Memories of Food Combinations

I am continuing through writing exercises in Old Friend From Far Away which I first wrote about here. Moving from one memoir prompt tonight I began to remember food combinations that have always been a part of my life. The traditional ones that have stayed in my family are eggs with toast, meat loaf with baked potatoes, spaghetti with French bread, and Darigold vanilla ice cream with Hershey's chocolate syrup. I think it seemed impossible to drink hot cocoa without marshmallows when I was a child.

My mom always had a weird food combination called Rolled Radish Sandwich. She would take a slice of bread, cover it with butter, take some radishes that I don't even remember being sliced, put them on top then roll it up like a burrito. She loved those for lunch on Saturdays during my childhood. With a bottle of Pepsi or Squirt she was in seventh heaven. It was a combination the siblings couldn't stand, but we enjoyed others from those childhood lunches including tomato soup with toasted cheese sandwiches, tuna fish mixed with pickles and Tang ( not the orange stuff... the Nalley's brand of salad dressing), chicken noodle soup with crackers, and Franco-American spaghetti served with a slice of while bread and butter. It was quite a feast if we were given the privilege of dining on a Swanson's frozen chicken pot pie.

Some of the combinations I savor still came from school lunch during grade school. Combinations that come to mind are chili with homemade cinnamon rolls , wieners with sauerkraut, homemade white rolls accompanying turkey gravy, and jello that seemed to go with just about anything.

My Grandma Woolum always had fried chicken with potatoes and gravy and homegrown green beans. Swiss Steak, corn on the cob, and caramel cake was a likely combination when we had dinner at Auntie Lila's. My brother does a delicious mix of eggs, potatoes, and veggies in breakfast skillets. When Mom makes pork chops applesauce is usually served. My sister is a very creative cook and her yummy salads have combined oranges with dark greens or a variety of fruits in a delicious fruit bowl.

I don't know how food combinations ever came about. I suppose some families began traditions that were passed down. Others just tried foods together and realized they worked. I love zucchini and chocolate together in breads and cakes now because of recipes I have experimented with. I also now enjoy the flavor of mint with hot chocolate. Can anyone eat Chinese pork without hot mustard and sesame seeds?

There were a few combinations that didn't work. Cinnamon on Dad's eggs was a cooking error my brother had to live with. Forgetting the clams in the chowder on Christmas Eve has been a running gag in the family. I learned early in my adult life never to serve my father a combination of ethnic foods. He threw them out the window when the chef ( myself) wasn't looking as not to hurt my feelings. What... like I wouldn't find them later?

I will still continue to remember hot beef sandwiches Mom whipped up using the leftovers from the Sunday roast. Cottage cheese always seemed to have canned Dole pineapple by it's side. If steaks were served it was always with green salad, Mom's homemade blue cheese dressing, and baked potatoes.

Have certain food combinations remained a tradition in your family?