What's for Suppa?

While growing up in the 50's the obsession of  creating epicurean delights had not taken a strong hold. The meals were pretty basic and gourmet cooking was left to the chefs at high end restaurants. Having said that there was plenty of good cooking going on in the kitchens across America. Regionally there were favorites and I am going to remember what fed our taste buds when mom was home doing the cooking.
When I would come down the stairs for breakfast there was usually the smell of toast wafting around the room. It was served with bacon or sausage and eggs. I particularly remember the sound of the coffee perking, little bubbles popping up in a glass top of the aluminum pot. I loved the smell of coffee but even better was when I lifted the top of the coffee canister and took big whiffs of the coffee grinds.
That is a treat until this day.
We had a large family and to stretch the dollars and keep it wholesome we had oatmeal quite often. I grew to dislike oatmeal until one day I tried it as an adult and absolutely loved it. Of course we doctored it with brown sugar and rich creamy milk. The taste of oatmeal now floods me with memories of that warm kitchen and bowls of porridge set out on the table.

Moving on to lunch the most common and appreciated sandwich was the peanut butter and jelly or PBJ as we liked to call it. It was invariably grape jelly and quite frankly when I had my own brood I never thought of using a different flavor. My grown children pointed that out to me. Other common lunches were grilled cheese with tomato soup, tuna salad,  or chicken salad on white bread, BLT, or bacon, lettuce and tomato. Lunch was simple and fast. We wanted to get out to play and eating was not on our minds.
Dinners in the 50's very much depended on the families cultural roots but here are some of the more standard choices; spaghetti and meatballs, meat loaf, beef stew with carrots and potatoes and celery, baked chicken, fried chicken, fish and chips on Fridays, pot roast (a Sunday choice), baked ham, and the ubiquitous potato whipped, fried, baked, sauteed, and put into a potato salad.
Deserts were usually puddings, pies, and cakes. I confess to being an absolute cookie monster. No cookie was safe around me. The fare was simple and straightforward, but the love and care that was spent preparing it make it a tie to our childhood that is unbreakable.