March 28, 2024 • 21 mins
We talk about comfort foods, food memories and traditions - and how things have changed between generations.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha. Welcome to Stephan Never
told you a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
And welcome to another happy hour where it's not a
pitchin wine the time round because I'm trying to make
it a little more happier. It's more of a confessional,
we'll say, for this happy hour. But before we start,
just FYI were not being sponsored by anything we mentioned.
If we do mention any products at this time, that
could change. We all know that. And if you are
(00:41):
doing the actual happy hour as if we were together
in a happy hour just getting chilling, be responsible, you know,
do you? But in a adult fashion, in a way
that is responsible. Eddie, are you slipping on anything I made?
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Margherita, Oh yes, I'm trying to. I mean, I know
I've been complaining about it for a while, but my
refrigerator situation is real bad, so I'm trying to clear
out space.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
And I still have some of that mezcal.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Oh yeah, you're using that up real good.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
I mean I still got quite a bit left.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
But yeah, all right, I like it.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
I like it.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
You should do you, And that's a part of your doing,
which is getting rid of everything.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
You it's bad it's really bad.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Well, I so we went out last night. We have
this thing where quarterly we get together celebrate we've been
doing with s minty and eat oysters because I love
oysters like so much. Oysters. So we went out last
night and celebrated what we're doing, talking about the things
we want to do for the future and eating good oysters.
And that involved to adult beverages and for me, that
(01:58):
was too much. My head was hurting. So today I
am keeping it with my water, bubbly water with some
strawberry flavor because my pineapple flavor is gone. Apparently it's
only available in Canada and I can't order it, so
Canadian friends send me some. I'm just kidding, but it's
I thought that was so weird to me. I was like,
why is this not available in the US. I don't understand.
(02:19):
I'm very sad. But anyway, but that's how I'm keeping
it today because I still have a small headache. Because yes,
over forty means feeling like you have a hangover when
you shouldn't be having a hangover. Anyway, that's there's a
wine bit, you know. But today I kind of wanted
to explore the fact that there's comfort mills and for
comfort mills, what does that mean? So today is March
(02:41):
twenty eight, twenty twenty four, right before Easter. So if
you yeah, surprise surprise.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Funny because one of the reasons if my refrigerators so foles.
I have this meal I make on Easter, but I
totally forgot this this weekend.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yep, it's good to use it. That is why we
have these put moments together. But yeah, So one of
the things that I think is interesting because I am
a transracial adoptee. I am very Asian but grew up
in a very Southern household. And as much as I
(03:17):
have been exploring into Korean food and getting kind of
back to my roots and things that I do remember
and don't remember, like I will always have Southern food
with my comfort food. Like I my sister has the
best chicken and dupling recipes that I use and I
love that. And apparently my partner, who grew up in
North Georgia as well for a little while, has said
that he had never eaten it before, which I'm very
(03:39):
very confused by it, and he compared it to matsabal soup.
I'm like, how in the world did you eat matsa
bal soup in Gainesville, Georgia, but not have chicken and dumplings.
I'm very confused. Thoroughly confused anyway, but things like that
food and kind of that growing up as an adult.
Of course, there's a couple of conversations we've had recently
in that we are adults, but our life is nothing
(04:02):
like our parents. And I know we've talked about this previously,
especially like our moms putting up a whole different level
standards and cleanliness and housekeeping, and we were like, yeah,
we don't, we don't do that. As well as the
fact that, yeah, I just figured out recently that one
of my dad's hobbies which I had no idea about,
because all I knew growing up was him working, being tired,
(04:23):
coming home to eat, and doing house projects. Like he
rarely had time to play games with us. We never
had family board game nights. None of that happened in
our house. My brother and I would sometimes play together,
but then we would erupt into a fight and then
we could not play together, Like that's kind of how
that went down. So our house was a little different
in that level. But I think our generation, when we
(04:45):
had parents who are who are boomers? That was their
life like that whole working nine to five, but for him,
his commute was an hour an hour and a half,
so it was like working from six thirty seven til
sa uh if not later, and then coming home exhausted,
and then doing the weekends as projects because he maintained
(05:08):
the house so we didn't have plumbers coming into it
through unless it was like a big emergency. Then if not,
he fixed it. He went to the home depot, or
he went to Low's or Ace Hardware because that was
what was available in our neighborhood to fix things. But
like all of these things, growing up, realizing these minute
details that I never noticed, and then growing up and
(05:29):
being like I am nothing like this. As much as
like this was great, I'm nothing like this. And in
that level of like growing up with different types of food,
I was talking to you because when I was a nanny,
the kids who were pretty well off and as in fact,
I think a couple of them are had like doing
their own truck to become celebrities themselves, loved ramen noodle
(05:53):
top ramen with tons and tons of hot sauce, like
they ate so much that it almost looked like they're
challenging themselves and their siblings about who got the hottest version.
And they loved eating that, and they loved eating Hamburger helper,
which is also what I grew up with. And I
was fine and feeding them this. They're very active kids,
so it wasn't like any health issues had risen or
(06:16):
we were concerned about that. As obsessed as the mom
was about her features and her weight, she never really
put that onto her kids. Of course the kids learned
just from watching her, but she was happy with them
being fed. The grandmother, the mother of the mom, was
great cook. Actually she was amazing, but she was that
she was Filipino, Filipino, but she did a lot of
(06:38):
Asian dishes that the kids loved, so like, I love
that aspect of seeing that was like, oh, this is
like my childhood who lived in nut so rich house.
But those foods were comforting, and when I would eat
it with the kids, because obviously if I've made it
for them, I have to have to eat with them,
it was delicious. And it's been a minute since I've
had Hamburger helper, Rannie. But I sometimes crap that I
(06:59):
do too.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
I know that during the pandemic, people were seeking out
comforting foods and one of the things my mom, like
an easy thing she would make was a hamburger helper
chicken alfredo and I'm sure it had so much sodium
and it was like calorically dense, but I loved it,
(07:33):
and I couldn't find it during the pandemic, and I
was like, I just really want this comforting, simple, salty,
delicious carbi thing that I remember from childhood, and I
still can't find it.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Oh, they might have discontinued it.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Yeah, like this could be a like I'm wondering how
different everything is, because you know, we're definitely now at
the age where things have changed, the tastes have changed,
the recipe has changed all the different ways. Because yeah,
so like I haven't had hamber helper, but one of
the things that I would eat as a kid, So
I again southern home. My dad's parents actually had a
(08:12):
small enough like farmland ish but they would grow things.
So you would get homemade corn cream, corn fried okra,
deep fried okra, and lard, you know, or like deep
vegetable oil like they eat it was real fried. Then
green beans, especially string beans that they had made with
at least like a hamhock, if not some other part
(08:34):
of me bacon, fat, whatever, as well as corn bread
and the skillet cornbread, not the sweet one though it
was always the like the cakey one, but I had
the good like brown crisp edges, as well as mac
and cheese. Now the mac and cheese, I don't think
I ever had homemade mac and cheese with my family.
(08:55):
I think they always did box mac and cheese, like
I'm trying to remember, like people who did make mac
and cheese were the fancy people. Yes, outside of that,
we did that. They just went and bought the belvy
the cheese, and that's what we had as part of
our meal. And growing up, my siblings and I would
make what would call a hodgepodge of these, so we
(09:16):
would take all the veggies, put it together, so corn,
green beans, okra, and the mac and cheese and a
giant bowl and then just crumble like corn bread into
it and make it a giant mix, and we'd call
it the Hodgepodge mill. And I craved that as an
adult all the time, to the point that I definitely
have to do at least two or three times a year,
which is quite funny because my partner and I used
(09:38):
to joke that he would make the Asian foods who
was white. He is very white, and I would make
the country food who was very Asian. Like it was
such a like split segon and I was like, yeah,
this is what I like and like the feeling of
like coming into Yeah. I made literally made canned green
beans because I don't I would love the homemade, but
(09:58):
we don't have like I don't. We don't farm here
like we were in Decatur, so it's not accessible. All
the things. We have had issues with trees in the house.
He wants to have all this garden, but I'm like,
I'm not doing it because I killed Basil. I'm very sad.
I'm still traumatized reacily, but like having cane green beans.
(10:19):
There's this creamed corn that's frozen in a package you
get in the freezer, a vegetable aisle, and that's like
the best. I'm like, it's the best I've had in
a while, even compared to like I've made homemade cream corn.
It's an endeavor. It's an endeavor because I try to
see if I can do it, and if I can
know how I can do it, then I'll move on like, yeah,
well now this is just as good, so I'm going
(10:39):
And then like I made a box of Annies mac
and cheese, not any our friend here, but the actual
brand of mac and cheese. And I didn't have the corner,
and I forgot the corner. But I have been eating
it to the point that I ate it kind of
early morning as my early lunch today because I was like, yep,
I want my hotchpodged milk. It makes like to me,
I'm like, do other people eat like this? Because I've
(11:01):
always grown up eating green beans and corn together. Hmmm,
and I always thought that was normal, But I don't know.
That might just be our family thing. But these types
of food they feel me in a way that I
feel full and happy and content and just that memory
of being for a moment home in the good moments.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Yeah, I mean food is powerful in that way and
that sounds delicious to me. We used to joke with
my little brother because you know, some people have.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
The interesting thing with food.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
And by the way, listeners, if you have any meals
like what we're talking about, that like your family makes,
but it seems no one else does. Let us know,
my little brother. Some people have that thing where they're like,
my foods are separate, they will not be mixed.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Yeah, And my little brother, we used to joke, would
always make a pie.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
So whatever it was, he would just mix it and
he was happiest when it was mixed.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
And I'm over here, like my noodles was not touched.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
What it was.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
It's true, it's true because I did like some things mixed.
So one of the things we did that was I
think it was my idea because I read it in
a book, but it was. It's called like an English
nest or something. It's mashed potatoes, green peas, and ham.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Yeah, mixed, I know he's talking about. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's kind of but it sounds like the beginnings of
Shepherd's Pie.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Yes. It's like a very low maintenance which.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
I had never had until I went and worked a
year in Oklahoma and they loved that. I was like,
what is this.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
It's a very hearty meal.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
It is a very hearty meal. I think it was
because you could do it in bulk, and because I
worked at a children's home. That's how what they would make,
and it was easy to get, like the canned veggies,
which I hate canned veggies, like to the point that
I love the queen beans, but like the mixed veggies
with the peace and the carrots. Hated that stuff.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Hated it.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
I still do did this day. I don't like can
green peas. Though I do not like peas, I do
not like the mother stop making me try to eat them.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
She did.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
She tried so hard. I was like, I know, no
green peas.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
It's not like you were talking to me. For a second.
I was like, whoa, I.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Traumatized by that. But yeah, so like like I that's
that was a bulk thing that they had box mashed potatoes.
Put that on and then they always got buffalo meat
Oklahoma y all. So it was very very accessible. I
hated it, oh so much, but I had to eat
it because I was with the kids. The kids can't
be piggy, so I can't be picky. And I was like, oh,
(13:44):
but this is so disgusting. Don't get me wrong. I've
had actually good shepherd's pie and I get it. I'm like, oh,
this is okay, this is legitimate, Like okay, I see now,
this is this is what it's supposed to be. And
they did again, they did what the best they could,
like with the lump the giant meals that have to
make because I've cooked for like larger groups of people
and you realize that it takes a lot of effort
(14:06):
in doing that. But it also made me think, because
Easter is coming up, like the different traditions, because I
think my parents will be doing sandwiches, but it's ham.
Always involved ham. Did yours involve ham?
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (14:22):
And I won't go on my science food stuff reason
why that is, but yes, most it does involve ham.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
All that deviled eggs. Of course, we had boiled eggs
on top of boiled eggs on top of boiled eggs,
because that's what we do dying Easter eggs. We had
the country mill. I'm wondering is that an all of
the US thing or is that just a Southern thing?
Speaker 1 (14:42):
I think like the devil'ed eggs are specific, but eggs
are pretty popular.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Again, there's a historical reason for this.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Yeah, I think the ham is pretty popular at Lamb also,
but there are variations.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
For sure. My family did it was a like ham,
deviled eggs.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Those are like the main things, right, and then some
kind of like green beans or cheese or something like
some kind of vegetable or something.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Yeah. Yeah, I was looking to see what other countries
would do. So this is from try Theworld dot com
eleven incredible Easter mills from around the world. Apparently Austria, Switzerland,
and southern Germany have traditionally braided breads, either in the
(15:32):
shape of a loaf or a wreath. I'm not gonna
try to say the word for the wreath, so that's
it's interesting. Yeah, well I did. I did see a
hot crossbun and it goes to Great Britain, so the UK,
and they have the sweet rolls uh, and that they
are marked with across to symbolize Jesus' crucifixion. Uh. They
also do the roast Sunday roast, which I've never had
(15:54):
a Sunday roast, which makes since because I'm not from
the UK, but I kind of want to, but I
know that's a big ordeal. And then they had the
home let homemade chocolate Easter eggs, which you know, the
cadberry eggs. We definitely have the cadberry eggs here. The
Philippines has a whole pig and pie and fresh fish
and I know fish is so associated with a lot
of Easter traditions as well.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
That's why you can eat fish on Fridays during legs right. Also,
if you've never looked it up, Lamb cakes. They are
cakes that are made to look like lamb and they're scary,
scary a lot of times they look really scary and
I love it so much, and they have like red jelly.
So when you cut it less, please write in. I
(16:40):
had never heard of this until like two years ago.
I think in Europe it's popular. But I know, like
super producer Andrew who used to produce this show, he
knew about it.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Oh really yes, yeah, so it's the.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Thing interesting, look it up. I have to look it up.
There's a lamb pie in Italy, but I think that's
legit lamb. Yeah. I think it's like a seafood is
in Sweden. That sounds like a way to go with
a cured salmon. Yeah, pickled hearing, give me some. It
(17:15):
looks like Paraguay does chippa, which is a cheese bread.
I like cheese and bread. It's made from a yuca starch,
which again that sounds interesting. Easter Lamb Easter Bunny is Germany.
It's also marble cake in the form of an animal,
so this must be it Easter cake, Easter lamb or
(17:36):
Easter bunny, traditional sweets in Easter in Germany, and it's
a Marble's cake in the form of an animal. So Germans,
let me know, send us a picture.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
So good, it's so good.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
It's interesting. But yeah, I thought that was interesting because
I don't think about it. I just thought about it
because it's coming up very quickly, and my partner and
now are like, what are we going to do? We're
gonna go to a family's house. What are we doing?
It's kind of chaotic. It feels like very chaotic, like
holidays don't exist. And I think a part of that
for us in that we do it with family, so
without children, we think of it even less because we
(18:10):
don't have to do the prep stuff like did I
see a cute Reese's Easter Bunny? Yes? Did I buy
it for my partner who loves Reese's. Yes, like that
that's a yes, Like I'll do things like that, but
that's the end because I went to the grocery store
and saw it. But I don't think I think about
the holidays like that as much because there's no prep around.
Like there's so many things that I've had where it
feels very nostalgic right now because of like the food specifically.
(18:34):
And I've talked about the power of food before, and
I think I've talked about my hotchpodge, but like the craving,
the craving is what's like, Huh, I can't believe my
preference for a good meal is boxed macaroni and cheese,
canned green beans and frozen cream corn as a mixture.
And I'm joyfully, gleefully eating this And like I presented
(18:55):
to my partner as if I cooked a giant mill,
Like there you go, enjoying my freshly per mare box
mil Hey, he got bad.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
So it's delicious, I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
And with public fried chicken, I just that fried chicken
is good, y'all. It's good.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
That's the thing.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
That's what we were saying when we were talking about it,
is there's a reason why that during the pandemic, like
sales of mac and cheese went through the roof. Like
there's when you grow up with something that's comforting and
kind of simple, but like very salty and flavorful and filling.
(19:37):
It just to me, makes so much sense that you
have these strong cravings for it. When you have it,
you're like, even if you're not thinking of a specific memory,
you're kind of transported a little bit back.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Yeah, oh yeah, I remember when I had that.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
There's this feeling of safety with it, and if you
can find a moment of safety, and especially when you
come from chaos, the having those home moments, it's very
important to you. And again, like it also brings back
to like the aging and being an adult and being
allowed to do this. I'm like, yeah, this is how
I'm going to do it. Watch me Like there's some
(20:11):
satisfaction in doing it that way. So yeah, thanks for
going down my food journey. I'm probably gonna go downstairs
in a minute and eat the rest of it.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
You should. I support this.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
I support this, and I really hope I love hearing
about people's foods and traditions, and so I really hope
listeners if you have any, whether they be holiday related
or just something your family did, I would love to
hear them for sure.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
Absolutely, And if you did a lamb cake.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Yeah, oh yes, well, thank you Samantha for sharing that
with us, and listeners, if you would like to contact
us you can. Our email is steffidiamom Stuff at iHeartMedia
dot com. You can find us on Twitter at mom
stuff Podcasts, or on Instagram and TikTok at stuff I've
Never Told You. We have a tea public store, and
(21:06):
we have a book you can get wherever you get
your books. Thanks as always to our super producer Christina,
our executive producer Maya, and our contributor Joey.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
Thank you, and thanks to you for listening. Stuff I'll
Never Told You is a production by Heart Radio.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
For more podcast from my heart Radio, you can check
out the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha. Welcome to Stephan Never
told you a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
And welcome to another happy hour where it's not a
pitchin wine the time round because I'm trying to make
it a little more happier. It's more of a confessional,
we'll say, for this happy hour. But before we start,
just FYI were not being sponsored by anything we mentioned.
If we do mention any products at this time, that
could change. We all know that. And if you are
(00:41):
doing the actual happy hour as if we were together
in a happy hour just getting chilling, be responsible, you know,
do you? But in a adult fashion, in a way
that is responsible. Eddie, are you slipping on anything I made?
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Margherita, Oh yes, I'm trying to. I mean, I know
I've been complaining about it for a while, but my
refrigerator situation is real bad, so I'm trying to clear
out space.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
And I still have some of that mezcal.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Oh yeah, you're using that up real good.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
I mean I still got quite a bit left.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
But yeah, all right, I like it.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
I like it.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
You should do you, And that's a part of your doing,
which is getting rid of everything.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
You it's bad it's really bad.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Well, I so we went out last night. We have
this thing where quarterly we get together celebrate we've been
doing with s minty and eat oysters because I love
oysters like so much. Oysters. So we went out last
night and celebrated what we're doing, talking about the things
we want to do for the future and eating good oysters.
And that involved to adult beverages and for me, that
(01:58):
was too much. My head was hurting. So today I
am keeping it with my water, bubbly water with some
strawberry flavor because my pineapple flavor is gone. Apparently it's
only available in Canada and I can't order it, so
Canadian friends send me some. I'm just kidding, but it's
I thought that was so weird to me. I was like,
why is this not available in the US. I don't understand.
(02:19):
I'm very sad. But anyway, but that's how I'm keeping
it today because I still have a small headache. Because yes,
over forty means feeling like you have a hangover when
you shouldn't be having a hangover. Anyway, that's there's a
wine bit, you know. But today I kind of wanted
to explore the fact that there's comfort mills and for
comfort mills, what does that mean? So today is March
(02:41):
twenty eight, twenty twenty four, right before Easter. So if
you yeah, surprise surprise.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Funny because one of the reasons if my refrigerators so foles.
I have this meal I make on Easter, but I
totally forgot this this weekend.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yep, it's good to use it. That is why we
have these put moments together. But yeah, So one of
the things that I think is interesting because I am
a transracial adoptee. I am very Asian but grew up
in a very Southern household. And as much as I
(03:17):
have been exploring into Korean food and getting kind of
back to my roots and things that I do remember
and don't remember, like I will always have Southern food
with my comfort food. Like I my sister has the
best chicken and dupling recipes that I use and I
love that. And apparently my partner, who grew up in
North Georgia as well for a little while, has said
that he had never eaten it before, which I'm very
(03:39):
very confused by it, and he compared it to matsabal soup.
I'm like, how in the world did you eat matsa
bal soup in Gainesville, Georgia, but not have chicken and dumplings.
I'm very confused. Thoroughly confused anyway, but things like that
food and kind of that growing up as an adult.
Of course, there's a couple of conversations we've had recently
in that we are adults, but our life is nothing
(04:02):
like our parents. And I know we've talked about this previously,
especially like our moms putting up a whole different level
standards and cleanliness and housekeeping, and we were like, yeah,
we don't, we don't do that. As well as the
fact that, yeah, I just figured out recently that one
of my dad's hobbies which I had no idea about,
because all I knew growing up was him working, being tired,
(04:23):
coming home to eat, and doing house projects. Like he
rarely had time to play games with us. We never
had family board game nights. None of that happened in
our house. My brother and I would sometimes play together,
but then we would erupt into a fight and then
we could not play together, Like that's kind of how
that went down. So our house was a little different
in that level. But I think our generation, when we
(04:45):
had parents who are who are boomers? That was their
life like that whole working nine to five, but for him,
his commute was an hour an hour and a half,
so it was like working from six thirty seven til
sa uh if not later, and then coming home exhausted,
and then doing the weekends as projects because he maintained
(05:08):
the house so we didn't have plumbers coming into it
through unless it was like a big emergency. Then if not,
he fixed it. He went to the home depot, or
he went to Low's or Ace Hardware because that was
what was available in our neighborhood to fix things. But
like all of these things, growing up, realizing these minute
details that I never noticed, and then growing up and
(05:29):
being like I am nothing like this. As much as
like this was great, I'm nothing like this. And in
that level of like growing up with different types of food,
I was talking to you because when I was a nanny,
the kids who were pretty well off and as in fact,
I think a couple of them are had like doing
their own truck to become celebrities themselves, loved ramen noodle
(05:53):
top ramen with tons and tons of hot sauce, like
they ate so much that it almost looked like they're
challenging themselves and their siblings about who got the hottest version.
And they loved eating that, and they loved eating Hamburger helper,
which is also what I grew up with. And I
was fine and feeding them this. They're very active kids,
so it wasn't like any health issues had risen or
(06:16):
we were concerned about that. As obsessed as the mom
was about her features and her weight, she never really
put that onto her kids. Of course the kids learned
just from watching her, but she was happy with them
being fed. The grandmother, the mother of the mom, was
great cook. Actually she was amazing, but she was that
she was Filipino, Filipino, but she did a lot of
(06:38):
Asian dishes that the kids loved, so like, I love
that aspect of seeing that was like, oh, this is
like my childhood who lived in nut so rich house.
But those foods were comforting, and when I would eat
it with the kids, because obviously if I've made it
for them, I have to have to eat with them,
it was delicious. And it's been a minute since I've
had Hamburger helper, Rannie. But I sometimes crap that I
(06:59):
do too.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
I know that during the pandemic, people were seeking out
comforting foods and one of the things my mom, like
an easy thing she would make was a hamburger helper
chicken alfredo and I'm sure it had so much sodium
and it was like calorically dense, but I loved it,
(07:33):
and I couldn't find it during the pandemic, and I
was like, I just really want this comforting, simple, salty,
delicious carbi thing that I remember from childhood, and I
still can't find it.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Oh, they might have discontinued it.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Yeah, like this could be a like I'm wondering how
different everything is, because you know, we're definitely now at
the age where things have changed, the tastes have changed,
the recipe has changed all the different ways. Because yeah,
so like I haven't had hamber helper, but one of
the things that I would eat as a kid, So
I again southern home. My dad's parents actually had a
(08:12):
small enough like farmland ish but they would grow things.
So you would get homemade corn cream, corn fried okra,
deep fried okra, and lard, you know, or like deep
vegetable oil like they eat it was real fried. Then
green beans, especially string beans that they had made with
at least like a hamhock, if not some other part
(08:34):
of me bacon, fat, whatever, as well as corn bread
and the skillet cornbread, not the sweet one though it
was always the like the cakey one, but I had
the good like brown crisp edges, as well as mac
and cheese. Now the mac and cheese, I don't think
I ever had homemade mac and cheese with my family.
(08:55):
I think they always did box mac and cheese, like
I'm trying to remember, like people who did make mac
and cheese were the fancy people. Yes, outside of that,
we did that. They just went and bought the belvy
the cheese, and that's what we had as part of
our meal. And growing up, my siblings and I would
make what would call a hodgepodge of these, so we
(09:16):
would take all the veggies, put it together, so corn,
green beans, okra, and the mac and cheese and a
giant bowl and then just crumble like corn bread into
it and make it a giant mix, and we'd call
it the Hodgepodge mill. And I craved that as an
adult all the time, to the point that I definitely
have to do at least two or three times a year,
which is quite funny because my partner and I used
(09:38):
to joke that he would make the Asian foods who
was white. He is very white, and I would make
the country food who was very Asian. Like it was
such a like split segon and I was like, yeah,
this is what I like and like the feeling of
like coming into Yeah. I made literally made canned green
beans because I don't I would love the homemade, but
(09:58):
we don't have like I don't. We don't farm here
like we were in Decatur, so it's not accessible. All
the things. We have had issues with trees in the house.
He wants to have all this garden, but I'm like,
I'm not doing it because I killed Basil. I'm very sad.
I'm still traumatized reacily, but like having cane green beans.
(10:19):
There's this creamed corn that's frozen in a package you
get in the freezer, a vegetable aisle, and that's like
the best. I'm like, it's the best I've had in
a while, even compared to like I've made homemade cream corn.
It's an endeavor. It's an endeavor because I try to
see if I can do it, and if I can
know how I can do it, then I'll move on like, yeah,
well now this is just as good, so I'm going
(10:39):
And then like I made a box of Annies mac
and cheese, not any our friend here, but the actual
brand of mac and cheese. And I didn't have the corner,
and I forgot the corner. But I have been eating
it to the point that I ate it kind of
early morning as my early lunch today because I was like, yep,
I want my hotchpodged milk. It makes like to me,
I'm like, do other people eat like this? Because I've
(11:01):
always grown up eating green beans and corn together. Hmmm,
and I always thought that was normal, But I don't know.
That might just be our family thing. But these types
of food they feel me in a way that I
feel full and happy and content and just that memory
of being for a moment home in the good moments.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Yeah, I mean food is powerful in that way and
that sounds delicious to me. We used to joke with
my little brother because you know, some people have.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
The interesting thing with food.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
And by the way, listeners, if you have any meals
like what we're talking about, that like your family makes,
but it seems no one else does. Let us know,
my little brother. Some people have that thing where they're like,
my foods are separate, they will not be mixed.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Yeah, And my little brother, we used to joke, would
always make a pie.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
So whatever it was, he would just mix it and
he was happiest when it was mixed.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
And I'm over here, like my noodles was not touched.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
What it was.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
It's true, it's true because I did like some things mixed.
So one of the things we did that was I
think it was my idea because I read it in
a book, but it was. It's called like an English
nest or something. It's mashed potatoes, green peas, and ham.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Yeah, mixed, I know he's talking about. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's kind of but it sounds like the beginnings of
Shepherd's Pie.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Yes. It's like a very low maintenance which.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
I had never had until I went and worked a
year in Oklahoma and they loved that. I was like,
what is this.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
It's a very hearty meal.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
It is a very hearty meal. I think it was
because you could do it in bulk, and because I
worked at a children's home. That's how what they would make,
and it was easy to get, like the canned veggies,
which I hate canned veggies, like to the point that
I love the queen beans, but like the mixed veggies
with the peace and the carrots. Hated that stuff.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Hated it.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
I still do did this day. I don't like can
green peas. Though I do not like peas, I do
not like the mother stop making me try to eat them.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
She did.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
She tried so hard. I was like, I know, no
green peas.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
It's not like you were talking to me. For a second.
I was like, whoa, I.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Traumatized by that. But yeah, so like like I that's
that was a bulk thing that they had box mashed potatoes.
Put that on and then they always got buffalo meat
Oklahoma y all. So it was very very accessible. I
hated it, oh so much, but I had to eat
it because I was with the kids. The kids can't
be piggy, so I can't be picky. And I was like, oh,
(13:44):
but this is so disgusting. Don't get me wrong. I've
had actually good shepherd's pie and I get it. I'm like, oh,
this is okay, this is legitimate, Like okay, I see now,
this is this is what it's supposed to be. And
they did again, they did what the best they could,
like with the lump the giant meals that have to
make because I've cooked for like larger groups of people
and you realize that it takes a lot of effort
(14:06):
in doing that. But it also made me think, because
Easter is coming up, like the different traditions, because I
think my parents will be doing sandwiches, but it's ham.
Always involved ham. Did yours involve ham?
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (14:22):
And I won't go on my science food stuff reason
why that is, but yes, most it does involve ham.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
All that deviled eggs. Of course, we had boiled eggs
on top of boiled eggs on top of boiled eggs,
because that's what we do dying Easter eggs. We had
the country mill. I'm wondering is that an all of
the US thing or is that just a Southern thing?
Speaker 1 (14:42):
I think like the devil'ed eggs are specific, but eggs
are pretty popular.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Again, there's a historical reason for this.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Yeah, I think the ham is pretty popular at Lamb also,
but there are variations.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
For sure. My family did it was a like ham,
deviled eggs.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Those are like the main things, right, and then some
kind of like green beans or cheese or something like
some kind of vegetable or something.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Yeah. Yeah, I was looking to see what other countries
would do. So this is from try Theworld dot com
eleven incredible Easter mills from around the world. Apparently Austria, Switzerland,
and southern Germany have traditionally braided breads, either in the
(15:32):
shape of a loaf or a wreath. I'm not gonna
try to say the word for the wreath, so that's
it's interesting. Yeah, well I did. I did see a
hot crossbun and it goes to Great Britain, so the UK,
and they have the sweet rolls uh, and that they
are marked with across to symbolize Jesus' crucifixion. Uh. They
also do the roast Sunday roast, which I've never had
(15:54):
a Sunday roast, which makes since because I'm not from
the UK, but I kind of want to, but I
know that's a big ordeal. And then they had the
home let homemade chocolate Easter eggs, which you know, the
cadberry eggs. We definitely have the cadberry eggs here. The
Philippines has a whole pig and pie and fresh fish
and I know fish is so associated with a lot
of Easter traditions as well.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
That's why you can eat fish on Fridays during legs right. Also,
if you've never looked it up, Lamb cakes. They are
cakes that are made to look like lamb and they're scary,
scary a lot of times they look really scary and
I love it so much, and they have like red jelly.
So when you cut it less, please write in. I
(16:40):
had never heard of this until like two years ago.
I think in Europe it's popular. But I know, like
super producer Andrew who used to produce this show, he
knew about it.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Oh really yes, yeah, so it's the.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Thing interesting, look it up. I have to look it up.
There's a lamb pie in Italy, but I think that's
legit lamb. Yeah. I think it's like a seafood is
in Sweden. That sounds like a way to go with
a cured salmon. Yeah, pickled hearing, give me some. It
(17:15):
looks like Paraguay does chippa, which is a cheese bread.
I like cheese and bread. It's made from a yuca starch,
which again that sounds interesting. Easter Lamb Easter Bunny is Germany.
It's also marble cake in the form of an animal,
so this must be it Easter cake, Easter lamb or
(17:36):
Easter bunny, traditional sweets in Easter in Germany, and it's
a Marble's cake in the form of an animal. So Germans,
let me know, send us a picture.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
So good, it's so good.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
It's interesting. But yeah, I thought that was interesting because
I don't think about it. I just thought about it
because it's coming up very quickly, and my partner and
now are like, what are we going to do? We're
gonna go to a family's house. What are we doing?
It's kind of chaotic. It feels like very chaotic, like
holidays don't exist. And I think a part of that
for us in that we do it with family, so
without children, we think of it even less because we
(18:10):
don't have to do the prep stuff like did I
see a cute Reese's Easter Bunny? Yes? Did I buy
it for my partner who loves Reese's. Yes, like that
that's a yes, Like I'll do things like that, but
that's the end because I went to the grocery store
and saw it. But I don't think I think about
the holidays like that as much because there's no prep around.
Like there's so many things that I've had where it
feels very nostalgic right now because of like the food specifically.
(18:34):
And I've talked about the power of food before, and
I think I've talked about my hotchpodge, but like the craving,
the craving is what's like, Huh, I can't believe my
preference for a good meal is boxed macaroni and cheese,
canned green beans and frozen cream corn as a mixture.
And I'm joyfully, gleefully eating this And like I presented
(18:55):
to my partner as if I cooked a giant mill,
Like there you go, enjoying my freshly per mare box
mil Hey, he got bad.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
So it's delicious, I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
And with public fried chicken, I just that fried chicken
is good, y'all. It's good.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
That's the thing.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
That's what we were saying when we were talking about it,
is there's a reason why that during the pandemic, like
sales of mac and cheese went through the roof. Like
there's when you grow up with something that's comforting and
kind of simple, but like very salty and flavorful and filling.
(19:37):
It just to me, makes so much sense that you
have these strong cravings for it. When you have it,
you're like, even if you're not thinking of a specific memory,
you're kind of transported a little bit back.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Yeah, oh yeah, I remember when I had that.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
There's this feeling of safety with it, and if you
can find a moment of safety, and especially when you
come from chaos, the having those home moments, it's very
important to you. And again, like it also brings back
to like the aging and being an adult and being
allowed to do this. I'm like, yeah, this is how
I'm going to do it. Watch me Like there's some
(20:11):
satisfaction in doing it that way. So yeah, thanks for
going down my food journey. I'm probably gonna go downstairs
in a minute and eat the rest of it.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
You should. I support this.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
I support this, and I really hope I love hearing
about people's foods and traditions, and so I really hope
listeners if you have any, whether they be holiday related
or just something your family did, I would love to
hear them for sure.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
Absolutely, And if you did a lamb cake.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Yeah, oh yes, well, thank you Samantha for sharing that
with us, and listeners, if you would like to contact
us you can. Our email is steffidiamom Stuff at iHeartMedia
dot com. You can find us on Twitter at mom
stuff Podcasts, or on Instagram and TikTok at stuff I've
Never Told You. We have a tea public store, and
(21:06):
we have a book you can get wherever you get
your books. Thanks as always to our super producer Christina,
our executive producer Maya, and our contributor Joey.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
Thank you, and thanks to you for listening. Stuff I'll
Never Told You is a production by Heart Radio.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
For more podcast from my heart Radio, you can check
out the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.
Stuff Mom Never Told You News
Hosts And Creators
Anney Reese
Samantha McVey
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