Yahoo Lifestyle 25 Peculiar Family Food Traditions People Thought Were Totally Normal Growing Up That Range From "Weird" To "Disgusting" To Actually Really Cute
Recently, Reddit user youngnfree96 posted to Reddit's Casual Conversation page to ask what I thought was a fun question: "What's a 'weird' family food tradition you thought was normal until you got older?"
"Growing up, I thought everyone ate spaghetti with a side of rice because that’s just how my family did it," they wrote. "I didn’t realize it was unusual until friends started giving me weird looks. What’s a family food habit you later realized wasn’t as common as you thought?"
The answers people shared included some weird stuff, but also ranged from super cute to, honestly, kinda gross. Here are some of the best!
1."We would make cinnamon and sugar crackers. Put margarine on crackers, sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on them, and microwave them. We also made cinnamon and sugar pie crust strips in the oven for a snack."
"My gramma died when I was 54. I spent 53 of those years fighting with my uncle over the pie crust strips. When she made pies, every Tuesday of my life, she would take the trimmings from her pie crust and do this for us.
We didn’t care about the pie, but don’t get in anyone’s way when the pie strips come out of the oven. Thank you for that wonderful memory today."
2."Mashed potatoes in burritos. My dad didn’t like rice, so he made potatoes."
"But apparently, potatoes in burritos and tacos is a thing? My dad was ahead of the times!"
"I believe french fries in tacos or burritos is a thing in California."
3."This is food tangential but whenever we ate dinner as a family, my mom and dad would say a specific phrase that I grew up assuming was in common use at every dinner table in America, whenever they wanted a little more."
"Color me surprised when my girlfriend's family, during our first meeting over dinner, were staring at me like I had six heads when her mom asked if I’d like a second helping, and I said, 'Just a Tad Martin!'
I then went home and learned it was actually an inside joke about a soap opera actor named Tad Martin being incorporated into the phrase 'just a tad.'"
4."Fried chicken being eaten while going through the car wash."
"The place we got fried chicken happened to be right next to the best car wash in town. My brother and I were allowed to eat one drumstick on the way home while we were in the car wash.
As a little kid, I just assumed that everyone ate fried chicken this way — that’s why they were next to each other. My brother would request this every year on his birthday."
5."Microwaved cheese and crackers."
"My grandaddy would put saltines on a plate, then tear up cheese slices to perfectly cover each cracker, then microwave them. I loved those so much.
Then I moved to a state with real Mexican food and discovered nachos. I laugh to myself over my 'cracker nachos' every now and then."
6."Eating corn on the cob at the end of the meal like it was dessert."
"It gives the butter time to melt first!"
7."Ribs, sauerkraut, and whole potatoes all boiled on the stove for a while until everything was tender. Then my mom (and my grandmother, too) would put 'drop dumplins' into it."
"'Drop dumplins' were a mixture of flour, water, and egg (I think) mixed into a thick batter. Then, she scooped spoonfuls into the boiling water, letting them cook in the juices.
It was really good, and nobody I have mentioned it to has heard of it. I've never made it myself.
I grew up in an area with a German-Jewish heritage. My grandmother may have learned that meal from them when she was young and raising six kids. It was an inexpensive meal and made a lot of food.
One of my uncles always complained, calling it 'Depression food.' I loved all the Depression meals my grandmother made! Especially Depression candy!"
"My grandma made fantastic spareribs and 'kraut."
8."My mom routinely served chicken-flavored Rice-A-Roni with breakfast like it was a completely normal thing."
9."Rice with tomato sauce as a meal, because we were poor."
10."My dad doesn't eat meat but eats dairy products. So as a child, sandwiches or subs were always cheese and veggies."
Cappi Thompson / Getty Images, Fox
"I was like 5 when I saw an Italian hoagie for the first time, and let me tell you, I was so confused.
I'll never forget thinking, 'What is that pink stuff? That doesn't look like a hoagie...' Not necessarily a tradition, but it's funny thinking back to the first time I tried different kinds of meats."
—u/gravyrobberz
11."My sisters and I would stir fry up zucchini and onions with soy sauce and oil as an after-school snack. We’d watch after school cartoons, passing around a fork and our bowl of zucchini and onions to each other like a bowl of popcorn."
12."Maybe not weird, but I don't know anyone else who makes them. We call them pizza burgers: spaghetti meat sauce spooned onto half hamburger buns, sprinkle with cheese, and bake about 15 minutes until the cheese melts."
"We call these Sloppy Giuseppes!"
13."My dad's French toast!!! We make it by dipping the bread in the egg/milk batter, then coating it in crushed Frosted Flakes, then frying it. Served with peanut butter and syrup! "
"He is a chef and has worked at many hotels in his time. When serving French toast at a breakfast buffet it always got soggy, so he would usually make it covered in crushed, candied pecans. My mom is allergic to tree nuts, as are my siblings and me, so he makes it with Frosted Flakes now for us."
"I was very sad when Kylie Jenner had Corn Flake French toast trending for a bit. As a kid, I thought he should take his recipe to Shark Tank and trademark it."
"The amount of times I hear people talking about French toast without Frosted Flakes saddens me greatly; you have no idea what you're missing!
Similarly, we always made grilled cheese with cheddar cheese growing up so going to a friend's house and being served a grilled cheese made with American cheese was a culture shock for sure!"
14."I had no idea apple dumplings were a dessert. My mom would make them from scratch and we’d eat them, covered in milk, as dinner."
"Also, we ate canned fruit as dessert."
15."Brit here. My family always served pickled onions with a Sunday roast. It was only in my late 20s when I moved to the other side of the country to be with my now fiancé, that I discovered that wasn’t a thing."
"It wasn’t even a thing in my home county, it was just a ‘my family’ thing! But now my fiancé’s family makes sure there are pickled onions on the table, just for me. 🥰"
16."My dad's 'mac n cheese' was macaroni, sliced yellow cheddar, and a can of tomatoes. I'd be lying if I said I didn't bust it out occasionally."
Nick Jonas / Via giphy.com
17."I can’t eat pork without applesauce, and when we had pork we always had mac and cheese. Now I can’t eat mac and cheese without applesauce."
18."Canned, sweetened pear halves with a dollop of miracle whip and shredded cheddar cheese on top. This was a side dish in my childhood and I didn’t realize not everybody knew it and loved it!"
19."Grilled peanut butter sandwiches."
"My sister didn't like grilled cheese, so when we were having them for dinner, my dad would make her a grilled peanut butter instead. :)"
"Omg...that sounds amazing."
20."My dad takes halloumi and fries and cuts it up into little squares. He serves it with olives and olive oil."
21."I cut my spaghetti with a fork and knife before I eat it. Always have. And I'm Italian."
"And they let you keep your Italian status??? 😝"
22."My grandma always had a side dish at every family get-together: celery with Easy Cheese in the groove, like other people do with peanut butter. It's fucking delicious."
23."Maybe not the same, but when we went out to eat, we’d offer and take a bite from each other’s meals."
"We’d intentionally order different meals so we could try them without committing to the whole entrée. Opened me up to the concept of trying new things overall."
24."We always had a side plate of various pickles, olives, and whole green onions you would eat with your meal. I still need a pickle with most things."
25.And finally: "My family called it 'waldorf,' which is a bit weird on its own; but if you look up Waldorf salad, that's NOT what they were making."
Royce Ngiam / Getty Images, NBC / Via giphy.com
"It was a disgusting mixture of marshmallows, grapes, mandarin oranges...and mayonnaise. We bullied my aunt enough about it that she finally stopped bringing it to everything, but she still gets sensitive about it when we bring it up."
I want to hear all your opinions on these down in the comments below. Or, if you have your own family food tradition to share, feel free to do so! They're pretty fun to read.
Alternatively, if you want to share a tradition but prefer to remain anonymous, feel free to check out this Google form. Your answer might be included in an upcoming BuzzFeed article!
Note: some comments have been edited for length and/or clarity.
