Little Bundles of Yum

Here we are already at Rise and Write  6, and the writing prompt given is to write about my favorite dish as a child. Do I still remember the taste of it? The smell? The texture? Who was cooking it? What ingredients they used? Did they say anything while cooking? Where it was? How old was I?

Growing up, food did not have the significance of a lifestyle as it does today.  People weren't described as foodies.  Food nourished the body, was offered to guests, and on holidays, was eaten in too large a quantities. In  stable financial times, breakfast was cold cereal, toast, or a big pot of oatmeal.  We mostly ate school lunches, or brought a simple sandwich and fruit.  Suppers were meat, potato, vegetable and white bread. Leaner times,we ate a lot more hot dishes and soups.  I should explain hot dish for those not in the Midwest.  Hot dish, not to be called casserole, was a noodle or rice base, a protein, often hamburger, leftover chicken or canned tuna, a  can or jar of something to bind it, and maybe cheese or bread crumbs on top. That was about as foodie as meals came.

However, there was one food, served very rarely, that I absolutely adored.  I don't believe I have eaten one in twenty plus years, probably since the last time my mom made them before they moved into town.  She called them Corned Beef Burgers.  These were not a burger at all, but rather a kind of meat salad, put on little hamburger buns, wrapped in tin foil, and heated in the oven. I think one of my sisters knows how to make them, but they are an acquired taste, and because I only remember these being made in large quantities, the recipe probably makes more than she could find current day eaters to consume.  Really these are nothing more than canned corned beef, flaky and gelatinous, mixed with salt, pepper, relish, and a jar of Cheez Whiz.  I really typed Cheeze Whiz as a recipe ingredient. 

Oh how I loved the steam coming out of the little bundle when I opened the foil on my burger. The scent of the beef blended with the cheese msde my mouth would water. Corned beef burgers were associated with informal family and friend gatherings. Once cold and winter set in, it was less frequent that people would get together, but when I saw these being made, I knew the house was going to be full. A large pot of soup was also made to serve with the sandwiches and later years when mom got a bit more creative, a toned down chili, more of a hamburger, bean, and tomato soup.  That is part of the appeal for me.  These were a Saturday night food, made if my parents were having people over for cards.  My sisters on the sides of me in age didn't like them, so when we were each offered one as a treat before we were banished out of the room, I got one of theirs as well.  They were happy with potato chips we also were allowed. 

My brother used to say he thought my mom was a good cook until he grew up and moved out and learned there was a thing called spice in the world. It is true that my mom was a no nonsense, basic, really quite bland cook. She would have had no time with the plethora of shows on the Food Network. In her later years, she got more adventurous with what she ate out of the house, and appreciated other peoples expanded menus, but personally stuck to her staples.  Those little sandwiches though are locked in my head and in my memories, and no one since has been able to replicate the full package of the Corned Beef Burger experience.