OT - White Trash Food Peculiarities

[greenbean.sixpack]

As I was eating supper (dinner for you fancy boys) and enjoying mayo mixed into my black eyed peas, I got to thinking, what other weird things does my white trash family do when it comes to eating?

Mayo mixed in field/black eyed peas
Butter beans - never lima beans
Cornbread or crackers in milk
Peas smashed up in cornbread
Egg(s) scrambled into gravy (carried over from the depression, a couple of eggs would stretch out to three or four people) and biscuits
Salmon Croquets (carried over the depression, southerns were lacking Vitamin B3 so the government subsidized it)
Tabasco in eggs
Grandmothers or great grandmothers who didn't eat meat, cause there was none growing up
Pot liquor
Women who fixed men's plates (common up through the 70s, my wife still does it)
Frozen jello in those old small margin/butter containers
Grandparents who kept washed out milk jugs full of water and never threw away thing cause times might get tough again

What you guys got?

 

[travis.sixpack]

The white trashiest thing I ever heard of was canned pear halves filled with Mayo and covered with shredded cheese.

The trashiest thing I grew up eating was deviled ham sandwiches. I don’t know if people down here eat that, but my folks grew up poor in the Dakotas, so…

 

[Cantdoitsal]

My Granddad told wild eating and (non eating) stories having grown up in The Great Depression. On the rare occasion cooked varmit's served you make sure the meat's your last bite to retain the taste. Even if it's a Possum Nut.

 

[cowbell88]

Crawfish-yes

chitterlings-HELL NO!

 

[Wesson Bulldog]

The white trashiest thing I ever heard of was canned pear halves filled with Mayo and covered with shredded cheese.

The trashiest thing I grew up eating was deviled ham sandwiches. I don’t know if people down here eat that, but my folks grew up poor in the Dakotas, so…

We kids were in charge of the pear salad dessert on Sundays back in the day. I still eat it to this day! And potted meat sandwiches with Thrifty Maid potted meat was a must after school.

 

[Wesson Bulldog]

As I was eating supper (dinner for you fancy boys) and enjoying mayo mixed into my black eyed peas, I got to thinking, what other weird things does my white trash family do when it comes to eating?

Mayo mixed in field/black eyed peas
Butter beans - never lima beans
Cornbread or crackers in milk
Peas smashed up in cornbread
Egg(s) scrambled into gravy (carried over from the depression, a couple of eggs would stretch out to three or four people) and biscuits
Salmon Croquets (carried over the depression, southerns were lacking Vitamin B3 so the government subsidized it)
Tabasco in eggs
Grandmothers or great grandmothers who didn't eat meat, cause there was none growing up
Pot liquor
Women who fixed men's plates (common up through the 70s, my wife still does it)
Frozen jello in those old small margin/butter containers
Grandparents who kept washed out milk jugs full of water and never threw away thing cause times might get tough again

What you guys got?

Sam'n patties

 

[jethreauxdawg]

Women who fixed men's plates (common up through the 70s, my wife still does it)

You win. Mine does occasionally. Usually in a group setting because other women her age already think she’s too domesticated, so she’s just showing off.

How about drinking buttermilk? I don’t but my grandmothers did.
Fried bologna. A true delicacy
Are greens white trash? Does mixing mustard with the turnip greens affect the trashy factor?
What about mustard on white beans?
And my grandparents had tons of milk jugs filled with water.

 

[Bulldog45]

As I was eating supper (dinner for you fancy boys) and enjoying mayo mixed into my black eyed peas, I got to thinking, what other weird things does my white trash family do when it comes to eating?

Mayo mixed in field/black eyed peas
Butter beans - never lima beans
Cornbread or crackers in milk
Peas smashed up in cornbread
Egg(s) scrambled into gravy (carried over from the depression, a couple of eggs would stretch out to three or four people) and biscuits
Salmon Croquets (carried over the depression, southerns were lacking Vitamin B3 so the government subsidized it)
Tabasco in eggs
Grandmothers or great grandmothers who didn't eat meat, cause there was none growing up
Pot liquor
Women who fixed men's plates (common up through the 70s, my wife still does it)
Frozen jello in those old small margin/butter containers
Grandparents who kept washed out milk jugs full of water and never threw away thing cause times might get tough again

What you guys got?

I’d spend the night with my grandparents as a kid and supper was usually cornbread and syrup.

 

[DAWGSANDSAINTS]

Mayo mixed with field peas I heard about it, no one in my family did it but I tried it a could have times later in life bc I really like Mayo and it’s pretty dang good.
The pear with Mayo and cheese - you gotta be kidding me ?!?!
Fried bologna sandwich - with a PBR is a delicacy on Broadway in Nashville.
And it is dang good but a BLT with homegrown tomatoes is even better. Buttermilk - nope! Only needed for making cornbread, hushpuppies, biscuits and maybe frying chicken.

 

[T-TownDawgg]

Right now, somebody here is reverse-searing some spam on his new gas grill

 

[Dawgbite]

Mom did the pear halves with Mayo and cheese, if company was coming she would put a cherry on top. When the cherries were all gone I’d get to drink the cherry juice. She would sometimes do the same with pineapple slices. Im not a ketchup eater so I always dipped my fries in mayonnaise, still do occasionally and my wife has picked up the habit. Hog jowls, mustard greens and cornbread is still one of my favorite meals. As a kid I would pour milk over Fritos and eat them like cereal. I would take mashed taters, purple hull peas, and whole kernel corn and stir them all together. Mom made mayonnaise rolls, it was just flour, mayonnaise, and milk in the batter. One of the best rolls you ever put in your mouth. It was sort of a cross between a biscuit and a roll.

 

[skydawg1]

We kids were in charge of the pear salad dessert on Sundays back in the day. I still eat it to this day! And potted meat sandwiches with Thrifty Maid potted meat was a must after school.

Username checks out. I kid! My fam is from Lincoln Co.

 

[Dawgbite]

A salmon patty in a biscuit is fabulous, until you bit down on a bone.

 

[dudehead]

A can of Vienna sausages and saltines is still a go to for me.

 

[Uncle Ruckus]

Hotdogs

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

Mom did the pear halves with Mayo and cheese, if company was coming she would put a cherry on top. When the cherries were all gone I’d get to drink the cherry juice. She would sometimes do the same with pineapple slices. Im not a ketchup eater so I always dipped my fries in mayonnaise, still do occasionally and my wife has picked up the habit. Hog jowls, mustard greens and cornbread is still one of my favorite meals. As a kid I would pour milk over Fritos and eat them like cereal. I would take mashed taters, purple hull peas, and whole kernel corn and stir them all together. Mom made mayonnaise rolls, it was just flour, mayonnaise, and milk in the batter. One of the best rolls you ever put in your mouth. It was sort of a cross between a biscuit and a roll.

Forgot about those, didn't realize they had mayo. I think we used cottage cheese, maybe?

 

[AstroDog]

As I was eating supper (dinner for you fancy boys) and enjoying mayo mixed into my black eyed peas, I got to thinking, what other weird things does my white trash family do when it comes to eating?

Mayo mixed in field/black eyed peas
Butter beans - never lima beans
Cornbread or crackers in milk
Peas smashed up in cornbread
Egg(s) scrambled into gravy (carried over from the depression, a couple of eggs would stretch out to three or four people) and biscuits
Salmon Croquets (carried over the depression, southerns were lacking Vitamin B3 so the government subsidized it)
Tabasco in eggs
Grandmothers or great grandmothers who didn't eat meat, cause there was none growing up
Pot liquor
Women who fixed men's plates (common up through the 70s, my wife still does it)
Frozen jello in those old small margin/butter containers
Grandparents who kept washed out milk jugs full of water and never threw away thing cause times might get tough again

What you guys got?

Who taste-tested your food after the wife gave you your plate.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

My Granddad told wild eating and (non eating) stories having grown up in The Great Depression. On the rare occasion cooked varmit's served you make sure the meat's your last bite to retain the taste. Even if it's a Possum Nut.

those were hardy folks back then. My dad, born in 28 said most days of his childhood was just surviving, everything was hard.

 

[Mjoelner]

My Granddad told wild eating and (non eating) stories having grown up in The Great Depression. On the rare occasion cooked varmit's served you make sure the meat's your last bite to retain the taste. Even if it's a Possum Nut.

Pig parts. Everything but the oink. That was my dad's side when he was growing up. The furtherest I went down that road is fried chitlins with a loaf of bread and a bottle of ketchup. In my little hometown you started driving when you could reach the pedals. I drove down to my paternal grandparents about a mile away one day when I was 12. I walked in and my grandpa was at the kitchen table with a can of something, crackers and glass of tomato juice. I asked him "What are you eating papaw?". He slurped some down, took a drink of tomato juice, looked at me and said "Hawg brains." I just turned around and drove back home.

ETA: I can't believe I forgot the biggest redneck thing. I remember my mom telling me she ate a possum when she was a little girl. I don't remember her saying if it tasted good or bad. I just remember her saying it was greasy as hell.

 

[yelchevelle]

Talking about how hard they had it, I remember my grand dad talking about how part of the reason that generation was so willing to volunteer for ww2 was because they didn’t have to worry about how they were going to eat when they joined. All this stuff with mayonnaise sounds just like one of my grandmothers. She loves mayonnaise.

I don’t know if you could call all these things white trash if that’s all you knew growing up in the great depression. Great Recession, Covid, etc. ain’t got nothing on what they had to go through, and really what humans have had to experience countless times before between famines, plagues, etc. I hope we never have to live through times that tough again in this country. Probably half of our herd would get culled if we did.

 

[BingleCocktail]

A can of Vienna sausages and saltines is still a go to for me.

THIS IS THE CORRECT ANSWER
ALSO ACCEPT SARDINES

 

[Podgy]

Parents grew up in the Delta during the Great Depression. Neither had dads around after age 10. Hated eating Salmon croquettes, loved hot dogs and potted meat growing up and loved the fried chicken with gravy made from all the grease it was cooked in. Corn bread and peas, potatos and rice were staples. My late dad could make that ketchup bottle last a week after it was almost empty and he had clothes that lasted decades. Soft drinks were rarely found in my house growing up. But we had kool aid. By the time I was a teen we'd become somewhat middle class so food got better. Vacationed once in a while in Biloxi for a few days, never to Disney as a kid, and mostly at' a relative's house around the South. BBQ growing up, a rare treat and when we also had a 2 liter coke and sprite, was exclusively leg quarters and kraft bbq sauce with ketchup and worcestor added and it was tasty. My late dad had a fascination with trains and told me, reluctantly, how he would hop on trains and take off for a while to get away, something he said I'd better not do. Time spent in the Air Force and the Korean War turned his life around. My wife's dad was also considered white trash from rural Arkansas. He didn't have a flush toilet until high school and the national guard and a wealthy uncle who paid for his college got him out of poverty. Most people don't realize how poor Americans once were and how hard life was. My dad could fix just about anything and was a master gardener. I'd love to have all those fresh veggies today instead of the store bought stuff but I'm too lazy and it's a lot cheaper to buy now than grow, I think.

 

[ckDOG]

Hell yes great thread.

I inherited Mayo and black eyed peas from my Dad and canned sardines w/ mustard from my Mom.

Hell, I had sardines and mustard today for lunch.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

Parents grew up in the Delta during the Great Depression. Neither had dads around after age 10. Hated eating Salmon croquettes, loved hot dogs and potted meat growing up and loved the fried chicken with gravy made from all the grease it was cooked in. Corn bread and peas, potatos and rice were staples. My late dad could make that ketchup bottle last a week after it was almost empty and he had clothes that lasted decades. Soft drinks were rarely found in my house growing up. But we had kool aid. By the time I was a teen we'd become somewhat middle class so food got better. Vacationed once in a while in Biloxi for a few days, never to Disney as a kid, and mostly at' a relative's house around the South. BBQ growing up, a rare treat and when we also had a 2 liter coke and sprite, was exclusively leg quarters and kraft bbq sauce with ketchup and worcestor added and it was tasty. My late dad had a fascination with trains and told me, reluctantly, how he would hop on trains and take off for a while to get away, something he said I'd better not do. Time spent in the Air Force and the Korean War turned his life around. My wife's dad was also considered white trash from rural Arkansas. He didn't have a flush toilet until high school and the national guard and a wealthy uncle who paid for his college got him out of poverty. Most people don't realize how poor Americans once were and how hard life was. My dad could fix just about anything and was a master gardener. I'd love to have all those fresh veggies today instead of the store bought stuff but I'm too lazy and it's a lot cheaper to buy now than grow, I think.

The only thing I can't stand anymore is the salmon croquettes. Everything else I love and don't give a **** if it is white trash, we didn't have much of anything growing up because my parents divorced when I was just a child. My mother worked two jobs and a woman working two jobs in the 70s didn't make a whole lot of money, She made salmon croquets till I finally convinced her that they were evil.

I still cook fried bologna sandwiches, but it has to be good bologna with blue plate mayonnaise. I still like pear salad. Eggs and gravy over biscuits are just good food. I have passed both of these dishes along with butter beans, peas with pepper sauce, and collard greens recipes on to my children.

My grandmother taught me most of these recipes, and she would laugh aloud if you asked her to make you a plate. She was a great lady who made it through and kept a large family going through the Depression and sharecropping.

 

[Podgy]

We kids were in charge of the pear salad dessert on Sundays back in the day. I still eat it to this day! And potted meat sandwiches with Thrifty Maid potted meat was a must after school.

A pear, mayonaisse and some shredded cheese. Awesome stuff. Nothing beat those made from scratch, not even remotely flaky biscuits with butter.

 

[Podgy]

Butter beans are great. Purple hull peas with corn bread are great. We got passed down hot water bread and some baked chicken spaghetti from the Arkansas crew. Every pie they made was awesome. I eat a bit of Appalachian food when I'm in western Carolina. It's good stuff and it's really a variation of southern food. Holy Smoke Pie and Vinegar Pie are worth trying. Cajun food is really just poor people's food. French country food and Italian country food, both developed by poor people, is really good too.

 

[kired]

Women who fixed men's plates (common up through the 70s, my wife still does it)

Somewhat related… but remember showing up unannounced at someone’s house, maybe your friend or the grandparents. And their mom or grandma would be like, let me just whip up something to eat.

Less than an hour later you’ve got a legit meal that was prepared from scratch with meat, veggies, cornbread or rolls. Probably had some kind of pie or cake leftover from Sunday too.

Not many people can do that today. We’ve got to plan a few days in advance if we’re going to cook something.

 

[MSUDOG24]

Hell yes great thread.

I inherited Mayo and black eyed peas from my Dad and canned sardines w/ mustard from my Mom.

Hell, I had sardines and mustard today for lunch.

Great thread indeed (white or not, we all ate some weird sh&t growing up and came to love it or for that matter would never touch it again)
- my now early 40 year old daughter and I ate a can of mustard and a can of tomato based sardines as an "appetizer" at home for big TV games back in the day. I don't know why (my dad I guess) and my wife never understood.
- not sure who was talking smack about deviled ham but back off. Can't tell you how many cans I torn the white wrapper off of growing up. I will say, I haven't had any since.
- eaten many a Vienna sausage and looking back, have no idea why.
- my mother pickled her own beets and I love pickled beets to this day
Is this a bit of a boomer thing with parents from the depression?

 

[Hugh's Burner Phone]

Biggest thing I remember from my grandparents is making everything from scratch. If they served you a slice of chocolate cake there was no box with Duncan Hines written on it in the garbage can. They raised 90% of what they ate. They only bought things in the grocery store they couldn't raise like flour and rice. Had cows for meat, milk, and making butter. Chickens for eggs and meat. Then had a garden for all their veggies they put up to last until next year. It was a lifestyle I miss more and more now that they're gone and I'm getting older.

 

[Cantdoitsal]

I never liked sardines but still eat fish steaks and smoked oysters outta the can. Throw some LA Hot Sauce & fresh lime juice on 'em and I'm a happy camper.

 

[travis.sixpack]

Forgot about those, didn't realize they had mayo. I think we used cottage cheese, maybe?

That actually makes sense. The Mayo thing sounds gross. I never actually had it, but my wife once dated a dude from Sebastopol whose grandmother would make those.

She did learn to make “tomato gravy” from ole granny. It's basically what it sounds like - oil, flour and a can of diced tomatoes. We’d eat it over rice and salmon patties. I loved it, but my kids hated it, so she hasn’t made it in years. Im gonna get her to make it tomorrow…like Michael Jordon once said after losing a bet to buy every kid at his basketball camp a pair of Air Jordons if he missed a shot…

 

[Indognito]

Crackling Cornbread

Souse Meat

 

[MaxwellSmart]

My grandad grew up on a farm eating whatever they could scrape up and wearing hand-me-downs. When he married my grandmother, he got a job with he railroad and that changed everything. He said he would never wear another piece of "used clothing." Had his closet and utility room full of shirts, many were never worn once. He would buy potted meat, tuna, salmon and canned roast beef and gravy by the case. I grew up living on that stuff. He would send it home with us every time we visited. Mom and grandma would make salmon patties all the time. They would take the roast beef and gravy and mix it with shredded white bread and make patties out of that too. Now I suddenly find myself wanting one. My Mom's family were the same way until the 10 kids grew up and got
jobs. They raised hogs too and ate everything "from the rooter to the tooter." I've had it all but the chitterlings or "shitlins" as my aunt called them. I still prefer hogs jowl to bacon and I can't cook black eyed peas or beans or even greens without a half a hog in them.

 

[Maroon13]

The store on Carson rd (lowndes county) use to make the best fried bologna sandwich. They cut it so thick... I'd be sick when I finished the sandwich from the grease.

 

[aTotal360]

Rag baloney. Half sleeve of generic saltines. Couple thick slices of hoop cheese.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

those were hardy folks back then. My dad, born in 28 said most days of his childhood was just surviving, everything was hard.

My dad’s folks didn’t throw anything away. Feed sacks made a fine shirt for school. I’ve wondered if things like that were a genesis for screen printing. “Yeah, we can afford plain shirts now but I really want mine to say something…”

 

[LOTRGOTDAWGFAN]

As I was eating supper (dinner for you fancy boys) and enjoying mayo mixed into my black eyed peas, I got to thinking, what other weird things does my white trash family do when it comes to eating?

Mayo mixed in field/black eyed peas
Butter beans - never lima beans
Cornbread or crackers in milk
Peas smashed up in cornbread
Egg(s) scrambled into gravy (carried over from the depression, a couple of eggs would stretch out to three or four people) and biscuits
Salmon Croquets (carried over the depression, southerns were lacking Vitamin B3 so the government subsidized it)
Tabasco in eggs
Grandmothers or great grandmothers who didn't eat meat, cause there was none growing up
Pot liquor
Women who fixed men's plates (common up through the 70s, my wife still does it)
Frozen jello in those old small margin/butter containers
Grandparents who kept washed out milk jugs full of water and never threw away thing cause times might get tough again

What you guys got?

Ketchup sandwiches. powdered milk with cereal (blah!!)

 

[TippahDawg]

My great grandmother lived in Hatchie Bottom in NE Mississippi - about 10 miles east of Ripley. She would make poke salad. I never tried it because I was always told it was poisonous, but she sure did love it.

 

[cowbell88]

A can of Vienna sausages and saltines is still a go to for me.

I can do vieannas. But cannot do potted meat. Had a bad experience with it in about 92. This kind of heat and cans of potted meat left on the dash board will turn your stomach forever. Trust me, you don’t want to see that, and certainly don’t want to dip a cracker in it!

 

[NWADawg]

Ketchup sandwiches. powdered milk with cereal (blah!!)

Really watered down to stretch it out. That's not one of the fond memories.

Loved bbq bologna and bbq hot dogs cooked in toaster during the teen years and beyond. Also bologna sandwiches with mustard and ketchup.