Meals to remember.

[Mule Packer]

I'm sure most of us here have experienced times when we were wolf-pup hungry and sat down to an unforgettable meal. Maybe something simple, but filling.

Here are just a couple of examples that popped into my mind today.

The first one was the traditional meal that was waiting for us at the ranch house when we would come in from working the fall gather every year. This was many years ago when I was "playing cowboy." The ranch cook was a big ol' gal named Andrea Culberson. She was like a second mother to all of us. We not only respected her, but loved her.

We started the day at 5:30 a.m. by catching our horses, then going into the big kitchen for breakfast. We were in the saddle shortly after 6:00. While we were eating breakfast, Mrs. Culberson would start a big pot of pinto beans that she had been soaking overnight. She got them simmering on the back burner of the big Wolf range. With the beans were ham hocks she would get from a special meat processor about an hour north in Oregon. No other kind would do. Then she added stewed tomatoes, onions, celery (including the leaves) and garlic. She let this pot bubble for at least five hours and then, during the last hour, she would add one heaping tablespoon of brown sugar ("for flavor and not sweetening," she would emphasize).

When we got back to the ranch house late in the afternoon, we'd sit down to a big bowl of ham hocks and beans with hot cornbread. It's hard to beat a meal like that.

One other that came to mind today was when Ms. Judy and I were first married, almost 50 years ago. We went out to visit my folks for a week. That Saturday night, the local ranchers, neighbors, and friends, gathered at the men's club for a big pit barbecue dinner. There was pit-barbecued beef, salad, a big pot of pinquito beans, with a stack of flour tortillas to sop 'em up with. Some of the ladies had brought some sheet cakes for dessert.

After we had eaten our fill, the chairs and tables were pushed back and an old-time cowboy dance band started up. We swing-danced until it was time to go home.

Again, nothing fancy but a great meal.

As you can probably tell, I'm hungry right now. Ms. Judy has a homegrown pork shoulder roasting in the oven and filling the house with great smells. Maybe that, and my hunger, caused me to reflect on great meals.

What are some of the great meals you remember?

 

[lihpster]

Breakfast. Rainbow trout. 5 minutes from the water. Salt, pepper, butter and lemon, wrap in foil and chuck in the fire. Add a cup of hot coffee and a beautiful sunrise. Still haven't found a meal to match it.

 

[LittleCooner]

The first tomato sandwitch for the summer, complete with Dukes Mayo, straight from the garden.

 

[doublesharp]

The first tomato sandwitch for the summer, complete with Dukes Mayo, straight from the garden.

One of my favorites, too but I add BACON!!!

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

In Ohio, almost all Chili has beans. My wife spent years getting the exact combination down pat! It usually has Light Red Beans, a cup of Black Beans and Pinto Beans. Cayan Pepper from the garden and 3 quarts of homemade Tomato sauce. It is best if done in a 16- or 20-quart saucepan, but a large pressure cooker will speed things up! Start by placing the three frozen quarts and a half cup of dried onions and onion greens in the saucepan on top of a medium heat woodstove that is heating the house. As the sauce melts it is absorbed by the beans. Do this dry until all the sauce is melted, ad water and bring to a boil.

This will add an aroma to the kitchen and whole downstairs! That aroma carries on the woodsmoke for miles and draws old friends and new to the house for an end of day meal that fills and fulfills your life.

We Used Deer when available, but Elk or Cow are fine. Somehow a bowl of chili made the kids appreciate the work they put in the gardens! (That is saying something when kids appreciate work!)

Only complaints we got were from the moms of kids that stayed overnight when we had chili. Their kids then complained that canned chili wasn't any good! GEEE!

Ivan

 

[arjay]

Some of my most memorable meals as a redneck working class kid were with this college girl chick who was cute as could be and a vegetarian to boot! Every dinner was a surprise!
Oh yeah,I ended up marrying her lol

 

[Rustyt1953]

Chip, I couldn't pick just one. Ruthie is a true magician in the kitchen. Every day off that she cooks I eat like royalty.

I, and my waistline, are truly blessed.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I married a "Camp Fire Girl!" The first summer of our marriage, we tent camped every other weekend on one of our farms. The show on clear nights was sitting in a valley and watching the stars race each other across the sky!

On Saturday night my favorite food was a deep-dish pizza cooked in a Dutch oven on the coals of our campfire! For dessert we usually had cherry pie-iron pies, and a large cup of fresh perked coffee! I didn't make all that much money, but every other weekend, I lived better than a King!

Ivan

 

[mckenney99]

There was a group of four or five of us that got together every fall for deer season in WV, KY and OH. I'm not sure when it started but we ALWAYS had at least one supper that consisted of enough Hamburger Helper Stroganoff, frozen peas and assorted Little Debbie treats to make us miserable. We would then sit back, drink coffee and tell stories until we were ready for bed.It was a tradition that most people will never understand. I looked forward to those nights for the entire year leading up to those trips, it was always about the comradery.

 

[Rudi]

Shooting Ruffed Grouse and roasting them over the fire. Then catching Brown Trout for breakfast with eggs. A hunting trip.

 

[Tubbsy]

The first batch of squirrel and biscuits and gravy of the season... grandpa sure made a spectacle of it as a kid... almost a religious experience.

 

[vytoland]

my mother's macaroni & cheese........she made it from scratch (no package mixes)...we scraped the bowl clean. saturday lunch with dad.....fried baloney and onion sandwiches.......i sure wish he was here now to make me one.....

 

[snubbyfan]

The first meal my wife and I prepared together was pork chops, white rice and brussels sprouts in a garlic butter sauce with a bottle of wine.
Once a month, on our anniversary, we prepare that same meal.

 

[Grayfox]

I'm doing good to remember what I had for supper tonight.

 

[30-30remchester]

Ate a coyote once. Not tasty at all. In fact, it was bad. Topped it off with coffee made with beer rather than water. Worse than the coyote. Definitely a meal to remember.

 

[Peak53]

Mulepacker's reminiscences about a good pot of beans and cornbread brings back some good memories, like tonight, for instance. My sister journeys to the cabin twice a year and we cook up a storm for a week or two for the stormy times during the winter. We eat a royal dinner and then a bunch of containers go in the two freezers until full.

Tonight, was black bean chili with turkey over rice. I also have a good supply of pintos with ham, brown beans with smoked turkey, venison chili with beans, etc. Beans of most any sort are good (for you, too) when it is cold. Did I mention it was minus 21° two nights ago? Eating well.

 

[pharmer]

Traditional holiday/special occasion meal in our basement (all them Italians wouldn't fit in the dining room without a fight). Start with antipasto: a big tray of salami, prosciutto, mortadella, capicola, giardiniera, olives, tuna. I usually got run off quick. Next was a tray of lasagna, gnocci with red sauce (potato dumplings) and a bowl of risotto (yellow rice with mushroom, sausage, chicken livers). After that was Baccala, (salt cod). I still ain't eating that ****. Main course was usually a turkey and a ham, always a choice. Some polenta to soak everything up. There were always vegetables but I can't remember eating 'em. Lotsa wine, grappa (we made both) on the table. Dessert was cheesecake, layer cake, cannoli and fresh baked cookies. Ice cream on top. You could hardly see across the table after eating for the cigarette smoke. Even in Winter we'd pop open the steel double doors for some breathable air. A whole different world that doesn't exist any more except in my mind, I can see it like it was last week (It's actually 50 years). Unfortunately, everybody there is dead but me. Joe

 

[bigwheelzip]

40 years ago, Janos Majetny was a stranger standing behind us, in line to buy entry at a Turkish bath in Budapest. After helping us with translation at the cashiers window, he invited us to join his family for dinner after we were done at the spa.

We met up later, and as he drove us toward his home, he kept stopping at shops to pick up packages of traditional foods for our dinner. At his home, he and his wife put together a feast that lasted till midnight, which included a different alcoholic drink for each course. The food was unfamiliar, but I remember three different homemade wines, three different homemade beers, and five different homemade liquors.

Afterward, feeling a bit buzzed at this point, he tells us he wants us to meet his son. I thought he meant his son was there in his house. No, his son, wife, and child lived in their own house, a block away. So we walk there, and the house is dark, it's occupants obviously asleep. He knocks, the bleary-eyed son opens the door, and after a few words he retreats and comes back dressed to go out.

We walk to the corner bar, where we all spend a fair bit of time until closing. As we exit, Janos apologizes that with the strict DWI laws he is too inebriated to drive us back to town, but says he will get us to our hotel. He opens his wallet and produces a pair of bus tickets, then waits with us until a city bus arrives. He tells the bus driver which hotel to stop at for us to get off, hugs us and kisses both our cheeks as we said goodbye.

Our amazing hosts Janos Majetny and his wife, at their home in Budapest.

 

[Faulkner]

I recall a few years ago I was on duty and was actually on my way to town from a remote part of the county to meet some city officers for supper break. It was around 7:00PM when dispatch radioed that they had a report of a one car accident back from the direction I'd just come from, so I turned around and headed back up the winding county road.

I got to the scene way out in the boonies around 7:25 PM and saw an overturned car on the side of the road, and a elderly gentleman standing next to a pickup with it's flashers on waving me down. I jumped out and the man said he'd happened up on the car just as the dust was settling and the tires were still spinning, but that he didn't see anyone around. I went up to the car and looked in and didn't see anyone, or any evidence of blood or anything. I got my flashlight out and looked around for someone(s) that may have been ejected and started calling out but got to answer.

I went back to the car and shined my light and noticed a tennis shoe next to the driver's side rear fender, kneeled down and shined my light under the car and could see a foot. I radioed dispatch that I needed an ambulance and the rescue squad to come help me. I started digging around the foot and finally got my hand on the ankle and could feel a pulse. I ran back to my patrol car and pulled out a trench shovel out of the trunk and ran back and started digging and fortunately the ground was pretty soft. The old man was looking over my shoulder and said he had a chain in the truck and could maybe pull the car off, but I told him to hold off as we might just make matters worse for the victim. After what seemed like an eternity I was able to dig around the victim enough that I could ease him out from under the car. I checked for a pulse again but could not find one so I started CPR.

Again, after what seemed like an eternity, I could start to hear the approaching sirens of emergency vehicles. First to arrive was a rescue squad unit from a volunteer fire department and the two EMT's took over CPR from me, and I just rolled over on my back and lay in the grass catching my breath. The EMT's were able to revive the victim, who turned out to be a teenager that was in the same grade as my oldest son at the high school. The young man suffered no broken bones or serious injuries and ended up making a full recovery.

As they loaded him into the ambulance and it drove away, one of the firefighters walked over and handed me a warmed up MRE and a cold bottle of water. He said he'd been monitoring the radio and knew I'd been on my way to supper before I'd gotten the call. I gotta tell you, it was one of the best meals I've ever had.

 

[jimmyj]

These beforementioned meals brings back pleasant memories from my past. I have been living alone for several years and mostly eat from a box.