The Waller - Warren Family Cookbook
George Waller

George Waller was born in the 1940s, after World War 2 when his father returned from the war and settled down in Illinois. He grew up in a variety of locations including Brazil and Texas, finally settling in New England as a teenager. He remained there for the rest of his life.

His favorite food is pickles. He hates cheese on burgers! In an earlier questionnaire he claimed his favorite food was Fried Okra.

If he were an animal, he'd choose to be a monkey!

OK, here is an amazingly thorough food review just sent in by George:

Here are some things I don't like: seafood (nor did my father) although he and I would eat it if need be; cheese; mayonnaise (except in cole slaw, potato salad, tuna salad); beets; liver (never tried it).

I love fried okra but probably couldn't eat a lot of it. My favorite things are "mixed" ... e.g. stew, goulash, bigos, pot roast, cole slaw, potato salad, spaghetti (the way my mom made it), Or a plate full of favorite foods that I can mix together by taking a forkful of each. Sandwiches and soups are also generally "mixed" and I like them.

Favorites ... there was something on the menu at the poshist hotel in Rio where we spent about a week before returning to the states. The most expensive item on the menu had the word "Bourginion" (sp) and I had it for lunch and dinner each day. I never like pasta until recently. Example: I drove down to Belmar NJ with a bunch of people to watch a beach volleyball tournament. The woman I drove down with and I were first there and had dinner on the beach... I had a pasta dish and loved it. Price wasn't bad... that has often been my complaint about Italian food... expensive but spaghetti costs $1 a pound!

Hamburgers rank way up there for me. It has to have tomato, pickles, mustard, and (when feeling wild) onions but I love sauerkraut on hamburgers and would drop the onions in that case. I like Mexican and Chinese food.

Tonight when Cassion gets out of work (about 9:30) we are going out to Appleby's for dinner (last dinner for the poor fellow who is getting four wisdom teeth pulled tomorrow). He and Amanda (his gfrind) just arrived and she bought/made him three containers of ice cream, a big bowl of pudding and jello.

Back to me :-)) I love corn on the cob, mashed potatoes with GRAVY (butter if that is not available... my mother always made gravy). Yes, we always had bread at the table. Oh, a reminder... my mother majored in home economics in college and we were all raised on three square meals and proper table manners. My mother was also a Southern Lady and made Southern food... nothing that was very cheap so don't think of chitlin's etc. Although my sister hates "hush puppies" and I don't even remember what they are. Southern fried chicken was one of our favorites. My mother made a great spaghetti (but an Italian friend of mine visited and commented: "It's not spaghetti but it's good."

Thanksgiving dinner was as traditional as can be imagined as was Easter. We often lived near the Barr's and ate at one another's homes, holidays or not.

I like pressure cooked foods and fried foods. We always said "grace" before meals and it usual went "Bless this food O Lord to our use and ... (well you remember the end I am sure). Oh yeah, "and us to thy service, Amen."

I have had food made by Mamaw and it was much like my mother's. Mamaw made excellent biscuits and we would eat them with sausage or with honey.

Just to reiterate, I remember the first hamburger I ever had with sauerkraut on it. It was at Valhalla NY at a small fair at the foot of the reservoir dam. My mouth waters every time I have thought of it. I also remember asking my father, at a drive in, to take back a hamburger with mayonnaise on it... he was not too pleasant about it!!

Baba was one of the best cooks I've ever known. You probably know what she made so I won't repeat it here. I will repeat on oft told tale about what happened on a day before New Year's about 1968. I woke late and Baba offered me pork chops, green beans, etc. etc. and I ate to my fill. Later about 2 she offered me much the same and surprisingly I again ate my fill. Then we went over to Hnat and Josephine's for the annual traditional Ukrainian feast of 12 courses...... My Oh (as Mamaw would say). Naturally shots of vodka were consumed frequently.

Your mother was a very good cook too and almost always made full dinners for all of us. Bunnie and I starved mostly. Darlene was a vegetarian so I starved mostly. Nowadays I live on soup, sandwiches, deli items.

During a chat in 2002:

Becky: I remember Mom said you could have anything you want to eat. And I'll make each individual person whatever they want. I remember saying I wanted a TV dinner.

George: I probably wanted chicken noodle soop.

Becky: I bet you did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Ann Waller, his first wife:

No, I didn't know your dad drank peach schnapps. I thought it was blackberry flavored brandy.

One memory of George (her father in law): when he was out of work - age about 50 in NJ - he started to cook. Made a chili mac he said he invented which took ground beef, elbow macaroni, and tomato sauce? Maybe your dad remembers it. I started to make it for your dad, too.

Drinks: Rumor is that he loved peach schnapps during his late 20s and 30s. Now that he is older and wiser, he has graduated to Grand Marnier. His daughter Lisa got him a bottle of the 'high end' Grand Marnier 150-yr-old blend, at $200/bottle, for Father's Day recently. It was gone in a month!

In the 21st century he loves Turkey dinner with all the fixings, ending up with pecan pie.

2002 Interview with George and Becky Waller

RECIPES
Beef Bourguignon
Fried Okra

SIBLINGS
Becky Waller
Blake Waller
Bruce Waller

Profiles of the Waller - Warren Family Members
The Waller - Warren Family Cookbook