Yes, I remember boxed foods, especially sugared cereal. When we moved to NJ when I was 4 1/2, my new pediatrician counseled my mother to ban any cereal with sugar in the first 3 ingredients. All those yummy things disappeared.
When I was 15 I went on a summer program where I lived in a frat house with 21 other teens and 2 advisors. The program hired a cook who ordered food for us in bulk, Costco-sized boxes of cereal included. I appropriated pounds of Fruit Loops and tried to make up my lost consumption during those 2 weeks.
I'm not a picky eater, but this feels like a safe space to admit kraft mac and cheese with sliced hot dogs is still a comfort meal I eat once a year.
The biggest fallout from this is the only non Kraft mac and cheese I ever truly enjoyed was a mind-blowingly good side dish at Poppy & Harriet's in Pioneer town.
Oh. And because my mom only baked weird things from scratch like apricot squares I can'tfor the life of me replicate, I generally dislike homemade brownies. Which is not to say Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines are amazing--they're mediocre--but I only discovered their mediocrity when I happened upon the nirvana that is Ghirardelli dark chocolate brownies.
boxed Mac and cheese with tunafish and peas! We call it white trash dinner around here. :-) And I'm still asking questions... have you had our Mac at the holiday party?
I loved your Mac at your holiday party. I didn't grow up eating mac and cheese - I wasn't into it - but was fairly picky. No fish that was not canned tuna or in breaded stick form crossed my lips until I studied abroad in college.
Among my jags, I ate nothing but green peas from age 10 months to 2 years. Love them still.
Boxed mac and cheese with what now? As a result of some early taste bud trauma involving noodles, tuna, and a can of *checksnotes* Campbell's cream of mushroom soup, my tongue is of the firm opinion that tuna is best served pan seared, tar tar, or mixed with mayonnaise. And though my tongue loves most vegetables, peas are among the rarified few I loathe. You're probably one of those people who eats Shepherd's pie with peas instead of corn, though I learned recently that the reason my mom called it pot de chinois (her first language was French) was because it was a decided Quebecois dish that was a) called pate chinois, b)had its origin in Asian rail workers in Canada who created the dish out of desperation, and c) is a name I probably shouldn't use any more. Maybe I'll try calling it Choo-Choo Pie and see if that sticks. Yeah, that would have made my mom laugh.
And, yes, I have tasted Joe's Mac and Cheese, but he should in no way be offended because I have tried mac and cheese everywhere and pretty much am an anti mac and cheese snob because Kraft is my gold standard, or perhaps my aluminum foil standard? With the exception of the mac n cheese at Poppy and Harriet in Pioneer Town that blew my mind that I will likely never have again.
Your friend Greg did you an huge favor: Fisher's The Art Of Eating is an excellent compilation of her work. It's one of my favorites along with Pepin's The Apprentice (worth getting just for Maman's recipe for cheese soufflé). I look forward to hearing about your favorite food writers soon!
Your experience as a picky eater mirrors that of my wife. When we met she had never had fresh fish and thought fish sticks were as good as it got. All those packaged foods you mentioned were her friends, especially the Kraft M&C. I grew up with the same foods but became an adventurous eater. I worked in a French restaurant at the time, so I challenged her to try new things. She now loves seared tuna and salmon carpaccio as well as sushi and sashimi; she has eaten escargot in Hong Kong, ceviche in Mexico, duck scrapple in Cleveland, and conger eel in Chile. She will try shrimp occasionally but doesn't like the texture. She absolutely devours broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and spinach, and she insists that I make her shepherd's pie with lamb every December.
thats so interesting! for me, my mom mostly cooked homemade stuff (at least for herself, sometimes she’d make us kraft mac and cheese) and my brother actually grew to dislike it--he’d rather have a microwave meal now. i’m also sad that having dumplings so much led me to not want it for a while. ive grown to like pickles and tolerate olives.
it’s been interesting to see how my family members tries to “integrate” more western things into her chinese meals -- like using whole grain flour for her dumplings, or cooking chicken with coca cola.
Yes, I remember boxed foods, especially sugared cereal. When we moved to NJ when I was 4 1/2, my new pediatrician counseled my mother to ban any cereal with sugar in the first 3 ingredients. All those yummy things disappeared.
When I was 15 I went on a summer program where I lived in a frat house with 21 other teens and 2 advisors. The program hired a cook who ordered food for us in bulk, Costco-sized boxes of cereal included. I appropriated pounds of Fruit Loops and tried to make up my lost consumption during those 2 weeks.
I miss Carnation Breakfast bars. I am not a picky eater unless I'm served Frisee.
My mom would get soooo mad when we got into her stash! And I'm with you on the frisee. So difficult to eat!
I'm not a picky eater, but this feels like a safe space to admit kraft mac and cheese with sliced hot dogs is still a comfort meal I eat once a year.
The biggest fallout from this is the only non Kraft mac and cheese I ever truly enjoyed was a mind-blowingly good side dish at Poppy & Harriet's in Pioneer town.
Oh. And because my mom only baked weird things from scratch like apricot squares I can'tfor the life of me replicate, I generally dislike homemade brownies. Which is not to say Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines are amazing--they're mediocre--but I only discovered their mediocrity when I happened upon the nirvana that is Ghirardelli dark chocolate brownies.
I am not taking questions at this time.
boxed Mac and cheese with tunafish and peas! We call it white trash dinner around here. :-) And I'm still asking questions... have you had our Mac at the holiday party?
I loved your Mac at your holiday party. I didn't grow up eating mac and cheese - I wasn't into it - but was fairly picky. No fish that was not canned tuna or in breaded stick form crossed my lips until I studied abroad in college.
Among my jags, I ate nothing but green peas from age 10 months to 2 years. Love them still.
Boxed mac and cheese with what now? As a result of some early taste bud trauma involving noodles, tuna, and a can of *checksnotes* Campbell's cream of mushroom soup, my tongue is of the firm opinion that tuna is best served pan seared, tar tar, or mixed with mayonnaise. And though my tongue loves most vegetables, peas are among the rarified few I loathe. You're probably one of those people who eats Shepherd's pie with peas instead of corn, though I learned recently that the reason my mom called it pot de chinois (her first language was French) was because it was a decided Quebecois dish that was a) called pate chinois, b)had its origin in Asian rail workers in Canada who created the dish out of desperation, and c) is a name I probably shouldn't use any more. Maybe I'll try calling it Choo-Choo Pie and see if that sticks. Yeah, that would have made my mom laugh.
And, yes, I have tasted Joe's Mac and Cheese, but he should in no way be offended because I have tried mac and cheese everywhere and pretty much am an anti mac and cheese snob because Kraft is my gold standard, or perhaps my aluminum foil standard? With the exception of the mac n cheese at Poppy and Harriet in Pioneer Town that blew my mind that I will likely never have again.
Why can't I have BOTH peas and corn?!!
You absolutely can! I, though, cannot!
Or rather, will not!
RE KMC: That should actually read at least once a year
Your friend Greg did you an huge favor: Fisher's The Art Of Eating is an excellent compilation of her work. It's one of my favorites along with Pepin's The Apprentice (worth getting just for Maman's recipe for cheese soufflé). I look forward to hearing about your favorite food writers soon!
Your experience as a picky eater mirrors that of my wife. When we met she had never had fresh fish and thought fish sticks were as good as it got. All those packaged foods you mentioned were her friends, especially the Kraft M&C. I grew up with the same foods but became an adventurous eater. I worked in a French restaurant at the time, so I challenged her to try new things. She now loves seared tuna and salmon carpaccio as well as sushi and sashimi; she has eaten escargot in Hong Kong, ceviche in Mexico, duck scrapple in Cleveland, and conger eel in Chile. She will try shrimp occasionally but doesn't like the texture. She absolutely devours broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and spinach, and she insists that I make her shepherd's pie with lamb every December.
Duck is really one of my absolute favorite foods and it's definitely something I would never have eaten growing up!
thats so interesting! for me, my mom mostly cooked homemade stuff (at least for herself, sometimes she’d make us kraft mac and cheese) and my brother actually grew to dislike it--he’d rather have a microwave meal now. i’m also sad that having dumplings so much led me to not want it for a while. ive grown to like pickles and tolerate olives.
it’s been interesting to see how my family members tries to “integrate” more western things into her chinese meals -- like using whole grain flour for her dumplings, or cooking chicken with coca cola.
Sometimes integrating more western things isn't actually a good thing... 😉 And oh, oh, how I love dumplings!