I’ll be looking forward to what you got cooking

of the garden plants. Haven't tasted that in years.

Thanks for the memory of grandma’s kitchen. Papa’s specialty was ambrosia, made for every family dinner for about 30 people.

What about corn fritters? Big Papa’s (my great granddad) wife made them for the huge annual family dinner every summer. About 100 family members attended that. Big tables set up outside on their farm.

As a college student in the mid 70s, I had a university library job shelving government documents. One booklet on frugal cooking caught my eye so I flipped through it. There I found a recipe for bologne soup; I remember my shock to this day. Yes, canned corned beef, spam, fresh caught bass, and cow tongue made it to our table when I was growing up, but not bologne soup. So, I hope I am not too hoity-toity to join in the discussion here. 😅 Welcome to DU, GAJMac!

They go with anything.
From the Midwest myself but plenty of home cooks there.

Black eye peas
Collard greens with ham or bacon
Sunday fried chicken
Biscuits and white gravy
Blueberry pie or huckleberry if you’re lucky!

"cucina casalinga" (housewife cuisine.) Exmple: you make the most simple pasta-fagioli (pasta and beans) -- just when you've done the last step (cooked the pasta) you mix a salad (oil and vinegar dressing)of very bitter greens (arugula, radicchio, etc) that's VERY heavy on the vinegar -- serve the pasta-fagioli in the bowls and had a good bit of salad on top -- the heat of the soup cooks the salad, the vinegar helps you digest the beans -- oh.my. !!!

That sounds really good. When I was a young man, I didn't like most vegetables because they were "bitter". As my tastes have changed with age, I now appreciate the "bitter", and accept it for what it is - another flavor that can be molded to make a great experience.