Squeaks' thread about embarrassingly easy recipes elicited a response
from Ravinwulf that mentioned using boxed frozen broccoli. It got me
thinking about stuff that I used to buy that I don't now.

Forty years ago, fresh mushrooms were way more expensive than canned
mushrooms -- so I bought canned. A lot of fresh vegetables now
available in markets year round were only seasonally available then --
fresh broccoli came to mind. And I had to search for zucchini - it was
not a commonly known vegetable in my neck of the woods (I had become
acquainted with it from reading Sunset magazine). I don't remember
mangoes, either. OTOH, I can pretty much guarantee I wasn't looking for
mangoes, either.

Lots of changes since those times.
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> Sweet Potato Follies added 2/24/05.
"I read recipes the way I read science fiction: I get to the end and
say,'Well, that's not going to happen.'" - Comedian Rita Rudner,
performance at New York, New York, January 10, 2005.

In article >,
Melba's Jammin' > wrote:

> Squeaks' thread about embarrassingly easy recipes elicited a response
> from Ravinwulf that mentioned using boxed frozen broccoli. It got me
> thinking about stuff that I used to buy that I don't now.
>
> Forty years ago, fresh mushrooms were way more expensive than canned
> mushrooms -- so I bought canned. A lot of fresh vegetables now
> available in markets year round were only seasonally available then --
> fresh broccoli came to mind. And I had to search for zucchini - it was
> not a commonly known vegetable in my neck of the woods (I had become
> acquainted with it from reading Sunset magazine). I don't remember
> mangoes, either. OTOH, I can pretty much guarantee I wasn't looking for
> mangoes, either.
>
> Lots of changes since those times.

I remember quite well the first time I saw broccoli. My mom was a
canned corn, peas or green beans lady. We went to dinner at friends
house and they served broccoli. None of us had any idea what it was.

When I was in junior high we ate at another friends house and that was
the first time any of use ate an artichoke. Other than seeing one on
the Little Rascals show I had no idea anyone ate them for real.

I have a wonderful coffee cake that calls for a bag of frozen rhubarb.
It used to be tradition on Christmas morning, but it's too hard to find
frozen rhubarb anymore. In season I generally have to tell the grocery
clerk what it is as most of them don't know and ask.

marcella

Marcella Peek wrote:

> I have a wonderful coffee cake that calls for a bag of frozen rhubarb.
> It used to be tradition on Christmas morning, but it's too hard to find
> frozen rhubarb anymore. In season I generally have to tell the grocery
> clerk what it is as most of them don't know and ask.

Speaking of rhubarb, fresh or frozen, you could not get it
in the stores when I was young. In fact lots of people
either never heard of it or thought it was a weed and thought
you were insane if you ate it. Luckily we had it growing on
our place and in the summer we often had rhubarb "sauce" with
our meals. That's the only way we ate it back then, although
I liked to eat a stalk raw, dipping the end in sugar with
each bite.

It's only in the last maybe 20 years or so that I've seen
it in the supermarket fresh. However, I've never bought it
because I'm not going to pay the outrageous prices they charge
for a "weed"! Now that it's "trendy" they think they can
get away with charging a lot for it! Luckily I have a
friend who has it on her property and I can get a bunch
from her. Otherwise the frozen stuff is great. I think
frozen rhubarb has been around longer than fresh in the
stores.

Kate

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?

Marcella Peek wrote:

>
> When I was in junior high we ate at another friends house and that
was
> the first time any of use ate an artichoke. Other than seeing one on

> the Little Rascals show I had no idea anyone ate them for real.
>

Might have choked Artie but it ain't gonna choke Stymie.

GP

"Dog3" wrote:


>> I have a wonderful coffee cake that calls for a bag of frozen
>>rhubarb. It used to be tradition on Christmas morning, but it's too
>>hard to find frozen rhubarb anymore. In season I generally have to
>>tell the grocery clerk what it is as most of them don't know and ask
>>
>>marcella
>
>Gawd, I love rhubarb. Can you elaborate?

Here you go

Strawberry-Rhubarb Coffeecake

1 lb bag frozen rhubarb (3 cups sliced)
1 16oz pkg frozen, sweetened strawberries
2 T lemon juice
1 C sugar
1/3 C cornstarch

3 C flour
1 C sugar
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 C (2 sticks) butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 C buttermilk
1 t vanilla

In a heavy saucepan combine: rhubarb, strawberries and lemon juice.
Cook over medium heat. In a bowl stir together cornstarch and sugar.
Gradually stir cornstarch mixture into hot fruit. Heat to boiling and
cook until thickened. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda
and salt. Using a pastry cutter or two knives cut in the butter until
it resembles coarse crumbs.

Mix together eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Stir liquid mixture into
flour mixture until just blended. Pour half the batter into the greased
pan. Top with fruit. Drop remaining batter by spoonfuls over the fruit
filling.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until it is golden brown and bubbly. Cool the
cake for 10 minutes. Serve warm.

I think this is more of a cross between a coffeecake and a cobbler. It
works for breakfast or dessert. Either way it's very good. I have
substituted ollalieberries for the strawberry-rhubarb mixture and that
is good too. Just be sure to adjust the sugar to the fruit you use.

marcella

In article >,
Melba's Jammin' > wrote:


> Forty years ago, fresh mushrooms were way more expensive than canned

Not quite 40 years ago, I worked at the biggest produce warehouse in town
for a couple of summers after high school. We got in mushrooms...once.



> fresh broccoli came to mind. And I had to search for zucchini - it was
> not a commonly known vegetable in my neck of the woods (I had become


I don't remember seeing zucchini at the warehouse or in stores. People
grew it in their gardens, though. Sometimes in the summer we would drive
out in the valley and buy fresh corn. I don't remember if my parents
picked it, or waited while it was picked to order, but it was right out of
the fields. One day the farmer sold my parents these giant zucchini.
They were about the size of an arm, but thicker, the kind that I now put
right in the compost. They were really cheap. My parents asked how to
prepare them, and were given a hand-written recipe. They cut them and put
them through the grinder. They added salt and waited to draw out some
moisture. Then they added various spices and other ingredients, and then
canned the mixture. It was kind of a sweet pickle relish, and very good.
My parents made it for years, always with giant zucchini. I never knew
that there small ones that you could cook and eat until I was an adult.

--
Dan Abel
Sonoma State University
AIS

Dan Abel > wrote:
> In article >,
> Melba's Jammin' > wrote:

>> Forty years ago, fresh mushrooms were way more expensive than canned
> Not quite 40 years ago, I worked at the biggest produce warehouse in town
> for a couple of summers after high school. We got in mushrooms...once.

My elementary school was downwind from an ancient mushroom house. Took
us quite a while to eat any mushrooms of any kind. A long while.

>> fresh broccoli came to mind. And I had to search for zucchini - it was
>> not a commonly known vegetable in my neck of the woods (I had become
> I don't remember seeing zucchini at the warehouse or in stores. People
> grew it in their gardens, though.

Can't remember the first broccoli sighting, almost certainly frozen.

But didn't George Bush Sr. say he didn't like broccoli when he was a
kid and since he was an adult he didn't have to eat it. There must have
been some around back then or he has told an "untruth".....

cycjec wrote:
>
> Dan Abel > wrote:
> > In article >,
> > Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
>
> >> Forty years ago, fresh mushrooms were way more expensive than canned
> > Not quite 40 years ago, I worked at the biggest produce warehouse in town
> > for a couple of summers after high school. We got in mushrooms...once.
>
> My elementary school was downwind from an ancient mushroom house. Took
> us quite a while to eat any mushrooms of any kind. A long while.
>
> >> fresh broccoli came to mind. And I had to search for zucchini - it was
> >> not a commonly known vegetable in my neck of the woods (I had become
> > I don't remember seeing zucchini at the warehouse or in stores. People
> > grew it in their gardens, though.
>
> Can't remember the first broccoli sighting, almost certainly frozen.

biig > wrote:

> But didn't George Bush Sr. say he didn't like broccoli when he was a
>kid and since he was an adult he didn't have to eat it. There must have
>been some around back then or he has told an "untruth".....


What was available to the rich was not necessarily available at the
small town A & P. And they got chances to go to foreign countries to
see the sights and eat the food and not at the military's expense and
desire.



--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral, 48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)

On Tue, 22 Mar 2005 07:51:19 -0600, Melba's Jammin'
> wrote:

>Squeaks' thread about embarrassingly easy recipes elicited a response
>from Ravinwulf that mentioned using boxed frozen broccoli. It got me
>thinking about stuff that I used to buy that I don't now.

This may not be completely on point, but I remember when my family
rotated back to the States from England in the mid-60s (I was but a
wee lass, of course) and hit a USAian supermarket for the first time
in 3 years. My mother went bonkers. There was toothpaste in a pump,
pie crust in a refrigerated can, frozen bread dough, Pepperidge Farm
refrigerated desserts and 3 kinds of canned mushrooms (sliced, whole
and pieces). Don't recall what else, but Mother was in prepared food
heaven.

Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd
AAC(F)BV66.0748.CA

"If the soup had been as hot as the claret, if the claret had been as
old as the bird, and if the bird's breasts had been as full as the
waitress's, it would have been a very good dinner."

-- Duncan Hines

To reply, replace "spaminator" with "cox"

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> Squeaks' thread about embarrassingly easy recipes elicited a response

> from Ravinwulf that mentioned using boxed frozen broccoli. It got
me
> thinking about stuff that I used to buy that I don't now.
>
> Forty years ago, fresh mushrooms were way more expensive than canned
> mushrooms -- so I bought canned. A lot of fresh vegetables now
> available in markets year round were only seasonally available then
--
> fresh broccoli came to mind. And I had to search for zucchini - it
was
> not a commonly known vegetable in my neck of the woods (I had become
> acquainted with it from reading Sunset magazine). I don't remember
> mangoes, either. OTOH, I can pretty much guarantee I wasn't looking
for
> mangoes, either.
>
> Lots of changes since those times.

Yes, we have a wonderful abundance of fresh vegetables now. On the
other hand, in the 1950's not far from downtown Los Angeles we had
chickens and rabbits in the backyard. When we had eggs or fried
chicken, or chicken fricassee, or fried rabbit they were FRESH and
GOOD. -aem

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> Squeaks' thread about embarrassingly easy recipes elicited a response
> from Ravinwulf that mentioned using boxed frozen broccoli. It got me
> thinking about stuff that I used to buy that I don't now.
>
> Forty years ago, fresh mushrooms were way more expensive than canned
> mushrooms -- so I bought canned. A lot of fresh vegetables now
> available in markets year round were only seasonally available then --
> fresh broccoli came to mind. And I had to search for zucchini - it
> was not a commonly known vegetable in my neck of the woods (I had
> become acquainted with it from reading Sunset magazine). I don't
> remember mangoes, either. OTOH, I can pretty much guarantee I wasn't
> looking for mangoes, either.
>
> Lots of changes since those times.

I guess it's because I was raised "military" - the commissaries seemed to
stock things regular grocery stores didn't. I gather this was due to the
multi-cultural experiences of most military personnel, who were used to food
items found overseas. My earliest memory of fresh broccoli, hmmm, I must
have been 5 (that would have been 40 years ago). Zucchini I don't
specifically recall but I don't remember never *not* eating it.
Artichokes - ate my first one at age 9 and remember sharing another with
friends out by the curb and instructing how to scrape the 'meat' off the
leaves with your teeth.

Jill

On Tue, 22 Mar 2005 07:51:19 -0600, Melba's Jammin'
> wrote:

>Lots of changes since those times.

Years ago when you made 'scarole, as for soup, you had to wash it
forever to get the dirt and sand out. Now you can buy it in the
grocery store and it has been cleaned up a lot. My mother almost died
from happiness when she discovered that.

When I moved to the midwest in the '70s and brought in escarole soup
for lunch one day, it was looked at like soup from another planet.
Then, Bon Appetit published an RSVP recipe for "Italian Wedding Soup"
and it has a name and foodie credibility :>

Even common vegetables are conveniently packaged- baby carrots, for
example.

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

"Curly Sue" > wrote

> When I moved to the midwest in the '70s and brought in escarole soup
> for lunch one day, it was looked at like soup from another planet.
> Then, Bon Appetit published an RSVP recipe for "Italian Wedding Soup"
> and it has a name and foodie credibility :>

Heh, I remember the first time I saw escarole soup being made. Looked
pretty perplexing to me, I was only maybe 20. Then I had my ex mil's
Italian Wedding Soup and I was hooked. I even requested she make it
for my wedding rehearsal dinner. My bridesmaids were quite skeptical
about it. Then, years later, they would have it on the menu occasionally
at the cafeteria at work. So, once when I looked at the weekly menu,
I said, oh! Italian Wedding Soup. Seems whoever was with me had
thought all along that it was some cafeteria made up name.

> Even common vegetables are conveniently packaged- baby carrots, for
> example.

Do they call them that? I don't think they are really baby carrots, just
ground down regular carrots. At any rate, I don't have a problem buying
that packaged stuff for the most part.

nancy (making cream of broccoli today, I know I shouldn't)

In article >,
(Curly Sue) wrote:

> On Tue, 22 Mar 2005 07:51:19 -0600, Melba's Jammin'
> > wrote:
>
> >Lots of changes since those times.
>
> Years ago when you made 'scarole, as for soup, you had to wash it
> forever to get the dirt and sand out. Now you can buy it in the
> grocery store and it has been cleaned up a lot. My mother almost died
> from happiness when she discovered that.
>
> When I moved to the midwest in the '70s and brought in escarole soup
> for lunch one day, it was looked at like soup from another planet.
> Then, Bon Appetit published an RSVP recipe for "Italian Wedding Soup"
> and it has a name and foodie credibility :>
>
> Even common vegetables are conveniently packaged- baby carrots, for
> example.

What's more, the grocery stores seem to carry a wider range of fresh
produce than they did years ago. One supermarket near me have a whole
wall filled with different kinds of bagged salad greens. Just today, I
went grocery shopping at a supermarket in Delaware and I noticed this
store had a lot of fresh mushrooms that I had never seen before.

In article >,
Stan Horwitz > wrote:
>In article >,
> (Curly Sue) wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 22 Mar 2005 07:51:19 -0600, Melba's Jammin'
>> > wrote:
>>
>> >Lots of changes since those times.
>>
>> Years ago when you made 'scarole, as for soup, you had to wash it
>> forever to get the dirt and sand out. Now you can buy it in the
>> grocery store and it has been cleaned up a lot. My mother almost died
>> from happiness when she discovered that.
>>
>> When I moved to the midwest in the '70s and brought in escarole soup
>> for lunch one day, it was looked at like soup from another planet.
>> Then, Bon Appetit published an RSVP recipe for "Italian Wedding Soup"
>> and it has a name and foodie credibility :>
>>
>> Even common vegetables are conveniently packaged- baby carrots, for
>> example.
>
>What's more, the grocery stores seem to carry a wider range of fresh
>produce than they did years ago. One supermarket near me have a whole
>wall filled with different kinds of bagged salad greens. Just today, I
>went grocery shopping at a supermarket in Delaware and I noticed this
>store had a lot of fresh mushrooms that I had never seen before.

Some of the produce-buying advice I got from my mom was "when you see
raspberries or asparagus, JUST BUY THEM, don't fret about the price" which
was true then, as rasps/asparagus had a short spring season.

Now they're available year round. (I generally won't buy them outside
season though ... too expensive and I just think it's wrong.)

But the selection was more limited and far more seasonal, even in the
California farmland.

Charlotte
--