S/O of the scone thread. Food & religion (for fun)

[Amber in SJ]

I have to admit the scone thread made me think because I am a lifetime member of the LDS church and I have never heard of fried bread identified as a scone.

 

I also started to think about "Mormon Food" in general, because my dd is getting a crash course in the subject by taking a lunch class at the institute building at our local community college.

 

Oh, FYI the LDS church has institute buildings at many colleges across the country that offer free religion classes and other things (like lunch) to the students.

 

Back to "Mormon Food"....

 

The ones that are most easily identifiable are:

 

Funeral potatoes- potato cubes baked in a creamy sauce with a ton of cheese & topped with something crunchy like cornflakes; with or without ham cubes. Called funeral potatoes because they are often served at funerals or because they cause funerals because of the fat content.

 

Hawaiian Haystacks- boneless chicken chunks in gravy served over rice and topped with a weird assortment of things that do not go together like; crunchy chow mein noodles, canned pineapple tidbits, toasted almonds, green onions, coconut and anything else you can think of. This particular lunch scared my daughter away for weeks.

 

Jello Salad- jello with "stuff" in it. Most of the time it is stuff that doesn't seem to belong in jello, like shredded carrots in lime jello or crushed pretzels and berries in strawberry jello. Served with or without cool whip.

 

I have never made any of these items.

 

Anyone else have odd foods linked to their religion?

 

Amber in SJ

[The Girls' Mom]

Apparently fried chicken and banana pudding. Of course it may just be regional, but nearly every Baptist preacher I know loves them both, and I've heard both talked about from the pulpit!

[Chris in VA]

I'm Episcopalian. We have the unfortunate reputation of...well, let's just say "wherever there's four Episcopalians, there's a Fifth."

[woolybear]

Lots of yummy ones--matzoh balls, rugelach, hamentaschen. And one really scary one--gefilte fish!! Run for your life!

 

ETA: I forgot to mention I am Jewish. More of a cultural connection than religious one(for me), actually.

Edited April 18, 2012 by woolybear
forgot

[housedress]

Fish on Fridays and pancakes on Fat Tuesday! Obvious I guess ... what I think are weird are the lamb cakes some people serve on Easter. It just always seems weird to see someone slicing a cake shaped to look like a lamb (iced with coconut frosting.)

[Lucy in Australia]

Apparently fried chicken and banana pudding. Of course it may just be regional, but nearly every Baptist preacher I know loves them both, and I've heard both talked about from the pulpit!

:iagree:

Apparently not regional because I live in Australia and have hear this from the pulpit too :) Yes, that and choc chip cookies :D

 

Of course I've heard people say that Baptists just like to eat a lot, generally speaking- possibly something to do with the potluck dinners :tongue_smilie:

[Butter]

I have to admit the scone thread made me think because I am a lifetime member of the LDS church and I have never heard of fried bread identified as a scone.

 

I also started to think about "Mormon Food" in general, because my dd is getting a crash course in the subject by taking a lunch class at the institute building at our local community college.

 

Oh, FYI the LDS church has institute buildings at many colleges across the country that offer free religion classes and other things (like lunch) to the students.

 

Back to "Mormon Food"....

 

The ones that are most easily identifiable are:

 

Funeral potatoes- potato cubes baked in a creamy sauce with a ton of cheese & topped with something crunchy like cornflakes; with or without ham cubes. Called funeral potatoes because they are often served at funerals or because they cause funerals because of the fat content.

 

Hawaiian Haystacks- boneless chicken chunks in gravy served over rice and topped with a weird assortment of things that do not go together like; crunchy chow mein noodles, canned pineapple tidbits, toasted almonds, green onions, coconut and anything else you can think of. This particular lunch scared my daughter away for weeks.

 

Jello Salad- jello with "stuff" in it. Most of the time it is stuff that doesn't seem to belong in jello, like shredded carrots in lime jello or crushed pretzels and berries in strawberry jello. Served with or without cool whip.

 

I have never made any of these items.

 

Anyone else have odd foods linked to their religion?

 

Those are not *Mormon* foods! Those are cultural Mormon UTAH foods. I was born and raised Mormon on the east coast and we do not eat that stuff (and sometimes make fun of them lol). I know a scone can be fried bread. I've had that, and at church even. Someone from out west wanted people in my ward in VA to make "funeral potatoes" and everyone was like "huh? what are those?" I had to google to get a recipe to hand out (I had never heard of them before then either). There were a lot of different options. Everyone in the ward agreed we wouldn't have those at an activity again. I've never heard of Hawaiian Haystacks at all. And as for Jell-O salads... well... we tend to make fun of the Utah Mormons for their Jell-O salads. My mom calls them congealed salads because they always had them at church potlucks when she was growing up... Catholic!

[ktgrok]

I'm Episcopalian. We have the unfortunate reputation of...well, let's just say "wherever there's four Episcopalians, there's a Fifth."

 

Yup.

 

Although my only actual associations of food and church (also Episcopal) are coffee and donuts. Coffee hour is the 8th sacrament at every Episcopal church I've ever been to.

 

I also have a chocolate and wine association, just because one lent my priest gave up chocolate and alcohol. After the Easter Vigil service on Sat. Night he had a reception for those baptized in the church library, and served....chocolates and wine :)

[Lara in Colo]

I grew up Assemby of God and the only thing I remember is that weddings never had any food. Receptions had a cake, a bowl of nuts and a bowl of those pastel colored soft mints. I think of them as wedding mints.

[Ellie]

I have to admit the scone thread made me think because I am a lifetime member of the LDS church and I have never heard of fried bread identified as a scone.

I didn't read the scone thread and now I think I might have to, because...seriously? fried bread identified as a "scone"????

 

:blink:

 

:svengo:

 

Perhaps I've spent too much time with Scots at Highland Games or something...

[Debbi in Texas]

What about the peanut brittle that Pentecostals make for fundraising? Delicious!

[mommaduck]

Greek Orthodox and the food isn't Orthodox, it's Greek :D Baklava, spanikopita, mousaka, etc. Now for Orthodox, red dyed eggs :)

 

Around here, for Mennonites, it's anything that has Cream of Carp Soup in it.

[sewingmama]

Those are not *Mormon* foods! Those are cultural Mormon UTAH foods. I was born and raised Mormon on the east coast and we do not eat that stuff (and sometimes make fun of them lol). I know a scone can be fried bread. I've had that, and at church even. Someone from out west wanted people in my ward in VA to make "funeral potatoes" and everyone was like "huh? what are those?" I had to google to get a recipe to hand out (I had never heard of them before then either). There were a lot of different options. Everyone in the ward agreed we wouldn't have those at an activity again. I've never heard of Hawaiian Haystacks at all. And as for Jell-O salads... well... we tend to make fun of the Utah Mormons for their Jell-O salads. My mom calls them congealed salads because they always had them at church potlucks when she was growing up... Catholic!

 

LOL I agree

 

Never have we had those here in Australia either :lol: Oops I lie - I saw a jello salad once at a pot luck dinner -it was bought by an American from Utah and it remained untouched :lol:

 

We have lots of Tongans, Samoans and New Zealanders in our LDS wards here - pot luck dinners are very yummy :drool:

[*********]

I grew up in the Nazarene denomination (dh and I do not affiliate with any denomination now).

 

I have a few food/church connections I can think of...

 

'Nazarene champange'. Which is white grape juice and Vernors (since we're in Michigan, it HAS to be Vernors; known as ginger ale to everyone else). It is served at wedding receptions at the church building, since no alcohol is allowed.

 

I remember big church pot lucks; those were the best. I always got to try lots of yummy things. No one thing stands out, though.

 

Weddings, like I said, did not have alcohol. Or dancing. (Yeah, they were kinda boring, LOL.)

[KungFuPanda]

I'm Episcopalian. We have the unfortunate reputation of...well, let's just say "wherever there's four Episcopalians, there's a Fifth."

 

Catholic and Irish. :iagree: with what she said :-)

 

I do make a mean shepherds pie with lamb, and tend to serve lamb on Easter. I live in the north now so, sadly, banana pudding rarely makes it to a pot luck.

[LaxMom]

Catholic. We have boozy funerals, but that's probably it. :D

 

I channel my inner Bubbe, though, and make piles of sufganiyot and latkes in December, and love (!!) gefilte fish. A (Jewish) friend recently emailed because she spotted GF matzo meal in the grocery store. I almost plotzed! Matzo ball soup has been desperately missed since being gluten-free.

[Annie]

Those are not *Mormon* foods! Those are cultural Mormon UTAH foods.

 

I agree, I think those are more Utah foods than Mormon foods. :)

 

I grew up LDS in Wisconsin, and I never heard of a funeral potato until I came to this board. I'm pretty sure I've never eaten Jello salad of any sort.

 

My family does occasionally eat "Hawaiian Haystacks," but we call it Holiday Hoopla. We use turkey and gravy instead of chicken (hello thanksgiving leftovers), rice, lettuce, tomato, cheese, fried chow mein, and the occasional pineapple. It's actually quite yummy. We learned about it from our friends from.... Utah. I never really saw other Mormons eating it.

[jewellsmommy]

Apparently fried chicken and banana pudding. Of course it may just be regional, but nearly every Baptist preacher I know loves them both, and I've heard both talked about from the pulpit!

 

 

Yep, lots of fried chicken jokes in our church (Southern Baptist) :lol:. But, you have to say it with an accent.

 

 

But I must say, I loooove Hawaiian haystacks. I have had them with a pineapple sauce though, not a gravy. Our co-op traditionally offer them for the Christmas dinner!

 

chow mein noodles, rice, chicken, sauce, celery, pineapple, mandarin oranges, shredded cheese, green onions, cashews, coconut, more sauce... yumm

Edited April 18, 2012 by jewellsmommy

[kewb]

Lots of yummy ones--matzoh balls, rugelach, hamentaschen. And one really scary one--gefilte fish!! Run for your life!

 

ETA: I forgot to mention I am Jewish. More of a cultural connection than religious one(for me), actually.

 

 

I will add to the run for your life gefilte fish (although my ds loves it) list:

Stuffed Derma - that is all kinds of nasty.

Sweet Breads

[justamouse]

New Catholic and boy am I learning about the food. For every feast day, there is traditional food that goes with, and I'm having a great time bringing a lot of it into practice. It adds a lot of richness to the year.

 

Fish on Fridays (or meatless, at least).

 

Pancakes and King's cake for Shrove Tuesday, pretzels for Lent, hot cross buns for Good Friday, St. Lucia buns for St. Lucy's feastday, gold coins for St. Nicholas' feast day, there's so much more and that's not even considering Christmas and Easter.

[Jenny in Florida]

I've been UU for most of my adulthood, and our coffee hours and potlucks tend toward a lot of "weird food." You'd see lots of brown rice and lentils and things featuring tofu along one side of the table (carefully labelled as "vegetarian" or "vegan"). The other side might be more "normal" food.

 

Our current church has a chili cook-off every year, and one of the prizes is for "most unusual." There's a lot of competition for that one!

[TXMomof4]

Funeral potatoes is one of my favorite foods. I hardly ever get it because I won't make it, but good heavens it's yummy!

 

Baby shower sandwiches - ham and swiss on Hawaiian rolls with a butter, dijon, worcestershire sauce, onion sauce poured over it and baked. I had those at every shower I ever went to and most brunches actually.

 

Chicken spagetti is a must have at any potluck.

 

We moved from TX to KS and it was funny to see the foods that were similar and the ones that were regional. Sauerkraut and hot dogs were not ever on the TX menu - always on the KS one. Fried chicken was at both places. Dump cake at both.

 

I love church food - makes me miss home though!

[Alessandra]

Yup.

 

Although my only actual associations of food and church (also Episcopal) are coffee and donuts. Coffee hour is the 8th sacrament at every Episcopal church I've ever been to.

 

Anglo Catholic Episcopalians (many of whom have fasted before communion) take coffee hour very seriously -- cheese platters galore, assorted cold meats, fruit, mini sandwiches, cookies & pastries, sherry and (after evening services) champagne and/or mimosas. That would be after a big evening service, but a regular Sunday is not far behind.

 

But I have always rather envied people who have specific foods with a religious connection -- like the Passover seder plate or the EO baskets of food on the Saturday before Easter/Pascha.

Edited April 18, 2012 by Alessandra

[Annie G]

I'm Episcopalian. We have the unfortunate reputation of...well, let's just say "wherever there's four Episcopalians, there's a Fifth."

 

I've never heard that- but it made me laugh!

[Parrothead]

I've been UU for most of my adulthood, and our coffee hours and potlucks tend toward a lot of "weird food." You'd see lots of brown rice and lentils and things featuring tofu along one side of the table (carefully labelled as "vegetarian" or "vegan"). The other side might be more "normal" food.

 

Our current church has a chili cook-off every year, and one of the prizes is for "most unusual." There's a lot of competition for that one!

Now that you mention it...

 

I learn t'ai chi with a bunch of older hippy types who happen to be both vegetarian/vegan and go to the UU church. There was a potluck get together on World T'ai Chi day last year. I was introduced to some of the oddest food combinations. Some were pretty good and some were odd. There was one that was down right disturbing in taste. :D

[LostSurprise]

Jello Salad- jello with "stuff" in it. Most of the time it is stuff that doesn't seem to belong in jello, like shredded carrots in lime jello or crushed pretzels and berries in strawberry jello. Served with or without cool whip.

 

 

This is also a Scandinavian thing...and thus Lutheran. You'll see it all over the upper Midwest.

[gardenmom5]

I

Back to "Mormon Food"....

 

The ones that are most easily identifiable are:

 

Funeral potatoes-

 

Jello Salad- jello with "stuff" in it. Anyone else have odd foods linked to their religion?

 

 

GREEN jello- there was a reason it was THE most popular pin at the 2002 winter olympics in SLC. (says a friend who was an athlete -luge - and has quite the pin collection.) (my mil has put miracle whip on jello to "look" like whipping cream.:svengo:)

when dh was growing up - refreshments at thing always included red punch. what flavor is it? red.

 

I've never lived in utah - but they have some of the best junk food you can find. my favorite gyro place is there. (we have a great greek place here, their gyro's aren't the same.)

[ocelotmom]

I've been UU for most of my adulthood, and our coffee hours and potlucks tend toward a lot of "weird food." You'd see lots of brown rice and lentils and things featuring tofu along one side of the table (carefully labelled as "vegetarian" or "vegan"). The other side might be more "normal" food.

 

Our current church has a chili cook-off every year, and one of the prizes is for "most unusual." There's a lot of competition for that one!

 

Also UU, and lentils and tofu was going to be my response :)

 

And excess zucchinis and squash from people's gardens.

 

And coffee.

 

Though in reality, frozen pizza ended up being the mainstay of many potlucks due to some weird politics.

[Little Nyssa]

There is a Greek dish made of cream of wheat in a gelatin mold. :confused:

[Stratford]

Those are not *Mormon* foods! Those are cultural Mormon UTAH foods.

 

Ditto this. I hadn't heard of many of these things until I went to BYU. And now, back on the east coast, we see very little "Utah Mormon" food at potlucks, etc. Except for funeral potatoes....I've adopted that recipe in a big way.

 

I love "church food." From any church, really. My kind of stuff. :)

[gardening momma]

Jello Salad- jello with "stuff" in it. Most of the time it is stuff that doesn't seem to belong in jello, like shredded carrots in lime jello or crushed pretzels and berries in strawberry jello. Served with or without cool whip.

This isn't specifically Mormon. It was more of a 50's recipe fad that lasted a bit too long. :001_smile: I have an old Jello cookbook that calls for stuff like that to be added in.

[MamaSheep]

Ditto this. I hadn't heard of many of these things until I went to BYU. And now, back on the east coast, we see very little "Utah Mormon" food at potlucks, etc. Except for funeral potatoes....I've adopted that recipe in a big way.

 

I love "church food." From any church, really. My kind of stuff. :)

 

'Nother ditto here. I grew up Mormon in Wyoming and Montana and the only times I ever had or heard of these foods were in association with someone from Utah--visitors, relatives, new move-ins. Definitely Utah things. Which doesn't mean I don't LIKE them. Especially funeral potatoes. The haystacks are surprisingly tasty too, actually.

 

Also, I have to admit I like me some "Baptist" fried chicken. I need to get a recipe.

 

ETA: Also, I've avoided the scones thread. I don't care if it's the fried bread kind or the lightly sweet biscuits with dried fruit kind, I like both. I'm perfectly willing to call them both scones, as long as I'm invited to the party.

Edited April 18, 2012 by MamaSheep

[8circles]

I think pretty much all church-food has ethnic roots as opposed to religious. I associate Swedish sausage and smorgarbords in general with church from childhood. Family religious food was always obviously ethnic too.

[mommaduck]

I think pretty much all church-food has ethnic roots as opposed to religious. I associate Swedish sausage and smorgarbords in general with church from childhood. Family religious food was always obviously ethnic too.

:iagree:

[Belacqua]

My UU mother used to joke about the random casseroles at church potlucks being "Perfect Unitarian food. We're not sure where they came from, and we might argue about what they're made of, but we all agree they're good."

Edited April 18, 2012 by Belacqua

[Ellie]

I grew up Assemby of God and the only thing I remember is that weddings never had any food. Receptions had a cake, a bowl of nuts and a bowl of those pastel colored soft mints. I think of them as wedding mints.

Southern California: weddings with just a cake and mints, AG or otherwise.

 

Nothern California: the works.

 

What's up with that? :D