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Archiver > IRISH-AMERICAN > 2003-05 > 1052018831


From: "NEIL MURPHY" <>
Subject: Re: [Irish-American] May 3, 2003
Date: Sat, 03 May 2003 20:27:18 -0700


Yes, oatmeal and cod liver oil: I remember them well. Oatmeal was for the
colder months, preferably with raisins; rice krispies or corn flakes when
the weather was warm (with raisins, or for a real treat, with peaches). And
I actually LIKED cod liver oil!!






----Original Message Follows----
From: "Joan Vooris" <>
To: "NEIL MURPHY" <>,<>
Subject: Re: [Irish-American] May 3, 2003
Date: Sat, 3 May 2003 23:02:13 -0400

Did you grow up in my house??
But we had oatmeal every morning
and our daily dose of Father John Medicine
or cod liver oil

----- Original Message -----
From: "NEIL MURPHY" <>
To: <>
Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2003 11:44 AM
Subject: Re: [Irish-American] May 3, 2003


> I've been reading all you people have written on potato salad, hasty
pudding
> and oatmeal and thinking about what we ate in my home when I was a 3rd
> generation american-born kid.
>
> Boiled potatoes, nearly every day, without parsley or any other
garnishing.
> I usually flattened mine with a fork and put some butter on them.
Whatever
> we ate, my mother and grandmother seldom used any spices and I can't help
> but think that was because very religious Irish-Americans believed that
if
> you ate spicy food, you might be moved to do spicy things, and god forbid
an
> Irish lass should think of such things. Even salt was used sparingly, and
> that was evident when we had some Mueller's egg noodles. God is BLAND.
>
> The meat that we ate, which was chopped chuck usually, cooked in a frying
> pan, and was always well done whether you liked it that way or not (in
our
> house you weren't asked how you wanted it). I think that might have
> religious logic,if there is such a thing, behind it too: cook it until
you
> can be sure there's nothing left in it that might inspire your children
to
> express their irreverent sides.
>
> There were never any seconds, either. What was on your plate was all you
> got, and you were expected to ingest every speck of it. And as for
dessert:
> I don't remember any, but I know my mother made cookies now and then, and
> jello, and butterscotch pudding once in a while, and crumb cake, and we
may
> have been offered some after a meal, but I remember eating it in between
> meals, or in the evening when we were listening to the radio or watching
TV.
>
> OH! I almost forgot the meat loaf. It was as exciting as overcooked
string
> beans (which we had often). The concept has always seemed to me to be a
good
> one, but the way my mother and grandmother made it, it wasn't a whole lot
> better than stale C-rations. About the only thing I can remember liking,
> which seemed to taste good even though it was immersed in boiling water
for
> 45 minutes before you were allowed to eat it, was spinach, with lots of
> butter.
>
> Boiling!! That's how my mother cooked nearly everything except minute
> steaks, which we had maybe once or twice a month, if there were no
unusual
> expenses. And, rarely, breaded veal cutlets, which tasted like top-shelf
> cardboard. I was shocked when I found that Italian-american families
think
> of veal parmigiana as very ordinary food that they eat at least once a
week.
>
> Chicken: that was fancy food, we only had that on sundays, and chicken
was
> another one of those unusual foods that wasn't boiled. Fish wasn't boiled
> either, but it was cooked so well that I was about 25 before I discovered
> that all fish do NOT taste the same!!
>
> I've forgotten a few things about what was put on our plates then, but
I'm
> sure there are some folks out there who remember similar things and
> different things and will respond to this post with bittersweet
> memories of their own, and we'll have a laugh or two and think about how
> happy we are to have discovered things like lobster, T-bone steaks, brie,
> baked alaska, oysters, fettuccine alfredo and sushi.
>
>
>
> ----Original Message Follows----
> From: Pat Connors <>
> Reply-To:
> To:
> Subject: [Irish-American] May 3, 2003
> Date: Sat, 03 May 2003 07:03:10 -0700
>
> from the Irish Birthday book...
>
> 1785 First meeting of Irish Academy (Royal Irish Academy from 1786)
>
> --
> Pat Connors, Sacramento CA
> http://www.connorsgenealogy.com
> Professional Genealogy Research
> All outgoing mail virus free, scanned by Norton 2002
>
>
>
>
>
>
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