Does anyone eat at home these days? My mother and grandmothers were constantly cooking and baking from morning until night. We had breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with coffee time sandwiched in between breakfast and lunch, and between lunch and dinner. By the way, did you call it dinner or supper? We called it supper.
Almost all meals were eaten at home. Going out to eat was for special occasions and was usually a trip to the root beer stand for a hot dog. Once in a while when Dad was in town to pick up or deliver something, he stopped at the local, hometown cafe where all the boys gathered to drink coffee while exchanging gossip. Drinking coffee was accompanied by the shaking of dice to see who would have to buy the coffee. There was much bravado and conversation as each person vigorously shook the dice container and then slammed it down on the table. I think each table and booth was equipped with dice. I don't see or hear dice being played for coffee any more. I wonder if this is something of the past also.
In most local restaurants, one thing that hasn't changed is a place where people gather each day to drink coffee and discuss the local news and problems of the world. Everything is debated and solved during these morning and afternoon get-togethers. Every small town needs a local cafe where people can gather in a special area and talk and argue.
Aside from an occasional trip to the root beer stand and local cafe, a big outing for us was going to a supper club for a special occasion. Remember those fancy dining places called supper clubs. There are still a few of them around. The only time you went to a supper club was for supper or dinner, whichever you called it. That trip to the supper club usually included a cocktail before the meal. This was the one time when you got to order a real steak. It was real beef, not just a tough, old Jersey cow that we had butchered. Those old cows included a lot of chewing to eat it.
Before the main course was brought out at the supper club, the waitress brought a relish tray that was on a “Lazy Susan.” Remember those relish trays that had a limited variety of vegetables; usually celery, carrots, radishes, breadsticks, and assorted crackers. Things have come a long way since those simple relish trays. Now we have extensive salad bars that can be a meal in itself. People rate supper clubs, not just by the entrées, but also by how extensive their salad bar is. I’ve been known to order just the salad bar and I’ve never gone away hungry.
At some point Friday night became fish night in Wisconsin. I don't recall going out for fish when I was young. If we did go out on Friday night it was just to the root beer stand again. Sometimes we got to share an order of French fries. That was a real treat. If we had fish on Friday, it was fish we had caught in the Mississippi River and Ma had cooked up. It was usually loaded with bones and was tricky to eat. It was certainly not like the boneless fish we eat at restaurants on Friday nights now.
Nowadays fast food has taken over a big portion of our eating. When I was young the root beer stand would have been our fast food place. I still remember going to my first McDonald's in La Crosse. We walked up to the window and ordered. There was no indoor seating.
Now there are all kinds of fast food places and restaurants that specialize in certain types of foods. There’s Mexican, Chinese, French, Italian, vegetarian, pancakes, Sushi, tacos, chicken, and the list goes on and on.
Sushi isn’t on my list of restaurants I’d go out of my way to visit, but each person has their favorites. I know a lot of people who enjoy raw fish, including our kids. The closest thing to raw fish for me is lutefisk. I think I’ll stick with that.
I realize I haven’t mentioned pizza. There are lots of pizza palaces too. We love pizza, and it seems like every pizza has a different flavor. We didn’t have any pizza restaurants when I was young. The only place I remember getting a pizza was at South Lanes Bowling Alley in La Crosse.
Times have certainly changed since the days when almost every meal was eaten at home. Now I wonder what percentage of our meals are eaten out at some sort of eating establishment? Every day of the week offers us a different menu. We have fast food establishments, local cafes, specialty restaurants, pizza restaurants, and supper clubs. What would our parents think of all this eating out? It certainly would have made Ma’s life a lot easier if she could have been fed by others at restaurants, instead of constantly cooking and feeding her family and others. I wonder what changes in eating habits we’ll see in the next 50 years?
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