Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong and Childhood Food Memories
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- Опубликовано: 29 сен 2024
- Rachel Khong’s Goodbye Vitamin isn’t some Alzheimer’s memoir and talking about foods that remind you of childhood.
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Meatloaf made with tomato paste and tomato sauce. With onion for crunch. For lunch the next day between two slices of potatoe bread instead of the normal peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
meatloaf sandwiches sound awesome - I like the specificity of potato bread. Will have to try that out, I've done a derivative with a "Korean" style meatloaf put between to slices of bread with a kimchi slaw. So good.
Yup comfort food
Is your wife (or her parents) Dutch or Belgian by any chance? Because those chocolate sprinkle sandwiches are a familiar thing for me that I associate with visiting my grandparents over there. Definitely warm fuzzy food nostalgia either way!
Lol - Dutch indeed! On her German side it was homemade coffee cake after church.
Haha, cant wait to see gardening video's, and you and your wife doing jigsaw puzzles on camera! And the video made me hungry... (and its 11.30 pm). Anyway, childhood food: my fondest memory is of my father's pancakes, thin and buttery and just the right combination of soft and crispy.
thin crispy pancakes sound like the right way to go. Here we often go for the overly bloated frisbees to work that just work as a huge syrup sponge. Puzzle videos coming soon!
Jelly omelettes. Thats my childhood food... sounds gross - but the sweet and salty... yum.. ;)
Does the jelly imply grape or did it matter what flavor you used?
ThePoptimist whatever we had on hand - my mom made jelly - usually cherry or strawberry though.... so good....
Vegemite and butter on weet-bix, half milo and half milk mixed into a paste in a glass, bananas and nutella on bread, fairy bread and, Orange slices at halftime and fulltime during footy and cricket games... that's my childhood food.
you're speaking English but I managed to get 50% of what you just said. Never had vegemite but I suspect it's an acquired taste. What, no Anzac or Iced Vovo?
I would pour sugar and cinnamon into a small bowl and swirl it around, then lick my finger and dip it into the mixture. Super classy and sanitary, I know.
Still sounds pretty good!
Link plz
I grew up in a Korean household and there are so many childhood foods. One of my favorite is kimchi toast. Toast buttered and covered I slices of kimchi. And rice with water and slices of deli ham and kimchi. So good.
Never had either though I'm sure I've had variations on the rice/water/ham/kimchi - sort of a ghetto budaejjigae. Now I'm hungry.
Childhood food memories are many. My grandmother's gumbo. My step grandmother's vegetable soup, which in New Orleans is a wonderful hybrid that's part Spanish caldo and part French pot au feu. I was raised Catholic, which meant seafood on Fridays. I've never understood how eating seafood in New Orleans could in any way be considered a sacrifice, but I never complained about the burden of enjoying part of a seafood platter piled high with shrimp, oysters, catfish, and stuffed crab (think a less firm crab cake, but served in the shell). Tomatoes from my grandfather's garden, eaten with just a sprinkling of salt. Spending time during the summer at my great uncle's farm and chewing on a stalk of freshly cut sugar cane. Boudin blanc and boudin noir that my grandmother would buy from a Cajun butcher's when we went to the country. My grandmother saving the chicken hearts and livers for me when she baked or stewed chicken. Beignets and cafe au lait from Cafe du Monde. Yeah, food is very important down here!
And your review has made me want to read the book. This seems to happen a lot! :)
Ok now all of that sounds absolutely fantastic - well up until the chicken hearts and livers. Really wish I liked liver but it's never been high on my list - at least now I don't gag trying to eat it like I did as a kid. Beignets and cafe au lait sounds like the perfect start to any day.
In the long last days of summer, I would love to read a novel by an author who "works with a light touch" and is simply reminding us that we can survive the various complications most of us have faced in our lifetime. Goodbye, Vitamin is just what I am looking for at the moment. Thank you. ( I have no doubt that one year from today, you will be amazed and delighted that each of you, Daughter, Mother AND Father, have been refreshed and energized by your new opportunities as fledgling and successful parental units!)
I think it's just the book for you at this moment. I know a year is going to go by so fast and with our daughter back at home for the summer we'll be complaining about random clothes everywhere, dirty plates in odd locations and mounting grocery bills. Looking forward to it.
White minute rice with brown gravy with meat bits. Sounds gross (probably is gross tbh) but I could have eaten gallons of the stuff as a kid.
Sounds like part of a long tradition of hearty but cheap eats. Wife grew up on "spanish rice" which was minute rice, spag sauce and ground beef and friend remembers stump which was beef, potatoes and beets I think.
Let's see... my mother's favorite guilty snack was saltine crackers with soft butter and it has happy associations for me. We also had grilled cheese and ham sandwiches made in a grilled sandwich maker, Nutty Buddy Bars, and Captain Crunch peanut butter cereal. And here's a gross one for you. I grew up loving Miracle Whip and peanut butter on super soft white bread.
Oh man, I think PB&Whip surpasses the Mars and butter on the nope scale. But now I'm incensed that I've been robbed of the experience of eating Captain Crunch (my favorite breakfast cereal) peanut butter! Canadians are almost puritanical in their cereal selection with a distinct lack of sugar cereal variants and marshmallows.
My Grandmother made chicken and dumplings (not drop dumplings, more like a fresh pasta which would sop up the chicken broth!). She would serve it with fresh green beans cooked in bacon fat (special because I would help pick them and break the beans on the porch swing with her), and Angel food cake for dessert, covered in macerated strawberries from her garden. Just writing about this meal - my favorite - makes me smile and tear up at the same time. Thank you!
That sounds incredible! I can hardly blame you for that welling of feeling, sounds like she was pretty special.
This was lovely, David. I enjoyed the book but kinda skimmed through the feelings, thanks for bringing it back to,life. Childhood food for me was always white bread and Nutella - lots of it. Incidentally once my grandpa made it for me but he put margarine on the bread first and I found it completely inedible. Also tuna pasta, hot with lots of mayo and cheese like a friend's mum used to make it, and spaghetti with red sauce is always comforting to me. Oh and potato scones (not like afternoon tea scones but little flat triangles of potato, fried after bacon and sausages): they used to let me eat three for lunch when I was 10, which is insane.
Bacon and sausage greased potato triangles sound awesome! My folks jumped hard on the margarine bandwagon but haven’t touched the stuff since I moved out. Nutella on the other hand, I did not even know was a thing until I was an adult.
I know this review has been out a while, but I just read this book and I loved it so much. I agree it’s hard to describe without sounding like a formula tear-jerker or a meet cute romance, neither of which Khong falls into. Most of my childhood eating was blasé American junk food, but my cousins and I used to eat Country Time lemonade mix dry. We also had a drink called “purple milk”, which was grape juice and milk (we weren’t wordsmiths.) I swore up and down it was good, but I think I just enjoyed seeing adults suppress dry heaves.
I'm suppressing dry heaves just thinking about it! I mean I get how it would be satisfying watching it mix - but drinking it? Ugh. Loved Goodbye Vitamin so much! I thought it should have gone all the way in the Tournament of Books from the Morning News too - sadly lost in the semi's ... Thanks for dropping me a line - always appreciate it!
My mom used to make us toast with butter, cinnamon and sugar. She would also make totinos party pizzas with slices of American cheese on it. My brother and I loved it. We also used to melt American cheese over nacho cheese Doritos in the microwave. It was delicious. Tried it as an adult. Still holds up. 😊
OMG American cheese melted over Doritos sounds like such an abomination it's flipped straight over into awesome. Will have to try, even though I hate myself already for thinking about it.
congrats on the empty nest! plans to convert the daughter's room into anything special? comfort food for me: rice mixed with raw egg, dried seaweed sprinkles, and soy sauce!
Oooh that sounds perfect! As to the daughter's room it'll probably remain the same - just way cleaner. We figure she'll be back for at least one summer before taking off for good.
When I was a kid I read about cinnamon toast and made cinnamon toast everyday afterschool for years until I realized I had been eating toast with butter and brown sugar on it.
Doesn't sound like a bad compromise really. Brown sugar is just good on anything. We used to sprinkle it on raw tomato slices too.
My grandma would make this butter-peanut butter sandwich. I hated it then, and I hate it now, but it certainly reminds me of my childhood. Whereas, my grandpa would make me a steaming bowl of oatmeal in the morning with cinnamon and brown sugar drizzled over top. Nobody but me enjoyed the oatmeal, and I remember many cold morning wait impatiently for it to cook and cool. It was so good. I bet I only eat instant oatmeal because it reminds me of his!
PB&B doesn't sound quite right - I love me some oatmeal with brown sugar though. Grew up with a lot of cream of wheat too
Hot buttered toast with cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top, or a bowl of Cheerios with a generous spoonful of Vermont maple syrup stirred into the milk.
Cinnamon toast is coming out the clear winner as far as childhood food. Love real maple syrup - thankfully here in Southern Ontario we're privy to a ton of the stuff. We even have family that tap their own trees and boil it down in their tiny sugar shack. So good!
I just put this one on my library hold list. What a beautiful and sentimental video you've made. My food memories are plenty, but my Grandfather used to make friend chicken on my birthday. It was a unique recipe and I've never been able to replicate it or find similar chicken elsewhere. The secret was lost when he passed, but I can still taste it when I think about him frying it in his kitchen with an apron around his waist.
Damn, I love me a good fried chicken! Never had a homemade version though if you can believe it!
PS whats up with the thumbnail portrait I keep thinking your going to address us for a darkened room per Marlon Brando in appocolyse now going are you a book assassin.
Book assassin - I like that.
My mom used to make me fish sticks, mashed potatoes with butter, and peas. Then I would have a sticky bun afterwards.
As a latchkey kid I grew up on oven baked fish and fries. Mash and peas, not so much
Ham and egg omelette, not completely cooked that still has some runny egg liquid come out when you cut it open. Made by my grandpa every morning before school. I miss him so much!
Sounds perfect. Thanks for sharing!
My favorite childhood foods were quite strange: peanut butter & butter sandwich or a hotdog cut in half length wise (no bun) with mashed potatoes on top & a slice of melted American cheese on top of that lol
Strangely this is the second mention of PB&B - just doesn't seem right. Hot dogs and mashed potatoes! Never thought of that, we were more of a hot dog and Mac and cheese household.
its a drink i used to mix coca , 7-up and vanta or what ever soft drinks available it was like inventing a new taste every time , thank you for your review I think I will love the book
Ah swamp water! Big fan of the stuff growing up too - as long as I got my sugar fix it was all good.
Chicken and dumplings. Southern style, I was highly offended as a child if I was served them German style.
OK now you're going to have explain the difference between Southern vs German style chicken and dumplings!
ThePoptimist Haha southern style are small bits of biscuit that are kinda in a sauce, German style have large dumplings that sit on top
Beautiful review! One of my fave meals as a kid was fruit cocktail and white toast....sugar overload!
Love the fruit cocktail with cherries! Never with toast though... Was that a dipping situation or just eaten side by side?
ThePoptimist Eaten side by side usually although dipping was known to occur! I also love the kind with cherries. My sister and I used to fight over who got the most cherries in their portion!
For me it's arepas in the mornings - my dad making it using harina pan (white corn meal), putting it in the arepa-maker or the stovetop, stuffing it with butter, shredded cheese, and sometimes ham. Or BBQing punta trasera on the weekends and especially when we were celebrating something or had people over. (Punta trasera is apparently called "rump roast" in English which sounds silly to me.)
I hope it goes (or went) ok saying goodbye to your daughter, I'm sure it is as difficult for her as it is for you. I cried when my family left me my first year of college and I cried 5 years later when I moved across the U.S. away from them again. It's not easy but I guess that's life!! :)
OMG don't say that! I'm still coming to terms with her going off to school - not ready for the post school move quite yet. There's got to be at least a summer back at home right? All of the food sounds fantastic - never had arepas but have had pupusas (are they even close?) Not too many Columbian restaurants here.
Yes, lots of summers home - especially the first few years of college. Pupusas are tasty and they are a little similar. And Venezuelan arepas are the way to go! I've only had a couple Colombian ones.
I have a looming partial nest ahead of me. 2 out of 3 kids are moving out in September. My plan for dealing with the heart break is distraction. I have assigned myself a few projects and will keep myself busy.
You're going to have to let me know what projects you've decided on as distraction. I'm not kidding about the puzzles in our house. Friends of ours just texted to show off what they've been up to as empty nesters. She was doing a word puzzle and he was learning Spanish.
Here is my plan:
1. Write a novel. (mental distraction)
2. Practice Dancing 5 times a week. (physical distraction)
3. I created a large pile of books that I will read through.(before going to sleep distraction)
4. I will hold lots of dinner parties and invite friends over. (social distraction)
Cheeseburgers with Nacho Cheese Doritos on the side
French Toast
Cheeze Balls
Strawberry MilkMac & Cheese with Hot DogsSloppy Joesof course the classic: Grilled Cheesegosh, I had a lot of junk Food :-) But since I moved overseas at age 9 it's not always easy to differentiate between US-and childhood nostalgia Love your videos!
Hey! I said childhood food memories - you just described last weeks dinners - although you stopped me at Strawberry Milk Mac and Cheese - that's two different foodstuffs right?
actually different but probably went well together.
Enjoy your meals tonight!
Definitely the best food of my childhood was my Italian grandmother's spaghetti and meatballs. No other tomato sauce I've ever eaten comes close.
Now did she harvest and jar her own tomato sauce for this? I have friends where it's an annual ordeal - we tried it once but for all our effort managed to produce 4 jars of sauce and never tried again.
ThePoptimist No, she didn't grow her own tomatoes, but it was still tasty. :)
Samp and beans with tomato chutney. 😉
Damn that looks good! Never had samp before - the restaurants here in town are failing me!
My mom used to make a dish called Autumn Stew--a savory and just slightly sweet combination of onion, pumpkin, apples, celery, beef, and more of the sort. It looked, smelled, tasted, and felt like the earthy warmth of Fall. ♡ Along side it she would make cinnamon dumplings. I haven't thought of Autumn Stew in years...excuse me as I leave now to pester my mother for the recipe!
Wow that just sounds exactly like what Autumn should taste like! I'm going to have to dig up a recipe online to make that come fall - sounds absolutely perfect.
Pancakes. It was the go to food in our house when we didnt want to eat the "normal" food. It also was the first dish I learned to cook and now one of my best friends keeps associating me with pancakes and how we just always had them in my first apartment. Pancakes, with jam rolled up with powdered sugar (Petzi style)
I've been more team waffles over pancakes - but here in North America they tend to the big and overly fluffy. Though I can definitely get behind the jam filled/powdered sugar version!
Our pancakes are more like Crepes, granted.
omg my local dominoes just started serving Poutine and I'm still mad jealous about the variations Canada has. I think I'll visit my Canadian relatives just to sample the various Poutine lol!
Childhood foods of mine include but not limited to, homemade Roti and omelette, Chicken Tikka Masala and freshly cooked Puri (deep fried pancakes) drizzled with honey.
Puri sounds like something that needs to be on more breakfast menus! There’s a distinct lack of deepfrying going on on my breakfast plate!
Lol my thoughts exactly!!
mash your potatoes with some apple sauce, mix in some sausages, that's my childhood right there.
I've done the apples, cabbage, sausage trifecta but not with mash - will have to try that out.
This is a funny food. My mom always made sure we had all the food groups and healthy meals, but during the summer my neighbors, three fighting great, fun sisters were unsupervised when school was out as both parents worked. Their house was a wonderland of yards of gerbil tunnels going through Barbie's house and just freedom from adults. For lunch they would make fried bologna... An awful meat, but the smell was so good and it was so different I begged my mom to let me make it ...she was speechless and I had a fried bologna summer....or when I discovered others at breakfast for dinner!! Also, being from the south ambrosia is the best.
I'm totally a fan of fried bologna on cheap white bread - love how it bubbles up in the center when I try and fry it up. Never had ambrosia before, at least I don't think so.
ThePoptimist I'm glad the delicacy of fried bologna made it to Canada!
We would eat Oatmeal Crisp cereal (either maple or almond) at my cottage when I was a kid. Now that I'm a "grown-up" I could technically buy my own, but it almost feels wrong to do it if I'm not at the cottage.
I take issue with the name as the stuff gets soggy so fast. You have to motor through a bowl of that or you’re chewing Oatmeal gruel.
Heck yeah! We were always shovelling it down so that we could go down to the beach anyway! Hehe
As my parents age, I am reminded more and more of my Mom's ethic meals. We're Serbian, so spanikopita was a staple. As well as sour cherry jam on homemade, crusty bread.
sour jam on homemade bread sounds awesome. Homemade bread alone sounds awesome!
My dad would add a lot of cream to tomato soup. The soup would be pink! Pair it with a thick (and a bit burned) grilled cheese sandwich; you got yourself a classic for snow days
Grilled cheese and tomato soup are the worlds most natural combo like fish and chips or chocolate chip cookies and milk. The only time I really like tomato soup actually.
I used to love to eat very unhealthy cereals as a child Like Cocoa Puffs and Lucky Charms and they always reminds me of my childhood.
We lived in a breakfast cereal gulag. Puffed rice in massive bags and granola that ate like road gravel. You, quite frankly, were living my childhood breakfast dream.
Ha Ha :-)
Cinnamon toast! I think I'm going to make some right now.
a lot of votes for cinnamon toast - not something I ever had growing up - strange. Though I suspect cinnamon wasn't a common spice in our Korean household.
Yeah, I guess cinnamon might not be popular in Korea. I have a more adult version of cinnamon toast with the Chicago Oldtown Spiced sugar from The Spice House. It contains Madagascar vanilla beans, vanilla extract, and cardamom in addition to the cinnamon! It's delicious!
We used to have toast with butter and sprinkle sugar on top, im not a big fan of chocolate...
Oooh can't relate with the lack of love for chocolate - though I guess it's a tiny blessing you don't have the same cravings for the stuff. There always needs to be chocolate hidden in the house somewhere.
Hahaha, well, I have cravings for other things, like nuts or cheese, so I guess it is still the same principle.
Wasn't quite convinced I needed to read this -- till now. Thank you for this review.
Hope you enjoy! Thanks
Above all else, the dish that reminds me of family is my great-grandmother's chicken noodle soup recipe. My mom always made it when someone in the family was sick, and we also would sometimes have it for special occasions, served over mashed potatoes. I feel lucky when happen to be at my parents' house when it is served. It is definitely a warm, nostalgic bowl of childhood.
Mmm. homemade chicken soup! We're were a solid Campbell's Soup family - my mom's big cure-all for sickness was flat ginger-ale.
aaaannnnddddd Now I have to go call my parents.. talk about a gut punch first thing in the morning! Great review tho! I have this book on my shelf and I think I may need to pick it up soon, along with a box of tissues. As far as childhood snacks I used to love a slice of toast with butter, cinnamon and sugar. Yum!
Don’t worry, Khong treads lightly for the most part - I’ve just been a tad obsessed knowing that empty nestdom is days away so a few lines killed me. Still, call your parents.
So many food memories but I will always have a soft place in my heart for the way my brother and I would handle leftovers. Didn't matter what the leftovers were really, it always worked. Heat it all up together, throw on some cheese and salsa and put it in a tortilla. Yum.
cheese makes anything better!
Vegemite and toast OR Fairy Bread -- the Australian kid's party snack, white bread, butter and crunchy sprinkles, much like your wife's food.
For many years, my mum and I had a Chinese nanny who used to make food on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Chinese food has never been the same for me -- nothing can beat Doris' cooking. Thanks for the video, so poignant.
Another vote for vegemite and fairy bread! Home cooked Chinese food sounds so awesome - on the down side you’re completely spoiled for Chinese food now. I still have cravings for “average Asian” (americanized Chinese food) every so often and am grateful for General Tso chicken.
I remember eating frozen waffles completely drenched in syrup. I would fold them like a sandwich and dip them in my cup of coffee. I also remember doing the same thing with fresh bread and butter. Beautiful and thoughtful review as always. I can't wait to read this book
Oooh I like the sounds of waffles and coffee - may have to try that out!
I'm definitely reminded of my childhood when I think of Korean food.
I have a lot of memories coming to school with a Korean style lunchbox. On the bottom was a container full of rice. Above that would be chicken, beef or pork. Finally on the top was kimchi and those little anchovies. Several of my peers found it gross. Less than ten years later, Korean food found itself being trendy. It's funny how that stuff works.
Korean food is huge! Still waiting for gochujang to be the new Sriracha. Your lunches sound awesome - but kimchi breath is a real thing.
"Good-bye, Vitamin" sounds wonderful--it may be awhile before I can read it, since 3 weeks ago my mother lost her battle with Alzheimer's, but once the pain has dulled a little, I'll be looking forward to it.
Comfort food from childhood. . .definitely fried bologna sandwiches and tomato soup, and of course biscuits and milk gravy, preferably made with bacon drippings. South of the Mason-Dixon line, milk gravy is pretty much a food group.
I’m sorry to hear about your mother. Milk gravy?! I think I’ve had that once at a breakfast buffet - looked like greasy oatmeal but the whole buffet was a bit of a mess so maybe that’s not fair. Tomato soup has always been reserved for grilled cheese sandwiches at our house.
Grilled cheese and tomato soup is a classic, but fried bologna (a kissin' cousin of fried Spam) is particularly close to my heart. Milk gravy does look like greasy oatmeal, so you are being totally fair. But it tastes like hillbilly heaven.
LOL - will have to try a scoop of hillbilly heaven next time I’m down south!
What imperfect carriers of love we are, and what imperfect givers. That the reasons we can care for one another can have nothing to do with the person cared for. That it has only to do with who we were around that person-what we felt about that person.