Slumgullion: I should add that the turkey is organic ground thigh meat from Whole Foods, and I threw in 4 small cubes of frozen fresh chopped garlic that I got at Trader Joe's, which is a really nice way to store garlic if like me you only use a clove or two once a week. MY slumgullion, or whatever you call it, is anything but bland!

My mother made that when we were kids, but used two cans of tomato soup instead of stewed tomatoes, and called it "goulash." I still make it sometimes -- it's total peasant food, but it's pretty good if the ground beef is seasoned and the whole thing has enough salt.

t /plebeian palate

I remember that stuff. Elementary school cafeteria served it.

In annoying news, my final rent check hasn't posted. I mailed it out the 21st. Another check mailed the same day was posted. Grrr. I can't escape that place's incompetence.

Heh. That reminds me of the first time I took Lewis home to Miami and introduced him to Cuban cooking. His mother considered it adventurous if she used a quarter teaspoon of garlic powder. I told Lewis that my mother commonly threw in a head of garlic, sometimes two, when she made ropa vieja, picadillo, or black beans. He countered with "You mean cloves, right?"

No... no, honey, I meant heads. He didn't believe me until he actually saw my mother mincing the entire head of garlic.

He loves my mother's cooking, my mother loves cooking for him. It's a mutual admiration society.

Timelies all!

I don't think I had that dish growing up.

I think we had that, but with rice instead of macaroni. Only we call it, er, hamburger and rice. So does that count then?

Emily!!

I think we had that, but with rice instead of macaroni.

We had something like that, I think with pimentos? My dad could only make it when my mother was away because she thought it was so disgusting. (Which was actually the case with most of his old family recipes, come to think of it.)

One of my favorite dishes from childhood was basically mushed-up hamburger meat sautéed with salt and parsley, with the super-creative name of "mushed-up hamburger".

brenda, I know it's not godly to judge, but EEEWW!

Of course, the family dish from my father's side involves things I normally find disgusting, ladled over crackers. So I guess it's live and let live.

Also, I'm not sure I remember what pimentos actually are. Except that they have a fluctuating number of i's, and show up in olives and... loaf.

javachik! Um... hi! Sorry, our new Web blocker at work thinks this site falls under the "chat" category, and I couldn't think of an educational reason to get it unblocked!