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Strange Family Food Traditions

Roguejim said:
I want to see one of those baskets on a stick.  LDHS, what type marinades did you use, and what type dipping sauces?  This sounds like a slow paced meal that could take hours.  Marvelous!
 
Would these be the baskets?
 
http://www.templeofthai.com/cookware/hot-pot-skimmer-6210000534.php
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Lots of choices Googling "spider strainer" ...
 
I think the bamboo + twisted wire mesh is the traditional choice ...
 
I'm more likely to rock one of the stainless versions though, personally, because i'm going to be doing some wok'ing on the grill as well ...
 
grantmichaels said:
 
Lots of choices Googling "spider strainer" ...
 
I think the bamboo + twisted wire mesh is the traditional choice ...
 
I'm more likely to rock one of the stainless versions though, personally, because i'm going to be doing some wok'ing on the grill as well ...
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I'm not sure about that spider strainer.  I have one of those for my wok.  I guess you could just drop the meat/veggies in the hot pot, and then skim them out with the spider strainer.  But, I was under the impression that the wire baskets held the meat/veggies enclosed within.  Maybe LDHS will clear things up.
 
Alright, back to the topic at hand...
 
I don't know if this is a family tradition somewhere, but it happened at least once in my family.  One morning in my teen years, I was standing in my parents kitchen when my Grampa walked.  He saw that there was some still warm bacon grease in a pan on the stove.  He proceeded to toast a piece of bread in the toaster.  When it was toasted, he took it over to the stove and sopped up the pan grease with it.  Yeah, he ate it.  A Depression-era thing?
 
grantmichaels said:
 
It's always perfect for Danielle and I (who don't agree about very many dishes - at all) to make things with a common base ingredient and then we'll each pretty much choose our own adventure from there ...
 
I'll slice beef ...
 
She'll slice chicken ...
 
There's *very* little overlap, LOL ...
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That was part of the appeal for my parents I think - I loved veggies, brother notsomuch, I hate mushroom, mom & bro love mushies, etc.

Also "yummy", not "tiny" - stupid phone.
grantmichaels said:
 
Lots of choices Googling "spider strainer" ...
 
I think the bamboo + twisted wire mesh is the traditional choice ...
 
I'm more likely to rock one of the stainless versions though, personally, because i'm going to be doing some wok'ing on the grill as well ...
Click to expand...
Yeah - so many kinds - ours weren't as deep as those in the link - more like a shallow spoon basket.

If I were shopping for a set I'd use stainless too.

Another family tradition was my dad's habachi & kabobs, but that's a story for another day as it's not very strange.

Re: marinade, we'd usually soak the beef in red wine, rice wine vinegar, soy and hella garlic. A lot of the marinade cooks out in the broth, but there's enough to leave a subtle hint. Dad would also bust out a soy vinaigrette & a chili sauce for dipping. :cheers:
 
I love hot pot! A friend of mine, who has lived in China on and off for years got me hooked on it. He's now married and lives in China full time, but a group of us still do it a couple times a year, and every time he comes home to visit of course. We usually have 3 pots going. One vegetarian (hot and mild), one regular (hot and mild), and one extra hot for the chileheads (which is most of us). It's quite the spread with all kinds of veggies and mushrooms you don't normally see around here, along with various shaved meats, tofu, weird Asian meat balls and fish balls, tripe, and a bunch of other stuff. I like to put some sesame oil, minced garlic, and pepper powder in a bowl for dipping. Yum!
 
 
 
 

As far as family food traditions go, kalamojakka (kah-la-moy-a-kah) is a good one. It's a creamy potato and fish head soup that my grandmother made often. It was created and named by Finnish immigrants in the Lake Superior region. Whenever we caught Pike we would save the livers and the heads for grandma to make kalamojakka. My mom still makes it, but without the heads and livers. She uses cubed fish instead, but I think I might have to bring it back to the old school next time I catch some Pike.
 

 
Yummy! :P
 
Roguejim said:
Alright, back to the topic at hand...
 
I don't know if this is a family tradition somewhere, but it happened at least once in my family.  One morning in my teen years, I was standing in my parents kitchen when my Grampa walked.  He saw that there was some still warm bacon grease in a pan on the stove.  He proceeded to toast a piece of bread in the toaster.  When it was toasted, he took it over to the stove and sopped up the pan grease with it.  Yeah, he ate it.  A Depression-era thing?
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wow my grandfather used to to the same thing as well as just white bread with butter and used that to mop up the juice from the plate that remained after taking steaks off the grill I wasn't a fan of the bacon grease he loved it. But loved steak jus. He was from Ireland maybe some type of Irish immigrant thing. :)
 
My wife's grandmother would spread butter on slices of cheese as she ate them. She said it "helped them go down easier"... lol   :sick:
 
oldsalty said:
wow my grandfather used to to the same thing as well as just white bread with butter and used that to mop up the juice from the plate that remained after taking steaks off the grill I wasn't a fan of the bacon grease he loved it. But loved steak jus. He was from Ireland maybe some type of Irish immigrant thing. :)
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The British have fry bread? Bread fried in bacon grease. It's bloody addicting. I think everyone has a wierd use for bacon grease, much like the habit of using it as a base for "gravy" south of the border.
 
 
 
Steak drippings are amazing, I make a sauce hehe. Fry garlic, add cream or not, steak dripping and sometimes cheese. First time I made it with a cambozola, delicious.
 
Roguejim said:
Alright, back to the topic at hand...
 
I don't know if this is a family tradition somewhere, but it happened at least once in my family.  One morning in my teen years, I was standing in my parents kitchen when my Grampa walked.  He saw that there was some still warm bacon grease in a pan on the stove.  He proceeded to toast a piece of bread in the toaster.  When it was toasted, he took it over to the stove and sopped up the pan grease with it.  Yeah, he ate it.  A Depression-era thing?
Click to expand...
Pork fat rules, especially if its bacon. Maybe a depression era thing, people back then didn't know about stuff like cholesterol and omega-stuff. They just knew what tasted good. I watched my grandpa do it, and my father, they both lived into their 80's. If dying that young is the price to pay for continuing the tradition at least I won't die hungry :drooling:
 
I don't find this strange because we had it maybe every other week the whole time I was growing up. I know my grandmother regularly made it when my mom was growing up, too. However, whenever I mention it, people give me one of those "you've got to be kidding" looks. But they always agree it's awesome after they try it. "It" is simply a beef chuck roast with horseradish spread all over the top of it before roasting, roasted low and slow. The horseradish cooks down quite a bit, seeping its juices into the meat. Funny thing is that my mom never made a gravy with the drippings, but I do and it's awesome on mashed potatoes. The beef can also be done in a slow cooker. It looks better done in the oven, but sometimes looks just don't matter. 
 
Yeah - beef juices are not strange at all. At a restayrant I'll often mop up with bread or use mashed potatoes as a means to mop it up.

At home when I have a lot after carving a roast I'll usually make a gravy.

Seems like a very common practice.
 
paulky_2000 said:
We are a fondue family......and have been for 3 generations. Shrimp, lobster, scallops, steak, pork, chicken, cheese.....you name it, we've tried it.
 
I've posted more fondue pictures than all of THP combined......
 
.....but I'm not above posting MORE! :party:
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I love eating it (out), but it's been ages ...
 
I've only had it once at home, and I didn't make it.
 
If you light the path, I'll walk it within a couple of weeks ...
 
Slightly off topic but I have a fondue story.
 
On New Year's Eve 1999, awaiting the new millennium we had some friends over for dinner and had some fondue set up.  One of the fondue pots had the cooking oil in it for cooking the chunks of meat...well it caught fire at some point just before we all sat down to eat.  My dad in his infinite wisdom rushes over and grabs a glass of water and throws it in the pot.  The result was pretty impressive as it created a pillar of fire that shot up to the ceiling and knocked a lot of the flaming oil over onto the table.  not even a second later one of the cats we had climbed all the way up my dad's body like it was scaling a tree, did a backflip off of him and ran like a bat out of hell down the stairs to the basement.  In the meantime my mother had already grabbed a pot lid and smothered out the flames.  That table still has burn marks on it and it happens to be the prep table in my office area where I pack up all my pepper seeds.
 
sicman said:
When i was little if you didnt eat your food you got slaped,lol.  Family tradition from my old Irish and German poor imigrant great grandparents.
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ya the good old days for sure do that now and you get reported to CPS and get your kids taken away from you. Just think all of our generation would of grown up in foster homes with the laws from this generation now growing up. no such thing anymore as an old fashion whoopin. They throw you in jail for that. I remember in the 70's the VP at JR High had a 18-24 inch paddle that he used for discipline. Man how the times have changed.
 
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