Barbeques

Requested by:  Joni Rae
We live in the Northwoods of Wisconsin where we are often referred to as hicks.  This is not far from Upper Michigan  where the people are known as Yoopers.  Up in this area this dish is called a barbeque. I think its an up North thing.   Some may call it a sloppy joe.  Our relatives in southern Iowa don’t call it a barbeque or a sloppy joe, to them its a made-right.  No matter what you call it, they are delicious!  It’s an easy hamburger dish that feeds a lot of people.  When we have company for the weekend I like to make these ahead of time and have it on hand for a quick and easy lunch.

Here’s what you will need:  hamburger, onion, celery, tomato soup, vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup, chili powder, salt & pepper

Brown two pounds of ground beef in a skillet. 

I like to use this fun gadget to chop the hamburger up into little pieces.  We like it that way.  Have I ever told you I am addicted to kitchen gadgets?  I did discover that I may need that thingy that makes cute lemon curls.  Anyone know where I can get one?  Anyway back to the recipe……

Take two stalks of celery and one medium sized onion.  You can chop them up into pieces or if you have finicky eaters in your house who panic when they see something that might resemble an onion in their food try this:  Put them into a blender or food processor, add a little water and liquify them.

It turns into a thick green liquid.  Pour it into your hamburger and stir it in.

It will literally disappear into the meat.  Whalla!  No more onions or celery for them to pick out!

Now add two cans of tomato soup.  I just use two pints of my home canned tomato soup.   Here’s how to make your own soup:
http://dpoydafoodfrenzy.blogspot.com/2009/10/tomato-soup.html.

Stir in 2 Tablespoons brown sugar.

And 2 Tablespoons of white vinegar.

And 2 Tablespoons of ketchup, I may have more like half a cup here.  We like the ketchup.

Now season it with 2 teaspoons of chili powder, a teaspoon of salt and some pepper.

Let this simmer for at least an hour.  The flavors really come together with this hour of cooking.  And it thickens up nicely.

Served on a fresh homemade bun along with a russian dill pickle, its a perfect lunch.
And one last photo:

Hannah was back in the kitchen with me.  She loves taking pictures of herself with the camera.  I wonder which auntie showed her how to do that!

Barbeque
2 lbs ground beef
1 onion
2 stalks celery
2 cans tomato soup
2 tsp chili powder
2 T vinegar
2 T brown sugar
2 T ketchup
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the
devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour. 1 Peter 5:8