This is a story about a bottle of ketchup. A very special bottle of ketchup. 🙂
A while back when we visited IL (November 2018), I mentioned to my Grandma Annable that I’ve attempted to make her sloppy joe recipe a few times, but it never came out quite like hers. I have two cookbooks from that side of the family – one composed of recipes from within the family and another composed of recipes from congregants of a local church (many of which are likely family or family-friends). I know sloppy joes aren’t really that special of a thing, but Grandma’s remind me of sitting in her house, playing rummy or Chinese checkers, watching game shows or this strange movie about a talking skateboard (which we later discovered was The Skateboard Kid).
Upon mentioning how my recipe never quite comes out like hers, Grandma said “oh, it must be the ketchup!”. She immediately gets up from her chair, goes into the kitchen, and comes back with a bottle of Brooks Rich and Tangy Ketchup (pictured above). We take it politely, only to be saved by mom who says we flew up and there’d be no way we could bring it back to Lubbock (which was true). Grandma takes it back, and says something about how the next time we drive up she’ll have to give us some.
Fast forward to May 2019, and we are driving over to Grandma’s house from my parent’s. On the way, Lauryn chuckles and says it would be funny if Grandma remembers the ketchup and tries to send us back with a bottle. I was just having that same thought. Sure enough, while visiting with Grandma, she gets a light in her eye and heads towards her pantry, only to return with a bottle of ketchup. This time, we had driven up to IL, so we had no excuse but to gladly accept the gift.
Tonight, we got a hankering for some sloppy joes. I set out to make her recipe, and sure enough this batch tasted just like Grandma’s did. I’ll have to see how we can acquire more of this ketchup whenever the bottle runs out. 🙂 Point of the story: listen to your grandma.
For those curious, here’s the recipe, taken from page 66 of the cookbook Five Generations of Good Cooking From The Annable Family:
Barbecue
1 lb hamburger
1/2 c water
1/2 c ketchup (ideally Brooks: Rich and Tangy)
1/4 c sugar
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp Worchestershire sauce
1/4 clove garlic
Brown hamburger and drain. Add other ingredients to hamburger. Simmer 15 minutes.
Beverly Annable
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