I grew up eating Sauerkraut Hotdish. It isn’t something many of you will be excited about and might be tempted to just skip this post thinking it’s only a recipe and one I won’t eat, but I’m going to tell you the story that goes with it.
My dad was a good eater and mom was a good cook. I don’t ever remember my dad complaining about or even suggesting what mom cooked. That didn’t happen. Both of my parents grew up during the Depression and I think that taught a lot to be thankful for food.
One day Dad was in the barn milking cows and he heard a recipe being given over the radio. He ended up coming in the house and told mom that he thought he’d like to try that. Dad thought he remembered all the ingredients but wasn’t sure. He told them to mom and then he told her they could write in to the radio station and get the recipe. Remember this was in the 70s long before internet when all we’d have to do is click a button and we’d have the recipe.
Mom wrote down what Dad could remember and she thought being there were so few ingredients, she was sure Dad was missing some so she wrote to the radio station to get the recipe.
Here it is:
1 1/2 pounds hamburger
1 small onion chopped
1 bag of egg noodles
2 cans of cream of mushroom soup
1 small can of sauerkraut
Set noodles to boil. Brown hamburger and onions. Mix cooked noodle together with the other ingredients…Done.
It’s a very simple recipe and once the recipe came in the mail, Mom checked what Dad had written down and he had remembered everything. It seemed to simple.
Mom made it…and we liked it. Mom ended up taking the recipe and taping it to the inside of the kitchen cabinet door. She taped all her favorite recipes to the inside door of the cabinet.
I grew up and moved away. My Mom passed away in 1990 and my Dad in 2007. We went to clean the house…what a task. I was working in the kitchen and a smile came to my face when I saw the sauerkraut hotdish recipe taped to the cabinet door. It had been there for at least 30 years.
I went home and made if for my family. There were mixed reviews. For the most part…they liked it or at least ate it. Kayla told me, “I have fond memories of it as a comfort food of home, but don’t eat it anymore because the meat.” (she’s a vegetarian now). I asked Karl what he thinks now. He said, “Sauerkraut: yes. Hotdish: yes. Sauerkraut hotdish: Big ol’ NOPE.” That’s okay..more for me Karl.
Kalissa has gone on and made it for Craig. Craig is a big NO. Well actually when Kalissa asked if he liked it he said, “It’s okay. You can make it once a year or so.”…and then Craig went into his usual question of why it’s a hotdish or a casserole. I was born in southern Minnesota and everything is a hotdish there.
So the recipe isn’t something everyone will like. I know I like it…I know Kalissa likes it. In fact when Craig was working at the farm implement dealer, he’d have to go to continuing education and would be gone for 3-4 days at time. Kalissa would call and say, “Craig is going to be gone, can I come over and we can have sauerkraut hotdish?”
When Georgia was here last, I tried it out on her and she loved it. Here she is eating it… Continue reading
