School Dinners

prefabkid47
prefabkid47 Member Posts: 1,316
edited 12. Mar 2011, 18:41 in Community Chit-chat archive
Had a thought about a new topic (after readind katnapps's post about her 4 year old daughter). :idea:

We are all different age groups and come from different parts of the country.What were your recollections of school dinners - loves,hates etc.

Perhaps I can start the ball rolling - GYPSY TART (is that now PC?),a concoction of evaporated milk and muscovado sugar cooked in a precooked shortcrust pastry base Mmmm.,always a favourite at school :grin:

It's said to originate in my home county of Kent,but may be called something else in other parts of the country (my OH makes a mean gypsy tart but not very often :cry:
''Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy''. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

Comments

  • katknapp
    katknapp Member Posts: 709
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Gipsy tart is something i remember from school,loved it,i make it too! can you remember some of the names we gave school food?wasnt bolegnaise worms and cats meat? :lol:
  • prefabkid47
    prefabkid47 Member Posts: 1,316
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    katknapp wrote:
    Gipsy tart is something i remember from school,loved it,i make it too! can you remember some of the names we gave school food?wasnt bolegnaise worms and cats meat? :lol:


    Yes and not to mention frog's spawn (tapioca)
    ''Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy''. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,774
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    chocolate concrete and mint custard....


    mmmm.... :grin:
  • rugbygirl
    rugbygirl Member Posts: 691
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Banana Custard always with the skin on the top or rice pudding with jam on and of course the obligatory skin.

    And of course no matter what was on the menu it always smelt like cabbage

    a015.gif
    Jakib0644.gif
  • valval
    valval Member Posts: 14,911
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    hated school dinners got out of them when ever i could did like pink custard and the salads lol but the watery veg yuk and slop well that what lots of the meat looked like :-) nearly forgot loved the rosehip syrup on rice pudding
    val
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Roast beef was elephant skin: grey and wrinkled. I hated semolina and tapioca - ghastly concoctions, along with school gravy and custard - colour was the only difference between those two. YUK. Worst of all was the summer milk: warm, sometimes on the turn and we still had to drink it. Revolting. DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • rugbygirl
    rugbygirl Member Posts: 691
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Worse one for me was the liver that we occasionally had. It was always served with lumpy mash and cold cabbage. There was also that liquid that was so thin it was often described as gravy and sometimes it was something else
    Jakib0644.gif
  • barbara12
    barbara12 Member Posts: 21,281
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I loved school dinners especially the meat pie..in the very large trays ....just watching them cut through it...yum...and the lovely thick custard on sponge pud.... :grin::grin:
    Barbara x
    Love
    Barbara
  • suzygirl
    suzygirl Member Posts: 2,005
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I replied to this post earlier, but it appears to have dis appeared!! :eek:

    I hated school dinners, I can remember being forced to eat fish with loads of bones in it, and gagging on it, I hated it that much.


    I loved the chocolate cracknel though!!! Yum, yum!! :grin:
  • prefabkid47
    prefabkid47 Member Posts: 1,316
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Must admit school salad was one of my pet hates,having to pick out the beetroot (yuk!) was bad enough but having to dissect the whole thing to remove the greenfly was the last straw.Even the watery,peppery 'salad cream' didn't improve things. :!:
    ''Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy''. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
  • katknapp
    katknapp Member Posts: 709
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    can anyone remember the wierd salad,they used to put orange sedgements in it aor apple and nuts i hated it! but the huge tray of meat pie was good,i think we called chicken or pork chewing gum lol
  • joanlawson
    joanlawson Member Posts: 8,681
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I've had more school dinners than I care to remember, both as a pupil and later as a teacher, so I've seen quite a few changes over the years.

    Years ago, school dinners were eaten in a more civilised way, with proper plates instead of those plastic airline trays which are used now. The teachers often used to sit with the children, so it provided an opportunity to teach them good table manners. The food was brought to each table in dishes, and the children were taught to serve it out properly, and to clear the table afterwards. Lunch time was usually an hour and a half, so everyone could enjoy their meal without having to rush. I agree that the quality of the food varied from one school to another, but it was often very good, and nutritionally balanced.

    In more recent years, school dinners have become much more like fast food, with children having to hurry to eat as lunch-times have got shorter. Teachers now no longer see it as part of their job to teach table manners, and many kids have no idea how to use a knife and fork, preferrring to use their fingers as with fast food. For many children, their school dinner is the only cooked meal they get, but the meals are often of poor nutritional value.

    Joan
    c1b3ebebbad638aa28ad5ab6d40cfe9c.gif
  • mellman01
    mellman01 Member Posts: 5,306
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Oh do I remember school dinners, god awful stuff you wouldn’t feed a dog, mush potato offal and gristle and damp lifeless veg that had all the colour boiled out of it, the damage those evil elves in the kitchens did was incredible, but what got me was why they always came in with big empty bags each day and left with full ones and they were always fat, hmmm now is it me or is there a link here???.
  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,774
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    i never botherd just kept the 5 bob meself..............baby school was ok we had cod liveroil and malt :smile:


    Oh Tink

    we did too at secondary...bought ten number 6 a bag of crisps and a packet of polos.....who were we fooling??!!

    Love

    toni xx
  • katknapp
    katknapp Member Posts: 709
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    A son of a friend of mine has been taken to task by his teachers as he was selling crisps at a lower cost than the school tuck shop and making a fair bit too.

    He's stopped the crisps and branched out into chocolate bars but he's not so open about the sale of these.

    my son did this,i put a stop to it by buying the really really cheap brands :lol:
  • tonesp
    tonesp Member Posts: 844
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Cheese Pie YUMMY
  • joanlawson
    joanlawson Member Posts: 8,681
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Spotted dick............I bet they daren't call it that these days :lol: ( a steamed fruit pudding )
    c1b3ebebbad638aa28ad5ab6d40cfe9c.gif
  • prefabkid47
    prefabkid47 Member Posts: 1,316
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    joanlawson wrote:
    Spotted dick............I bet they daren't call it that these days :lol: ( a steamed fruit pudding )


    Spotted dick (and lashings of custard),luvly.Have to see if Val's cafe has got it on the menu. :roll:
    ''Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy''. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
  • prefabkid47
    prefabkid47 Member Posts: 1,316
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    i never botherd just kept the 5 bob meself..............baby school was ok we had cod liveroil and malt :smile:

    Cod liver oil,when I was 'knee high to a grasshopper' mum (God rest her soul) had to hide it away used to drink the stuff out of the bottle,given the chance (must have had well oiled joints - now just well oiled!).
    ''Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy''. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
  • julie47
    julie47 Member Posts: 6,041
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    School dinners were not always bad, meat pie was nice and chocolate pudding with pink custard.... but......Spam fritters...yuk,yuk,yuk

    juliepf x
  • magenta
    magenta Member Posts: 1,604
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi,
    I loved Caramel Flan and custard, macaroni cheese and chips. Hated sausages with 'tights' on them (they had been stewed in gravy and the skin looked like 20 denier tights!). Worst EVER was semolina and prunes-I feel nauseous even thinking about that!
    Magenta x
  • rugbygirl
    rugbygirl Member Posts: 691
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    The worst thing for me was not only having school dinners at school but my mum was also one of the school cooks so guess what I had most of the time!!

    She would often come home with a receipe for us to try. Sometimes she would test them out on me and my dad before she cooked them at school.

    She was a good one for making stews with those stupid cocktail onions and celery in, with the watery gravy.

    I ended up saying that I wanted to have sandwiches because I couldnt deal with having school dinners twice a day. Once is enough for anyone
    Jakib0644.gif
  • magenta
    magenta Member Posts: 1,604
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I also remember one dinner lady who would hit your hand with a ladle if you touched the area where the food was!!!!!!