To all you
Everneath ARC hopefuls just today and tomorrow until midnight to enter! The clock is tick, tick, ticking away.
Now on to Grandma Florence's cookbook!.
September begins in my grandmother's cookbook with a discussion of the school year looming in front of all those homemakers and what to make for those pesky lunch boxes.
"Nine months of lunches lie ahead--lunches to be carried to school! These lunches must contain all the nourishment of a good home 'sit down at the table' lunch.'"
My sit down at the table lunches this summer have been mac and cheese, hot pockets and noodles prepared by my own dear children--so I am actually hoping school lunch is a bit more nutritious. In my defense I do supply fruit for them to snack on too--will that save me in the motherhood department!? Will I still have nutrition services knocking at my door?
I love her suggestions--but if you are going make these sandwiches make sure you buy a meat grinder--because it is used alarmingly often:
Big Boy Sandwich: Rye bread, butter, Swiss cheese, chopped mustard pickle.
Mock Ham Sandwich: Ground bologna, mixed with sweet relish and mayonnaise.
Meat Loaf Sandwich: Hamburger roll, meat loaf, sliced dill pickle, lettuce
Peppy Sandwich: (Don't you just love that name!) Whole wheat bread. Add 1/3 cup evaporated milk to 2/3 cup soft yellow cheese, cream well. Add 1 cup shredded dried beef, 2 tablespoons drained horseradish. Makes 6 large sandwiches. (Where do I buy dried beef? Is it just beef jerky? Oh the mystery.)
Salad Sandwich: Whole wheat bread, grind 1/2 pound of bologna or cooked ham and 3 hard-cooked eggs, mix with 2 T chopped pimento, 1/2 cup drained sweet relish, 1/2 cup salad dressing. Makes 6 sandwiches.
Irish Sandwich: Put through meat grinder 1 1/2 cup corned beef, 2 hard boiled eggs, 1 slice day old bread, 5 sweet pickles and mix with 2/3 cup salad dressing and 1/4 cup dry mustard, pepper, 1/4 cup shopped ripe olives, and about 1/4 cup salad dressing (I think that is Miracle Whip).
Deviled egg sandwich: Whole wheat bread. Mix together 6 chopped hard-cooked eggs, 1 teaspoon grated onion, salt, pepper and about 1/4 cup salad dressing.
Ham and Peanut sandwich: Grind 1/2 pound of ham or bologna, add 1/4 cup finely chopped salted peanuts, 3 T drained sweet relish, about 1/2 cup salad dressing. (Ham and peanut, who would have thunk it.)
Beanie Sandwich: Whole wheat bread, try mixing drained cooked navy beans, ground ham, grated raw carrots and salad dressing.
Although I find these recipes intriguing and kind of want to try them, (the same way I want to try nachos at the movie theater--did that sound snobby and rude?) the one thing the sandwich creations have in common is--
my kids would not eat a single one of them! (Well, maybe my older kids would eat the Deviled Egg Sandwich, maybe.)
Later in the same chapter grandma moves onto safer ground--event meals, but most specifically, Sunday Dinners. I found the recipe below old fashiony yummy!
Pork Chops on Rice
6 loin or rib pork chops cut 1 inch think
(I just used the Costco boneless pork chops--I just love them!)
1 T fat
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 cup rice
(okay so I did 2 because my family loves rice)
1/2 cup raisins
(I used dried cherries--family still inexplicably hates raisins)
3 cups water
(6 if you double the rice)
3 bouillon cubes
(I did 5 for doubling --in the future I would only do half of the bouillon, it was too salty)
Dash of nutmeg
1 1/2 cups milk
(3 if you double the rice)
Brown the chops in the fat, seasoning with salt and pepper.
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| The meat would have been prettier if I had just browned it a bit longer! |
I wanted to make this a one pot meal so I used a pan I could put in the oven and wiped it out after browning the chops to prepare for the rice.
Add the rice to the water and bouillon cubes.
Bring to boil and stir, cover tightly, and simmer about 15 minutes or until rice is tender and water is absorbed.
Add nutmeg and raisins (dried cherries)
Add milk, and season to taste.
Pour into baking dish--In my case I just kept using the same pan. Place seasoned chops on rice mixture.
Cover tightly and bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking for about 15 minutes.
I let the meat rest for a minute and then sliced the pork to serve. You could serve the pork chops whole--they were very tender. This was an old fashioned dinner, but quite yummy. It was also definitely a guilty pleasure meal because the rice was creamy and trending towards mushy--but good mushy (if you can imagine that).
I loved the dried cherries, but I think the raisins would have been better. The sweetness of the fruit added a nice counterpoint to the salty rice (a little too salty--I will take out one of the bouillon cubes when I cook this int the future). I paired it with broccoli and butter braised figs. Everyone loved the dinner.
By the way what was your favorite lunch to lug to school?
