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    Home » Everything Amish » Plain Culture

    Food Memories: Tang, Softbatch, Hash, Etc

    Published: Dec 9, 2015 · Updated: Dec 9, 2015 by Kevin Williams | 7 Comments

    By Kevin Williams

    This is off-topic, but occasionally I get nostalgic for yesteryear.  I think it was attending my first-grader niece's Christmas program at school last night.  Just seeing all the fresh faces and callow youth there brought back memories of innocence and food nostalgia.   I have a lot of memories of food growing up: homemade spaghetti sauce at my grandmother's, exotic foods from the bazaars of the Middle East, and just regular American supermarket fare. Is some of this stuff still sold? I have to admit, when I go to the grocery store now, I tend to just stick to the perimeter of the store...I usually stay away from the belly of the beast, so even if this stuff still exists I don't see it.

    I guess I could Google it, but that is no fun!, so anyway, are any of these foods still around? Do you have one you'd like to add the list?

    Okay, here are some favorite supermarket foods of my youth....gone?,  maybe not, but definitely not forgotten...

    BREAKFAST SQUARES:  These were some cakey squares packaged in foil pouches.  I think they came in three flavors: spice, vanilla and chocolate.  They were kind of dry and crumbly, but they were a favorite of mine when I was a kid.   I do think these disappeared from store shelves sometime in the mid-1980s.  Does anyone remember them?

    This isn't how I remember the package looking....wasn't there a rabbit on it?

    This isn't how I remember the package looking....wasn't there a rabbit on it?

    TANG:  I never even liked this drink that much, I always thought it was kind of tart, but we kept buying it anyway. It was easy for me to make, which I think was the parental appeal.  I think Tang reached its height during the 1970s, “foods that might make it in space” craze.

    HASH:  I don’t even know what this stuff is.  My Dad wasn’t usually the cook in our family, but on the rare occasions that my Mom would miss dinner, Dad would break out the cans of hash.  Do they still sell it? What is it?

    STEAK-UMS:  I think I’ve posted about these before.  My Dad called them “Grease-Ums”, and that was accurate. These were thin rectangles of frozen beef that you could quickly fry and make your only Philly cheesesteak type sandwich, swimming in a pool of grease.

    SOFTBATCH COOKIES:  I think when these came out, they took the snack food world by storm.  After years of eating hard-as-a-board Chips Ahoy, finally a soft chocolate chip cookie (I think my Dad christened these “Fat Batch”, because you could eat so many of these in a single sitting).  Still, how were these cookies so soft after sitting on a shelf for so long?  That is a little disconcerting.

    HORMEL SHELF-STABLE MEALS:  I don’t think this was the exact name. I can close my eyes and picture the package.  Mom would buy some of these I think for us to have as easy lunches, there would be beef and potatoes or chicken and potatoes.  Here’s the scary thing: they weren’t refrigerated. They were just in the regular supermarket shelf section, I think, near the soups.  You’d microwave the container and have hot chicken, gravy, and potatoes.  I don’t even want to think about the preservatives needed to make something like a moist chicken breast stay shelf-stable.

    MRS. PAUL’S FISH STICKS:  Ah, another of my Dad’s specialties….are these even still around?

    FROOKIES:  Does anyone remember these?  These were supposed to be "healthier cookies", sweetened with fruit juice instead of sugar?  I don't think they ever really caught on.  My Mom bought them on occasion, but they couldn't compete with "Fat Batch."

    SNACKWELLS:  Anyone remember those supposedly healthy chocolately, round, cakey cookies that were all the rage in the 90s? Do they still make those?

     

    « Part II - Food Folklore: Beef Sandwiches and Cheese Mayonnaise Sandwiches
    Amish Etsy: Amish-Made Birdfeeder, Bank, Luggage Tag, and an Amazing Wood Lazy Susan »

    About Kevin Williams

    Hi, my name is Kevin Williams and I am owner of Oasis Newsfeatures and editor of The Amish Cook newspaper column.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Mary

      December 09, 2015 at 11:26 am

      Hash , Steak Um's and the Hormel meals are still alive and well on the shelves of the grocery stores!

      Reply
    2. Kathy Barnes

      December 09, 2015 at 11:32 am

      I know they still sell cans of hash because my husband likes it and buys it. They also still sell soft batch chocolate chip soft batch cookies which my husband buys on rare occasions. I live in a small town and go to a local chain super market named Martin's.
      Have a great day,
      Kathy

      Reply
      • Kevin

        December 09, 2015 at 2:47 pm

        Kathy, I am glad you go to Martin's....they are an outstanding supermarket chain that has somehow managed to hang on in the cutthroat world of chain groceries, I like them a lot! - Kevin

        Reply
    3. Becky

      December 09, 2015 at 3:56 pm

      I remember all of them except frookies. sp. I never liked hash. But still have it at my mothe r in laws. Steak end were'nt bad

      Reply
    4. Maria

      December 09, 2015 at 4:08 pm

      Some of those things you can find, but not Mrs.Paul's. My mom would fix those when we were young.

      Reply
    5. Virginia

      December 09, 2015 at 6:24 pm

      Have you ever looked at the sodium content of those "shelf stable" meals??? I bought one and was taken aback by the saltiness. They were over 750 mgs!!! I no longer buy any of those and I check the sodium content of almost everything I buy because of those meals.

      Reply
    6. Barbara TArleton

      December 09, 2015 at 9:09 pm

      Corned beef hash is still a favorite of mine.
      When cans had two ends we would open both and push it out and thinly slice. Fry in a pan until crisp. Now I have to dig it out and smash in a hot pan to fry.
      There is also roast beef hash but it's not as good.

      Reply

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    Kevin Williams - The Amish Editor Amish Cook Column

    Hi There, I'm Kevin!

    Welcome to Amish365, where I share my knowledge of Amish cooking and culture! I’ve spent almost three decades exploring Amish settlements and kitchens from Maine to Montana and almost everywhere in between. I’ll occasionally throw in stories of my travels, journalism adventures (I’m a Pulitzer prize-nominated journalist), fascination with grocery stores and Kmarts, and much more!

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