it reminds me of how we'd watch the bread rising and wishing it would hurry up and get baked .

Because we always lived in council flats and houses until we were all married, hot water wasn't a big problem, yet we only had one bath a week! It was probably more often, but Sunday night was bath night and the night we we all had our hair checked over: those combs really hurt didn't they? LOL.

A lot of the families in the street didn't have bathrooms, and had to go to the public baths which adjoined the local public wash house, usually on a Saturday morning. My future husband did - before he went off to Locarno for the afternoon lol.

The local washhouse was always full; most folk had to book a week in advance and I remember going with friends and even my Mam, to do the weekly wash. We'd get up at silly o'clock and load everything into massive washing machines and then feed the sheets through giant rollers to squeeze out the excess water (or were they the irons??) Whatever it was it was always a two-handed job, but everyone helped each other and I still remember the smell of soap and suds.

Like BusyGirl, payday in our house was a Thursday. My Dad would give my Mam his wages (not literally), but he'd only keep enough money to pay for his Old Holdburn, my Mam's cigs - 10 Park Drive, a few bottles of Indian Pale Ale, which my parents both drank and which was always drunk at home and only on one night a week, and treats for us kids. We never had a babysitter because we never needed one - Mam and Dad didn't go anywhere unless it was with us kids, but going to bingo then was a family affair. I remember my Dad winning the jackpot, probably about £2, and being out of pocket because he insisted on sharing it with all and sundry

I can't remember how much pocket money we got, but it didn't last long - or long enough lol. As others have mentioned, we'd pay a penny or something to get into the Saturday matinee, and take empty jam jars. I think these were recycled at a local pickle factory where, if you got a job, you'd first have to buy a sharp knife .....rofl.

If times were lean, families could peel and prepare pickled onions at home, (but not bottle them), to subsidise their wages. They were paid a pittance. My Mam once had a sack of them delivered from the pickle factory but the house stunk so bad and the smell really lingered, that we'd do any odd job for money so that she never had to do it again It didn't stop her going 'tatie picking', and I remember her fingertips cracking because of the cold

It appears like we had no money and we didn't compared to some, but my Dad always had a job, and did an overnight shift on top - just one night a week - Friday, at a local bakery. Saturday morning was bun morning lol, and us kids would get up, fill our faces with cakes that we'd never have been able to afford, then go back to bed!

Thinking back, we probably were poor, but needs must then, and things weren't as grim as they appeared, honest! We can't have been; I remember a family that lived near us that used to have their tinned tomato soup watered down, one tin of water to one tin of soup. Unlike ours which was one quarter water to one can :cool: .

We didn't have a family holiday until my brother got a car. We only had a motorbike and side car (like Mildred and George's, with plastic windows and a canvas roof lol), but as it only seated 2 in the side car and 2 on the bike, we were restricted to day trips, usually to the seaside which took 3 times longer to get there than it does now! If the motorbike and sidecar wasn't up to it, we'd go somewhere in the Dales in my brothers car, get nettled, be cured by dock leaves lol, and return home blotchy but happy .

Moving on swiftly, (there's SO many posts lol), but does anyone else remember smog? It's nearly been eradicated now due to less coal fires and industrial laws, but it was MUCH worse than any fog that we occasionally have now. You couldn't see a foot in front of you, and many people suffered with chest problems. It brought public transport and industry to a virtual standstill.

There was an outbreak of Asian Flu in the late 50's, and I recall being so ill that my bed had to be moved into the living room, although I don't recall too much as I was too busy hallucinating. I can still remember the hallucinations, and even today the memory scares me. Most families were affected by it, especially those like us that lived in flats, but then the doctor made house calls daily, and unrequested, there wasn't any of this making appointments palaver.

I can't recall many allergies either but maybe time's played tricks on my memory but as shetitasatic mentioned, I remember the outbreak of polio, but our vaccines were given in sugar cube form, for which we all queued up one evening at the local school.

There seemed to be vaccinations for everything in those days - I felt like a pin-cushion lol, and still bear the scar at the top of my arm from one, can't remember which now, although I do remember all libraries telling people not to return books due to some contagious infection or other.

I've whittered on enough for now, but later I'll be having tomato soup with burnt toast, something that's not recommended these days lol, but which brings back happy memories

But lastly, for now, congratulations to bommer for this thread's inclusion in Martin's Weekly Money Tips! :T

Thanks again to all posters. I love reading this thread :rotfl:

(Just logging out and I noticed rosieben's post. I vividly remember the Keynsham advert and Horace Batchelor! LOL)

rosieben

passion8 wrote: »

... (Just logging out and I noticed rosieben's post. I vividly remember the Keynsham advert and Horace Batchelor! LOL)

Horace Batchelor, thats the man!!! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

This is such a wonderful thread, great memories everyone, keep 'em coming!

cathodetube

More sandwich stories - one of my favourites growing up was called grilled cheese . It's not grilled though! You take 2 pieces of sliced bread, brown or white, but quite plain, ie no bits in them, butter the outside of the bread and in the middle put sliced cheese. I like Cheddar. I also add sliced raw onion rings and slices of tomato and salt and pepper. Take a non-stick frying pan and cook the sandwich on each side until brown. The cheese will have melted and the tomato will be really hot so be careful. Cut in half and enjoy. The veggies can be left out if preferred. This sandwich is served everywhere in the United States. It's what little kids eat when there is nothing else they fancy. It's very comforting. We would have this with tomato soup on Sunday nights sitting on the floor with our feet under the coffee table while watching television. I make it a lot in the winter. Every time I have made this for friends they love it.

Other American sandwiches I like are egg salad and tuna salad. Hard boil some eggs and add chopped onion, celery, mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Serve on either plain buttered bread or else toasted bread. Do the same with the tuna. The celery and onion add a nice crunch to the fillings.

The weather is so awful today I think I will make the grilled cheese.

A drink you can't get here is Vernors Ginger Ale. It's delicious. Different from the Canada Dry American Ginger Ale. We had it a lot growing up and would make ginger ale floats, with vanilla ice cream.

My parents would frequently take us out for ice cream after dinner. There was a Baskin and Robbins near us and my dad would always get Rocky Road, which was chocolate, with almonds and marshmallows. There are some Baskin and Robbins in London but they don't have Rocky Road any more.

So hungry now and it's time for breakfast. French toast anyone? Beat eggs and milk together, and you can add cinnamon. Dip sliced bread in the mixture and cook in a non stick frying pan turning over until browned. Serve with cooked streaky bacon and maple syrup. Some neighbours used to sprinkle icing sugar on the top as well. They did that to their pancakes and maple syrup too! Brush teeth afterwards!

cathodetube

Olliebeak wrote: »

Just when did Thin Sliced white bread disappear from the shelves? Bread nowadays is soooooooooo thick when it comes to making sandwiches - and it seems to be getting thicker all the time.

Once upon a time there was unsliced and then came sliced! Then along came Thick Sliced with some loaves being Thick at one end and Thin at the other! All very well and good - but then out came Medium sliced - which was meant to be the best of both worlds. BUT WE STILL HAD THIN SLICED for posh sandwiches for afternoon tea and visitors.

Now the bakers do Toastie bread and even EXTRA THICK - but the Thin seems to have disappeared completely.

Bring back the Thin sliced bread, I say! Bring back the Thin!!

Hi Olliebeak
Can you find a good old fashioned baker with a slicing machine? There are a few I know in London who will slice up your fresh loaf either thickly or thinly. Larger Waitroses (do you have them where you live?) have instore bakeries who will slice up your bread. I love a nice chewy thinly sliced granary loaf myself. There is a really nice old fashioned independent bakers in London N8 called Dunn's who have the most gorgeous granary bread. They also do things like Chelsea Buns and lemon drizzle cake. At Christmas they have lovely mince pies. I love Chelsea Buns as they remind me of American Cinnamon Rolls. There is a chain of shops selling those in airports.

Olliebeak

Thanks cathodetube - my local supermarket is an ASDA and they do have a bakery where they will slice any of their in-store bread for you. But the bread is usually quite crusty - the thin sliced stuff that I'm yearning for is soft-baked like Warburtons or other brand bread.

I do love the bread from the ASDA bakery but I prefer to cut it myself using my own break-knife. Have to keep Mr.Ollie away from a break knife though - he wrecks the loaf EVERY time and then it's only fit for serving with soup!

cathodetube

Olliebeak wrote: »

Thanks cathodetube - my local supermarket is an ASDA and they do have a bakery where they will slice any of their in-store bread for you. But the bread is usually quite crusty - the thin sliced stuff that I'm yearning for is soft-baked like Warburtons or other brand bread.

I do love the bread from the ASDA bakery but I prefer to cut it myself using my own break-knife. Have to keep Mr.Ollie away from a break knife though - he wrecks the loaf EVERY time and then it's only fit for serving with soup!

I think Warburton's were recently doing a big publicity/advertising campaign where they prided themselves on being in touch with their customers. You should write to them with a list of your requirements! You never know. I used to buy their Milk Roll Bread. It made nice toast.

Do you make croutons with the bread Mr. Ollie damages? I sometimes make curried ones with bits of bread. They go well with lentil and carrot soup.

bonnieheather

WOW great thread!

i grew up in the north east coast of scotland and where i lived i had the best of both worlds, a 5 min walk to the beach and a 5 min walk to the countryside.. i was spoilt for choice.
most of the time it was down the beach during the day and playing in the hay bails at night
sitting on the doorstep till about 11pm playing with my dolls
eating lucky tatties
i remember one morning my sister and me found thousands of jelly fish on the beach and thought it would be great fun to collect them in a bucket, what we were going to do with them then i have no idea lol
collecting crabs and taking them to the sand banks to see if they could get back to the beach ( there was a busy road, a couple of houses and a field inbetween the banks and the sea! kids eh lol)
walking to school everyday with my mates and thinking it a great treat if we got a lift from one of the dads!
walking to my friends house when we had power cuts in the pitch black and thinking how grown up i was
and my fav memory... going for a walk with my granda and his dog in the morning, then being allowed to sit by him and his friends eating their boiled sweets, but not being allowed to but in and talk while they were discussing mens stuff! lol lol
oh my gosh, i can think of so so many things i could write a book, thanks so much for allowing me to remember all the great things about my childhood

bonnie :j

recovering_spendaholic

My Mum used to buy unsliced bread, cut off the crust and then butter the uncut side of the loaf and then use a long sharp knife to slice the bread wafer, wafer thin for sandwiches or for with fish. I still do it now and it gets the bread soooo thin - I love it like that! If you don't butter the loaf before you slice the butter will tear the bread because it is too thin.