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| My favorite photo of my mom and I.
My mother does not enjoy cooking. Her mission in life is to love people! She is very good at this! I, on the other hand, enjoy cooking very much. Little does my mother know, she had a huge impact on me, as far as my love for all things food goes. So, here it is (in no certain order):
The Top 80 Foods and Food Items that remind me of my Mom (Valerie C. Russell)
1. Alaskan King Crab Legs. She shares this love with both Sam and I.
2. Fried Eggs. She cooks and seasons them perfectly, and can turn them without breaking the yolk. I have to cook mine sunny side up to avoid the problem all together.
3. Square Eggs. When we were little she had these contraptions that turned hard boiled eggs into squares in a matter of hours. Whatever happened to those?
 4. Avocados. I like to eat them the same way she does, right out of the skin with a spoon.
5. Artichokes. She taught me how to eat these, and we would sometimes get them on a weekend for a treat.
6. Butter. For a while we were getting our milk from a farmer, we would skim the cream off the top of it, ladle it into mason jars, and shake those jars while we watched the Brady Bunch, and Little House on the Prairie. Butter formed, and that was when I learned that you actually had to add salt to butter.
7. Gummies. She used to love all kinds (Coca Cola, peach slices, Bears, Pepper)
8. Pork noodles from Hong Kong. I used to love it when, every once in a while, there would be just a couple of us kids at home, and my mom and dad would order Chinese takeout and watch movies.
9. Oatmeal Topped with Chocolate Chips. She would let me put on as many chocolate chips as I wanted. When the heat from the oatmeal melted the chocolate I would spread it out with the back of my spoon, like frosting!
10. Hot and Sour Soup. She always added an egg (which she could string out perfectly, just like in a restaurant) and a Tbsp. of red wine vinegar.
11. Suzie Q’s. She would lick the frosting out from the sides and the squeeze the top and bottom together so that more frosting would ooze out to lick again.
12. Sprite or 7Up. I can never know which one she likes the best, so I always buy both. Then I never pay attention to which one she chooses. She always says she doesn’t care.
13. Sautéed Mushrooms. She used to make them as a little meal, just the mushrooms.
14. Pizza Bombs. A blast from the past. Kind of like a 1980s Hot Pocket. She used to get them for us.
15. Rosettes’. I swear I remember her making these at least once. With plenty of powdered sugar. I wonder what she did with her irons?
16. Campbell’s Canned Won Ton Soup. It is still one of my favorite comfort foods, especially if I have a cold.
17. Fried Won Ton Wrappers. I swear I remember her being on some kind of Won Ton Wrapper kick. Did she put cinnamon and sugar on them after she fried them?
18. Chunky candy Bars. I believe that she got them in sale so she bought a ton of them and froze them. We would microwave and eat them after school. They were wrapped in foil, and that is when I learned about the reaction metal had in the microwave.
19. All kinds of produce. My mother worked at Ware Mart, in the produce department, for awhile when I was in Jr. High. She introduced us to everything including, but not limited to, persimmons, kiwis, star fruit, tangelos, honeydew, and mangos.
20. Rice A Roni. One of those foods I would be bumbed out that she was making, but then loved while I was eating it.
21. The Family Feud. We used to call it The Family Food, and would watch it while we had dinner.
22. Cold Cereal. You cannot raise children without it, and my mother would let us pick out our own box. I usually chose Cookie Crisp.
23. Pork and Seeds.
24. Turkey Legs Baked in Rice. I used to really like this, but do not remember what all went in it.
25. Cheese melted in a cup. My mom used to keep a few different cheeses on hand, mostly just for eating straight up. We pretty much always had a brick of cheddar, cheddar cheese curds, American singles (wrapped separately), a small brick of Munster, a can of Kraft Grated Parmesan, and maybe some cream cheese. I believe that is where my love for cheese stemmed from. Now I dedicate an entire shelf of my refrigerator just to cheese.
26. I forgot String Cheese. Maybe her favorite cheese.
27. Frozen Banana Halves Covered with Chocolate. Maybe the only time in my life that I remember eating banana, except in bread. I would eat the chocolate off of the outside, careful not to get too much banana. Then I would throw the rest away. Similar to how Sam used to eat a corn dog.
28. Marshmallows melted in a cup. Just for fun, for a treat.
29. Hubba Bubba. A coffee can full of different flavors. Grape was my favorite.
30. Peas. My mother hates them. Maybe almost as much as I hate bananas.
31. Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup.
32. Campbell’s Cream of Asparagus Soup.
33. Kraft Mac n Cheese with Sliced up Hot dogs. Still a comfort food favorite of mine. I even made it once while I was pregnant with Will.
34. Chilies Relenos. Another one of her favorites whenever she goes to a Mexican restaurant. Unless she knew theirs was not good.
35. TV Dinners. My favorite was Salisbury steak. I can’t remember if you had a favorite mom?
36. Hamburger and Tuna Helper. I still like both from time to time.
37. Canned Salmon. My mom and I both love this, and our favorite part is the tiny bones of the salmon spine!
38. Canned Chili. We both also like to put so much cheese in it that it strings each time you take a bite!
39. Pickled Vegetables. I actually think, like me, she goes through pickled vegetable stages. Where she will eat them all of the time and then other times, not so much. The ones I am talking about here are is the jar that includes carrots and cauliflower.
40. Kim Chee. She used to eat jars and jars of the hot kind! I still buy it from time to time.
41. Chinese Sundaes. I can only remember having these a couple of times, but I remember it being fun and including item such as: rice, fried noodles, chop suey, pineapple, and soy sauce.
42. Mini Marshmallows. We always had them. Plain and the multi colored fruit flavored. I think that she mainly bought them for church.
43. Neccos. Chocolate are her favorite, and it was very exciting when the manufacturer came out with rolls that contained chocolate exclusively.
44. Tootsie Rolls. Because it is impossible to cry with a tootsie roll in your mouth!
45. Water Cress. Now I am not sure if she really likes it or the neighbors just brought it to her because they thought she did.
46. Buttermilk. Is it just me, she likes it too right?
47. Chocolate and Strawberry milk powder. She must have bought this stuff by the truckload for the boys (my Brothers).
48. Mini Powdered Doughnuts. She ate these when she was pregnant.
49. Brussels’ Sprouts. She made them every so often, I always liked them.
50. Canned Ravioli. We both liked them.
51. Electric Skillet Chicken. One of the meals she made every once in awhile. I think, just flour, salt, pepper, and oil.
52. Hamburgers. She had this little single hamburger maker. I don’t think she put them on a bun. Just the meat.
53. Food Dehydrator. She had one for awhile. I only remember apricots and bananas being dried. I’m sure there was more.
54. Canning. For some reason I only remember my mom canning: cucumbers and turkey.
55. Barrels of grain. First stored under the stairs in the food storage/ dark room. Later they became beds for the boys.
56. Canned food tower. My dad built it for our food storage room.
57. Canned Food without labels. When my mom worked at Ware Mart they let employees buy the cans, for super cheap, that for one reason or another did not have a label. It was kind of fun to open up cans, not knowing what you might come across.
58. Lima Beans. With butter, salt, and pepper.
59. Canned Asparagus. I think that for some reason we are both partial to their mushy texture. We both like fresh as well.
60. BLT’s. We never really had them, but I know she likes them.
61. Miracle Whip not Mayonnaise.
62. Wedge potato baked fries.
63. Little Caesars. When the boys started to get older, it was just easy.
64. Hot Wings. Her favorite are Denny’s of all places.
65. Schwan’s. Bagel wrapped sausages, push-up pops, etc…
66. Wedding Cakes. She was even into making wedding cakes for awhile. I need to ask her if she has any photos. They were a little over the top with mirrors and fountains, but at the time they were in style. They were really pretty, and she even got into the fondant toward the end. I don’t know when she stopped.
67. #8 cookies. For my eighth birthday she made them for me to take to school.
68. Foil wrapped Ding Dongs. Another year I took them to school for my birthday.
69. Homemade Suckers. Another thing that she got into for awhile. They were good too. She had all sorts of molds, flavors and colors.
70. Squeeze It Fruit drinks. I remember when they came out because I wanted to take them when it was my turn to take treats for tee ball. She of course got them for me to take, and I remember being so excited!
71. Kool-Aid every color and flavor. My parents raised five kids, and we were raised Mormon. Need I say more?
72. Hard Marshmallow Easter Eggs. They make her sad, because of her childhood.
73. Robin Eggs. Probably her favorite Easter candy.
74. Cadbury Crème Eggs. May rival Robin Eggs as her favorite Easter candy.
75. Edamame. In the shell with salt. YUM!
76. Knox Blox. Jell-O you can eat with your hand.
77. Tupperware. My mom used to have a lot of really cool Tupperware. Like the pickle container (you could pull the pickles out, so you did not have to reach down into the juice). There was also these sandwich containers (they had blue lids and all somehow stuck together with a handle).
78. A summer of picnics at different parks with Dad. Maybe there were a couple of different summers, I can’t remember.
79. Jell-O Pudding Pops. Whatever happened to these? I actually looked for them in the grocery store the other day.
80. Peeps. How could I forget Peeps!
I know there are more. If anyone can think of anymore I would love to know about them. Anyway, Happy Mother’s Day, MOM
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7 Comments
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OMG!!! You are absolutely my very favorite kid right this moment!!! I love you more than life itself, infinity, hostess of the mostest-you know the drill. But really-Julie-you remember the best of me and that is all I need! I love you forever, I like you for always.
Great post!!!!! Mom canned a lot of tomatoes, too. And she ate ice because of her anemia. I want to say she also ate dirt, because of her pika..but she didn’t eat dirt and she doesn’t have pika…but it would be funny to write it to see if anyone noticed.
Juliana-you DID get my post-you probably just did not remember-and I love you more and more and over and over and have printed this out because it means so very much to me! I love you-Mom
And it is too bad I never had the dirt eating pica because the texture of dirt is really interesting and maybe tasty-haha. But, my biology student Tara-eating ice is a form of pica!
Julie-each comment I post says it will be visible after approval-does that mean you get to read and approve each post? Awesome! I LOVE LOVE LOVE you!
For the record-I LOVE buttermilk-you were right, and I really DO like watercress. A sandwich made of just watercress and Miracle Whip is heavenly.
Also-for the record-I canned FAR more than just turkey and cucumbers. I canned EVERYTHING-I was weird. I love you-Mom
ps-I only craved those powdered mini hostess doughnuts when I was pregnant with YOU!!! And I ate them every night for about seven months!
it is so funny that i came across this somehow…i think it was the doughnut cheesecake…i love cheesecake, it’s probably my 3rd love in life after Kiegan and Tristan!!! i remember your mom so dearly too and although Kiegan doesn’t remember we will always be in debt to you and your family for all the wonderful things you all did to help us!!! lots of love to you and your mom! ~jacki & kiegan