FALL DESSERTS.......BEWARE

Can you imagine trading places with Charlie Brown on Halloween?  I would have.  I would have relished the idea of “getting a rock.”  No no no, not our generation, we had the popcorn ball; a sticky ball of mostly burnt, popcorn, dyed orange or black.  We also had the joy or common misconception of receiving apples, red delicious apples, “the apples with razor blades in them.”  I don’t know where it started but this story grew in popularity in my generation.  This rumor was equal to the wives tale of having to wait 30 minutes before getting into the swimming pool after you have eaten.  What a bunch of BS.  This was our parent’s way of getting their grubby adult paws on our hard earned treasure of sugar.  My friends and I would walk miles for treats from every neighborhood of our little town.  But we didn’t go to strangers houses; no way!  They were the ones giving out those apples!  I grew up in a town of 3000 people, there were no strangers!  More things my parents lied about, strangers in a town of 3000?  I even knew the names of their pets.  I did get a few apples.  To my recollection, I never saw my mom throw them out.  For some strange reason, after October 31^st we always had baked apples for dessert.  Hmm….I wonder why?  Could it be those tainted apples?  Would she dare serve those throat slicing delicacies to small children?  Was she angry?  Did she not want her children to live?  Did she feel the need to destroy her marriage?  We shall only speculate.  Nonetheless here is the recipe:   Razor blade free red delicious apples, cored, cut in half, placed in a baking dish with a pat of butter and a tablespoon of brown sugar on top, baked at 350 degrees until soft and GBD ( golden brown and delicious) red delicious, yummy?  You be the judge.  You now have the recipe.  Share these treats with your family.  Warning to family:  Stick with the popcorn ball!

The in laws

I just had dinner with my in laws.  $5 steak night! Am i lucky or what?  they've been excited about this night for weeks.  They go every Wed.  Me i'm a steak night virgin, cherry was popped.  They think i'm a nut job for thinking my mom was a terrible cook.  They told me about things they ate as kids.  I tell you it is different generation to generation.  I told them about  a meal consisting of 1 can cream chicken soup(condensed) heated, one table spoon dolloped onto one of those 2 1/2 " hamburger bun, you know the ones.  Dinner is served.  Are you kidding me!  SOUP ON A BUN   WTF.  Eat up boy.  Okay dad i'll get my fill.  Why couldn't i just get the soup?

I don't think she really cared

I didn’t starve as a child; I just didn’t eat well prepared, tasty food.  It was probably more nutritious than I supposed but still lacked the flavor of my own cooking.  My grandmother on the other hand was very well adept in the kitchen.  I can still remember the smells of turkey, mashed potatoes, and biscuits at family gatherings.  Some of my recipes still linger with the Midwest meat and potato dishes I grew up eating.  There is nothing better than a meal loaded with carbs and starch.  There were two staples to my mother’s cooking; frozen ground beef and instant mashed potatoes.  I don’t recall why my mom lacked the skill to cook or she just never realized that her lack of skill was shaping the palates of 3 young children.  We weren’t poor but we were always on a budget.  This was the way of most families during the late 60’s and 70’s.  I hope to lead you through my childhood and give you some insight to cooking simple meals that taste like the person who made them actually cared about the end result.My mother tried, bless her; beef stew, beef and noodles, meat loaf, hamburgers, lasagna, pizza with ground beef of course, cubed steak, beef, beef, beef.  Our only ethnic dish as I remember was tacos, from a box of course with ground beef.  I still crave them today.