Slop

 

   Last summer my Uncle James had lunch with my parents and me. Uncle James and my Dad are brothers. I asked them about food that they used to eat when they were younger. One of them mentioned something called "slop". It was a dish made of hamburger, elbow macaroni, mushroom soup and tomatoes. They told me that my Aunt Ann would have the recipe.

   I emailed Aunt Ann. She had the recipe and still made it. It was a favourite of her family. She it to me. It was something that Aunt Carol, found on the back of macaroni box. She was helping their uncle on the farm while their aunt was in the hospital and found the recipe. They didn't have the tomatoes called for in the recipe so they used a quart of home canned tomatoes. They didn't have mushrooms either so they used mushroom soup. When they made it at home they used both mushroom soup and canned mushrooms. 

   Two weeks ago Dad sent a text telling me that Uncle James would be coming for lunch and that we should have slop. He had a copy of the recipe too so we sent texts back and forth to make sure that he had all the needed ingredients. 

   The day I came to visit, Dad had taken out a pound of hamburger to thaw. He did not have the right kind of tomatoes so he went to the store to get some along with some milk because Uncle James likes milk.  Since the recipe said to cook it for about an hour, I got started as soon a he left for the store. I fried the hamburger in a pan first seasoning it with salt, pepper and celery salt. The recipe said to use onions, but since they make Dad sick I used dehydrated onions instead. If it was me I would have fried it in the pot I was going to use to for the slop, but Dad didn't want me to do that. He was concerned that I wouldn't be able to get all the grease our of the pan. He was probably right. 

   After the hamburger was done I started cooking the macaroni. I measured it out something I don't normally do. I wanted to make sure this turned out.  I undercooked the macaroni slightly so that it wouldn't get mushy later. Dad got home while the macaroni was cooking. I put the tomatoes he bought in the pan along with a can of tomato soup, the cream of mushroom soup, mushrooms and the dehydrated onions. Then I added the hamburger. After that I stirred in the macaroni.  I set the burner as low as I could get it and let it cook.

    I stirred it every five to ten minutes because it seemed like it was sticking to the bottom. It kept sticking so I transferred it to a smaller burner. It smelled pretty good. by the time Uncle James came, it was ready to go.

   After a little visiting, we sat down to eat. I decided that we would just serve ourselves from the cooking pot which I put on a trivet in the middle of the table. I waited until everyone else had some before I took a tentative bite. I wasn't sure if I would like it. It was really good. I dug into it with a bit more relish. It could have used a little more salt and it would have been better with onions or maybe onion powder. On the whole, it was not too bad. Definitely something I'd want to make at home for C and I to eat.

   I asked Uncle James and Dad if it tasted like it did when they were young. They said they thought it did, but given that it had been well over 50 years since either of them had had it, they couldn't say for sure. I was just pleased that they enjoyed it.

   As usual, after the meal I served coffee and cookies. Mom and I had tea. I got the recipe for a pie my grandmother used to make. The filling is marshmallows and fruit cocktail. 

   As I've become older, I want to learn more about my Grandma Story. She and my grandfather lived farther away from where we lived so we only visited once a year or so. They both died a month apart when I was in high school. I wished I'd gotten to know them, especially my grandmother better. Using her recipes helps me to feel a bit closer to her.