# family food traditions that you love, but make outsiders cringe **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 26, 2011, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091 "2011-03-26T22:08:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/21 "2011-03-27T10:16:50Z")
My brother used to put BBQ sauce on fried rice, and baked beans IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/22 "2011-03-27T11:59:05Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Is it [this](http://www.angerburger.com/2010/03/burger-loafer/)recipe? Yes, it is…in fact it’s the exact same clipping that my Mom has glued to an index card…and that’s my comment at the end of the comments! We don’t do the MSG or the green peppers. I googled it a few weeks back and was surprised to come across that blog post. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen another reference to that particular recipe. After showing the blog to my boss, she wanted to try the recipe but was disappointed. She brought leftovers to me at work, and then confessed that the loaf of French bread she had used was already stale and crusty when she started…thing was hard as a rock! Plus she added cheese, which was not a good addition. It is a bit hard to cut even when made right, because the bread does get crusty and the top tends to slip around a bit. But we’ve always used an electric knife on it (probably the only thing we use the electric knife on!) so it’s not a problem. I made this two weeks ago for my brother as a thank you for helping when my basement flooded. Now I’m craving it again! ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/23 "2011-03-27T13:45:50Z")
> [@wonder\_lust](#): > > One of our family traditions, attributed (without verification) to the Pennsylvania Dutch (aka Amish), is one of my favorite breakfasts in the world. > What weirdo family recipes warm your hearts and fill your bellies? We ate brown sugar sandwiches on a regular basis. Pennsylvania Dutch aren’t all Amish folk, btw. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/24 "2011-03-27T13:54:03Z")
I like fairly dry turkey drowned in gravy, just like Mom used to make. Everywhere else I’ve had turkey, it seems too moist and slimy to me. ---
**Author:** ![dawson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@dawson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dawson)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/25 "2011-03-27T14:59:11Z")
I don’t know if this qualifies as a tradition yet because we’ve only been doing it for a few months but we like back bacon and guacamole on a focaccia bun. Most people we’ve told about it look at us like we’re weird but it’s really tasty! ---
**Author:** ![wonder\_lust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecccb3/32.png) [@wonder\_lust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonder_lust)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/26 "2011-03-27T15:53:57Z")
> [@MadTheSwine](#): > > We ate brown sugar sandwiches on a regular basis. > > Pennsylvania Dutch aren’t all Amish folk, btw. I’m imagining something like white bread with a skim of butter and a thin layer of brown sugar. Is that right? That sounds right up my alley. But if I’m wrong, I’d like to know more. As for Pennsylvania Dutch not necessarily being Amish, are you saying that some were just German settlers without the religious affiliation? I hear “Amish” and “Pennsylvania Dutch” used interchangeably, but I’m not shocked that it’s incorrect or inaccurate. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/27 "2011-03-27T15:55:48Z")
Hard boiled eggs and boiled potatoes covered in mustard sauce. Mustard sauce, btw, is made from a butter/flour roux with water added and then yellow mustard added to taste. So yummy, but definitely weird here in the US. Apparently, it is more common in Germany. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/28 "2011-03-27T16:12:27Z")
> [@wonder\_lust](#): > > I’m imagining something like white bread with a skim of butter and a thin layer of brown sugar. Is that right? That sounds right up my alley. But if I’m wrong, I’d like to know more. > > As for Pennsylvania Dutch not necessarily being Amish, are you saying that some were just German settlers without the religious affiliation? I hear “Amish” and “Pennsylvania Dutch” used interchangeably, but I’m not shocked that it’s incorrect or inaccurate. Pretty close,we used a good dose of both butter and brown sugar tho. We also used to eat onion sandwiches as kids,nice fat slices of onion with mustard and ketchup. Wiki has a decent article on Pennsylvania Dutch. ---
**Author:** ![StuffLikeThatThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@StuffLikeThatThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StuffLikeThatThere)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/29 "2011-03-27T16:45:39Z")
When we were little and went outside to play in the snow, my mom made hot chocolate for us when we came back in, and had graham crackers. Not weird at all. Except that there was a heavy layer of butter on the crackers. It seems to freak people out, but I have it about once a year even as an adult. Takes me right back. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/30 "2011-03-27T16:52:47Z")
> [@Brynda](#): > > Hard boiled eggs and boiled potatoes covered in mustard sauce. Mustard sauce, btw, is made from a butter/flour roux with water added and then yellow mustard added to taste. So yummy, but definitely weird here in the US. Apparently, it is more common in Germany. Sounds like if you chopped up the potatoes and eggs, you’d have a very simple potato salad. Not so weird. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/31 "2011-03-27T16:54:24Z")
> [@StuffLikeThatThere](#): > > When we were little and went outside to play in the snow, my mom made hot chocolate for us when we came back in, and had graham crackers. Not weird at all. Except that there was a heavy layer of butter on the crackers. > > It seems to freak people out, but I have it about once a year even as an adult. Takes me right back. 🙂 That’s wierd? That’s the only way we ate them as kids. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/32 "2011-03-27T16:54:40Z")
> [@wonder\_lust](#): > > I’m imagining something like white bread with a skim of butter and a thin layer of brown sugar. Is that right? That sounds right up my alley. But if I’m wrong, I’d like to know more. > > As for Pennsylvania Dutch not necessarily being Amish, are you saying that some were just German settlers without the religious affiliation? I hear “Amish” and “Pennsylvania Dutch” used interchangeably, but I’m not shocked that it’s incorrect or inaccurate. Central and Eastern Pennsylvania had a large number of German settlers, not all of whom were Amish. There were a fair number of Lutherans, Mennonites, and Brethren in Christ, as well. There are enough cultural similarities that you can use the umbrella term Pennsylvania Dutch, even though they’re of different denominations. In fact, there is a [Wikipedia in the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect](http://pdc.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haaptblatt). ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/33 "2011-03-27T18:02:20Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > Sounds like if you chopped up the potatoes and eggs, you’d have a very simple potato salad. Not so weird. Not so weird, except this was a hot dish. I liked it, too. I make a dish my family calls cabbage balls, that consists of large meatballs, boiled cabbage, onion soup mix and potatoes. It’s not a particularly attractive dish, and my (now grown) children insist you have to put it on your plate and chop and mix it up further, with the juices. Now it looks even less attractive, but everyone dives right in and loves it. My kids now make this for their families. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/34 "2011-03-27T18:14:26Z")
> [@MadTheSwine](#): > > We ate brown sugar sandwiches on a regular basis. My mother used to make those for me when I was a child. Haven’t had one in years (haven’t even thought of them in years), but they were good! ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/35 "2011-03-27T18:32:33Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > I’m not sure I’d put ranch dressing _on_ mashed potatoes, but if you get some of the powdered ranch dressing (the kind you’re supposed to mix with sour cream/mayonnaise to make dressing), and sprinkle it _in_ mashed potatoes (reduce some of the salt in your potatoes), it’s great! I always mixed the ranch dressing into the mashed potatoes on my plate. 🙂 Any creamy salad dressing will do really, it’s a good flavourful sub if you don’t have any sour cream or gravy to go on the potatoes! I dislike eating potatoes by themselves, must at least have some butter. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/36 "2011-03-27T18:45:50Z")
Matzo balls are supposed to be light and fluffy. My step-mom’s are hard as a rock and chewy. Most people would probably think that they’re the worst matzo balls in the world but I absolutely love them. I look forward to them every Passover. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/37 "2011-03-27T19:11:42Z")
> [@MadTheSwine](#): > > We ate brown sugar sandwiches on a regular basis. > > Pennsylvania Dutch aren’t all Amish folk, btw. I loved brown sugar sandwiches as a child. Thanks for bringing back that memory. My German step-grandpa taught us to make sour cream and sugar sandwiches. Take a slice of white bread, spread a thin layer of butter on it. Then a thin layer of sour cream, then sprinkle with sugar. It’s delicious. But once you reache the age of worrying about cholesterol, it becomes a thing of the past. ---
**Author:** ![limegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@limegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/limegreen)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/38 "2011-03-27T20:48:55Z")
Boiled cow tongue with ketchup. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/39 "2011-03-27T22:57:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > My family always has dandelion salad at Easter dinner. People sometimes react oddly when they hear of it, but I always insist that my guests at least try it, and they all seem to like it once they do. Ok, I’m intrigued. Details on dandelion choice and treatment, and dressing, please. Cheers. ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/40 "2011-03-27T23:40:23Z")
> [@wonder\_lust](#): > > It’s white rice scrambled into eggs – approximately equal parts each (a little heavier on the egg). We plate it like that (plain) then we add our own cinnamon and sugar to taste. It might be the cinnamon and sugar that make people cringe. The rice & eggs combination, as someone already pointed out, is already found in fried rice, and isn’t that different in concept from a potato omelet (chunks of cooked potato mixed in an omelet, usually with cheese as well), or the starving-student dish Egg Foo Yuk (leftover Chinese food stirred into scrambled eggs). But sweets + eggs seems to be an unusual taste. At least, that’s been my experience. If I want an omelet filled with jelly, like the ones my dad made when I was a kid, I have to make it myself. That’s one omelet filling I’ve never seen on a menu. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091.md?page=3)