‘You know what I haven’t eaten in a long time?’ Jersey edition

Like so many others, my grandmother was an incredible cook. I was lucky enough to stay with her one summer when I was fifteen and I remember coming home countless nights to find her cooking something for the next family party in the downstairs kitchen. The appliances in the actual kitchen were just for show- the real cooking went on downstairs in the basement.

One night while she was making "cheese balls," which is her own original recipe, we were talking about how we were all gonna starve when she died. I can still hear her say in broken English, "when I die, one by one they're gonna come up to the casket and say, 'oh Grandma, no more meata balls,' and, 'grandma, no more porka chop.'" I repeat, no one could cook like my grandmother.

When I moved into my own apartment, I tried to remember what she was doing as she moved around the kitchen during those conversations as I, and many of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and my father, tried to recreate her masterpieces. They were close, but no cheese balls... (What I would give for my grandmother's cheseballs ;)

I thought of this as I saw a post on Facebook of someone asking if we either remembered or knew what "pastina" was. Here are some of the other things we haven't eaten in a long time...

Scott Soffen: "Liver and onions" ...I was always a fan of this, fried in bacon grease.

Anthony Mannino: "I still carry on all the traditions. I can tell you this, after our generation is gone... you can forget about all of them. The kids today couldn't give two shixxx" ...BTW that man makes an incredible fresh mozzarella which you can see here

Mark Davies: "Beefaroni".............. How many dishes have their own song?

Frank Thomas Dell'Orto: "Bundt cake"

Jill Connerton: "Jell-o 1-2-3"

Joseph R Di Renzo Jr: "Fried lunch meat"

Scott Bancroft: "Creamed chipped beef on toast"

Robert E Fausak: "Banana sandwiches....with or without peanut butter!"

Arletta Caruso: "Tuna casserole. Jello molds with fruit. Warm fruit compote. Stewed prunes. Prune Danish. Chicken croquettes. Chicken ala King. Icebox cake. Corned beef hash. Harvard beets. Ritz cracker pie. Rhubarb pie. Ambrosia salad. Peach melba. Mint julip parfait. Lobster Thermador. Lobster Newburg. Carrot raisin salad. Hot German potato salad. Salmon loaf. Lamb chops with mint jelly. Plum coffeecake. Sardine sandwiches. Tang orange drink. Necco wafers" ...Anita misses a lot.

Chris Orion: "My grandmother made the best tripe" ... if you're wondering what that is, it's cow's stomach and grandmas always made it best. No one else would touch it;)

Axel Jay: "Tongue. My mother tried to make me eat it... and I went to bed hungry. Boiled tongue. Gulp."

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