I’m sure all of us have childhood memories related to food. It is often the smells emanating from our grandmothers’ kitchens that define us as a family, whether it be the sweet aroma of tomato sauce or the pungency of boiling cabbage.

Many of us of AARP age, however, grew up just as convenience foods started to take over more and more of the pantry, and food that came from cans, jars, and packages can be just as evocative as Old World family recipes.

I still recall my first experience with a TV dinner and the searing puff of steam that arose when peeling back the foil cover. I’m not sure the turkey and mashed potatoes had much flavor, but back then – before the microwave – it seemed absolutely miraculous.

Many of my childhood food memories revolve around specific brand names. For instance, the strict use of Hellman’s mayonnaise in our house seemed almost as important as what church we attended. It would have been blasphemy to suggest using Miracle Whip.

And with Thanksgiving coming up, what’s your take on canned cranberry sauce? Martha Stewart probably wouldn’t approve, but for many of us, the quivering tube of burgundy jelly is as necessary as the turkey and stuffing.

Most “write about your childhood food” prompts focus on special family recipes and long holiday mornings in the kitchen, but for once let’s focus on the quick and easy foods our parents and grandparents used as shortcuts.

Here are two prompts. See where they lead:

• What were some of the packaged food peculiarities in your family? Were there certain brand names you always used, or peculiar convenience foods that seemed wonderful back then and just plain odd when you think about them now? How old were you when you realized vegetables didn’t have to be limp and tasteless?
   
• Write about a time you visited your Aunt Dora in New Jersey or stayed for dinner with the family down the street and found yourself baffled by someone else’s food choices. We tend as children to imagine that our family habits are “normal,” until we get out in the world and see just how different every family can be. What surprised you at someone else’s table?