April 30, 2012

Slushburgers: the joe you don't know.


Posted by Ethne~

By popular demand – I’m back!  I’ve been pretty sick (no, not preggers) so I haven’t been doing blog activities.  And this past weekend, we moved to our new house.  It’s very exciting – but imagine being super sick and not able to help all the people who are helping you move!

Thankfully, we have wonderful family.  Shout out to everyone who helped us!  THANK. YOU.

And to sis-in-law Mel, yes, I have kept the bathroom organization (pure artistry) but it’s taken FOREVER to get ready in the morning because I don’t know where anything is.  [In all seriousness, where are the band-aids?]

Fortunately before I got sick, I thought to buy all the ingredients for sloppy joes and delegated the task to Thrifty Nana (my mom).  If you’re from North Dakota, you know these sammys by their real name: slushburgers.  Not sure on the origin of the two names.  At least our ND version has ‘burger’ in the name.

Who better to serve up a proper slushburger recipe?  Of course, my bff TC’s mom, Barb!  I got my texting thumbs in motion to get TC on the job and within 30 minutes I had the recipe in my inbox.  Who needs a church cookbook anymore?  (Actually, I think those are great and I’d totally still buy one.)

Of course I have a picture of you Barb!

I’ll preface this by saying that Barb makes THE BEST DILL PICKLES IN HISTORY.  And since I have a special place in her heart, she makes sure TC gets me a jar every time she comes to town.  Even when she came to town for TC’s wedding, she remembered to bring me some pickles.  That’s what you get when you grow up two doors down from one of your best friends from elementary school.  I came and went from their house whenever I pleased, 24/7, even if they weren’t home.  That’s love, my Friends.  I have the pickle recipe.  Perhaps I’ll convince TC to make some with me this summer; it’s about time I snagged her for a blog post.

I was getting my GT bff fix at TC's wedding - I almost stole Steph's baby too.

Here’s the scoop:

2 lbs. hamburger
1 can tomato soup
Ketchup (about ¼ cup)
A tablespoon or so of chili powder
A teaspoon or so of mustard
A couple of tablespoons of brown sugar
A dash of Ortega taco sauce

I think the chili powder kind of makes the good flavor.

You can tell from the ingredients that it’s not an exact science to make slushburgers.  That’s how we roll in North Dakota.  We know that culinary genius means you shoot from the hip a little bit.  Sometimes I use a can of Manwich in place of the can of tomato soup, but it’s ESSENTIAL to add the other ingredients to get an honest to goodness slushburger.

Thrifty Nana made up this batch on Friday night and refrigerated it.  Then we put it in the crockpot on low in the morning and it was bubbly and warm by lunchtime.  I had buns, potato chips and pickles on hand, so people could eat whenever they wanted.


One other slushburger requirement: you must put potato chips onto the sandwich before putting the bun top on.  This is a requirement, not an option.  Think about it – potato chips on a sandwich.  It’s an obvious marriage of crunchy, salty goodness.  We prefer Old Dutch ridges potato chips because of their texture.


So enjoy, everyone.  The perfect moving-in food, and I have leftovers.  Huzzah!

6 comments:

Junk Girl said...

Ethne! Hello from slushburger country! Your BFF, TC, is my beautiful niece, which makes Barb my lovely sister! TC sent me your link - love it - especially this post, of course. I have always told people, my three sisters are THE BEST COOKS EVER. Oh, and they can BAKE too. I am definitely still the one trying...

I am the youngest girl in the family. By the time I was old enough to start cooking/baking, our mother was, well, exhausted at the thought of showing another kid around in the kitchen. She would say, "Go play with your little brother" - so I did!

Okay, anyway, I love the slushburgers myself and totally recommend them! They are easy to make! (Whew, for me!)

Great post and hope all is well with you! Hug TC when you see her!

Andrea
Carrington, ND

WOM-MOMS said...

Jackie, Janis and Barb are the best, no doubt! I hope you are well too!

Brenna said...

YAYYYY! That's my mom and my sister! You are right, Ethne...my mom's pickles are THE BEST! My kids devour them like candy! I just also have to say that it was FUN having you right down the street from us when we were growing up...definitely part of the family...like having another little sister! Should I tell some stories??? Hahaha! Seriously though, I LOVE your blog! You two were destined to be writers! Keep it up!

Barb said...

Gosh, do I feel "famous" today - a picture even! Thanks for the nice comments, Ethne. We have so many wonderful memories of you girls growing up. Unfortunately for Les, my cooking and baking days are but a fleeting memory - haha. We should have a pickle-making day sometime when I'm at Teresa and Brian's. The recipe came from my Grandma Dode and my Mom and it needs to continue on down to your generation. Love your blog! As Brenna said, you and Lori are such talented writers, you really are. Enjoy your new house!

thomaejacobi said...

Hello, I don't know if you're still following this thread, but I found this while googling "slushburgers". I'm from Fortuna, ND, and am doing personal research into the origins of the term "slushburger". Is it used statewide, or more concentrated in the NW part of the state (which seems to be the case)? Any idea where the term first came from?

I'd appreciate any info you can share, thanks very much! And enjoy those slushburgers!!

Tom Mosser

thomaejacobi said...

Hello, I don't know if you're still following this thread, but I found this while googling "slushburgers". I'm from Fortuna, ND, and am doing personal research into the origins of the term "slushburger". Is it used statewide, or more concentrated in the NW part of the state (which seems to be the case)? Any idea where the term first came from?

I'd appreciate any info you can share, thanks very much! And enjoy those slushburgers!!

Tom Mosser