Badly-made food you love

[Beto]

The favorite thing from my youth is Chef Boyardee pizza. The one that comes in a kit that you make yourself, for that "homemade taste". My mom always said that they smelled like vomit but I love 'em.

[Abby]

Ditto on the burnt toast. I love burnt toast--best when its been sitting around for a day or two abandonded in the microwave or on the kitchen counter. Then spread with butter.

Another food sin: Green bean cassarole. You know the one with the cream of whatever (mushroom, celery?) and French's fried onions on top. Oh Jeez.

Spam--right out of the can, sliced into thick slabs and put between two slices of white bread. Miracle Whip spread liberally overall.

[bleachboy]

Spam--right out of the can, sliced into thick slabs and put between two slices of white bread. Miracle Whip spread liberally overall.

I like Spam sandwiches, too. Although I prefer my Spam fried until jet black.

[RSincere]

The favorite thing from my youth is Chef Boyardee pizza. The one that comes in a kit that you make yourself, for that "homemade taste". My mom always said that they smelled like vomit but I love 'em.

Wow, I was just talking to my neighbor about that the other day, how my mom always made those disgusting Chef Boyardee pizzas that smelled like vomit! Then my neighbor says, "Oh, I love those, I make those all the time!"

[FL Heat]

Basilgirl, Slyaspie, Phaelon. . .

THANK YOU!

I found Halloumi at the import market today (while looking for a different cheese) and snapped it up, read the directions, and fried the stuff up. Wow. I will no longer settle for the cheese dripping over the edge of the pizza.

And to stay on topic, I like it fried probably a little too long (past that pretty golden-brown phase) and I like it better without all the acoutrements

Diana

[viva]

My grandmom's tuna casserole. Canned tuna, dried noodles, cream of mushroom soup, canned peas and carrots, and dried french's onions on top. It was oh-so delicious.

My badly-made food cravings all come from Grandma's cooking. Grandma made a similar version of tuna casserole without carrots and breadcrumbs instead of french’s onions, then mixed and topped with shredded cheddar. It’s my ultimate comfort food. The key is for the noodles to be cooked to oblivion, so that they kind of blend into the cream of mushroom surrounding. If you have to chew, it ain't made right.

Other Grandma-hand-me-downs...

Velveeta on cheeseburgers and in macaroni & cheese.

Sloppy Joes: McCormick sloppy joe seasoning, tomato sauce, cheap ground beef. All served on a Wonder-white bun that soaks up the sloppy joe sauce and turns pink in the process. I’m actually thinking about going to the store and getting some fixings for these right now.

Ranch dressing served on any other greasy junk food. Hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, chips, fries, onion rings - you name it. It was considered a universal condiment in Grandma's eyes.

Diana - That burned cheese from pizza is not awful food! That's a delicacy!

Yes it is! I take any frozen pizza, bake it for necessary time, then switch to broil and get the cheese uniformly burnt and crusty (but still gooey underneath). I usually burn the roof of my mouth, but it is incredibly critical to eat the pizza quickly so you get that crusty-gooey combination.

Generally, I love burnt food of any kind. Grandma’s quote was usually “Brown it’s cooking, black it’s done.” I’m a product of my upbringing.

[esperanza]

In my elementary school, they made a pork and sauerkraut main dish thing that was something I yearned for. I still think about how they might have done it. The pork was gray and stringy, the flavor leached out into the sauerkraut. It was always served with mashed potatoes, so that the sauerkraut/pork juice ran under the potatoes and it tasted---*sigh*--I've never been able to duplicate it.

Re that Greek cheese: I do the same thing here in Mexico with queso asadero. One day the light bulb went on in my head that I really love (1) grilled cheese sandwiches and (2) the crispy burned cheese that drips out over the edges of the bread. Since that light bulb, I've started grilling the bread first (a good bolillo) and then grilling the cheese separately, letting it get good and brown on one side, then flipping it to brown the other side--then sliding it onto the bread. What a treat!

[Carrot Top]

Many of the replies to this question of 'Badly-made food you love' have been the foods of childhood. There is a saying by Lin-yu-Tang which I can not pull up at the moment, (but perhaps someone else can?) about how politics or love of country is defined as the tastes one had in their youth.

It is strange to remember, in this time where everyone either loves to cook or at the least is knowledgeable in a gourmet-ish way, that in the past generation, cooking was mostly considered a daily task that HAD to be done, endlessly. You couldn't just send out for pizza or pop over to Burger King. Many mothers really did not enjoy cooking, but nonetheless, we have lots of memories of 'Badly-made foods we love'.

A lot of the foods listed in these replies also have the advantage of strong flavors, salty!, caramelized or toasted toppings, creamy cheeses melted over everything.

So that must be the answer. If you HAVE to cook badly from tiredness or lack of ingredients, at least be sure to make it salty, creamy and toasty.

There you have it. An instant 'keeper', that your kids will love much more than the freshly made pasta primavera that you struggled over for hours!

[dumplin]

Burned toast.

My mom would tell anyone at the table who didn't like their toast burned to go to the sink and "scrape it to your desired degree of doneness."

My grandpa called that "yakky doodles" because my grandmother burned the toast every morning and made such a racket scraping them off in the sink.

I love my mom's clam vegetable soup. Its made with campbell's potato soup, canned milk, canned clams, celery, bell peppers, and bacon. Its not an authentic clam chowder, but I love it. I don't like real clam chowder, but I'll eat a whole pot of this.

[mags]

Many of the replies to this question of 'Badly-made food you love' have been the foods of childhood. There is a saying by Lin-yu-Tang which I can not pull up at the moment, (but perhaps someone else can?) about how politics or love of country is defined as the tastes one had in their youth.

It is strange to remember, in this time where everyone either loves to cook or at the least is knowledgeable in a gourmet-ish way, that in the past generation, cooking was mostly considered a daily task that HAD to be done, endlessly.

I've usually seen that quote translated as "What is nostalgia but the love of good things one ate in childhood?"

Not to bump the thread off track, but I think one of the mistakes we may make here at EG is in assuming that "everyone either loves to cook or at the least is knowledgeable in a gourmet-ish way." I don't think that's true at all. I think there's a huge population out there that doesn't really think much about food, and sure as hell would rather not be bothered trying to cook it. Much of the time they don't have an option, but I don't think it's something they want to do. At least three of my close friends fall into that category, actually.

Food in my childhood was pretty generally vile. But I do have very happy memories of the lettuce sandwiches that my elementary school used to offer as "the vegetable" (Wonder Bread, Miracle Whip, and iceburg lettuce -- fab!) and of a long-disappeared product called Cool and Creamy Pudding that I was occassionally able to blackmail my mother into buying.

[laurenmilan]

But I opened the can, and smelled that chocolate chemical smell, and I can't do it. I just CAN'T put that stuff on my cake. The unopened cans I'm donating to a food shelter along with some of the other things I purged out of my pantry--Stove Top, etc.

But I can't put that crap on my beautiful cake!

That's definitely one of those "once you've made ******, you never go back" items. If you're at the point where you're making your own cakes, you're definitely noticing the difference in those, and you'll probably find the storebought frosting similarly lacking.

[helenjp]

Does stuff you make badly all by yourself count? I'm too impatient to soften the butter for a quick tomato sandwich, so I end up with a sandwich consisting of alternating lumps of tomato and butter, with gaps that allow the tomato juice to sog right into the bread. It's a texture that requires a fair bit of black pepper to get it back into "food" territory, but every mouthful is a surprise...

[browniebaker]

Many of the replies to this question of 'Badly-made food you love' have been the foods of childhood. There is a saying by Lin-yu-Tang which I can not pull up at the moment, (but perhaps someone else can?) about how politics or love of country is defined as the tastes one had in their youth.

"What is patriotism but love for the good things we ate in our childhood?" -- Lin Yutang, The Importance of Living

Edited July 19, 2004 by browniebaker (log)

[mags]

Ohhh, right, patriotism, not nostalgia.

[CompassRose]

You know, those scraped toast ashes have a very distinctive taste/texture/aroma. I wonder if once collected they could have any culinary use...

Not exactly culinary, but possibly as a fix for particularly grave culinary disasters; burnt toast is recommended in several old-fashioned home remedy books in my collection for poisoning. (Make-your-own charcoal tablets.)

[Abby]

I have seen burnt bread crumbs listed in recipes for pumpernickle bread in at least 3 bread cookbooks I own. Somehow it just doesn't seem right.

[TJHarris]

I hate to admit to it but... Stouffer's Frozen Mac & Cheese in the Microwaveable single serving container. Nuked 2 minutes more than the directions call for so that you end up with lots of crusty-crunchy bits

I know... a little strange.

[vox]

i really really love lipton's rice and sauce packets...probably from my university days...but they're little salt-injections that i can't say no to.

i also love kraft dinner with cocktail weenies.

and spam sandwiches...fried spam on buttered toast

and corned beef hash they way they sell it in diners, the kind that probably comes out of a giant bag or can

and fake gravy...the reconstituted from powder kind.

[mrsadm]

When I was a kid I liked Spaghetti-O's...

[Ling]

kraft dinner with no milk added but extra butter

[sparrowgrass]

kraft dinner with no butter--just extra (real) cheese grated in.

[picaman]

burnt toast is recommended in several old-fashioned home remedy books in my collection for poisoning. (Make-your-own charcoal tablets.)

That's probably why my mom was feeding it to me with the rest of her cooking.

<RIMSHOT>

<\RIMSHOT>

Jamie

[Mayhaw Man]

Slim Jims

Don't say it's not a meal. It all depends on how many you eat.

And I love that crock pot roast as well. It smells great when it has been simmering a few hours and the pot is loaded with thin sliced onions.

[patti]

Oh my! Someone's signature line about Dinty Moore beef stew brought back a repressed memory of one of my favorite childhood meals. Dinty Moore beef stew served over hot open faced biscuits (made from a can, of course). I loved that stuff, even more than beenie weenies.

[JPW]

Slim Jims

Don't say it's not a meal. It all depends on how many you eat.

Slim Jims are one-half of my car trip snack food. I tend to gravitate toward the Tabasco spiced ones.

The other half is red shoelace licorice.

What a combo!

Mmmmmm.....