Büƒ

November brings to my mind… food. So this month I’m going to blog about food. Dishes and meals from my childhood and adulthood that have become traditions or fond memories.

The first is reaching way, way back… to a dish called Büƒ. My Grandmother made this dish for me when I was a kid. It was my favorite thing she made. Now, a couple important details about this…. I liked very PLAIN food as a kid. In fact in college Jay gave me Big Red chewing gum for the first time and I thought I was going to die! The other fact is that my Grandmother (GG) was not a very good cook. She tried, but I don’t think it was an interest to her.

So,  Büƒ is made from ground hamburger made into fat, little patties and pan fried in onions. GG always tasted the raw meat before she bought it at the store. Many, many cashiers gave her funny looks when the package came by with a hunk missing. They told her she’d get botchelism or worms…. I am pretty sure she outlived them all. 

After the patties are cooked Grandma would make gravy with flour and cold water added to the drippings. She served the patties and gravy over potatoes that were whipped. She told me that when she was a child this was served over mashed potatoes (same as whipped but no butter or milk added to “cream” them up) but she liked whipped much better so that’s how she made them now.

I have tried to make this dish many times and it never turns out as good as when my grandmother made it for me. The times she made it were on special over night visits when I was the only grandchild that visited. A few times in high school and while I was in college I would drive over to her house and spend the evening with her and my grandfather and she’d always have this dish ready when I’d get there.  It was always fabulous. Maybe it was because she tasted that raw meat in the store and knew it was fresh and tasty. J