What is your school cafeteria memory? [General]

2009 Feb 25
The conversation between Food&Think and Captain Caper in the “bizarre foodie dreams” thread prompted a trip down memory lane. (Food&Think – the picture you posted actually makes cafeteria food look GOOD!) Although my school cafeteria never served anything as “fancy” as perogies I remember a lot of BLTs and French fries, hamburgers and French fries, grilled cheese and French fries – you get the picture… I also remember flavourless spaghetti and meat sauce and equally flavourless lasagna. My most “memorable” cafeteria meal was during a two year stint studying in the maritimes where the school cafeteria would often serve deep fried smelts. I love fish but the odour just turned me right off of ever trying smelts. Does anyone else have memorable cafeteria meals they would like to share?

2009 Feb 25
Fries - Just like McD's.

Full order - 70 cents

Half order (almost a full) - 35 cents

With gravy of course!

---

Not really meals but I remember:

Mashing up bags of Hickory Sticks and "drinking" the contents.

Hot chocolate from a machine that got more on the floor than in the cup.

Ice cream Sandwiches


2009 Feb 25
I went to a very small private school so our cafeteria was very limited and only served one option per meal. Monday's however were the best. Monday's were chicken day where it was either chicken nugget's, chicken burgers or chicken strips all served with white rice. There was something so satisfying about starting the week off with chicken. Mmmm.

2009 Feb 25
I avoided the cafeteria and opted to eat at Govinda's, Perfection Satisfaction Promise, Pavarazzi's, Father & Sons, etc.

2009 Feb 25
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, the memories have now flooded back. All I can remember is the overwhelming reek of kid-sweat and running shoes. Waaaaay back in elementary school, the gym *clickety click* became the cafeteria with a few dozen roll-out tables (which, while parked in the corner, worked well as hiding spots during dodge ball).

I DO recall that special smell of Campbell's tomato soup, vats of it, simmering away and the air thick with hot dog steam.
My parents always packed my lunch (very uncool at the time but I...survived) so I learned to eat VERY quickly and then split to the school yard.
And to run VERY fast. Apparently, liverwurst on rye was just asking for it. :)

I've avoided cafeterias ever since...until last week. I didn't eat there but just looked around during a visit and, wow, the National Gallery's cafeteria has an incredible view!

2009 Feb 25
We did not have a cafe, (small town boy), but did have a concession stand. Memories of that........Fudge-icles and Ice cream sandwiches!!! they just don't taste the same as they used to.

2009 Feb 25
green chili and bean burritos
two topped with salsa, sour cream, and chopped red onions chased down with a large diet dr pepper was how i usually started my days at uni

some mornings when i need a real kick to get going, i crave them
lol

2009 Feb 25
Have a mixture of positive and negative memories...

Negative: The smell of canned green beans sitting in their "juice" (which looked and smelled like urine to me). There was a rule that you couldn't refuse any item--you had to get everything on your plate for some reason. They grossed me out.

Positive: In junior high, the cafeteria made fresh, homemade, raised donuts (glazed or chocolate frosted) every single day. 25 cents each. Still warm. Mmmmmmmm.....

2009 Feb 25
I remember being the only senior in residence who got stuck on snack duty because I couldn't make it to the minimum 1 breakfast a week.

I recall in the earlier years that you *never* ate the fruit cocktail as someone would always put onions from the salad bar in it!

None of the food was the typical deep fried garbage that most schools served. However, it still wasn't very good.

2009 Feb 25
My high school caf was actually good. In 1991-95 the daily lunch special was $2.10 and was usually something homemade, or decent convenience deep fryer stuff. We had fish and chips every Friday. A chocolate milk was 55 cents.

On days the special sucked I'd get an egg salad on white and French fries with gravy. My mum lived through her high school years on that meal and it really was the perfect meal.

They also made bacon and cheese bagels. Three strips of bacon a slice of marble cheese on one of those chewy white bread bagels. $1.25 You grabbed one at the cash and threw it in the microwave for 44 seconds ( there was much discussion over the perfect timing 1 min was too long and made the bagel chewy 30 seconds was to short to melt the cheese). If you wanted one for lunch you had to hurry in at breakfast and keep it in your locker. I still make 'em today but on better bagels and in the oven to melt. I don't make them often but damn are they good and since it's nostalgia eating there is no guilt, right?

2009 Feb 25
I didn't have a school cafeteria either - small school and everyone walked home for lunch. Didn't even have a concession stand - when I was school prez in my grad year my crowning glory was getting a pop machine installed - not even a munchie machine :-)

But I have lots of memories of the cafeteria at university, since that is where I started to enjoy food for the first time. See my profile for details. In short, no real bad memories that I can think of - just good ones.

2009 Feb 25
I grew up in Chicago, so not sure if they serve these up here, but my favorite grade school lunch was the Fiestada. Apparently it has a loyal following in the US, based on a quick Google search.

Below I've referenced a post that captures it all. Something about it was magical and different (and extremely artificial). My sister and I loved the Fiestada so much that my mom actually bought the box of 96 each summer, and we'd work through them before school started again in the fall. I'm sure if I had one today I'd find it awfully mild and possibly revolting, but as a third-grader, it was kick-a$$.

www.associatedcontent.com

2009 Feb 25
I have very fond memories of ordering fries and gravy (huge portion for just $2, and Tuesdays were poutine days when they'd throw on some cheese for no extra charge), then pouring on the mayo, salt, ketchup AND vinegar.

We called it the heart attack special. The best pairing was either a chocolate milk or a strawberry-kiwi snapple.

My metabolism was a lot faster back then.

2009 Feb 26
Didn't use the cafeteria at my high school much: it was pretty standard. I did, however, have two weaknesses that I'd succumb to every couple of months:

1) The cheeseburger. It was absolutely terrible, but something about it tasted so right. (Likely a combination of salt, bread crumbs, and diesel oil.)

2) The apple pies. Deep-fried, like McDonald's used to do ("Caution! Filling is hot!"). So. Damn. Good.

2009 Feb 26
Way back in Primary school, we got to go to the cafeteria for lunch one day a week (on rotation). My sweetest memory (no pun intended) was that they used to sell an ice cream bad called Jet. It was basically orange sorbet coated in chocolate and it was heaven!

Also: the kids in my school used to bring their orders in an envelope with the lunch items written on and the money inside but - for some reason - as kids we would all decorate our "lunch order envelopes" in the hopes that the cafeteria ladies would display them in their "display area" which was a badge of honour..

Now at home with a cold I'll be dreaming of Jet bars!! sigh...

2009 Feb 26
Like zymurgist, we didn't have a cafeteria. Not a lot of students went home for lunch (the school was too far out of the way for most) but we were expected to bring lunch. We just had a 'canteen' where you could buy pop, chips, candy, and a few different pre-packaged items like sandwiches. There was also a weekly menu where you'd have to place your orders during home room or first period and they'd order just enough for the list. The menu included stuff like pizza and subs.

I almost never bought anything from the canteen, because I was a vegetarian by the time I got to high school, and they never had stuff I could eat. I was always amused to see what my friends bought, though.


2009 Feb 26
The year was 1964 and I was to Elementary School with my lunch box and matching thermos (can't recall who was on my lunch box, but I do recall that thermos break) LOL

Anyways, unless you were a "townie" you had lunch at school. We used to have an hour for lunch & recess, think they gave us about half that time to eat, and the rest was spent in the school yard.

The school was built in the 40s or something, so there was a full service cafeteria in the basement. Every morning you could smell the lunch menu wafting thru the building... I think us kids dreamt of lunch. LOL

The Cafeteria Ladies were all very nice. There was a posted menu for the entire month, and the hand-out got sent home so your parents could read it. Then you bought sheets of "lunch tickets" from your teacher. Back in 1964 lunch tickets came in two denominations - individual items (milk, juice, dessert, soup) cost a total of 5 cents... a full meal 35 cents.

Full meal included a drink, soup with bread (remember this was the 60s... bread was a necessary staple at every meal), main dish. Dessert was extra.

Featured items included Campbells Chicken with Rice Soup, and that never ending pot of Cream of Tomato. There was always fish on Fridays, and a variety of other "stick to your bones" mains... I do remember they had really good Mac & Cheese and like everything (except the soup) totally homemade... and this dish had a skattering of breadcrumbs baked on top. Desserts were yummy too... besides the popsicles & creamsicles, and mini sundae cups, there were also things like apple crisp, gingerbread cake with a dab of whip cream, and a sort of cake-pudding with a caramel drizzle.

After I broke the glass in the thermos a couple of times, my parents gave up and gave me milk tickets. They also let me have dessert on a regular basis... so in total about 10 cents a day. And I got to look at the menu and choose a full meal one day a week... total investment 80 cents, add to that my 10 or so cents for the Tuck Shop (they sold candy bars back then for like 10 cents) and I was a big roller at $ 1.00 a week. LOL

I have very fond memories of those days in Elementary School...

All this wholesome goodness, went out the window when I went to High School... It was now the 1970s... bigger school, less personal love in the food, and a whole lot more pop, pizza, hotdogs, hamburgers and that never ending supply of french fries with gravey.

2009 Feb 26
I already posted on my University Residense Cafateria experience three times in this thread which is here:

www.ottawafoodies.com

I went to a new Composite High School (1976-1979) that really looked like a prison with those small windows and it's location isolated in a swamp between two towns.

It had regular Academic stream and a Trades stream The Trades stream included vehicle repair, cosmotology etc etc and a program called Quantity Foods.

It was the Quantity Foods Program that helped run the cafateria. They also had a small faux restauarnt (I think it was called 'The Lamp Lighter' ... not sure)for teachers and staff only. This allowed students to learn bulk food preparation and skills like serving (teachers) and running a restaurant or cafateia.

Anyhoo, All I can remember is the fiberglass trays were red and/or grey and lots of french fries were served.

I didn't eat there much. The clique-ishness was rampant. I was somewhat of a shy guy then (Not Now !!). There wasn't many tables I was welcome at.

I skipped lunch sooooo many times (like 90%). It has set a life long pattern of bad eating habits, that I still struggle with today.

So no fond memories here.


2009 Feb 26
Mmmm....I remeber a cheeseburger (microwaved) with fries and gravy!!! THEN, it all came to a crashing halt when I found small pieces of hair in my fries. I wouldn't have minded A long piece of hair.... *shudder*

2009 Feb 26
Wow what a response! Even though we foodies moved on to (hopefully!) better things cafeteria food has left an indelible mark on our minds. I am enjoying reading everyone's stories from the generic cafeteria food that I remember to the Fiestada that Marno remembers so well and the chili and bean burritos Chef Obi remembers so well. AMR it sounds like your liverwurst on rye generates the same response I get from the sardine sandwiches I bring to work for lunch-;) I guess some peoples tastes aren't as refined as ours-;) If anyone else has stories to share you can keep them coming...

2009 Feb 26
I lived in California for a while during high school and an extremely popular lunch item was a "Frito boat" which comprised: A bag of Frito's opened along the side, topped with chili and nacho-cheez whiz type sauce, eaten with a fork...I think of it now as a "ghetto poutine". And it was very, very popular....yikes!

2009 Feb 26
My high school was grade 7 to OAC (no longer) we did not have a cafe when I was in 7 & 8 just "snacks", the fresh baked cookies were so yummy, another popular item were Certs, I guess cause gum wasn't allowed. We did finally get a cafe after renovation with the usual fried junk, but the pasta salad was great!

2009 Feb 26
damn.......
i remember frito boats
wasn't much into them but yea they were popular esp in Sackatomatoes

2009 Feb 26
my earliest "positive" memory of a school cafeteria was the year (gr. 7'sh) the school introduced pop-machines and began selling chips--including the fruit flavored ones (first and last time i've had them).

The mundane background to that brief highlight was that my mother, a health food advocate, ensured our kitchen was filled w/ buckets of unsweetened peanut butter, local cheeses and whole wheat bread. Pretty bland stuff for most kids, and to top it off, she delegated most of the lunch prep to my old man who, i say w/ lots of affection, remains the most untrustworthy sandwich maker of all time. Having spent several yrs of his own youth in refugee camps (Yugoslavia -> Italy), he adapted a this could be your last meal ethic to his efforts. The result: hastily prepared ... huge, uneven chunks of PB / cheese applied to tattered bread. HATED them, my friends wouldn't touch 'em ... they were terrible, and more than a few ended up in the garbage.

The silver linings was an independence it inculcated at an early age -- began prepping my own lunches as soon as feasible and/or pimping up the ones the old man packed (mustard on peanut butter remains a fav!). Second is a tolerance and appreciation for "natural" (less processed) food assimilated over time. But, i'm nonetheless retrospectively jealous of the options available to some of you (chimi, obi, etc.).

2009 Feb 26
Oh the memories. I miss my little 'onion chunks'! Crispy, golden & sweet, ahhhh. Spaghetti & salad day was also a hit for me. And then there were the freshly baked chocolate chip cookies in the mornings. The center was always just a little under cooked, delicious!
In public school we didn't have a cafeteria but once a month we would have 'hot dog day'. Loved those little dogs.

2009 Feb 26
Oh man, 4 words only to describe my high school caf. experience:

DEEP FRIED PIZZA POPS.

Seriously - this is the ONLY way to have pizza pops - if you bake 'em or microwave its just not the same. Try it. Really.

2009 Feb 27
Obi: When you say "Sackatomatoes" are you referring to Sacramento? I was at the other end of the valley in Bakersfield so that would make perfect sense...regional California junk food!

2009 Feb 27
tracinho, aye sacramento
frito boats were available but i'm not a big chip fan
would just get the chili and run before they could put on the cheese sauce

2009 Feb 27
^ frito boat = frito pie?