Reply to: School Dinners

[Denny]

Only now you need counselling?

Cheeky bugger.

[Sysman]

I would have volunteereed to do the serving if that meant I didn't have to eat any of the food. Sadly, this wasn't an option

Then we moved nearer the school, and I could come home and make my own lunch. Ham sandwich and a cup of tea FTW

We had a couple of afternoons off a week for sports, but by the sixth form they weren't compulsory; you could use the time to do homework or simply muck around if you wanted. I chose to go home for dinner on those days. Mother always left something to warm up and I could eat listening to the comedy half hour on Radio 4 - Frank Muir, The Navy Lark etc.

PS. Denny's mention of liver and onions reminds me of rather chewy and dry liver, probably overcooked,. It wasn't the best dish of the week, but the gravy and mash were good.

[Spartacus]

Ham and tomato with mustard

It's your favourite.

Yes, it is.

[El_Diablo]

Now, thanks to you, I need to seek counselling.

Only now you need counselling?

[threaded]

At school they used to have these burgers that were oblong shaped and a curious taste and texture. Then a few weeks ago I bought something from the local turkisk shop with some incomprehensible name but a colourful box and they were the same thing.

Brought back memories of school.

Much like when the hot water heater breaks at the clients showers.

[Denny]

I forgot that we used to get liver and onion too (it was all dry and tough and made your jaw ache trying to chew it) and prunes and custard (quite a good choice because it gave me a good excuse to skip double maths to spend the afternoon on the loo).

I forgot to list them in my original post. I guess the trauma of eating these dishes meant I'd erased them from my memory - a bit like victims do when they've been involved in a serious car crash, or suffered sexual abuse or something.

Now, thanks to you, I need to seek counselling.

[NickFitz]

The best of the lot was volunteering to do the serving. This meant taking the stuff out on trolleys to each table, and taking the empties back later. For this you got a special table next to the kitchen (for the sitting you weren't working) with as much as you could eat. Magic.

I would have volunteereed to do the serving if that meant I didn't have to eat any of the food. Sadly, this wasn't an option

Then we moved nearer the school, and I could come home and make my own lunch. Ham sandwich and a cup of tea FTW

[NickFitz]

Ham and mustard...yum.

Ham and tomato with mustard

It's your favourite.

[Diver]

I didn't know we came in flavours. I wonder what flavour I would be...

mousse

Kack flavour

[Sysman]

The private school had pretty good caterers - Gardner Merchant. The menu was varied, and there was considerable choice.

Aargh!, please not Gardner Merchant! In my second and fourth contracts they were the canteen caterers and you soon got fed up the food. It was occasionally top notch, and we just knew that their contract was up for renewal. It would always decline in both quality and choice shortly afterwards. Fortunately there were a couple of rattling good sandwich shops nearby.

Oh, their buffets for working lunches were everything to do with pork. It was a bit of a sod when half a dozen senior folks from one customer turned up and we discovered that all except one were Jewish. We took them to a local restaurant after that little disaster (which was worth going along to to see the permie manager squirm at paying the bill).

[Sysman]

I have fond memories of meat and potato pie with wonderful chunky pastry. Peas and half a boat load of decent gravy on top. Either rhubarb or prunes to follow. Now that was a balanced diet - first course to clog you up, the second to do the opposite. One parents do they served the pie and the parents came home claiming that we ate better than them.

In summer, a Russian salad with lashings of salad cream and new potatoes smothered in butter.
Ice cream and tinned fruit salad was good too.
Bangers, mash and beans were another favourite.

Ah, cheese pie. Most hated it which meant there was oodles to go at for those who liked it.

Whatever the meal, there were always extras for the main course.

The best of the lot was volunteering to do the serving. This meant taking the stuff out on trolleys to each table, and taking the empties back later. For this you got a special table next to the kitchen (for the sitting you weren't working) with as much as you could eat. Magic.

[Moose423956]

Before I went to private school, all I can remember is about school dinners is once being forced to eat some kind of lemon moose, and vomiting profusely afterwards.

The private school had pretty good caterers - Gardner Merchant. The menu was varied, and there was considerable choice.

6th form college was easy - bag of chips then off to the pub for a beer.

I didn't know we came in flavours. I wonder what flavour I would be...

mousse

[thunderlizard]

For mains: meat stew with tubes in it.
Battered fish - looked at first glance like a normal chip-shop fish, but in fact was 95% batter and had nothing more than a shoelace-sized ribbon of fish running down the core.
Mashed potato that you could fix tiles with. Boiled potatoes, broccoli or cauliflower that disintegrated when touched.

Steamy sponge was the usual pudding (more steam than sponge - it nearly took your eyebrows off when you cut into it). Sometimes with jam on top ("Dead Man's Head" or "Murder on the Mountain"), or plain with custard, lemon sauce or chocolate custard - any of these with a skin so firm you could go trampolining on it.
Or if we were very lucky, huge cream-filled chocolate eclairs ("Linfords").

[NotAllThere]

Before I went to private school, all I can remember is about school dinners is once being forced to eat some kind of lemon moose, and vomiting profusely afterwards.

The private school had pretty good caterers - Gardner Merchant. The menu was varied, and there was considerable choice.

6th form college was easy - bag of chips then off to the pub for a beer.

[Board Game Geek]

Chocolate pudding was nice..well, the pudding itself wasn't but the sauce was fantastic !

After a few minutes, the sauce would form a skin on top and that was my favourite. So much so, that the other kids who hated theirs were quite grateful to pass their skins down the table to me.

Then I had a bowl of chocolate skins and I was in heaven.

Then another term started and it was packed lunches from then on.

Jam sandwiches...yuk.
Ham and mustard...yum.
Garlic and onion...top class.
Banana..super !