Oh, this was an easy answer. It was hands down, sloppy joes. The ones I had in elementary school sparked a love of this gooey sandwich that I still enjoy to this day. I have fond memories of sloppy joes, not only in school cafeterias, but at country auctions, and church socials, as well.
It’s a tradition in our household to fix sloppy joes and potato chips on halloween. We’ve done it since John and Ryan were little boys, and now they do it in their homes. I have a killer recipe, too, from my neighbor Susan, in Denver. It’s one that I’ve published before, and will again at halloween, this year.
Unfortunately, other than sloppy joes, my other memories of cafeteria lunches were not good. I remember things like cornbread and beans, with cornbread so dry you choked on it, and cheese sandwiches, with hugely thick slabs of cheese between white gummy bread, no doubt a government commodity, that just tasted horrid. We also had inferior peanut butter that they slathered on the bread, no jelly, no honey, just dry bread and lots of peanut butter. Blecht! One year there was a surplus of the stuff, the cooks put peanut butter in meat loaf to bind it, we had cookies and cake, you name it, they made it with peanut butter.
They would also serve us instant potatoes and a sausage patty. Oh, that was not good, either. The taste was vile. When high school came along, I quickly abandoned the mandatory school cafeteria for lunches at the local diner, Alice’s Cafe. I happily ate a hamburger, french fries and a coke, for a total of fifty-five cents, every single day for four years.
But oh, those sloppy joes, maybe I’ll make them this week…
I rarely got to buy my lunch, but when they had the cinnamon rolls, usually with chili, that's when I HAD to buy. Unfortunately, by the time I ate the chili, I would be too full for the cinnamon roll and would give it away. Later, when I was feeling hungry again, I would get so mad at myself for not eating that cinnamon roll, full or not!
ReplyDeleteI went to grade school in Springerton and remember Carrie Maricle's wonderful cookies, which I now know to be wedding balls, little round cookies with nuts and covered by a light powdered sugar icing. She also did great cinnamon rolls and other pastries. I hated the sweet corn bread, but most of the food was okay. In high school I always brought my lunch, usually eating in the high school gym. I really miss the chili supper Thursday night at Mule Day, and especially the Lion's Club fish sandwiches.
ReplyDeleteI went to a poor catholic school that couldn't afford a cafeteria. Well, it was at least a room, but it only had vending machines in it and a hot dog roller. The hot dogs were criminal. They started them rolling at 11:00AM and if you dared eat one at a late lunch period, they would have a crispy shell of skin on the outside and a tube of horrific stuff on the inside. Truly mortifying. Better off with a bagged lunch from home. Nothing crunchy in there but potato chips.
ReplyDeleteTater tots
ReplyDeleteThe lunchroom ladies at my elementary school made the best peanut butter cookies. The rest of the stuff they served, I can't even remember.
ReplyDeletewow great question. I think french fries and hot dogs stand out in my mind. The great smell of food in the hallway. Now I'm a Vegan, but back then I loved hot dogs. And I loved the Cafeteria ladies with their hairnet too!! ~ http://www.Vaboomer.com
ReplyDeleteI don't think we ever had anything that had real meat in it that I can recall, but I rarely bought lunch at school...only on WEDNESDAYS b/c that was PIZZA day, LOL. And it was NOTHING like any pizza I've ever had anywhere else; but it tasted soooo good! That and the jr high I went to got doughnuts in the mornings from the local bakery who used to make these fabulous chocolate glazed doughnuts. Not glazed doughnuts with chocolate on top; they were chocolate all the way thru instead of being white doughnuts and then glazed just like the white ones. Oh gosh, they were the BEST! They eventually stopped making them b/c they cost too much to make; so sad! Funny how those are the only doughnuts I've ever liked.
ReplyDeleteOH, and I'll look forward to your recipe for Sloppy Joes. I can't imagine eating anything sloppy on a bun that would make it the least bit soggy, but I am POSITIVE that my hubby would LOVE them!
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