Moms/Dads worst favorite recipe

[Scott85]

So my Father in Law use to boil shrimp for over 30 minutes. It took me about 2 years to figure out a way to tell him he was cooking them way way too long. Luckily for me he didn't take offense and he started to cook them correctly.

 

[Gunner46]

At least the man boiled them instead of trying to fry them like chicken ! I remember it well..kinda like biting into a shrimp-ish flavored shoe sole.

Here's the ummmmmm discussion we had when the subject of her not being able to duplicate my Parm/Tarregon chicken.

Did you pre-heat the oil to 450?

Well.....I fried it like I always do.

Did you Pre-heat the oil?

Well.... No.

Did you use the deep firer?

Well..... I did like I always do and used my skillet.

Did you mix 1 to 3 Parm and flour for the powder mix?

Well.....I just put what I thought looked right.

Did you use an egg bath?

Well....No, I just used milk , like I always do.

And so it went. We shall not even go into why frozen Stoffers Lasagna is a 'Go To', cuz it's "GOOOOOD".

 

[Carbon]

My parents were pretty good cooks. My mom tended to over cook meat, particularly pork - so we wouldn't get trichinosis.... No one ever did.

We had one memorable meal when I waas about 14. My dad wasn't a bird hunter, but I went grouse hunting with a buddy and his day. We got into a flock of sage grouse and when they flushed they looked like 747s. I limited out, gutted and skinned them and brought them home. My mom roasted them in the oven like they were chickens. Over cooked , skinless sage grouse. The family sat down to eat and I was so proud. Completely inedible, no one could swallow a bite. I don't remember what we had for our second dinner that night, but I do remember the house smelling for days....

 

[HSi-ESi]

My grandfather used to make us peanut butter / salami / mayo sandwiches. About once I year I get a craving for one of those. My great-grandfather used to make us herring / miracle-whip sandwiches. I don't get a craving for those (although I usually have a can of herring in the fridge).

 

[JTHOMP]

My mom is an okish cook. Somethings are good and some things are ok and don’t expect to ever see anything new.

One thing we always dreaded as a kids was when she cooked hamburgers. Living on a farm we always had a yearling in the freeze so hamburgers were a staple for us growing up. Just hauling in packages of hamburger was bad enough knowing what future awaited us for lunches and suppers. But it was quick for her, little mess, and not and an excessive expense to feed a family. Now that I know how to cook, literally every part of her prep work and cooking the hamburger is everything you’re not supposed to do.

 

[Festus]

One thing I never liked was when he would cook what I called "Polish Ravioli's". Pierogies, which to those unaware are an eastern European dumpling usually filled with mashed potato and onion, are usually served sauteed in butter and onions. They are really popular in Pittsburgh where I grew up. Only instead of sauteing in butter/onion my old man would boil them and then serve them with tomato sauce. It wasn't inedible but left a lot to be desired.

I love pierogies! (I'm from north of Pittsburgh) I got everyone here in South-West VA (not South WVA) eating them. They were right there in the frozen section the entire time, but people never even heard of them around here.
Definitely sauteed in butter and onions, though. Or deep fried topped with sour cream. I would never ruin them by putting them in tomato sauce.
Mom cooked for us every night when I was growing up. She did good. We had the 'sit til your plate was empty' rule so when I got home and saw meatloaf, or smelled scallops, I knew it would be a long evening... She hates to cook now. She has all the family to her house every chance she gets, but my brothers and I and our families bring and cook all the food.

 

[Gr8bawana]

My BIL makes a cornbread dressing that is just horrible. It is so overloaded with herbs, rosemary in particular and spices it's impossible to gag down. It's full of black olives and slices of hard boiled eggs that I watched him boil for over 30 minutes and then sit in the pan of hot water for another 30 minutes at least. The boiled eggs are so bad even his dog wouldn't eat the rubber yolks in his dogfood.
My wife won't let me tell him just how awful it is and nobody in his family will tell him either. Everyone just takes a spoonful to be polite and then it goes in the garbage when scraping the plates clean.

 

[MJE2083]

For some reason the names escapes me now, but my Mom used to make this dish that I hated. It was strips of beef in a tomato based sauce with peppers and onions. I just remember the beef being the toughest, most gristly cuts of meat you could imagine. Hated that stuff.

 

[ChrisS]

Growing up in the 70s/80s, Mom was a competent cook but it was mostly prepackaged stuff or right out of Betty Crocker. Dad was a disaster. Cheap hot dogs, spaghetti, or breakfast for dinner. He would boil chicken before slathering it with BBQ sauce and burning it on a grill.

That said, I am the cook I am today because of them.

A decade or so ago, my brother fancied himself quite the grill master. He cooked steaks to death and “smoked” meat til it was too over cooked, but not yet to the magic place where it becomes perfectly tender. I bought him a meat thermometer for his birthday one year. He got a lot better after that.

 

[Sandpounder]

This is a fun topic. Both of my parents were good cooks. Mom did most of it, but when dad helped out it was still pretty good. The only thing I remember as not liking was just getting sick of bologna and hot dogs (not together), it was just an easy cheap meal for when everyone was busy. I remember we were like 10 or 11 and we were complaining and being picky about eating something and Dad of course chewed us out and said we should deal with it or something like that. So we made the most disgusting taco thing we could think of with like left over spaghetti and meat sauce, peanut butter and jelly, tuna casserole all piled in a torilla. Dad choked it down with a smile and never let on how bad it was. It pretty much showed us. I am pretty sure he snuck off and threw up, but he didn't let us see it. Also I still like waffles with peanut butter and syrup, kindof like the toast deal. I have a bad sweet tooth.