Hot Beef Sandwiches

We went to the Eagles last evening. The special was hot beef sandwiches, one of Bud's favorites. For me, not so much, although they were very good.

Our family very rarely ate out. On the rare occasions we were away from home during meal time, we usually stopped at a grocery store, bought a loaf of bread, some bologna, ketchup and maybe some potato chips. Then we went to a park for our picnic. Our beverage was water. Mom almost always took along a jug of water when we went any distance from home.

The rare times we went to a restaurant, Mom always made us get hot beef sandwiches. I don't know if it was because they were inexpensive or because she thought they were more filling or healthier for us. The exception to a hot beef sandwich was a hot pork sandwich; same thing - sliced meat between two slices of bread, a mound of mashed potatoes and gravy over all.

Once I was old enough to express my gastronomic druthers, I always wanted a cheeseburger and fries. An incident which has always stayed with me was a trip somewhere in Missouri. Grandpa and Grandma Ridnour were with us, so maybe it was one of the times we went to an apple orchard down there. Anyway, we stopped at a cafe for lunch. When the waitress asked what we wanted, I said I wanted a cheeseburger and fries and a coke. Mom said "No, you'll have a hot beef sandwich". Crying or whining never worked with her. I was given a choice, hot beef sandwich and milk or nothing. I must have pitched quite a fit because I can still invision that cafe and finally giving in and eating a hot beef sandwich.

Lucky little bro, Les, came along enough years later that he was allowed to order what he wanted. One of the family stories is of how, when asked what he wanted to eat at the Hwy 92 Diner in Council Bluffs, he asked for "Ketchup with a hamburger on it."

Lucky little kid. I wonder if he likes hot beef sandwiches?