With Grandma in Assisted Living now I find myself making, or at least wanting to make, her dishes more often. For years she cooked 3 meals a day for Grandpa as well as whomever else was around, field hands, grandkids or neighbors in need. She is a great cook. Grandpa and the rest of the family will attest to that, I'm sure.
One of the things that she used to make that I've never had, or even seen anywhere else until recently, was what she called Ground Beef Sandwiches. She would take leftover roast and use her hand grinder to grind it up to a fine texture. She told me she occasionally made up to 5 pounds of it at one time and her arms were so sore that night! I "cheat" and use the food grinder attachment on my mixer and feel guilty the whole time for taking a shortcut.
After grinding the roast she would mix in Miracle Whip, pickle relish, a little bit of pickle juice and a 1/2 tsp of sugar. It made a sandwich spread similar to tuna salad that we all gobbled up. Even after I moved back to the area as an adult she would still call me several times a year and tell me she made some Ground Beef Sandwich Spread and had a container of it set back for me, lovingly placed in an old Cool Whip or I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! dish.
I made it Monday night out of some leftover steaks from a family get-together. As always, it doesn't taste exactly like Grandma's did, but a quick phone call to her and she reminded me to add the sugar and it tasted a little more like hers. I cherish these days while I can still call her to ask for clarification. I'm going to take some up for Grandpa and her to eat tomorrow. She will eat it and graciously tell me I did just fine, but I bet Grandpa will let me know just how off the mark I am.
