# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/61 "2011-03-28T21:01:42Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > Hopalong Cassidy: Tear a hole out of the middle of a slice of bread. Lay in a buttered pan and crack an egg in the hole. Fry. Eat with ketchup. Except for the ketchup, that’s a standard breakfast item, generally called “egg in the hole.” (It’s not something I’ve eaten, but I’ve got bread and eggs at home, so I might try it.) ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/62 "2011-03-28T21:14:36Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Except for the ketchup, that’s a standard breakfast item, generally called “egg in the hole.” (It’s not something I’ve eaten, but I’ve got bread and eggs at home, so I might try it.) We call it “Toad in the hole” and it’s wonderful, in the way that only truly buttery heart-attack-on-a-plate food can be. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/63 "2011-03-28T21:20:02Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > We call it “Toad in the hole” and it’s wonderful, in the way that only truly buttery heart-attack-on-a-plate food can be. The Wikipedia [article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_in_the_basket) gives that as one of _many_ possible names for the dish. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/64 "2011-03-28T21:32:11Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Except for the ketchup, that’s a standard breakfast item, generally called “egg in the hole.” (It’s not something I’ve eaten, but I’ve got bread and eggs at home, so I might try it.) ‘Eggs in a Cage’ when I was growing up; no ketchup. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/65 "2011-03-28T21:43:43Z")
The mother of a girl I used to date loved mashed potato and mayo sandwiches. ---
**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 28, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/66 "2011-03-28T21:58:41Z")
> [@missred](#): > > We did the rice and eggs with brown sugar also. That or coffee soup (torn up buttered bread in a bowl with coffee, milk and sugar) were typical Sunday night suppers at my grandparents’ house. 😛 Ohhh… coffee soup. Wow. Yeah. My dad ate that alone. He made his with unbuttered saltines, though. I’m not sure of the proportions. Wonder if he’d make me a bowl? (At the time, I hated even the smell of coffee. Now I’m an addict.) ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/67 "2011-03-28T22:07:50Z")
> [@Chopper9760](#): > > That sounds so freaking delicious, I can’t even tell you. It’s making my mouth water and I kind of want to cry because I have already eaten my sandwich. _lip wobbles_ I’m going to make this and report back. It’s so good, but really–it’s also so very unhealthy. In a perfect world, use Lays brand potato chips (the non-ruffled kind). If you can’t get those, get some other inexpensive brand of non-crinkle-cut. The crinkle-cut/ruffled ones burn and turn awful. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/68 "2011-03-28T22:19:42Z")
> [@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. > > We call it rice and eggs. There’s a pretty good reason for that. > > 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. I load my plate up with both. Deeelish! > > Anyone else do rice and eggs?.. this or another variation? > > What weirdo family recipes warm your hearts and fill your bellies? The cinnamon and sugar is different (although powdered sugar on scrambled eggs is a Moroccon thing) but I’ve had scrambled eggs and rice like you described (equal parts) at a Thai run diner in North Hollywood and I’ve seen it on the menu at other Thai and Fillipino(I think) places. At the diner they put a slice of cheese on it. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/69 "2011-03-28T23:33:08Z")
My family twist on turtle barf-Tuna, cram of mushroom soup+peas over white toast or egg noodles. Standard late winter Friday night dinner. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/70 "2011-03-28T23:42:16Z")
> [@singular1](#): > > What percentage of fat is your hamburger? Mr. singular always get 15%, which I hate because of the excess grease I’m always spooning off. I’d like to try this, but I would think you’d need the leaner stuff. It sounds great, though, and I’m glad you listed the things that would ruin it, since those are things I might’ve tried. I use the 80/20 hamburger from Trader Joe’s, but back when Mom made it, they didn’t really label ground beef that way,and she always bought the cheapest stuff. There really isn’t alot of grease…and what there is gets absorbed by the bread and makes it yummy! ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/71 "2011-03-29T01:18:25Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > ‘Eggs in a Cage’ when I was growing up; no ketchup. “Clouds in the window.” No ketchup. My kids love it. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/72 "2011-03-29T02:27:00Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > We add tomato juice or V-8 to chicken soup. Especially when there are dumplings. We also have to serve salad with vinegar and oil dressing when we have mac and cheese so the dressing can soak into the mac and cheese on your plate. We make a recipe called Burger Loafer that is basically a meatloaf inside a loaf of French bread. That was…unfortunate. I’ve now been tasked with making the family another meat-loaf type thing as an apology. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/73 "2011-03-29T06:54:24Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > My mother always salted her waltermelon, and that’s the only way I can eat it. From the looks people ggive me when I do it, you’d think I was putting ketchup on ice cream or something. > > One of the first SDMB threads I posted on was about people who salted their watermelon. We salt our cantaloupe, never tried it on watermelon though. We eat hard-boiled eggs while still warm, split them in half and spread with butter. We used to have sugar sandwiches when I was a kid but we used white sugar. We put butter on crackers. As for the op, we used to eat white rice warm with milk, sugar and cinnamon for breakfast but we never added eggs to that. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/74 "2011-03-29T15:40:33Z")
This isn’t so much a family tradition as just something my sister started doing, which then in turn my brother and I started doing, but I still get funny looks from people when I tell them. Pickles on pizza. They have to be dill, and thinly sliced, like ones you’d find on a McD’s hamburger. There is really only one pizza place that does it well, and it’s the one in our hometown she started ordering it from. I like it paired with pepperoni, and I actually managed to get enough of my friends in high school to like it that pickles eventually made it onto the official list of toppings. People cringe, but it’s so good! The pickles dry out a bit, and are like salty, sour islands of awesome in the sea of cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/75 "2011-03-29T16:09:50Z")
Jolly Green Giant® corn niblets mixed into pancake batter. I was in my 20s before I realized that not everyone loves corn in their pancakes. Indeed, for a long time, I thought that’s how a proper pancake should be served. Had no idea it was just a family thing. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/76 "2011-03-29T19:14:04Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > Jolly Green Giant® corn niblets mixed into pancake batter. I was in my 20s before I realized that not everyone loves corn in their pancakes. Indeed, for a long time, I thought that’s how a proper pancake should be served. Had no idea it was just a family thing. It’s on the menu at several pancake places. I usually get disappointed because I expect a corn meal pancake but it usually is exactly as you describe.. niblets in the batter and on top. ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/77 "2011-03-29T19:25:54Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > It’s so good, but really–it’s also so very unhealthy. > > In a perfect world, use Lays brand potato chips (the non-ruffled kind). If you can’t get those, get some other inexpensive brand of non-crinkle-cut. The crinkle-cut/ruffled ones burn and turn awful. _salute_ Have no fear, I’m not all that pro-potato chip but I am adamantly anti-Ruffles. Ruffles have Ridges (for her pleasure) but since I’m not making sweet love to mah potato chips I’ll stick to Lays. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/78 "2011-03-29T19:43:33Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > It’s on the menu at several pancake places. I usually get disappointed because I expect a corn meal pancake but it usually is exactly as you describe.. niblets in the batter and on top. I’m gonna need a cite for that, please. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/79 "2011-03-29T20:47:49Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > Cheese and crackers for dinner. We thought it a rare, huge treat growing up. I was crushed to hear a neighbor kid making fun of us. I’ll do that too, but usually if I’m just feeling lazy. On really hot summer days I’ll do that, but add pickled herring and grapes. (No, not all together.) It’s a tasty and expensive way to avoid turning on the stove. Kringle. I’ve seen recipes for it on the Web, and I know you can buy it in some shops. But what we make is a very different recipe than other Swedes are probably used to. We’ve had our own family recipe for at least 5 generations, probably longer. I refuse to wake up on Christmas morning if there’s no kringle. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091/80 "2011-03-29T22:23:28Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > Hopalong Cassidy: Tear a hole out of the middle of a slice of bread. Lay in a buttered pan and crack an egg in the hole. Fry. Eat with ketchup. Eggs with the hole in the middle, with ketchup. Yeah, my family isn’t the most logical. Ghetto chip dip - 1/4 ketchup, 1/4 yellow mustard, 2/4 salad dressing (depending on the mood there may be more salad dressing added). I wanna know if the following is weird to others: Eggos with peanut butter. No one other than my brother and I use peanut butter, but it doesn’t seem like that odd of a combo. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-food-traditions-that-you-love-but-make-outsiders-cringe/576091.md?page=5)