Monday, August 07, 2006

Monday Memories

My mother was at our house last night playing games with us and my sister. Mom mentioned having made hamburger gravy for dinner that night. The memories came flooding back as they often do at the mention of food. I started thinking about dinners at the Rasmussen household when I was a child. One of our favorites, by ours I mean the seven children, was hamburger gravy. Another was hamburger rolls. Mom would make up a batch of biscuit dough, roll it out and crumble raw hamburger on top, sprinkled with salt and Parmesan cheese. Then she'd roll them up and slice them jelly-roll style. They only baked for 25-30 min. We'd eat them with slightly thinned cream of mushroom soup and ketchup. Delicious! I still make hamburger rolls and my children and husband love them, but it's been years since I've made hamburger gravy. I will make it soon.

I remember occasionally coming to dinner and finding a teacup and saucer setting atop our dinner plates. In the cup was a slice of lemon. Mom would pour hot tomato juice over the lemon. I thought it was quite elegant for our very 'homestlye' family.

Recently Mom and I were talking about how we use to have fish sticks on a regular basis. I commented that I hadn't seen fish sticks in ages and Mom said that they just didn't make them like they used to.

One favorite meal, that my friends thought sounded very unappetizing, was cream tuna on Ritz crackers. When I married I was concerned that my husband would think it sounded awful, too. Fortunately, his family were familiar with it as well, only they served it on toast.

It's funny how certain foods from your childhood had to be eaten together. Like grilled cheese sandwiches and cream of tomato soup. They HAD to be served together or not at all.

Speaking of soup, I remember my brother S always liked the chicken noodle broth and I liked the noodles, so we'd pour back and forth to satisfy both of us. The same was true of vegetable soup - I wanted all those little alphabet letters. Unfortunately, when it came to fried chicken we both wanted the breasts. Ooohhh, the delicious chicken gravy my Mom could make. WOW!

Something else Mom could cook that I've never been able to duplicate is roast pork with sliced potatoes cooked along side the roast. Hers would turn out flavorful with just the right amount of crispness to them. They were to die for.

I'm sure more memories will keep flooding in, but I'll save those for another post.

10 comments:

Andrew McAllister said...

Ohhhhh... why do I have to run across "yummy food" posts when it's late at night and my stomach is trying to drag me to the kitchen? Sounds delish!

To Love, Honor and Dismay

Myke Weber said...

You're makin' me hungry just thinking about it. These two gals, booklogged and her mom are two of the finest cooks on the planet!

Another favorite for me is sloppy joes made with hamburger and Campbell's Chicken Gumbo soup with some mustard and ketchup to spice it up. Mmmmmm. We had that on the eve of our wedding reception. See, I remember food as well!

Cassie said...

I know about the cream tuna over ritz crackers and how people don't get it. It definitely looks gross but hmmm so good. I make it all the time and each time my roommates just cringe. I remember how grandma would always make that for me when she made something for everyone else that I didn't like. Like tuna casserole. Hated that, like it now but she was always ready with another can of tuna to make cream tuna for me.

those hamburger rolls sound good. Don't think my mom ever made those but the sloppy joes she made which I think are the same you all make are so good.

julie said...

Yummy!!! I have had all those foods and I love them! My mom used to make hamburger gravy all the time - even so recently as when I lived with her. Once I tried making hamburger rolls. I didn't realize the hamburger should be raw until I had already browned it! In the end, it tasted good, but the hamburger was just a little dry. Hmm. I think I'm going to make hamburger rolls next week, after I go shopping again.

Thanks for reminding me of all these wonderful foods!

Framed said...

Cassie, I made hamburger rolls several times when you were little. (Several is a relative term when you talk about me cooking) I remember you liked cream tuna and J liked tuna casserole. It was such a conundrum.
Book, remember when I did the hot tomato juice on lemon slice at our progressive dinner party. I only bought one can because I thought everyone would go for the hot chocolate, but the tomato juice went first. I didn't even serve it in china teacups. I have never been able to duplicate the roast pork and potatoes. I can't even do roast beef that way Mom does. Maybe that's why I don't cook. Because it never tastes the way it's supposed to. Although Cassie can make chocolate chip cookies just like Mom. Of course, she learned from the master, herself.

Booklogged said...

Framed, I do remember you doing the hot tomato juice. It was so great and nostalgic. I don't think we liked tomato juice much as kids, but it provided a strong memory. When offered the choice between a pleasant childhood memory and hot chocolate, well, where's the choice? Hey! Why isn't hot chocolate a memory? We all like it right? Guess we need to start a hot chocolate memory that's just not on the same night as a hot tomato juice memory.

Alyson said...

I don't think I've had the hot tomato juice over a lemon, but I've had the rest, and I love them all. I don't know why people really get grossed out by things that they haven't tried. Creamed tuna is an easy and delicious dinner. I will always think of it as a Sunday afternoon dinner because that's usually when we had it. And hamburger rolls are awesome!

Framed said...

We always had roast beef and chocolate cake for Sunday dinner and then roast beef sandwiches that night. Mmmmmmmm. My poor deprived kids. I made caramel popcorn for Sunday night. I do make really good caramel popcorn.

Booklogged said...

Oddly, I never liked roast beef that much. Your mention of chocolate cake reminded me of one Sunday afternoon when I took my 3 daughters to see Grandma and Grandpa. Remember the cake platter and cover that stored the cake in and was always on the top of the frig? Well, it was on the kitchen counter, with a cake in it. My girls just stood there looking up at that chocolate cake with excitement on their faces. One of them said, "Whose birthday is it?" My dad just rolled his eyes and said, "You poor girls!"

Framed said...

That story always makes me laugh. Why don't we make cake just because the way Mom did? You make lots of great things though, like Tuxedo Brownies. I'll stick with caramel popcorn and even that is really not allowed anymore.