The Seventeen Cookbook" - Sloppy Joes - Seventeen Magazine and Say Yes to the Dress Goes to the Prom!

Date I made this recipe:  June 11, 2017

The Seventeen Cookbook by the Editors of Seventeen Magazine

Published by The Macmillan Company

© 1964

Purchased at Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks, NYC

Recipe:  Sloppy Joes – p. 60

Those of us of a certain age will likely remember reading Seventeen Magazine cover-to-cover, taking note of the current fashion (ugly as it was), dating tips, life tips and well, tips in general to help us all navigate through our teenage years.

I have to say that I was a little surprised this magazine was still in publication but then again, it's not like I've looked for it on the newsstand.  If Brownies can "fly up" to be Junior Girl Scouts, then Seventeen Magazine readers can fly up to read Vogue and other more adult-oriented fashion magazines. I do believe this is an unofficial life rule.

I've had this cookbook for a while now but was never really prompted to cook from it until I saw "Say Yes to the Prom," that aired on TLC in April.  This special event show was a take-off of the very popular "Say Yes to the Dress," that airs on the same channel.  I'm constantly amazed at how many people, including me, "confess" to watching "Say Yes to the Dress" and am almost always amused by the fact that these friends and I share the same sense of horror at what some women consider to be appropriate bridal wear.  Hint:  "If it looks like a nightgown, it is a nightgown.  Just put it down, honey, just put it down."

Happily, "Say Yes to the Prom" did not go the way of the bridal show.  In this special episode, 50 high school students were given the opportunity to select a prom dress with assistance from Aya Kanai, Seventeen Magazine's Fashion Director, designer Betsy Johnson and Monte Durham from "Say Yes to the Dress – Atlanta."  All of these kids were deserving in some way and were thrilled with their dress selections.  It was a total feel-good moment, sans the usual family infighting that happens on the bridal show. Also missing was the reveal of the "over your budget" (by a country mile) price tags that make this gal blink in double-time and that was refreshing!

As to my prom, I didn't go but before you get all "awww" on me, let me tell you why.  My school had only a Junior-Senior prom and to the best of my recollection most, but not all, of the people who attended were going together, otherwise known as going steady, or, if you will, in a "committed high school relationship."  The Christmas Hop however, was another story all together.

The Christmas Hop has been a mainstay at my school for well over 60 years (perhaps even closer to 70).  I remember seeing "Hop" photos in a lot of the older year books that were stored in the high school library and just loved looking at Hop fashions over the years.

The Hop was the biggest deal on the planet even though it was a Sadie Hawkins dance which is to say the women asked the men, and I think it was open to all high schoolers but cannot remember. (I think the junior high students pulled [serving] punch duty.)  I do know that attendance far exceeded the prom as nobody wanted to be left out of The Hop as it was "The" social event of the year.

The Hop was held in the cafeteria/gymnasium of Central School, the elementary school next to our combined junior high and high school and it was packed to the rafters with attendees.  If memory serves, this was held in early December which was really a bad time of year to hold a formal dance because of the high probability of snow or a snow storm, but who cared?  Most of us women attending wore boots beneath our evening gowns and changed into sandals in the parking lot because that was what you did.

The flower shops in my hometown were never as busy as when they were preparing Hop corsages and boutonnieres to match your dress which of course, you looked high and low for.  Velvet was in as were "granny" dresses and please do recall folks that this was the 70's and also that what goes around, comes around because nowadays, all of that is fashionable again, why Lord, why?

The first year I went to the Hop was my junior year and I asked not only the shyest guy in our class but also the future valedictorian.   I wore a light green dress that was very simple and was also affordable.  He wore – and I love this – red checkered pants, a red jacket, a white bow tie and either a red or a blue shirt, I cannot recall.  We definitely took our holiday theme seriously.

The second year I attended, I asked the class salutatorian (see a pattern here?) and dressed in a light blue sleeveless dress with a dark blue velvet jacket with a light blue ruffle.  I could gag at the thought of it really, but such is life; the green dress the year before was way better.  My date dressed in blue to match my dress although I cannot recall if that was deliberate or not.

To make the whole look really, really awful (mine, not his), I decided to go to the beauty salon and have them roller set my hair under the premise (and I was not wrong) that it would help straighten out my naturally wavy hair.  This one-off look was never seen on me again as it didn't quite work as I expected it to.  That said, it was usual and customary for my female classmates to have their hair curled for the big event.

So to recap, I had this bad hair, a dress I hated and which seem to accentuate the fact that I had gained weight during the summer before my senior year (lost it all before graduation but alas, too late for senior photos) and to make it all worse, I wore gold-rimmed aviator glasses.

Let that just sink in for a minute.  I mean, the look was not at all uncommon back then but yeesh, people.  Yeesh!  And not only were they ugly glasses but for the first time since I got them in 6^th grade, I wore them for a Hop photo.

Why did I do that?  Why?  I NEVER wore my glasses in photos, not ever.  Even in childhood vacation pictures, you will be hard-pressed to find photos of me wearing my glasses and so there I was all dolled up on Hop night and I had to go and ruin my no-glasses streak and it has bothered me ever since.  (As an aside, after I sold my childhood home, I brought back a ton of childhood photos and a best friend kept exclaiming that "they don't look like you."  She finally figured out why:  I never wore my glasses and I almost never smiled because my teeth were crooked and I was self-conscious.)

Still, the fact that I attended the Hop with my friends was fun even if my date the second year spent most of his time romancing a friend of mine who had just broken up with her boyfriend.  Let the pity party begin!

Since my hometown was short on restaurants (the town was tiny), nobody really got together beforehand to go out to dinner and only the second year did my friends and I gather afterwards.  And for the record, there was absolutely no such thing as a limousine in the town so you could forget that noise.  Things were pretty simple back then and we managed to have a ton of fun without all of today's prom accoutrements and accompanying expenses.

The nearby town of Marquette, Michigan though, was much bigger and their high school had a huge spring prom and I know this because my trial run as hostess at the Garden Room restaurant was on prom night.

I was going to college at Northern Michigan University in Marquette and needed a new summer job before starting my senior year. My summer job the previous year was at Montgomery Wards Repair Service and we do not have time here to discuss the horror that was that job, nor does it have anything to do with Prom so there it is.

Prior to my trial run at the Garden Room, I spent two weeks working for pennies on the dollar at a local Big Boy restaurant before deciding I was simply not Big Boy material and so set my sights on one of my family's favorite restaurants, the Garden Room. 

The Garden Room was a family favorite because the owner, Dorothy, and her family owned also a few other restaurants in town, one of which was the site of my parent's wedding brunch.  The food was fabulous and unlike Big Boy which was stuck in a mall, this restaurant overlooked Lake Superior and it was gorgeous.

So I went in one day and pitched my services to Dorothy who then asked if I could come in that Saturday for a trial run as hostess (which I loved better than waitressing) and I said sure, and then when I got there, she said "Oh, by the way, it's prom night."

Good to know.

So I survived that and managed to seat all the prom attendees without incident and I was then hired FT for the summer.  I have to say that it was somewhat amusing to seat students who were just a few years younger than me but "them's the breaks!"

Now then, returning our attention to The Seventeen Cookbook, in the early years of formal dances, it was usual and customary for one of the attendees to throw a dinner party the night of the big dance (although not in my town) and the dinner party menu usually had something "fancy" on it like Beef Stroganoff or steak and twice-baked potatoes and I was leaning heavily toward the stroganoff for my ode to prom until my husband decided he wanted the Sloppy Joes.  (He didn't attend prom, either.)

What can I say?  One cannot go wrong with Sloppy Joes even though I doubt anyone would have served them on prom night because they were, well – sloppy! (Can I just say that on prom night at the Garden Room, almost everybody used their napkins as a bib lest the outfit be ruined which would be horrible and unncessary!)  Since Andy and I ate this "prom night" food in our casual summer clothes, we didn't care what happened and so why not Sloppy Joes?

I know that in some parts, it is usual and customary to add a cream of "something" soup to a Sloppy Joe mix (or Chicken Gumbo or Chicken and Stars) but I never found a recipe calling for the soup until now.  In addition to the soup, you'll add chili sauce and prepared mustard, the combination of which made me feel like I was eating a burger instead of a Sloppy Joe but it was good so why quibble?

And so here we are, many moons past prom and all my reminiscing that went with it, but it doesn't matter because Sloppy Joes are great any time, anywhere, prom or no prom, Hop or no Hop! Enjoy!

Sloppy Joes – makes 12

2 tablespoons butter or other fat

2 lbs. ground beef chuck

1 cup chopped onion

2 cans cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

½ cup chili sauce

2 tablespoons prepared mustard

¼ teaspoon black pepper

12 hamburger buns, toasted and buttered

Melt butter in a large skillet.  Add beef and onion, cook, stirring until broken up and well-browned.  Add soup and seasonings; simmer for about ten minutes to blend, stirring occasionally.  Serve by ladling mixture onto hot hamburger buns.

"White Trash Cooking" - Sloppy Joe's on Corn Bread

Date I made this recipe:  April 2, 2016

White Trash Cooking by Ernest Matthew Mickler

Published by:  The Jargon Society/10 Ten Speed Press

ISBN:  0-89815-189-9; © 1986

Purchased at Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks- NYC

Recipe:  Sloppy Joe's on Cornbread – p. 35

There's nothing more fun than enjoying 60 degrees one day and then 30's (with wind gusts) the next, right?  Spring weather can be so fickle.

And so when the temperatures dipped, I trotted out my usual cookbook suspects – soups, stews, and casseroles - hoping to make something warm to get me through this cold snap.

But then I realized I was playing it too safe and that I had so many more interesting cookbooks in my vast collection to use that I needed to break out of the mold.

So I looked through a couple of shelves and pulled White Trash Cooking just because I could.

Typically, when folks learn about my cookbook collection, they usually ask if I have certain cookbooks in my collection.  Like there's some sort of rule for collecting but alas,  there is not.  Although several people – book publishers, chefs and those involved in culinary arts or writing, will suggest things that you must have, each collector's collection tends to run to their taste.  Mine tends to run toward interesting covers, interesting (sometimes hilarious) titles and out of print books.  Still, I have been somewhat predictable when it comes to expectations:  "Do you have Irma Rombauer's The Joy of Cooking?"  "Yes."  "Julia Child?"  Of course.  "Betty Crocker?"  People please—is the Pope named Francis?

Some though, get creative:  "Do you have Peg Braken's I Hate to Cook?  (Always asked by someone who hates to cook, co figure.) "Yes."

And then several years ago, when this book was popular, I got asked – all the time – "Do you have White Trash Cooking?" and believe it or not, the answer was "No."

"No?"  "That's right.  No."

It's not that I didn't want the book, it was just that at the time, I was on the hunt for more elusive books than that.

Finally, in July 2011, I was in NYC at my favorite cookbook book store – Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks – when I saw it and bought it.  When in Rome... Still, note that I bought the book in 2011 but just now got around to using it.  Timing is sometimes everything.

Now you may be asking yourself how the heck a Sloppy Joe recipe got itself included in a "white trash cookbook" and trust me, I asked myself the same thing.  I mean, it wasn't like I was lacking in opportunity to cook something white trashy like "Mock Cooter (turtle) Soup" (I don't do turtles, mock or otherwise) or "Mary Linder's Washday Soup" or even "Big Mamma's Cracklin Corn Pone," but none of these spoke to me (some for good reason!).  Instead, I went for a favorite of mine and many – Sloppy Joes.  I'm not sure why, I just know that I wanted it. (By the way, you know this book is southern by the recipe names:  most of them have two, such as "Edna Rae's Smothered Potatoes," or "Netty Irene's Macaroni & Cheese."  Bless.)

This recipe differs from other S.J. recipes though, because it is served over cornbread. Perhaps this is what pushes it into the "white trash" category?  For your convenience, there are a couple of cornbread recipes in this book.  But I wasn't exactly in the mood to make S.J.'s and cornbread too, and so I opted to buy already-prepared cornbread from Kowalski's Market.

Bad decision and here's why:  there are two kinds of cornbread in this world – sweet (sugar added) and not sweet (no sugar added).  I misread the label and thought I was buying "not sweet" (I really should have known better but was in a hurry) and let me tell you, sweet cornbread does not go with Sloppy Joe mix.  Does not.  So if you make this dish, take the time to bake non-sweetened cornbread; you'll thank me later. Although now that I think about it, it would have been nice had the cookbook author mentioned the cornbread issue for all of us who live north of the Mason-Dixon line and are not always familiar with such things.

It would been nice to also mention or at least elaborate on the can size of two ingredients listed:  1 "can" tomato puree or ketchup and 1 "No. 2" can Libby's tomatoes.  Thank goodness for smart phones because I Googled "No. 2 can" while at Target and found that it's 1 pound, 4 ounces or 2 ½ cups.  And then I guessed on the size of the "tomato" puree, deciding on a small can – 8 ounces or 1 cup – for this recipe.  It all turned out okay but dang, I hate guessing!

This cookbook  serves up a lot of southern favorites for every type of cooking category:  meats, vegetables, sandwiches, salads, desserts and the like.  There are four recipes alone for sweet pones (a type of cornbread), more than a few mentions of sweet potatoes, and of course, a recipe for Ice Tea South." As I mentioned above though, I think the jury is still out as to whether or not "Sloppy Joes" is a "white trash" recipe.  I mean, half the planet ate them growing and it remains one of my favorite "comfort food" meals. 

In fact, I've told this story before, but years ago when I was working on a project in downtown Minneapolis, I had a hankering for Sloppy Joes.  And unbelievable hankering as in "I need to have some right now!"

Now some of you may know, but others may not, that the vast majority of buildings in downtown Minneapolis (and also downtown Saint Paul) are connected by indoor walkways we call skyways.  Many small businesses, including restaurants, mostly quick serve, line these skyways that stretch for miles.

So when I got this hankering for Sloppy Joes, I asked around the office to see if anybody could think of a place that served them (they couldn't) and even called a few places, but alas nothing.  But then a miracle happened:  one day, weeks later, I was walking through one of the skyways and noticed a daily special signboard outside of The Brothers Deli (6^th Street skyway) advertising Sloppy Joes.  I inquired whether or not this was a one time deal and was told they usually offer them every Wednesday.  I love Wednesdays!  I especially loved Sloppy Joes Wednesdays.  I was not necessarily in love though, with the weight I put on but that's another story for another day.

And now back to the cookbook...for those of you who love White Trash Cooking, please know that there is a White Trash Cooking II Recipes for Gatherin' and a 25^th anniversary edition as well.  I have got to put White Trash Cooking II Recipes for Gatherin' on my acquisition list pronto because I'd sure hate to miss out on a great dish for all that gatherin' I do.

If you have a hankerin' for Sloppy Joe's on Corn Bread, here's a recipe for you (serves 6):

1 pound ground beef

½ cup chopped bell pepper

1 grated carrot

1 can tomato puree or ketchup (Ann's Note:  use a small, 8 ounce can)

1 teaspoon black pepper

¾ cup chopped onions

½ cup chopped celery

1 No. 2 can Libby's tomatoes (Ann's Note:  1 pound, 4 ounces or 2 ½ cups.  And by the way, I have no idea what type of tomatoes were called for so I used diced.  The result was a rather chucky mix so you might want to pulse them for a bit in a Cuisinart.)

¾ teaspoon salt

Cornbread (Ann's Note:)  Do NOT use cornbread containing sugar (for the record, damn that label print was tiny on the store-bought cornbread I used!).  You're looking for a sugar-free cornbread, such as you'd use for cornbread stuffing.   Google "Cornbread recipes without sugar."  If you own this cookbook, there are several recipes which should suffice.

Brown ground beef in big iron skillet.  Stir in onion, bell pepper, celery, and fry until brown.  Add carrot, tomatoes and puree.  Stir mixture well, season with salt and pepper.  Simmer for one hour and serve hot over hot-buttered cornbread.

"Race Day Grub - Recipes from the NASCAR Family" - Martha Nemechek's Sloppy Joes - for Memorial Day

Date I made this recipe:  May 25^th, 2014 – for Memorial Day

Race Day Grub – Recipes from the NASCAR Family by Angela Skinner; foreword by Mike Skinner

Published by:  Wiley (as part of the NASCAR Library Collection)

ISBN:  0-470-09858-9

Purchased at Strand (bookstore), NYC

Recipe:  Martha Nemechek's Sloppy Joes

We are now one day away from Memorial Day, the official start of the "summer" season (technically, it starts on June 21^st), and while I celebrate the start of my favorite time of year, I also dread it.  You see, I suffer from a seasonal affective disorder called "grilling anxiety."

I didn't used to be this way, perhaps because my dad took care of all the grilling growing up, mostly on our little hibachi grill.  I loved that thing, mostly because it was so portable.  And it's not like I'm afraid of fire because I was a Girl Scout and we had to build fires all the time.  (I have merit badges to prove it!).

No, the problem is with our household grill.  It's gas – not that there's anything wrong with that because our stove is gas – but it's a bit finicky and it's filthy.  Filthy as in "sat in the garage unused for a couple of years now because we haven't had time to grill" filthy.

Now my husband was not brought up with my mother's exacting sanitation standards so he wanted to haul out the grill, give it a quick scrub, and fire it up.  I told him that unless and until he sanitized it within an inch of its life by pouring scalding hot water over it – several times – I would not eat anything that came off it.  He looked at me funny and sighed.  I looked back with my "I am not kidding" visage.  He blinked first.

And so, the win goes to Ann!  And I won because at the end of the day, we did what we always do and that is ignore the problem rather than just clean the thing and just let the grill sit in the garage.  Clearly, we are not enamored with this "sport."  This decision then freed me up from the second component of my "grilling anxiety" – selecting the grill recipe.  Since we use gas, I flip past all the pages that require us to use coals or wood chips and those recipes that require long-time marinades.  And although hamburgers and hot dogs are not exactly off the table, grilling them always seems like a cop-out.  Within minutes, I was exhausted and had exhausted all brilliant grilling ideas. And so...Sloppy Joes.  (By the way, the third component of my "grilling anxiety" is the overabundance of mosquitoes, which, in this state are required to file a flight plan with the FAA.)

Now, these are not just any Sloppy Joes, these Sloppy Joes are from a NASCAR cookbook.  And that's because Memorial Day weekend is also race day weekend as Indy 500 and NSACAR drives get behind the wheel to hurtle themselves around a track at speeds in excess of 200mph.  And trust me, this is far more enjoyable to watch than standing outside, swatting at mosquitoes, tending to a grill.  That said, Andy and I were busy all day and so we missed both races. (But we caught the recaps later on so...half points awarded).

I'm not sure I have an Indiana cookbook in this house ( by the way, "Indy" stands for Indianapolis) but wouldn't you know I have two – count 'em – two NASCAR cookbooks in my house, purchased last year at Strand Bookstore in NYC.  I always like to be prepared for any occasion and see, didn't I just call that right?  You need a race car cookbook, you see me.

When it comes to car racing, while Indy Racing is the Big Daddy of them all, with the Indy 500 (500 miles) taking place every Memorial Day weekend for the past 103 years, NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) should never be dismissed like a fly on your arm during a BBQ.  NASCAR's following is absolutely huge compared to Indy.  And although there are more Indy races than just the famous 500, it is a rare moment when you cannot find a NASCAR race on TV. 

And although Indy drives tend to just drive that circuit and no other, over the years, a couple of NASCAR racers ran Indy.  As my husband can spend endless hours telling you, everything about those races are different – cars, driving, driving style, etc.  But we both kind of liked the "mix and match" that took place.

My absolute favorite thing about watching NASCAR is listening to the announcer call the race.  The minute I hear commentator Larry McReynold's southern accent and Darrell Waltrip's (former champion) "boogity, boggity, boogity" catch phrase, I know that Andy has switched the TV to a NASCAR race and we are in for a fun and entertaining time. 

There was also something about this recipe that made me select it, mainly that you added two cans of Campbell's Vegetable Soup with Alphabets.  Well this is new!  (I'm not sure the soup added anything one way or the other but Andy liked it.) The other thing that sealed the deal is that this recipe was submitted by Martha Nemechek, mom to race driver Joe Nemechek, and both Martha and her husband, "Big Joe," are huge supporters of soldiers in the U.S. Army.  Martha is even pictured in the book wearing Army fatigues.  And so a non-grilled item + NASCAR + Memorial Day + Army aficionados = a great way to celebrate the first weekend of summer.  Inside.  Without bugs.  Love.it.

PS—Congratulations to this year's Indy 500 winner, Ryan Hunter-Reay who managed to hold off challenger (as in "hot on his tail"), Helio Castroneves by 0.060 seconds.  And Congratulations to four-time NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 winner (a/k/a "Charlotte 600"), Jimmie Johnson. Johnson took a page from the Indy race, beating out second place finished, Kevin Harvick, by 1.272 seconds.

And here I get all nervous when someone comes within 5 feet of my bumper!

Martha Nemechek's Sloppy Joes – makes 2 to 4 servings

1 pound ground beef

½ small onion, chopped

Garlic powder

Salt

Pepper

½ cup ketchup

½ cup water

Two 10 ½-ounce cans Campbell's ABC vegetable soup

One 1.4-ounce packet Sloppy Joe seasoning

2-4 hamburger buns

Mix the ground beef and chopped onions in a skillet over medium heat.  Sprinkle in the garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste.  Cook until the meat is brown and drain off the liquid.

Put the meat back in the pan and add the ketchup, water, soup and seasoning packet.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Serve on your favorite buns and enjoy!

Ann's Note:  I had to chuckle at the instruction to "salt and pepper to taste" because the soup contained a lot of sodium as did the seasoning packet.  So I peppered only and perhaps you should, too!