Did you grow up with designated meals for certain days?

Every Saturday night: baked beans with molasses. Hot dogs. In cold months, fresh steamed brown bread. I grew up in the Boston area.

Sort of – on Sundays after temple, we went to my grandmother’s house. She usually prepared a hearty midday meal – some meat (often steak of some sort), kartoffel (German version of hash brown potatoes), some vegetable, and German chocolate cake. The details varied, but the essentials were there.

Sometimes we went to my other grandmother’s house for Shabbat dinner (Friday nights) – they were more religious. There you could count on: Gefilte Fish, Chopped Liver, Baked chicken, some vegetable, and some sort of potato, usually boiled. And then the whole Shabbat candle lighting and so on.

As for my parents at home – no, it was always unpredictable.

Note: When my grandmothers both died, lots of good recipes were lost.

Not strictly but mother fed us roast beef for Sunday lunch very very often. I think it was because she could put it in the oven and set the timer to have it ready when we came home from Church. Today we do the same thing with the slow cooker.

Sundays when my grandfather would cook dinner for my grandmother, food was different each Sunday. Beef roast, turkey, leg of lamb . . . he would do the shopping, prep and cooking.
He would do the same thing if he visited at our house, he would cook for my mother (daughter -in-law) never American goulash or anything simple.

There were regimented meals in the high school cafeteria, with certain items on specific days of the week. The variations were always in the entrees. There were hot dog days (Tuesdays), but you could get meat loaf or deviled eggs, or roast chicken daily. The side dishes, mashed potatoes, jellow, corn or watermelon (in season) were around every day, as were the desserts.

Nope. Pretty much it was either Taco Bell, Bob’s, or Sizzler. Mother wasn’t much of a cook.

Turkey on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Pork chops, sauerkraut, and black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day.

Nothing other, really, than meatless Fridays.

No. During the summer break, I had the same thing every day. Two soft boiled eggs and toast. Cantaloupe half for lunch. Beef stew for supper. Smoked oysters for evening snack.

I mean, Sunday dinner has always been served up here in englandtown yorkshire puds, roast beef the lot.

It was usually pandemonium for dinner each night.

My Father died when I was 4. Mom always gone working or sleeping. My two older Sisters prepared their favorites of mac & cheese or TV dinners or pot pies.

No, although my mom did have a nice repertoire of things that she made, but there wasn’t a specific day for anything, and I’m pretty sure we had a wider range of things that we ate than some, or maybe most, of my friends.

I always thought it was kind of odd when my friends said it was “spaghetti” night. I also thought it was odd to only eat the same 7 meals, day in and day out.

One of my friend’s families had “pizza” night every Friday, which was unheard of at my house. This was the early to mid 70’s and getting takeout pizza was a rarity that usually only happened on one’s birthday.

On the subject of pizza though, my mom would occassionally get us one of those Chef Boyardee pizza kits where you would mix up the dough and stretch it on a pan, and then add the sauce and parmesan cheese that came in the kit, then bake it. I loved that.

And believe it or not, I actually liked those canned tamales, back in the day. We had those occasionally.

We would mostly have some type of meat, and at least 2 vegetables, plus salad and rolls, or garlic bread. I didn’t like meat at all, so I didn’t eat any meat until I was in my late teens, and then I gave it up completely in my early 20’s.

Thankfully, my parents never forced us to eat anything, but offered us a variety of things. I was a pretty limited eater until I decided to become a vegetarian, and then my horizons were broadened immensely.

Some of the things my mom made were chili, beef stew, Welsh rarebit, chicken and dumplings, roast beef, steak, fried chicken, spaghetti, tacos, enchiladas, burritos, and hamburgers.

Friday – Fish and chips
Saturday – Molasses baked beans and frankfurters

Southeastern New England

During the week, Mother made whatever she felt like cooking & we ate it no matter how much or little we liked it EXCEPT on Sundays. Sunday’s noon meal was steak & baked potatoes with a salad. Then Mother called “maid’s night off” & I usually made pizza for our evening meal. Actually, in the beginning, pizza was the ONLY thing I was allowed to cook by myself & it just became a tradition!!!

Sunday dinner was always a roast of some sort- beef, pork, lamb, Ham. And Tuesday or Wednesday was always a follow up made from leftovers.

Lamb curry was always a couple days after leg of lamb. Chow Mein a few days after pork roast, ham and scalloped potatoes after Sunday ham. Shepherds pie after roast beef.

But my mother had quite a repertoire, I don’t think she would duplicate a dinner in a month. She mostly went by what was on special at the grocery store.

Friday was always fish – a holdover from the Catholicism that my mom left at age 19. Saturday was always steak. No idea why.

reward for suffering through the fish

@stanleybmanly – LoL! Actually, my mom made fish quite well. Except her salmon loaf, which was horrible.

I grew up as a catholic boy & my favorite Friday dinner—canned tuna & pancakes.