Food Culture

Foods I never remember seeing/eating in the house I grew up in:
Tang or Kool-Aid or other powdered soft drinks

gravy--except for the white kind with chunks of meat in it that is usually served over bread or biscuits. My mom did make biscuits 'n' gravy sometimes and I really didn't like it. Mom, could I be correct in recalling that this white gravy was sometimes made with TUNA as the "meat" in it? No, I never remember having mashed potatoes with gravy.

Cool-whip--didn't even know what this was until high school, I think. But, come to think of it, what IS it?

American cheese/kraft singles/velveeta/"nacho" cheese--I do remember seeing Cheez Whiz once. Recalling this, I'm racking my brain for why it would have been in my mother's house.

store-bought jam or jelly--the exception to this is that my mom did purchase mint-flavored apple jelly to be served with the lamb chops she very occasionally served to us.

Skippy, Jif, or any other kind of peanut butter than Adams brand. What? You don't keep your peanut butter in the refrigerator?

Foods I DO remember eating with some regularity at some point in my childhood:
Any kind of canned meat and seafood, including
liverwurst

deviled ham

sardines

stuff like oysters and clams and kippers

Spam, but only very occasionally
Vienna sausages, which I believe my dad, not my mom, bought

Yes, I regularly ate this kind of thing without complaining. I may have known it was a little bit weird.

Also, it was normal to have
orange juice or lemonade but not any other kind of juice
jars of cheese pimiento or pineapple cheese spread--my mom would serve this spread on celery (mmm!) and then use the little jars as juice glasses when they were empty
graham crackers with butter spread on them or topped with cheddar cheese--tasty, actually.
cheese toast--just what it sounds like: bread (always wheat) with cheese melted on it, usually prepared in the oven broiler.

Sometimes as a kid I would secretly steal a package of jello. I would open it and empty it into a little baggy. Then I would lick my finger, dip it, and lick it again. Ahh, sweet sugary goodness. No one would ever know unless they paid attention to what color my fingers were. I also remember sneaking out one evening with my sister to walk to Circle K. We just had to try one of the BarNone candy bars we were hearing ads for on the radio, so we went to get one. I don't recall it being worth the trip.

This is just a glimpse of the food I was raised with. No fair mocking, though. Just share your own food upbringing, and I will be happy.