My mother used to feed us vienna sausages and cottage cheese for lunch.

As a child, I loved this - always excited to get this meal.

Then, years later, I remembered it! I ran down to the store to get myself some vienna sausages and cottage cheese.

I still love cottage cheese, but I don't know to this day how anyone (especially me) could stomach vienna sausages.

In agreement with ya there! I've seen people drink the jelly/juice when they are done with the sausages. I can't think of anything more terrible.



My mom's spaghetti sauce was often watery so the family joke was to "bring a straw to the table" on spaghetti night.

Probably something entirely different, but the name of these made me salivate for some of what is actually an extremely easy treat.

Take puff pastry dough (thawed) cut into long rectangles, brush with melted butter and then coat with cinnamon sugar, twist each rectangle and bake until golden. Flakey deliciousness.

Similar. I'd have thought she used the same stuff as pie crusts, but I cannot be sure and she no longer remembers. Sometimes they were cinnamon.

I can't remember that my mom ever cooked anything bad, I have fond memories of everything she made. Some things I liked less such as when she used too much garlic (any amount of garlic is too much imo), but I would eat it anyway.
I liked it when she made liver, I loved broccoli and cauliflower, and I truly loved loved loved brussels sprouts and still do ! Makes me want to go down to the supermarket and boil up a kilo right now !

My dad on the other hand couldn't cook at all. The very few times he cooked it would always be something dead easy like hot dogs or heating pizzas in the oven. The good thing was that he would compensate his complete lack of culinary skills with quantity, so we never went hungry when it was time for hot dogs :D

Reminds me of a scene from a TV show where the characters complained in astonishment how something could be burnt yet frozen/uncooked at the same time, while struggling to smile and wait until the cook left the room to spit the food out.

While my mom never had any awful dishes, dad certainly couldn't cook and only tried the first night when mom was in the hospital for a week. He claimed to have cooked all his meals himself while in school but hadn't exercised those skills for at least 15 years at this point. He claimed utter efficiency at putting all ingredients in the rice cooker along with the rice but the soggy mush was devoid of any spice or texture. All us kids complained but I'm sure he himself didn't enjoy the meal because we ate takeout for the rest of the week. He usually objected to the expense of takeout when my mom took care of things.

Almost everything she made was, and still is, amazingly good. And as far as I remember she never had a cookbook. The recipes were handed down from her mom (from the old country) or she just experimented. My favorite this she makes is a Vienna Schnitzel. Mmmm...mouth is watering just thinking about it.

There is one exception however...my mom, for some weird reason, could never make eggs well. They weren't horrible, but they were always kind of meh. It still boggles my mind how someone that can make just about anything taste great, couldn't do it with eggs.

For those who are confused about pigs in a blanket including cabbage, we picked these up yesterday:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/membe...gs-blanket.jpg

Note the (piggies). :D

That is excellence, right there. My Slovak Grandmother, and now my mother make the best. I've asked my mother for the recipe. She replies, "I don't have one."

:D I make my own occasionally, although I don't really have a recipe either. :D

Now, I just need to learn how to make pierogies before my great-aunt passes away!

I googled for a recipe and felt that all of them were missing some secret ingredient. Surely it's not that simple.

I use a combination of beef and pork, and add a bit of paprika.

I saw the pork/beef but no recipe called for paprika. No self respecting eastern European recipe would leave out paprika. What's the deal with the tomato soup? Campbellski's brand?

I don't use tomato soup. I use tomato sauce. I also add a touch of brown sugar to the sauce so it's a bit sweeter.

Do you want me to write down a recipe the next time I make them and PM it to you? :D