“We lose things as we age.
That’s the hardest part,”
Mom said.
Christmas has come and gone and I found myself craving things lost. Mostly I missed the people I wished could gather round and share our holiday celebration.
But in the days leading up to Christmas, I also had mysterious cravings for foods! The list began to grow of favorites I gave up long ago for the sake of health or weight. Or maybe some of them were simply replaced – lost for years – but not entirely forgotten. And suddenly I WANTED a whole list of Ghost Foods of Christmas Past!
This year I craved Macaroni and Cheese!
Supermarket aisles are still full of the old box versions, plus every possible variety dreamed up by the merchandisers. But, I haven’t had old fashioned, “original” Mac & Cheese in years! This was one of my early wifely sacrifices since the husband hates cheese!
But I keep dreaming of Mac & Cheese so now there’s MY personal box in the pantry reserved for cheese cravings, nostalgia, and a carbohydrate boost.
Country Tip for City Dudes: Comfort food can be comforting just sitting on a shelf!
Then there’s Orange Iced Sweet Rolls!
I wonder if our son remembers Sunday mornings long ago when his Dad made orange sweet rolls and sausage for breakfast. The rolls came in a cylindrical box you banged on the corner of the sink to open, then set on cookie sheets to bake, and lastly you coated them with a scrumptious orangey icing.
I used to drive our son crazy trying to wake him up with “Rise and shine! Rise and shine!” and singing off-key, “It’s time to get up. It’s time to get up. It’s time to get up in the morrrrrning!” Mmmmm! The scent of baking and sausage from the kitchen is what finally worked to get him out of bed. He blocked out the singing with a pillow over his head.
Guess what we had this Christmas morning?! And that got Dad and me to talking about other foods we recall from the “olden days” when we could handle sugar overloads with grace.
My Mom used to make Baked Beans and Hot Dogs for dinner!
The beans came out of a can and she simply chunked up the hot dogs and heated both together. Not the healthiest scenario but who knows? Lotsa protein anyway. I’m not craving that meal so much but the memories are huge! Wonder how it would taste with a sprinkle of cheese!
Canned Brown Bread.
Oh yes, we found it at one of those vintage stores and ordered two cans of date-nut bread! I used to love canned bread because it worked so well with baked beans and hot dogs. Guess what? It tastes the same as it used to. On the other hand, it doesn’t taste the same at all. Does that make sense? Do taste buds change along with facial character lines?
Licorice Allsorts.
Uh Oh! My craving for these beauties never leaves, and my husband loves them too. I know if we find Licorice Allsorts, the entire box will be gone in a matter of days. He found some for Christmas!
SpaghettiO’s.
Was this my little brother’s favorite or my son’s? The images are beginning to blur. O.K., I know it’s a brand name I’m giving a plug. Maybe the brand has become generic for any pasta in a can (like bandaids or kleenex)? I never really liked SpaghettioO’s but the little fellas in my life always did. Still, the “O’s” were always a pantry staple at home, and deserve a test again for my elderly taste buds!
Rum Balls.
Oh, how I loved Mom’s rum balls and usually make them every Christmas. ”Not this year,” I reasoned, since I practically inhale every single one! Nope, this year I will practice abstinence! After all, a hysterical craving for rum balls is embarrassing, especially when added to all that licorice intake! Have you noted my admirable will power as proof of total self control. Ha!
Ahhhh! How I love Christmas and the Ghost Foods of Christmas Past.
This virtual trip was really unexpected, and wandering down a memory lane of long ago favorites, I wondered if I was alone in craving such lost delicacies.
Have any of my blogger friends been experiencing this odd way of looking at the past?
Have you been thinking of Ghost Foods you would like to try again?
No ghost foods for me – I just eat everything even though I shouldn’t
.
Go for it!
Many of your ghost foods would be on my list, too, Dor, especially the baked beans with hot dogs and brown bread. And my mother made Mac and cheese from scratch that was to die for. What I wouldn’t give for some of my mother’s lobster Newberg. What I wouldn’t give to have my mother, for that matter! Loved this post, Dor.
My mother was a terrible cook, but some of those old simple things made their mark anyway. And I agree – “what I wouldn’t give to have my mother.” Thanks Susan.
My Aunt Evelyn’s homemade donuts. Oh to taste one again! (and the aroma!!!!)
I never had a homemade donut. Have you ever tried to duplicate your Aunt Evelyn’s?
There was an article in the Denver Post today about the top 12 things eaten in 2012. It all sounded delicious but I can’t say there was one thing in there that I remember from the Ghost Foods of my past
How quickly the ghost foods fade into obscurity… like dreams. Thankfully, Mac & Cheese in a box is still popular enough to regain a real-life form.
Oh my, I love the Christmas foods. Since we are only two I don’t bake the cookies and pastries my mother used to but I still make kiffels. I was yearning for cheese pillows (pastry with a cheesecake filling) and mac and cheese. So far I have been good but you never know. There is another holiday weekend coming up!
Definie “kiffel.” Somehow I think I would succumb to that because it sounds scrumptious.
My son grew up on Mac and Cheese ( in the blue box) and Spaghettios. (once in awhile, beanie weenies!)
Neat things to remember, huh?
Seems like we have similar memories of sons and their gourmet food selections.
loved the memories this post conjured – I used to love baked beans and hot dogs, and licorice which was my dad’s candy of choice
Funny how food can conjure up memories huh? And once you start recalling, the list builds. Thanks for stopping by and for your lovely comment.
Oh great, now I’m craving mac and cheese too — REAL mac & cheese. Yummmm. And licorice allsorts….memories of home because my parents always had these around at Christmas time too and ribbon candy (which makes me remember my grandmother). Loved your nosh….um….walk down nostalgic culinary lane.
Your comment makes me LOL! How fun that we are now craving the same ghost foods!
I have my Mom thankfully and slowly but surly she is Seeing the change in me lol so this year as she baked more and more cookies there was NO package for US now that my friend is the REAL LOVE we all should feel
I loved your displays of my old favorites too on one I never saw before was Licorice and to this day I am not a fan of the smell even 
WW teaches us Food Memories are LOVE on a PLATE. Now I use a tiny teacup plate to eat Mac. & Cheese from
Seems you can really teach an old dog new tricks
Bless you for all of your warm wonderful memories you share I have the same ones
XO
Eunice
I will definitely try the teacup plate idea Eunice. Thanks so much for reading the ghost foods post. I don’t know how you find the time or energy to be everywhere at once. Must be the love on a plate thing that’s giving you so much vim and vigor. I love it that we share the same memories too. XO back – Dor.
You should have seen me attempting to shovel after 2 I was beat added some photos to site with hope of selling something and did two blogs and read your and others
I am up 15 to 17 hrs a day 
it is who I am can’t wait for me retreat up at 4 and bed by 10 my favorite hours 
Yes sinful things always on small plate or I weigh and count the points
I’m sure our we have passed each other somewhere before….
Many of the foods you mentioned bring back warm, fuzzy memories. My mother always made homemade macaroni and cheese. We always thought hers was the best because it contained a “secret ingredient”–worcestershire sauce. I also have found memories of making rolls out of the cylindrical boxes that needed to tapped on the edge of the sink.
Another ghost food I remember having at holidays is whipped jello. Just when the jello was starting set, we’d beat it with the electric beaters and it would get very foamy.
It’s really grand that my own warm fuzzy memories are so similar to yours. I never heard of the whipped jello, although we made a “pink salad” by whipping whipped cream into half set raspberry jello and added fruit and nuts. I must remember to put that in a blog post for next year. It was a must-have tradition in our family for years and years.
My husband loves the orange iced cinnamon rolls! So glad to hear you bang your cylinder against the sink–my husband and the girls laugh at me when I bang those things against the counter. “They” think I should gently press a butter knife into the seams. Goodness–I grew up with my mom banging things in the kitchen!
Oh this made me laugh at the memory. 
And about the food–yes real mac and cheese with a little bit of crunch baked in on the top. It seemed SIL always served it up as a side dish when we were over.
It’s so great to share similar memories Georgette, and I don’t know why I’m always so surprised to find I’m not alone.
I know what you mean. My brother’s and I had this discussion on Christmas Eve! There are certain dishes my mother made that we all crave from time to time. Some I now make myself and some are lost forever, like my mother’s fried chicken. With my husband and girls being vegetarians, I have not attempted to fry chicken in about 20 years! Boy, I sure do miss it though. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
Thanks for this lovely comment Lori. My Christmas began Dec. 28th when guests arrived – friends and family – and I have been so busy I’ve been missing from the blogging scene. Sorry it took so long to reply.
I remember those licorice thingys. Yum!
Did your mom ever cook fried balogna?
YES! Imagine that you remember that too!!
Hard to forget that heart stopper,
I actually liked it.