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I attended Oakland High School in Oakland California in the late '50's. The lunches in the school cafateria were not really that bad. In particular I liked the hamburgers, they had a very distinct taste, a taste that I have not found in any hamburger I have eaten since. Something was added to the hamburger meat during preparation to give it the distinct taste, I suspect that it was a condiment but to this day I have been unable to recreate the taste. I have been looking for information on a cookbook that the Alameda County public schools may have been using at the time, perhaps it would have the recipe for the hamburgers.

I love cheerios and kix as a child. I like to eat mildly flavoured cold cereals, and not sugary ones.

I live in Florida, and have always had locally grown, and imported corn on the cob, grilled, steamed, boiled, I've even had it cooked inside the husk in tar (that was really tasty, seriously). But the sweetest, and most flavorful corn I've ever eaten came from the Connecticut valley in Massachusetts. A friend of mine had a vegatable stand in Massachusetts at one time, and he told me that the best corn came from the Connecticut Valley. So when the crop came in, I rode along with him to score some corn. We ate some of it raw off the cob, I have never tasted corn this sweet, and delicious ever, and it was even better cooked. I can't wait to get some more.

my parents are from Egypt and a favorite summertime treat is one they bought from street vendors as kids. The corn is shucked and put directly on a low flame grill until it's pretty charred. A good, midsummer ear of corn will become sweeter than candy when grilled this way!

I realized the other day that I do a lot of stuff by sound. It's no surprise, since I'm a music teacher. Not only do I listen to the sound of stuff cooking (I just was listening tonight to see if the turkey tenderloin and potatoes were cooking right) but I listen to the sound of filling things up. I realized the other day that I know that my water bottle is about full from the way the pitch of the water changes.

I am so the outlier. I can say that most of what everyone describes was totally absent on my high school's lunch menu. I gruadted less than five years ago, so the whole "healthy lunch program" was just going into effect.

We had buffalo chicken sandwiches on Wednesday and chicken tenders on Thursdays. French fries, pizza and wraps too...sounds like standard fair, right? It was all air-fried, low fat and whole wheat. Mostly the least popular too...we had a sushi chef come in on Tuesdays, and we had a daily stir fry station. The salad bar was enormous, and they had a make-you-own smoothie bar. Grilled/roasted veggies were always an option and never soggy. The hamburgers, grilled chicken sandwiches and veggie burgers were also tasty. I do miss the make-your-own nacho bar with fresh salsa and avocado slices!!

I also went to public school, in case anyone was wondering. I've heard that they now accept credit and debit cards in the cafeteria and/or an ID card with stored dining dollars that's controlled online--and subsequently allows parents to SEE what their children are buying. Kinda Big Brother-ish.

Obama would be a Moon Pie, no one's totally sure what's in the middle but it just sounds soooooo darn appealing. McCain would be a Lorna Doone, not as offensive as some, but still kinda meh and grandma-y.

obama: fresh strawberry poppyseed salad from panera
mccain: frozen chicken pot pie from costco

It depends on the day. If it's a salty-craving day, I reach for some dill pickles. If it's a sweet-craving day, there's nothing better than chocolate milk, eaten with a spoon rather than drank straight out of the glass. Brings back all kinds of nostalgic memories.

Fresh cherries, watermelon, popsicles...then and now.

Remember those frozen cream pies made by companies like Pet Ritz, etc.? They had a graham crust, a creamy filling and some type of whippy topping? I absolutely loved when my mom would pull one of those out of the freezer on a hot summer day to thaw for dessert. I was happiest when it was still mostly frozen. It's been years since I had a slice and I doubt that I'd still like them, but as a kid, I was in seventh heaven on pie days. It didn't matter if it was lemon, banana, coconut or chocolate. I did not discriminate. :)

BACON: It spits at you violently while it's frying. When the spitting slows down, the bacon has surrendered and it's time to eat!

I Agree entirely; sbelle:
- toasted tomato sandwiches (vine ripe of course)
- fresh picked peas
...both of them bring back childhood summertime memories;

But I also find the flavours/aromas of BBQ pork to remind me of childhood, corn on the cob, Bratwurst (the real white ones) with hot german mustard and curry ketchup, and the smell of smoked salmon/trout is a reminder too; my papa used to smoke fish in the backyard in the summer...MMMMMmmm....