General Chat

School dinners!!!!!! Not too fond a memory, Us kids got free school dinners because our dad could not work the only thing was the teacher used to call you out to the front of the class every Monday to give you your free tickets, Very degrading at the time, We even went for school dinners in the summer holidays, Sometimes at different schools, Still thats water under the bridge now, Im 60 years young and have got better things to think about, Still it will always be in my mind, But I must admit I liked the concreate pudding and pink custard, Even if half of it went over your school pal when you tried to break it. Philip palmer Apache junction Arizona.

Hi Denis My hubbie is a geordie,,!! So I know your wife must be a wonderful woman,,and I cant believe people could be so snotty with her just because she wasnt born and brought up in the area where you lived,,how very narrow minded, Where do you live now> My hubbie comes from North Shields but I am researching family tree from all over the North East so I get upto Newcastle very often,

I have just realised that I put mine as mustard and it should of said custard lol

Hi Denis I live in Holton-le-Clay between Louth and Grimsby, I know Skidbrook , iv been to the old church there on a ghost hunt. Im afraid we never had cheese and potato pie for dinner at school but i remember making it in domestic science. It just seemed to involve mixing lots of grated cheese into hot mashed potato.. hope you wife can give me the recipe for the cheese pie,,,yum yum,!!

Does anyone remember cheese and egg pie? Does anyone have a recipe? Chocolate concrete is served in the staff dining room at the hospital were i work. The guys love it,,!!!

aint it funny, it,s nearly always the puddings mentioned.Thanks for naming the fabled[manchester tart] i often wondered what its name was.The choc pud [the hard one] was tops too including the vanilla version,we used to sneak it out and eat it in the playground.the main course though [yuk] but they did well really ,most food was still on ration in the 50s.

Brings back lovely memories,the dessert was a lovely spicy cake with custard,my 9year old granddaughter is here with me and her favourite is chocolate cake,with strawberry custard. But most of all I remember the dinner ladies,with hairy chins.Ugh. trish

Patsy Was the gypsy tart, the one made from evaporated milk and soft brown sugar baked in a pastry case? Anne

Gypsy tart sounds interesting - what is it?

Gypsy tart was my favourite. I remember there being sixpences in the pudding at Christmas. Hated swede, turnip, parsnip, spinach...now I like them all! I got free school dinners because my mum was on her own, but I recall that in 1973 they still only cost 14p a day. Patsy

Chocolate Jaffa Tart ............ yes pleaseeeeeeeeeeeee! Does anyone else remember this? It was really yummy and I'd love to taste it again!!! It was pastry at the bottom, an orangey sort of cream (a bit like orange curd but almost set) and then melted chocolate left to set hard on top! When they put the hot custard on top the chocolate started to melt! oooooooooohhhhhh!! My mouths watering at the thought!!! If anyone knows how to make this I'll pay for the recipe!! Has the butterscotch tart recipe gone on the other thread yet!? Just off to check! lol Eleanor xxxx

I hated, hated, hated school dinners - like someone else said, the smell of the dining hall made me feel - sick! Everyone seems to have had much better culinery experiences. Back in the 50's I was made to sit right through the dinner hour, all my friends long gone, until I eat the stuff up. I loathed my lack of courage to push the plate off the edge of the table and say it was an accident, especially when some well meaning soul had poured fresh custard over it to make it more appetising, (well, on top of mashed potato! ... always made with water and seperately purchased lumps). Joke is that, now, as a teacher, I still think the meals are stodgey but can't keep my fingers off the chips! Never had those in my day. Worst memories - skin topped custard and semolina with jam in the middle and .. I could go on.

a local lady cooked our dinners stew and dumpling melted in your mouth and the onion sauce yum we were lucky only a small village school so good home style meals

Well, I think I must have been lucky, as our school dinners were fantastic, but that was in the 1950's/60's. We NEVER had chips, although we would have battered fried fish with mushy peas and mashed potatoes. We had 2 salads a week in the summer and 1 salad a week in the winter. Spam fritters were a favourite, as was Hungarian Goulash with dumplings, and Liver, bacon and onions. My friend and I loved liver, and we were the only two on a table of 8, so we would swap our bacon for their liver! We had some lovely puddings. Two I remember with affection was a ginger sponge served with a thin clear sauce that we called 'jungle juice'! I think it was diluted golden syrup. The other one was a chocolate sponge, which was served with a green mint sauce, and believe me ..... it was delicious.

Personally I hated them and always had packed lunch. however my five year old neice comes home with tales of eating fish fingers and salad! It must have improved. Naomi

I can't say that I liked the school dinners, the mustard was always lumping and I now can't stand the sight of mustard due to school dinners.

Roast beef, 2 dollops of instant mash, white cabbage & gravy Mmmm ! Choccy pud & choccy custard Mmmm ! Last lot in could have seconds MMMMmmmmm!! WhenI left in 1982, dinners were only 25p a day ! Elaine x

I hated school dinners. The smell used to make me feel sick and even now, 60 years later,the thought of them makes me ill. Sylvia in Perth

I enjoyed school lunches 'cause i would go on the last sitting and was then able to have two lots of pudding. thank goodness for school lunches any way 'cause i didn't have to eat veggies chris

Manchester Tart, I still make it sometimes, brings back the good memories and my grown up children love it. If you don't recognise the name..... Pastry base, layer of jam, custard poured on and allowed to go cold, any 'sprinkles' that you like on the top, mine like coconut or chocolate