The Weird, Wild, And Surprisingly Beloved “Dysfunctional” Foods Of Childhood

Ever look at a deli case and wonder who actually buys that speckled mystery loaf? We’re taking a no-filter tour through the “dysfunctional” foods that fed our families and shaped our taste buds: the buttermilk sipped straight from a glass, the kombucha and kefir bubbling like science projects, and the deli counter icon we love to fear—Dutch loaf. From pig’s feet in jars to scrapple fried to a perfect sear, we explore why certain flavors stick, how thrift became tradition, and where nostalgia meets hard pass. Stream now for laughs, memories, and a surprising amount of food anthropology. Then tell us your most controversial family favorite—especially if you’re tuning in from outside the U.S. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves weird food history, and leave a review with the dish you’ll go to bat for.

#dysfunctionjunkiespodcast #scrapple #buttermilk #dutchloaf #food #kombucha #keifer #pigsfeet #spam #liveronions

Transcript

Opening Banter & Valentine’s Aftermath

SPEAKER_01 0:07

Welcome to the Dysfunction Junkies Podcast. We may not have seen it all, but we've seen enough. And now, here are your hosts, Chrissy and Carrie.

SPEAKER_03 0:20

Hello, junkies. I'm Carrie. And I'm Chrissy. Uh are you stuffed from all the Valentine's Day dinners, food, snacks, picnics, restaurants?

Setting The Theme: Dysfunctional Food

CHRISY 0:34

No restaurants, as we said. I know. But yeah, no, I think it it everything came together just fine. And uh we were reasonable.

SPEAKER_03 0:42

So I'm I'm taking it that's what prompted you for today's show topic, Chrissy.

CHRISY 0:47

Well, it took a little bit of reflection, and then I sort of had PTSD about remembering some of the things that I was exposed to. Don't know if anybody else knows all of these items. And if you do, then I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one that was exposed because some of this stuff is just gross. I actually had to look it up just to make sure I wasn't like having remembrances of like a nightmare that wasn't even real. So yes, yummy.

SPEAKER_03 1:17

So we're talking about food today. Dysfunctional food. Dysfunctional food.

CHRISY 1:20

In your opinion. In our opinion.

SPEAKER_03 1:22

We don't want to upset anybody who maybe But in our show notes I had found it quite funny that Chrissy described it as dysfunctional food our forefathers ate.

Buttermilk Vs. Kombucha And Kefir

CHRISY 1:32

Are we going back to the frickin' Mayflower? Well, I don't know who the hell started all of this, but I know some of it has to do with I remember, well, my father, of course, eating some of these items. And I remember having a neighbor who also enjoyed well, uh it's not the first thing on my list, but we could talk about it now. And some people I know use it for cooking, and it's very appreciated is buttermilk. Yes. So when you marinate with it and cook with it, uh some cakes and I think things like that, people use the best ranch dressing if you make your own homemade ranch dressing, is made with buttermilk. Fine, I'm on board. But to pour it into a glass and drink it, there is a generation that will do it. And I remember being given that and saying it's you don't know what good is. That's the other that's one of those dysfunctional statements I used to get a lot. You don't know what good is when you'd sit there and fall on the floor, you know, just grossed out and trying to figure out how to solve the problem that just happened to your digestive system. Your body just totally like rejected everything in your world.

SPEAKER_03 2:48

You're literally sending shh shivers down my spine. My father never thought about I never thought I always thought of it as an accoutrement to something else. Something else.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Not as a ingredient, not a main course, right?

SPEAKER_03 3:02

You know, like solo. It shouldn't be solo. Right.

CHRISY 3:05

Like you wouldn't just like start stuffing cocoa powder in your mouth like Hershey's cocoa powder because that that's supposed to be mixed with other things. Yeah. No, people do uh drink this. Uh my well, my father, I think my father had an affection for it because his father was a milkman. So he grew up probably having all these type of dairy products that I just don't feel like you should have been meant to drink. And I had a neighbor who absolutely loved buttermilk, just drinking it out of the glass. And I think that sometimes they would even sprinkle maybe lemon pepper on it. Oh, I don't know. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 3:44

I'm trying to remember first I've heard of it. This sounds like the mo the old version of what nowadays people drink that kombucha. Is that what it's called? Kombuchi, kombucha. Kombucha.

CHRISY 3:55

That's disgusting. Isn't that the one with all the probiotics? Yes. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:00

Great for it's great for your gut health.

CHRISY 4:02

Okay, guess what? Another my body was rejecting. I was like hearing all of this, and I usually can be swayed because of my history of doing dysfunctional dieting. So it's like, oh, this stuff's really healthy. Right, me too. And I do make a smoothie for myself every once in a while, and people are like, oh, you put it in, you know. So I'm like, well, it sounds like you know, yogurt you try to eat because of the good and you know, healthy enzymes or whatever. My bot my digestive system wouldn't shut up all day. I mean, I couldn't think it was so loud. Yeah, I mean, it was bad. I don't know what was happening. I was terrified. I didn't know if I should seek medical treatment. It was bad. It was bad. So, no, yeah, no more kamboopy bad boopy.

SPEAKER_03 4:52

Well, I have to share. So we just were flying out. We flew out to say to Salt Lake City to take my cat out to uh my sister-in-love, my sister-in-law. She's my sister-in-law kitty, is watching my kitty. Uh, but her and her boyfriend are really like healthy. They're into, you know, eating healthy and everything. And we walk into their house and there's this jar of something growing in the windowsill. And I'm like, that's interesting. And then I open the refrigerator and there's another jar of something percolating in the fridge. And I'm like, what are all these science experiments you have in the house? You know, the jar of something on the windowsill was sprouts. You know, they were growing sprouts for, you know, like bean sprouts or whatever, you know. Which I on a salad I love. Yes, I absolutely I just never thought of growing my own. And the jar of something in the refrigerator was this kombucha, but it was like a five-gallon jar of oh I was like, uh, no, no, not for me. I can't do that. No, I'll eat a lot.

Dutch Loaf And Deli Counter Nightmares

CHRISY 5:49

Wait, you know what it was? I know about that. I think it was this other stuff. Kefir? Kefir.

SPEAKER_03 5:54

What the heck is that stuff? No, they said it was kombucha or kombucha, kombucha or whatever it is.

CHRISY 5:58

Nick, look that up. Because I think what I had, but maybe it's in the same family.

SPEAKER_03 6:02

Yeah, it's probably the same thing. Yeah.

CHRISY 6:04

But it was called, yeah, this kefir, kefir, whatever.

SPEAKER_03 6:08

Yeah, I don't know. Kibble, I don't know. Doggy kibble. Oh my gosh. Yeah, so I'm gonna relate buttermilk drinking to modern day kombucha drinking.

CHRISY 6:25

You're smiling over there. Did you come up with whatever the heck that was?

SPEAKER_02 6:29

No, he's just like you keep calling it kombucha. It's kombucha.

SPEAKER_03 6:32

Kombucha. Whatever. Kombuchi, kombucha, kompupa. I think it's kompoopa. They got enough following my mispronunciation of the name. Yeah. Oh my lanta. So. All right, what else you got on this list of dysfunctional food of our forefathers?

CHRISY 6:50

My father would eat this, especially my father worked for General Motors. Yes. And he worked weird hours, and he would come home uh it like very early morning and usually make himself a sandwich and stuff and sort of stay up before he would go back to bed before he had to go back to work again. One of the deli meats, lunch meets that we used to have on hand for him, horrible, horrible stuff. I can't even explain to you the flavor, any of it. Dutch loaf. Anyone else out there? I mean, is this I I it's horrible.

SPEAKER_03 7:21

It looks horrible. It it smells horrible. Oh, does it? I've never been there. Oh, it has a horrible smell. I've never gone past looking at it through the window of the deli counter, seeing it going, and people buy this? Is that the same loaf? Has it been in there for the year? Because I don't think anyone's buying it.

CHRISY 7:37

It looks like something with age spots all around.

SPEAKER_03 7:40

Yes, it looks like it's got mold and stuff growing in it. It looks like a petri dish. It's really a petri dish on bologna. Yes. It's that that under that that face color of bologna bolognay questionable with liver spots. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:57

So Dutch loaf is pork and beef mixed.

SPEAKER_03 8:00

So they say.

CHRISY 8:02

Well, it's it's a hot dog, but then like you eat it cold? Yeah, it's a lunch meat. And he would put it on his sandwich and then eat my father loves Swiss cheese. No, see, I do love Swiss cheese. With Dutch love, I don't know. Well, no, and what's weird is I would like to check.

SPEAKER_03 8:19

I like skinky cheese, I like cage cheese, I like bitter cheese.

CHRISY 8:22

Yeah, I'm a cheese, yes, but I don't even know how I would my body again would reject something if I like had to smell it again.

SPEAKER_03 8:31

Like it would be a nightmare. So yeah. I'm gonna have to next time at the deli counter, you know how they give you tastings. Can I taste? Can I have a sample of the Dutch loaf? I can't. If you do, I will We should run to the grocery store and film that. That would be hilarious. First of all, they'd probably be watching us, like, are you really gonna taste that? Are you really gonna buy something? And I'll be like, look, I'll buy something. It may not be what I taste, but I'll buy something. But yeah, we don't want to buy what we're about to taste, please. Watch, watch out by eat it, and I'll be like, oh, this is great. Yeah.

Pig’s Feet, Sauce Pots, And Coagulation

CHRISY 9:08

I have a really hard time believing that's a possibility, but you never know. Yeah. One other thing I remember that my grandfather used to have like stored in the fridge every once in a while. And I'm sure there's a lot of people who maybe remember grandparents or somebody having this pig's feet in a jar. And it's just the worst. It just looks horrible. Talk about a science experiment in your refrigerator. And it's like in the jelly thing, because the fat, like I think coagulates. And I think he because he would make sauce sometimes, and I think he would use cold sweet. He did. I never, I never, never did. Now I might have accidentally got it because I think he used to also incorporate it when he would make sauce every once in a while. Uh-huh. But I didn't know it. Like it was a brewing sauce.

SPEAKER_03 10:02

Like an Italian gravy sauce, like an Italian Sunday bread sauce. Yeah. Yes. Uh-huh. So yeah. We have it. We have an escapey all of a sudden came into the studio here. One of the dogs snuck in. Yeah, the pig's feet thing is yeah, that's beyond me. I mean, I'm all about I'll eat like alligator tail and things like that, but I don't know if you're gonna eat me a big pig's feet. I mean, isn't that what you give a dog? Bone or something, or cow hoof bone? I mean, that it's just no, I'm not, I'm not eating feet. Yeah. Sorry. I don't care where it comes from, what animal, I'm not eating it. Right. No. I gotcha. I got you. I'm gonna ix nail on the pig's feet, eh? All right.

SPEAKER_02 10:42

Oh, maybe use this as a cut. Do we need a kefir is a milk, whereas kombucha is a tea. Oh. Kefir is more like uh is a milk. That's what I had. You had kefir.

CHRISY 10:56

Yeah, in a smoothie. That makes more sense. Oh, because it was milk I got. Yeah. I've never had the other. But I've heard it.

SPEAKER_03 11:03

I've heard it. You won't get it past your nose. Oh boy.

SPEAKER_02 11:08

We also I I never thought I would ever hear the word coagulate and stereo.

SPEAKER_03 11:13

I know we did. We did. And my eyes were closed because I was ducking my head down thinking about this, trying not to gag. And and then we both said it at the same time. So we weren't even looking at each other when we timed that. We knew what we were going for. We had the visual going.

CHRISY 11:30

Yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:31

So nobody in your family had anything sort of similar to Well, the the only thing I can say that is a food of our forefathers. I'm just cracking up. I find that quite funny. Scrapple. Do you know what scrapple is?

CHRISY 11:42

I do. To some, I I is that a pencil? That's a Pennsylvania thing, which makes sense because it's a good thing.

Scrapple, Spam, And Regional Roots

SPEAKER_03 11:47

It's an Amish thing. It's like a definitely a Pennsylvania, like an Amish, like old world kind of a thing. Yeah. It's a little bit along the lines of spam. A little bit, but probably way worse. So what is it exactly? Pretty much probably all the parts of all the parts of everything they're shredding in the meat thing. And beef or pork? Uh Gemini, scrapple, please.

CHRISY 12:13

Is it served with something else? I feel like there's it's not just the meat, but there's like something else incorporated with it that defines it as scrapple.

SPEAKER_03 12:21

I don't know. I really think it's just I think it's the bottom of the barrel of the meat grinder, personally. And they form it into a patty or something. Yeah, like it's like a uh it comes like in a yes.

SPEAKER_02 12:33

Oh, he's scooting in. So here we go. Scrapple is a breakfast meat from the Pennsylvania Dutch. Yes, made from pork scraps. Okay, it is bread, liver, and trimmings.

SPEAKER_03 12:44

Uh that's probably got some.

SPEAKER_02 12:47

Yes. Formed into a loaf. Yes. And then sliced and pan-fried until crispy.

SPEAKER_03 12:52

Yes, and it's gotta be pan-fried until crispy.

SPEAKER_02 12:55

That's exactly yes, that's can be made with beef or turkey, but pork is traditional. Okay. Same thing with Dutch loaf. It's all a lot of that is that Pennsylvania Dutch. That's a good thing.

SPEAKER_03 13:03

Yeah, but this is fried. So it's got a you fry it till it's you cut it really thin and you fry it till it's got a little sear. It definitely is a texture. If you're a texture person, you probably won't maybe like it because it can be a little mushy. That's why you want the sear on there. But I actually do like scrapple.

SPEAKER_02 13:22

So I wonder if like a lot of these food you guys are talking about are pretty regional because these are both the Dutch loaf and the scrapple are both kind of out of that Pennsylvania. Yes. Oh you know, Ohio, you know, and it's you know, so they're both Pennsylvania Dutch in origins.

SPEAKER_03 13:39

And they're also what I would consider low-income food. When your family doesn't have a lot of money, you're not eating filet mignon, you're getting scrapple. Yeah.

CHRISY 13:49

Well, it's not like since we spoke of scrapple, uh and it sounds somewhat similar to what you brought up, the spam thing. I like spam. But I remember my my mother would make spam for my father. Again, he would, if anybody's gonna drink buttermilk or eat Dutchloaf, why not spam spam? Spam's fine.

SPEAKER_02 14:07

So I wonder if the prevert preferred beverage or scrapple is Snapple, right?

CHRISY 14:12

Yeah, I'm having a scrapple and Snapple, don't I? I would actually taste good together. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:16

It would the the brightness of the fruit juice would counteract the depth of the scrapple. Yeah, definitely. Interesting.

CHRISY 14:24

Well, we're just um open to sponsorship from either. The almish. But they're scrappy. Yes, thank you. Um but the spam, uh the pineapple slice on top of the spam was sort of a thing.

SPEAKER_02 14:40

I think that's how my mother would always so they're describing it as a breakfast meat.

SPEAKER_03 14:44

Yeah, is that when you're oh it's very much and it and that would make sense whenever it says it was pork because it would be along the lines of like a sausage patty, but it doesn't have a that sausage-y kind of taste, it's more on the meat hamburger kind of texture taste side, but so like not like a little bit of a little bit of a bite like sausage, actually. Yeah, just a little bit, but there's a definite texture to it. So, but my dad really liked it and probably the cornmeal and the other things in the scrapple.

SPEAKER_02 15:12

It gives it that texture.

SPEAKER_03 15:13

Yeah, it gives it the texture, yeah. So it's a yeah, it's definitely a texture thing. But yeah. Interesting. Food of our forefathers, scrapple. Wonderful. Your next one is another one of my dad's favorites.

Liver, Tongue, And Family Dinner Rules

CHRISY 15:24

Yeah, it and I remember having it, but I don't remember my mother preparing it in my house. It wasn't anything that we although she may have. I just don't. I remember going to a neighbor, uh, my friend, who used to live next door to me. And reveal what we're talking about. Uh what's that? Reveal what we're talking about. Oh, liver and onions. Liver and onions, yep. And I remember when you sat down with her, it was her, she was um, I brought her up in some other episodes. She was the one that used to say, if I didn't let her see my, you know, it's the I'll go home, girl. And again, I don't want to be too crappy because she she unfortunately did pass away. But so but you would sit down, you'd have liver and onions, and then they would always not buttermilk, but regular milk. That was what you drank with your dinner. I could see that. We didn't do that at my house, but uh they were they were a little bit more was that their was that the Slovak backgrounds.

SPEAKER_03 16:19

Was it a family that no matter what the meal was, they had milk for dinner? Probably. Yeah, see, I always thought that was weird. When I would go occasionally, when I was allowed to go to a friend's house, you know, when I got a little bit older, and when we would sit down for dinner and the family would just automatically have milk on the table, that was an oddity to me.

CHRISY 16:35

I think it's a very specific time period where that's what especially kids were given. Not me. I was like, where's the Kool-Aid or the tank? Exactly. Yeah, my parents just shoveled sugar water at me.

SPEAKER_03 16:48

Yeah, Kool-Aid, iced tea, and in later years the the the soda was a big thing. So I and what I always hated about it is I gotta have cold milk. Like that baby's gotta be cold. I love milk. I mean, I drink a lot of milk, but it's gotta be cold to the point I often will put ice cubes in it. And it seemed like anytime you went to dinner somewhere, you know, another friend's house, and they put milk on the table, like the milk was like the first thing they put out, and then they'd put the dishes out, and then they cook the dinner so the milk had been sitting there and then it was warm and it so yeah, that's not good. Anyways, but liver and onions was one of my dad's favorites, and my mom would occasionally make it for him. She did not like it, she wouldn't eat it, I would eat it. Oh, okay. But I think because my mom didn't like it, I don't know if my mom really uh I don't know if she knew how to cook it, but or maybe this is how it tastes, but I just always remember the liver being like chewy, like you had to like it was tough, you know? So I don't know if that's like what it should taste like, or that's just what how my mom made it, and she made it because my dad liked it, and maybe that's how he liked it, but not something I would ever order. But if if I was forced to eat it, I could eat it. Right. Yeah.

CHRISY 17:56

Yeah, I mean, it wasn't anything you had often, yeah. But I do remember it being something that I don't think too many people well, because of what we know about the organ meats. Yeah, right. Anyhow. Another thing, a lot of this has to involve my father, and maybe it sounds like your dad too.

SPEAKER_02 18:13

Yeah, I think it's just that age and the stuff you're all talking about.

CHRISY 18:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:18

Stuff you never had. My dad would eat all that stuff.

CHRISY 18:21

Oh, yeah, so I think it is. I think it's generation.

SPEAKER_02 18:24

So, like when they would, you know, I had a big family, so we would get a whole cow, right?

SPEAKER_03 18:28

Right. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 18:29

We got everything. Yes. My dad would eat the tongue. Yeah. My mom would cook the tongue for him. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:36

I don't ever remember having tongue, but we would buy the whole cow. Maybe she'd maybe she'd I don't know what she did with that part of it, but yeah. But yeah. I don't know. But yeah, I do think it's one, a generational thing, and two, it's a income status type of, you know, a lot of these things trying to make the most for your money, feed the most, you know, because you have big families, you know, trying to feed the most for the what you had. Also think that it, especially growing up how we did, you know, the dad set the precedence. So you ate what dad wanted to eat. Oh, that that was definitely the situ the the case in my house.

SPEAKER_02 19:09

Liver eating a liver is a little too silent of the lambs for me.

CHRISY 19:14

Well, you don't have to worry about it. I'm not gonna be making it anytime soon because uh you make enough faces about regular food I make, let alone I'm not gonna bring home liver.

SPEAKER_02 19:23

There's your film reference.

Rhubarb Lore And Toxic Leaves

CHRISY 19:25

There you go. Thank you. Thank you. Good job, Nick. Yeah. You speak to me in film quotes, I'm there. I I totally understand you. Another thing was we had a neighbor next to us who used to grow rhubarb. Yes. And it was an interesting, I guess, beautiful plant because the leaves on it are huge. I mean, they almost look like something out of the Jurassic period. Yeah, they really, yes. Then it would appeared to me in my what I can recall of it was the edible part was looked a little bit like celery stuff. Yes. Except it had like a reddish coloring to it with the green. It's a pretty plant. My father would go again, here comes dad. He would go over and snap the rhubarb off because the our neighbor was very kind and sharing with us, and we would harvest it sometimes because he'd get so much of it. And my mom would make a strawberry rhubarb pie, which is very good. Yeah. But he would snap it off and then eat it raw. You're speaking my language. Did it all the all the time as a kid? Yeah, see, I would do it just because I saw him doing it. It's like it's like sucking on a lemon. It is very bitter.

SPEAKER_03 20:39

It can be.

CHRISY 20:40

So, but I saw dad do it and I was like, oh, I want to be cool too. I mean, he's eating something out of the earth over here. I'm on board. Yeah, Chrissy likes food of the earth. Yeah, because I'm a big sauerkraut fan.

SPEAKER_02 20:52

Not not quite Jurassic period, but 2700 BC. It was originally first cultivated in China, Mongolia, and Siberia for medicinal purposes.

SPEAKER_03 21:03

Oh, there you go. Oh, interesting. Very good.

SPEAKER_02 21:05

And then uh it got migrated to Europe in the 1600s. So there you go.

SPEAKER_03 21:10

And then it came here with the pilgrims, probably. Probably. Yeah. Uh yeah, we had my neighbor had a rhubarb plant that was right on the border.

CHRISY 21:17

That's with our neighbors having the we never we didn't have them, but we had a neighbor who had them. Is that like everybody's experience?

SPEAKER_03 21:22

And that particular huge plant was right where my swing set was. So I do remember, like, I would be swinging on the swing, and then I'd go over and rip a piece of rhubarb.

CHRISY 21:32

Yeah. Am I understanding correctly though, the the leaves are dang the leaves are dangerous? I think there is something about their bitter or something.

SPEAKER_02 21:40

Yes, the leaves are toxic.

SPEAKER_03 21:42

Yeah. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 21:42

While the stalks are edible, the large leaves are high in an oxalic acid would and are toxic, causing health issues if ingested.

SPEAKER_03 21:51

So it'll cause a kombucci response to your poochie.

CHRISY 21:57

Why did nobody tell me this? Very fortunate for some reason I didn't smack down. She didn't see your dad ever eating it.

SPEAKER_03 22:05

Thank God.

CHRISY 22:05

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 22:07

So don't eat the leaves of a rhubarb plant. No. Stalks only.

Savory Jell O Salads And Mayo Relics

SPEAKER_03 22:11

Alright, so this next one is just wrong. But it was so popular. I've never seen this. So Chrissy has on her list jello with celery. Yeah.

CHRISY 22:24

And I think my mom would make with vegetables in general. They took jello, which again is, I think, fairly, you know.

SPEAKER_03 22:32

It's just another coagulant, like the like the Dutch loaf and whatever. But now we've we've turned it into a but you actually create it on purpose.

CHRISY 22:40

It's not like a naturally occurring thing. It's like you make it happen and then you would stick like celery or carrots or something in it.

SPEAKER_03 22:47

I remember the- I've never had or seen Jell O with vegetables. I've seen Jell-O with fruit in it. I've seen Jell-O with cottage cheese in it. I've seen Jell-O with whipped cream in it. But I can say I've never seen Jell-O with vegetables.

CHRISY 23:02

I think this is very.

SPEAKER_03 23:03

If you tell me there's jello and broccoli, I'm gonna go puke.

CHRISY 23:06

I don't remember seeing that, but the carrots and the celery, I remember my mother making for my father, and I think that was definitely a sign of like the 70s.

SPEAKER_02 23:15

It was a big don't forget about alcohol and jello, too. You want your jello shots. Amen to that.

SPEAKER_03 23:21

Well, I said it's just not enough. You gotta down too much of them. It takes too much space. Just drink the alcohol.

SPEAKER_02 23:28

Yeah, you get I get a stomachache before I get the buzz off of jello.

SPEAKER_03 23:33

I'm I'm j I'm looking this up because I gotta see a picture. Jell O and vegetables. Yeah, see, I don't remember seeing it.

CHRISY 23:39

We had it. We had it.

SPEAKER_03 23:41

Oh it is a thing. I'm not lying. Ooh. Yeah, it's this might have to be the cover photo picture for this episode.

CHRISY 23:52

Oh, well, we got enough to work with. Don't limit it to just that. I mean, that actually looks really pretty. The one that we used to see was just the clear either like a green kind of translucent jello or something along those lines. And then you just saw, like, you know, the vegetable like suspended in it. This has like jello and cucumbers. It looks like I think they used to also incorporate mayo. Oh! Yes. No, I'm not. I'm serious. They would put like mayo and jello and vegetables. It was like a savory thing.

SPEAKER_03 24:30

Alright, I'm gonna Google that. I gotta see it there. Jell-O and mayo.

CHRISY 24:34

Just like you talked about the scrapple, and then I'm bringing this up now. You know the other place I eat that you and you said I turned you on to it. Good mythical morning, retin link. Because sometimes they eat weird stuff and they comment on it. What? Chrissy? Is that mayo?

SPEAKER_03 24:51

Yeah. Seven up in Mayonnaise and Jello Salad. Ooh. Maybe don't knock it till you try it. I don't know. Oh my lanta. Yes. I need some my lanta. Yeah. Oh my. It's a good one. Chrissy, this could be a whole episode just of this. Move on. Maybe another one. Move on. Move on.

Ovaltine Love And Malted Disputes

CHRISY 25:14

And the other thing I was going to comment on Ovaltine was a big deal. And you wanted to drink it because of the Christmas story. Yes. I had never had it prior to that. Uh-huh. And had it. And I was like, horrible. This is horrible. I thought it was going to taste like chocolate, like quick. You know, the quick quick, nestly quick. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:32

No, it ain't no Nestle Quick.

CHRISY 25:34

But yeah, Mul. I like uh Whoppers. Yes. But this is like on a different level. It's just not, in my I the way I don't enjoy, I just don't like it.

SPEAKER_03 25:45

So before we started this episode, and again, I often do not see the show notes until right before we record, because Chrissy's inspiration often comes at like midnight the night before we record. So I'm a procrastinator and I work best under pressure. She does, she does. And that's fine because I work best in just reacting impromptu. So literally right before we were ready to record, I was I looked over the list and one thing stuck out and I started laughing. And it was the Ovaltine. Because I just ordered some more Ovaltine in my Amazon shopping cart.

CHRISY 26:24

You drink this on a regular, see? You like it? I do. Well, it's definitely a matter of taste. So I guess good for you. It's not anything I would want. But I was over here laughing, and she's like, What? What are you laughing at?

SPEAKER_03 26:40

I'm like, you'll find out.

SPEAKER_02 26:44

I figured it was something you actually wore nearly like. But I didn't actually see her list, her total list of things.

SPEAKER_03 26:51

Yeah, no. No, I do like Oval Teen. I do like Oval Teen.

Organs In Sauce, Giblet Gravy, Texture Wars

CHRISY 26:54

Yeah, so I think a lot of people were probably inspired in like 19 what, 83 or whatever to give it a shot. Some of you maybe latched onto it and loved it. Not me. Not me. Oh my. So this another one is this is really gross, and my mother used to make it. And I don't think this was anything my father ate. I think someone else in my household used to enjoy it. But it was basically the organs. Yes. Like chicken livers and hearts. Yes. In a tomato sauce with green beans.

SPEAKER_03 27:28

So they made like a little stew.

CHRISY 27:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:30

It was.

CHRISY 27:31

And I remember the texture of those little organs. It was horrible.

SPEAKER_03 27:35

So I'm I'm not offended by anything on here. I don't know if I would necessarily order it because of the chicken livers. But I will say I have no problem with eating the heart. So like when you cook the turkey at Thanksgiving, like I luckily I'm, you know, it's usually just a household of two, but uh, if there's other people present, you might have to fight for the heart because I I I do like that.

CHRISY 27:59

Now I did one year. It's an amoose boosh. It's just a bite size. Well, it is, yeah. I did make gibblet gravy.

SPEAKER_03 28:08

Okay, yeah.

CHRISY 28:08

I got inspired. Yeah. Although people from the south were saying they were so happy when maybe they married somebody who was not from the south. Oh, yeah, because they didn't want to share. No, they didn't want to eat have it anymore. They hated it. And they were so glad that they were in a family that didn't hold it in such regard to have it every Thanksgiving. I did make it. It's when you first make it, it's uh it maybe it was just new to us, but we actually didn't find it that offensive.

SPEAKER_03 28:34

Yeah, it it sounds very flavorful. I'm sure there's a lot of good, there's fats and things like that. Make it yeah, yummy.

CHRISY 28:40

Yeah, but and then the the next things here are just some weird things that I don't think I don't know if anybody else ever did this. I think I just knew weird people who did this. So this you're talking about these three ingredients are all mixed together.

Mashed Potatoes With Ketchup And PB Pickle

SPEAKER_03 28:51

Yes. Oh, that's correct. Mashed potatoes, corn, and ketchup. You had me at mashed potatoes and corn. I have no problem with those being mixed together. The mashed potato binds with the corn, makes it easier to eat.

CHRISY 29:03

And it turns into a really funky color man.

SPEAKER_03 29:05

It looks like uh something you would make to make like mashed potato gravy and corn, mashed potato butter in corn, mashed potato and ketchup. No, thank you.

CHRISY 29:17

Yeah. I remember seeing people eat this. Yeah. And the other thing that I personally did eat younger, and maybe if you know about ham, you wouldn't think this is that weird, but we'd make toast and put grape jelly on it with with uh ham slices, like a lunch meat. Yeah. Make a sandwich. But it's a hot sandwich. Well, the toast is fine, but the ham was cold. Yeah, it would be cold because the jelly would be cold. Is this why you don't make ham for Nick anymore? No, I like ham. He doesn't like ham.

SPEAKER_03 29:46

But oh, I thought you were saying, oh, you like the turkey. You're saying that in my house you would like to come because I don't make ham. It's turkey. That's what it is. Okay. I don't know about how I feel about this.

CHRISY 29:56

It it just it was it that might be something you'd be surprised you might like. Yeah. The other thing I want to bring up, honorable mention for honorable mention the spouse over here. Because he likes, and he still eats this to this day. Peanut butter and pickle sandwiches. That is no, I have to say, that's a hard no. Well, he does. He does cold pickles, yes. They are out of the fridge.

SPEAKER_02 30:20

Actually, you can do dill. You can either do dill or even bread and butter.

SPEAKER_03 30:24

Okay, now see, there should be no reason on earth there should be bread and butter pickles. That's the most disgusting thing. And I hate when you go somewhere. I love a good pickle. Don't get me wrong. Good dill pickle, amen. But I hate when you go somewhere and there's like a little charcuterie tray or whatever, and you see pickle, and you're like, but is that a dill pickle or a bread and butter picker? And you you eat it and it's bread and butter.

City Chicken Truths And Salty Memories

SPEAKER_02 30:46

Oh, so I think I think I do think dill is better than bread and butter with it. But you have you have what you have there is uh complimentary because you have the savory of the butter, peanut butter, and then you have the kind of the you know of a dill pickle, a little bit of the the bite, the sour. Oh, don't knock it till you try it.

SPEAKER_03 31:05

No, I'm really um, you know, there I will eat a lot of different foods. I'm I do have a very valid um varied palate, but peanut butter to me just should not be, it's not savory. I I I I love a lot of different Asian type foods, but the kind that has the the peanut butter sauce, peanut no hard no on that, no. So I'd peanut butter and chocolate, yes, peanut butter and marshmallow, yes, peanut butter and banana, yes, peanut butter and apple, yes. Peanut butter and pickle? No. No, no, hard no. No, sorry, sorry, Nick. That one's all you. We have more for me. That's right. Yep. You have one more on the list.

CHRISY 31:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:42

City chicken. Does anybody remember eating that? I like city chicken. Why did it have to have a stick in it? Why don't they pull the stick out before they serve it, you mean?

CHRISY 31:51

Why do they have a stick in it, period? You're sitting there chomping on it and you smack it out with a stick and almost break your teeth. Was the stick there to hold something together, or was it there for you to pluck the meat, the whatever it was, out of your teeth?

SPEAKER_03 32:04

That was not a oversized cheoth thick, no. It had to hold it together because isn't city chicken, they use the thigh or something and they wrap it, and so they it's it, it doesn't, it falls apart, so they have to have the chicken.

CHRISY 32:17

I just think it's my mother made it a lot. My father must have liked it. We just you ate what was there. Yeah. Not good.

SPEAKER_02 32:23

I we had a lot too. I you know, because we didn't have a lot growing up. I think you know, city chicken. It's really pork. Why don't they just call it city pork?

Listener Challenge & Heart Month CTA

SPEAKER_03 32:30

Yeah, right, right, right, right, right, right. So, yeah. Uh-huh. I I like city chicken. Too salty for me. Oh. Yeah. No, I like it. So well, this was interesting. I guess I have a forefather's taste because most of the things on here I was not that appalled with, or I do eat.

CHRISY 32:45

But what you were appalled by, you were appalled by.

SPEAKER_03 32:48

Yeah, 100%. Yeah, there was a strong reaction to the things, you know. Yeah, definitely. So so what I'm curious about is I want to know what our listeners, what kind of foods they are grew up with disfunctioning, especially for our international listeners. I would love to hear.

CHRISY 33:04

We would love.

SPEAKER_03 33:05

And I hope we didn't offend you by anything like if you were like the kombucha, kombuopy, come whatever.

CHRISY 33:12

We're not judging. We just know it's not for us.

SPEAKER_03 33:14

It's not for our little Midwestern taste buds. So but I will also have to say, this is this is Heart Month for uh American Heart Association is our junkies care initiative. So do take care of your heart. Although some of these foods that we talked about may be maybe good for you. Um, you know, you might want to watch what you're eating because you got to take care of that heart. And you can learn more about the American Heart Association and what they do, not only um here in the United States, but they also have some international initiatives, which I didn't know about. It was really interesting to learn about that. So check them out on our website, dysfunction junkiespodcast.com, or you can go to heart.org to learn more directly from American Heart Association. Thanks, everybody. All right, bye-bye. Bye.