White bread and burgers with Grandpa

My grandpa lives in a small town on the Iowa border that sometimes has a restaurant in business, and sometimes not. Since our last trip down, the gas station that used to feature a decent selection of lunch items changed hands and no longer had much selection. So, we made burgers at Grandpa's house instead.

There are exactly three items that will appear on the dinner table at his house in tremendous quantity, regardless of season or menu. They are: mashed potatoes, salt, and onions.

I like to eat at my grandpa's house, not because of memories the meals evoke (they have changed since my grandma died), but because they are always basic and good. They are often followed up with a bowl of strawberries or raspberries, unadorned, for dessert. The burgers we had for lunch were pan-fried and served on white bread with ketchup, the only condiment in his fridge. They were remarkably good. As usual, so were the mashed potatoes.

Survey Says...

I'm curious about what makes those of you that visit this blog regularly keep coming back. The poll this week reflects that curiosity, and might help guide me in a) continuing this blog in some form, or b) informing a future blog. Thanks for your input in advance!

Week 49--Divide and Conquer

Mon – Rotisserie chicken and mashed potatoes
Tues – Chicken Veggie Stir-Fry (Taste of Home)
Weds – Spaghetti & Meatball Soup (Parent's Magazine)
Thurs – Steak & New Potato Toss (Taste of Home)
Fri – fish something...
Extras – Steaks w/Ancho Chili Sauce & Potatoes (Bon Appetit)
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This week's menu reflects my husband's desperate cry for help. No recipes that use canned soups, please! He's at home for an indefinite period of time working on discovering new ways to enjoy the current economy. As part of that effort, he's doing some menu-planning and cooking. We'll see how the ancho chili sauce goes over with the kids. I am admittedly skeptical, but frankly, it is nice to have different scents wafting through the house on occasion. Happy cooking.

What the World Eats

There's an interesting exhibit on at the Bell Museum through May about what people eat around the world. The bulk of the exhibit is comprised of photos of families with the food that they consume in an average week.

The caption next to the photo of the American family cited this supposedly typical family spends around $280/wk on food. It might be a bit more than that, I can't recall exactly. Does that figure strike anyone else as exorbitant? Our total monthly bill is less than half of what that adds up to, but maybe that's because we don't have teenagers like the family featured. They also had primarily prepared and packaged foods which adds a lot of expense.

Then you have the Japanese family that has fish for 2 meals each day. The family from Mali that eats only grains and beans from communal bowls. The Mexican family that drinks 10 liters of Coke each week. Fascinating stuff to see! Naturally when you're representing an entire country with one family, things are going to be a little skewed, but the exhibit does give you a lot to discuss with your kids.

It also made me reconsider the whole idea of menu-planning. What would it be like to have fish 2x a day every day, or eat only rice and beans? I would be lost, but would enjoy such a different experience preparing meals.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Just to let you know, the casserole went over like hot lunch. As in, kids pasting food to the underside of cafeteria tables. Not that mine even got to the point of touching it. They both opted for a spartan slice of bread and called it dinner.

I had seconds, but I put the left-overs in the freezer knowing it would take an extreme circumstance to actually thaw it someday.

I decided to try the recipe because it had horseradish which I thought might bring an interesting flavor. I also thought it must be something special because the person said it was a "family favorite." I wonder what family favorites we have that would go over like a ton o' bricks at other houses? Pasta Puttanesca? Chip plates? Goulash? Grandma Barb's Spaghetti? It's what you get used to, clearly.