Poor Man's pastie, pigs in a blanket, or strange foods you ate as a kid.

A Poor Man's Pastie.

Pigs in a blanket. When I say it, do you think of pancakes and sausages? Or do you think of little cocktail smokies wrapped in a crescent roll dough, eaten with mustard at a party?
This has been the question of the ages for me. Because when I say it, it brings to mind something a bit different for everyone.

Yesterday day I made the little ones for an open house we attended in the afternoon.
And I am not too proud to admit that I love pancakes with sausages and syrup for breakfast!

But yesterday, when making the cocktail ones, all of the sudden, I was hit with a memory of my mom making what she called Pigs in a Blanket.
I remembered feeling a sense of comfort and family and safety. And since it was a snowy, cold Sunday afternoon, I decided to make this old family recipe.

After of course, we ventured out in freezing temperatures to go to the Holiday Open House at the Church Parsonage.

Fast forward to back home.... me reminiscing about my mom making this quick supper for us. It had to be towards the end of the month, close to the next pay day, when money was running out, she'd throw together her "Pigs in a Blanket".

And let me just state right here...we all have those strange meals from our childhood that we would never actually admit to, right? Meals that we were just sure no one else on earth ever had because they were so different?
My mom took pear halves out of a can and put a dollop of mayo in the center and sprinkled some cheddar cheese and called it our salad. It was in 1960's for heaven's sake.
The 1960's when I was growing up was not known for home-based gourmet cooks. TV dinners were in fashion, and it was way cool, to peel back some foil and Wa-LAH, there was your friend chicken and mashed potatoes and peas and carrots. But that was probably a bit pricey for the end of the month, so my mom would whip together this......



and so I made them last night.
Pigs in a blanket.
Hot dogs ( Rich picked them up for me. I would have preferred a heartier-sausager type of weenie, but it's okay)
onion
sharp cheddar cheese
and homemade biscuit dough.

It's like a very poor man's Cornish Pastie.

But you know what? It was warm. And it was good. And it reminded me of my mom. And growing up.
And I can't believe I'm posting about it.....

and there really is no recipe. I made biscuit dough from my Bright Orange Betty Crocker cookbook, that I have had for 30 some years.

sliced a hot dog
added chopped onion

and cheese

rolled it up

Baked it for about 20 minutes.


mmmmm.......mmmmmmm. (okay, it's not for everybody. LOL )

Silly old Bassett Hound, Monroe checking out which cookbook I'll use next!




To redeem myself, I also made some caramel corn last night. I will send it to my sons in Connecticut and Arizona today.

Caramel Corn

3-4 bags of microwaved popcorn-popped
3 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups butter
3/4 cups light corn syrup
1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract

Put the popped corn in a large roaster.
melt the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil over low heat and cook for 5 minutes. Be sure not to scorch.
Remove from heat and add the baking soda and the vanilla. Stir to mix.
Pour over the popped corn and stir well.

Put the roaster in a 250degree oven and cook for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
Pour onto waxed paper and let cool.
Break apart and eat.
*****

I use microwave popcorn--and try to pick out all the "old-maids" before covering it with the caramel sauce.


Melting everything


Ready to pop in the oven

Ready to cool --all laid out on the waxed paper.

Cool enough

Ready to eat!