18 SOLERA DIAMOND VALLEY | JUNE 2022
By Cindy Ponce de Leon, Resident
During these inflationary times I thought it might be fun to
share a few tips that helped our parents when they faced hard times.
Growing up I was the oldest of 16 children. Food was a big subject
in our household.
There were casseroles in those days and even then, I didn't care for
noodles. One time my mom got a recipe from the newspaper for Beef
Burgundy. I thought it was horrible to feed wine to children and sour
cream was even worse. Not to mention those noodles again! I don't
ever remember spaghetti containing any meat but on the second
day we always added a can of Hunt's Chili Beans and we loved chili
spaghetti.
Every family had their version of a bean dish. My grandmother
was famous for Lima beans with ham hock. Why couldn't she use red
beans or navy beans, why did it have to be Lima beans?
My once a week favorite was creamed tuna on toast. Why did I
like creamed tuna so much? Was it because you were lucky if you got
a big chunk of tuna? Was it because there were no noodles? Or was
it because I could get my brothers to make the toast and butter it so
I wasn't doing all the cooking by myself? Not sure if you ever had to
stretch your family dollar this far, but here's the recipe for our family
classic.
Creamed Tuna on Toast
2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Flour
1 ½ Cups Milk
1-5 oz Can Chunk Tuna in Water, drained
Salt and Pepper to taste
4-8 slices of White Bread, toasted and lightly buttered
Melt butter on medium heat in an 8" or 10" pan, anything other
than an iron skillet. Slowly stir in flour and whisk until the butter is
absorbed into the flour. Slowly pour in the milk and keep whisking
until the milk is all in. Lower heat to simmer and stir occasionally
until gravy is thickened, about 5 minutes. Gently add tuna and cook
on low for two to three minutes until warm. Ladle creamed tuna over
toasted bread and enjoy!
What's
for
Dinner?
