Fullerton On the Mark  |   Home  |   Student Association at UWM Accused of Theft

It’s Not Just Me!

When Owen and I first got married, he marveled at what he called my Wisconsin-y cooking. There was an entire shelf in our cupboard reserved for the creamas—you know, creama chicken, creama mushroom, creama celery soup…At that point he had never had a real brat, and he had no idea that there was an actual grocery item called a “brat bun,” an item not found in Texas, according to my own research.

When we moved back to Wisconsin, I saw cooking in a whole new way. The practice of dumping half a dozen cans of stuff into a 2-quart baking dish with a pound of ground beef and calling it a “hot dish” seemed odd to me.

Anyway, today I’m in a reminiscing type of mood, so I googled to find a taco tater tot casserole because I think the kids would get a kick out of it. I found one, and the comments that go with (that phrase will drive Owen nuts):

There is this thing Midwesterners do with their food. And no, I’m not referring to placing copious amounts of marshmallow in fruit salads, though they do indeed do that. I’m talking about tater tots. Tater tots used as real food options in real food casseroles. Like it’s totally normal or something.

The first time I encountered tater tots in a casserole I was simultaneously horrified and thrilled. I was babysitting and the children’s mother had set out a tater tot casserole for that night’s supper. Oh my goodness. Yumminess in Corningware.

 

Posted by Wendy at 1502 hrs
Off-Duty

1. Noodles in chili was a new one on me, when I moved up here.  Pasta is one thing, chili another and they don’t mix.

   Posted by Brian on May 20, 2007 at 1524 hrs
   
   
   

2. The school I attended while growing up had, at least, one “hot dish” a week on the lunch menu.  Weather it was Goulash with corn, Tator-tot hotdish with green beans, or corn, or both green breans and corn or even worse no taters but some sort of scalloped potatoes added in the mix; they always seemed to try to spin the “dish” a different way.  I always thought they just had to empty out the pantry at least once a week and threw whatever they could find in there.  Apparantly there are actual recipes for “Tator-tot” hotdishes.  Thank you for disproving the myths.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 20, 2007 at 1544 hrs
   
   
   

3. Well, then, Midwestern cooking made it as far south as Oklahoma. I have my grandmother’s tater tot/hamburger casserole recipe—this time smothered in “creama” mushroom. My neighbor introduced me to “spaghetti red” - pasta and chili.

   I knew my children would make it in Wisconsin when they kept dangling the “with.” Tell Owen he has company on that one! It bugs me, too.

   Posted by Cindy on May 20, 2007 at 1856 hrs
   
   
   

4. I was going to mention the macaroni in chili, but I see someone else beat me too it.  Sacrilege!  That’s what that is!! 

   Posted by Kate on May 20, 2007 at 1902 hrs
   
   
   

5. Did you ever get Owen to try the fried pickle chips?

   Posted by Jed on May 20, 2007 at 1906 hrs
   
   
   

6. How crispy do you have to fry a pickle in order to be able to chip it?

   Posted by triticale on May 20, 2007 at 1909 hrs
   
   
   

7. No, no fried pickles.  You know how he is about things that once had roots. 

   I, however, would love to have fried pickles again.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 20, 2007 at 2004 hrs
   
   
   

8. Go to Hooters in Greenfield. They got all the fried pickles you could ask for. Yummy!

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 20, 2007 at 2139 hrs
   
   
   

9. Where does Owen weigh in on the chili with beans vs. without?  I once got into a fight in a bar in College Station, TX over whether or not beans should be included.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 21, 2007 at 1347 hrs
   
   
   

10. Beans are only put into chili as filler.  Real chili is all meat.

    Posted by Owen on May 21, 2007 at 1348 hrs
    
    
    

11. Reminds me of the Onion article about a great & vast Midwest discovered between New York and California.

    Hot dish, sweatshirts with teddy bears, and places named Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois that seem to mean “summer vacation place”.

    Posted by Marcus Aurelius on May 21, 2007 at 1405 hrs
    
    
    

12. Ditto Owen!  NO BEANS!! 

    Posted by Kate on May 21, 2007 at 1724 hrs
    
    
    

13. Hey- chili is what you want it to be!  Mine- hamburger bits, kidney beans, sliced whole tomatoes, sliced celery, sliced chedarwurst, diced tomatos, elbow macaroni, plenty of chili powder, some cumin, and sliced hot peppers.  Fits fine with my taste buds- if you do not like it you just have to make your own.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 21, 2007 at 2013 hrs
    
    
    

Commenting is not available in this channel entry.