Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Saturday, December 1. 2012

The first Hamburger, and some thoughts about family meals

Many agree that the simple chuck and sirloin burger at Louis' Lunch in New Haven was the original hamburger.


I prefer a burger on white bread too. Buns are just too much bread. I like them half-burnt and crispy on the outside and raw in the middle, cooked over wood or charcoal. I agree that a burger requires an onion, either raw or otherwise. In general, though, I'm afraid I view good burgers as just an excuse to eat ketchup.


A related topic, far more important than the topic of good hamburgers, is the topic of the family meal. I believe in the family as the cornerstone of life, society and culture, and the family meal as a key component. I also believe that the wife should cook it on weekdays unless she's on a business trip, and the guy on weekends, preferably on the grill. Wife is supposed to be the nurturer, after all, and the structurer of family life.


Unfortunately, often I did not practice what I preach in that regard because of work demands - or perhaps because of my difficulty in structuring my time well. Also, because we so often go out for dinner on weekends with friends.


Anyway, here's an article about the family meal.


 

Posted by Bird Dog in Food and Drink, Our Essays at 12:51 | Comments (7) | Trackbacks (0)

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That lovely hamburger has me thinking about how homeless people might taste if we grind them up for food. One thing we can be fairly sure of, the fast food industry can probably make homeless people taste like beef or chicken. Yummy and please pass the ketchup.
#1 W. C. Taqiyya on 2012-12-01 16:53 (Reply)
Plain old bread (POB) doesn't have the strength to hold a juicy burger. It soaks up the juices, turns into something like wet toilet paper, and falls apart. The burger in the picture looks like it is on a white plastic bun. Perhaps that works better.
#2 chuck on 2012-12-01 18:57 (Reply)
Family meals are highly over-rated. they are often a source of tension and strife. We gave up on them in my family, and everything improved. The food was on the stove, and people could eat when and where they liked. But we all talked a lot. that is what is important. You don't need to do it over food, all sitiing together at a table.
#3 Park Slope Pubby on 2012-12-01 19:42 (Reply)
Supper started two minutes after my father got home after he had time to wash his hands. When he was lucky enough to get work he would usually get home late and my mother waited supper for him. He worked hard all his life and provided for his family and my mother was a traditional wife (we are talking the 40's and 50's) and wouldn't have even thought of having supper without him at the table. I can remember as a child being restless and my mother being impatient as the minutes ticked away. But when my father came through the door everything changed. He was a big and strong man who would pick up his kids and toss them over his head and talked loudly to everyone. Having him walk through the door made the longest wait worthwhile. I am so happy my mother waited our meals on my father and gave us all great memories.
#4 GoneWithTheWind on 2012-12-02 00:23 (Reply)
We generally eat breakfast and dinner together as a family. It has made a huge difference in how the day goes even though there are many many days when Dad doesn't get home until 7 or 8. We wait dinner and eat together and we talk.
#5 weaver (Link) on 2012-12-02 05:43 (Reply)
In my youth, Friendly's served all its burgers on white bread, toasted I believe. They switched to buns-only as they spread out of MA. Lately, the white toast has come back but only on certain burgers, the norm is a bun.

Hershey's bought Friendly's because of its idiosyncratic menu and recipes, changed the recipes to insipid sweet, wrecked the business, lost money and then sold off the chain.

Friendly's used to put onion in its cole slaw. Their slaw had bite rather than sweetness.
#6 bob sykes on 2012-12-02 08:23 (Reply)
I worked for a very short time at a Friendly's, in PA. Learned how to make the cheeseburger, and have preferred to make them that way ever since. Basically a Grilled Cheese, peeled apart, and a burger patty inserted. :D Love 'em!

Gimme a charred burger, every time!
#6.1 benning on 2012-12-02 09:45 (Reply)

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