Mother was a terrible cook. I mean really terrible. Our standard family dinners usually began sometime in the afternoon when she would call out to me, “Run to the store and get a pound of Ground Round and some Head Lettuce, aka:Iceberg Lettuce.” A typical weekly menu would look something like this:
Monday:
Hamburger Patty with Bun
1 LB Ground Round divided into four patties
Frozen French Fries
Iceberg Lettuce with Wishbone salad dressing
Tuesday:
Chile-O
1 LB Ground Round
Chopped Onion
2 Cans of Kidney Beans
Spice Packet Mixture
Can of Stewed Tomatoes
Head Lettuce with Wishbone
Wednesday:
Meatloaf
1 LB Ground Round
Mixed with instant spice packet
Baked Potatoes with Cottage Cheese
Canned Green Beans
Head Lettuce with Wishbone
Thursday:
Chicken Pot Pies (Yeah! Something different!)
with Cottage Cheese on top
(I know this sounds weird, but it’s actually really good that way)
Head Lettuce with Wishbone
Friday:
Tacos(!)
1 lb Ground Round
No spices
Just Salt & Pepper
and Mayonnaise!!!
Iceberg Lettuce, Tomatoes, Green Onions
Ortega Mild Chile Salsa
and cubed American Cheese
Saturday:
Spaghetti
1 lb of Ground Round
Jar of Ragu
Ubiquitous Iceberg Lettuce, etc.
Sunday:
Tamale Pie (This was her signature dish).
1 lb Ground Round
a can of tomatoes
a can of black olives
a can of corn
a can of hominy
a can of Kidney Beans
and a package of frozen Tamales
– all stewed together for hours in a slow cooker
Served with grated mild cheddar cheese
and a bag of corn chips or Fritos
The pound of ground round was essential for most meals with a can of something thrown in. I don’t know what this fascination with canned and frozen foods was? Like even if we had fried potatoes, Mom would use canned new potatoes. Meatloaf was simply a pound of ground round and a package of some instant spice mixture, a couple of small baked potatoes with cottage cheese and some canned green beans. We NEVER even had chicken unless my Nana made it.
She finally did learn to cook after we all moved out and she became enamoured with Julia Child. She bought the books, she watched the TV show. They began having formal dinner parties with their friends making gourmet meals and drinking REAL WINE with an actual cork instaed of the screw top gallon they kept under the sink with the cleaning supplies for months or even years at a time.
I never got to taste the gourmet meals because by then I was investigating a vegetarian lifestyle, so it wouldn’t have meant much to me anyway. (I never eat ground round anymore, but occasionally I do crave a chicken pot pie with cottage cheese on top).
(First posted 7/18/11)
