To say that some things about old fashioned school dinners tasted nice?

[malificent7]

Ok..so admittedly they are mostly puddings but i will start with australian crunch and that cornflake, jam treacle flan thingy. I want the recipie!

[Grumpbum123]

I also remember having a flask of warm Rubens which was in the shape of the berry

[FunnyFaceFreda]

At my school, the menu would be on a blackboard in the dining room. Pudding was never specific, it was always 'pudding and custard'. We used to rub out pud and cus to make ding and tard..... to this day it's what my sister and I still call any kind of dessert ding and tard and snigger helplessly.

[Pigwitch]

Pies baked in big metal rectangular trays - cut into squares.

Mashed potato served with a scoop so it was a perfect circle on your plate.

Metal jugs of water in the middle of the tables that you helped yourself to.

Semolina with a dot of jam in the middle.

[Natsku]

I only had school dinners on Mondays (mum worked Sunday nights so didn't want to make packed lunches when she got home in the morning) so can't remember too much but I loved it when we had eclairs for pudding, also vanilla ice cream with hot chocolate sauce. I wasn't too keen on the main dishes unless it was chips.

DD's school dinners now seem like they belong in the 50s - liver casserole, pea soup, blood sausage (though being Coeliac she gets to avoid that one) but no puddings except on special occasions, pancake day the children all get a Semla bun but her GF version was a normal GF bread roll with jam and cream (normally her GF alternatives are really good, the kitchen makes their own bread sometimes even, but they dropped the ball this time)

[Movinghouseatlast]

Mince Cobbler was utterly divine.

[PeoplesFrontOfJudith]

80s primary school
Blue plastic plates, the metal jugs of water.
I remember just having a plate of Heinz ravioli for lunch which was my favourite. The yummy smell of the tray bake biscuit/shortbread things that were rock hard but delicious. And yes the excitement when it was pink custard. I loved semolina too, wouldn’t touch it now though!
The worst thing was being made to finish everything or being kept behind. The dinners always finished with you going up and getting one of those triangle drinks. Some days they’d only have blackcurrant which made me throw up, so I’d have to pretend to drink it and then hide it amongst all the empties so I wouldn’t get in trouble. Ridiculous looking back.

Secondary had lovely vegetable soup and this amazing minced chicken and gravy pastry pies done in the individual ceramic pots. But there were only ever a few done so there’d be an almighty race to get to the front of the line and guarantee yourself a pie, but if you were caught running by a teacher you’d be held back so we all developed a weird half walk-run

[HennyPennyHorror]

Judith I grew up in the 70s and we used to have actual china plates, metal cutlery and glasses!

[bananasandwicheseveryday]

When I started school in 1967 everybody either had school dinner, or went home. Nobody brought a packed lunch. School dinners were great at primary, my favourite was spam fritters and for dessert we sometimes had doughnuts with tinned peaches and some sort of fake cream -yum. Secondary school was odd. Our school was split across two sites and the lower school must have employed a load of out of work builder's in the kitchen. Food was disgusting and the gravy - you could have plastered a wall with it. Upper school was great. Lovely salad bar every day, salad baguettes which were delicious and also a traditional style hot dinner available every day. I work in a school Now and on the rare occasions I venture into the dining hall, I am appalled at the food on offer. Our cook does her best, but the local authority have chosen to use a catering services company which specialises in poor quality beige food in a daily basis.

[OhTheRoses]

I grew up in the 60s. We had chinas plates, proper cutlery and glasses. When DC went to primary in the early 0's they weren't allowed water at the table in case they spilt it. The Head was not amused when I suggested that if they did the dinner ladies could wipe it up. Evidently not what they were paid for.

However, that particular head couldn't use a knife and fork properly so I suspect was happy if the children ate with their hands.

None of that nonsense once we paid.

[Steeve]

Yes to green custard with sponge/apple pie etc. Also had shortbread so hard if you hit someone round the head with it you'd be up on a murder charge. Tasted fab though!

[CSIblonde]

Argh, the puddings. Huge slabs of lovely sponge stodge swimming in custard: & seconds if you wanted it.....

[stopfuckingshoutingatme]

Cakes and custard

[Natsku]

Proper china plates and glasses and cutlery at DD's school (not UK), and a choice of water, milk, or buttermilk to drink. If they spill they have to clean it up themselves though. They serve themselves food and are encouraged to eat everything on their plate so they soon learn to serve themselves smaller portions and then go back for seconds if they are still hungry (and thirds occasionally, usually when it's spinach pancakes or ham and potato bake)

[SecretNutellaFix]

In primary school I loved the chicken fricasee and it was school that introduced me to the perfection that is lasagne.
Cheese pie and baked beans was a good one.
Sausage, mash, cabbage and gravy so thick you could stand a spoon upright in the jug.

There was one day every 3 weeks I hated and I knew exactly what we were getting for pudding when the water tumblers weren't out on the tables.
It was the day we had milkshake and shortbread biscuits for pudding. The milkshake was always banana, had a really odd texture which made me gag and the biscuit was rock hard and far too sweet and crumbly. What made the day worse was you weren't allowed anything to drink with your main because you'd be having a drink with your pudding.

[Camomila]

DSs nursery have proper plates and glasses in the older rooms (UK) :)

I remember liking shortbread and half and apple as pudding
Our school dinners were fairly healthy in general.... Turkey dinosaurs were rare!

[JuniperSling]

Roast dinners were my favourite (if it was beef & yorkshire pud), followed by treacle sponge and chocolate custard.

I also used to like this lemon tart thing, which was pastry with a layer of thick lemon jelly-like stuff, and a blob of fake cream on top.

We had the metal jugs and beakers too, and a "Table Leader" (which I used to think was called Table Eater) to pour the water for everyone.

[Poppy43]

Juniper are you talking about lemon mirangue pie?

[FoulMouthedMotherFigure]

Juniper - are you describing lemon mernigue's poor relation, lemon curd tart?

...Or, as it was affectionately known at my secondary school, lemon turd fart?

[BadlyAgedMemes]

DD's school dinners now seem like they belong in the 50s - liver casserole, pea soup, blood sausage

I'm now assuming your DD goes to school where I did... But do they still have to eat slimy dill meat?!

[DaisyStarburst]

Gypsy Tart and loved that fake cream, have never found anything like it. We used to get coffee too, weak made with milk which got a skin on it! The mashed potato put me off it for years!

[Jellyonawonkyplate]

I loved them! Lamb chop, iced sponge and my absolute favourite..chicken drummers We never had them at home nor would I buy them for my own DC but oh my, they were delicious. Think they were served with mash and gravy.

[longwayoff]

Hated the cheese pie, slimy pastry, weird wet cheese ugh. Loved the corned beef pie and puzzled over what on earth the pinky red meat in quite decent pastry could be. Must have been in my thirties when it dawned on me was corned beef. Didn't know you could 'cook' it.

[Purplejay]

Ooh I used to like spam fritter with mash and baked beans, chicken supreme and rice and beef mince curry and rice. And cheese pie which I had completely forgotten about! For pud, choc pudding with chocolate sauce (which they still have according to my 12 yo) and of course cornflake tart and custard.

First time I had quiche was at junior school and I remember trying to describe it to my mum and her trying to make it (from old fashioned cook books but having no clue! 1980 ish,

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

I looked up the recipe for gypsy tart - the filling is made from condensed milk and Demerara sugar. That’s it. Pure sugar and sogsry condensed milk.

The health tsars in the Education department would have an absolute fit at the thought of all that sugar. And can you imagine all those hyped up children!

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

Sogsry? Wtaf did I think that meant? Should have been sugary!