[Sca-cooks] canned gravy??????

[Phlip]

Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...

> This got me thinking. I realize (or at least have a memory of real or
> imagined events) that when I was a child, my mother would set out a
> platter of celery and carrot sticks at, it seemed, nearly every
> dinner. On holidays it was more elaborate, with olives and little
> pickles and such, but it just struck me that it was, as far as I can
> recall, almost always there. I get the impression that this was
> fairly common in America, as sort of an appetizer (and doubtless on
> my mother's part an attempt to sneak more vegetables into us), but
> not as common now as it used to be.
>
> Do other people have any similar recollections, or is still alive and
> well on a daily basis, just for holidays, or what?
>
> Adamantius

We've always had carrot and celery sticks, as well as scallions and
radishes, and usually some olives as a common sort of relish tray, and I've
seen it quite frequently in the Midwest, although there it tends to be for
more formal meals, rather than for casual dining. A friend of mine
encouraged my veggie tendencies, too, when she showed me that you could prep
the veggies and leave them in the fridge in water, so all you had to do was
grab and crunch.

I like the way I was taught to set a casual table by Southern friends. In
addition to the basic food, and appropriate condiments available, there was
always the home-made pickle jars, and a plate of sliced onions, another of
sliced tomatoes in season, and at least one, usually two, types of bread as
well as the catsup, mustard, salt, pepper, and butter- it was just how you
set the table. Unfortunately, I think with our nuclear families, we're now
setting nuclear tables- just the food and salt and pepper, maybe butter if
we have bread, and leaving it at that.

Saint Phlip,
CoDoLDS

"When in doubt, heat it up and hit it with a hammer."
 Blacksmith's credo.

 If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
cat.

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....