Childhood meals bring back memories, that is certain. The other day I had...

M

michael-in-phoenix

Well-known member
...a greasy corn tortilla that was fried with a slice of Kraft American Cheese (a "single") inside it and folded in half. I filled it with hamburger that had been browned with a Lawry's Taco Seasoning packet, a few squirts of Tobasco and some shredded iceberg lettuce.

Took one bite and I was 6 years old again. That's EXACTLY how my Mom used to make them.

I could see the old house, my little sister, my older brother and his fiancee, and my Mom and Dad. It was amazing how real it was, and that greasy, drippy taco was the trigger.

Michael

 
Sort of kinda like our home made tacos

Mom used to fry corn tortillas in vegetable oil, drain on a paper towel. she added browned hamburger that had fresh garlic, s & p, tomato sauce. We filled the taco with raw onions, shredded cheese and a salad made with iceberg lettuce, avocado, tomatoes, and cucumber, sometimes radishes too. All topped off with our favorite taco sauce.

I still make them the same way, only with a artesian corn tortilla that is thicker that I get at Trader Joe's.
I also add any leftover salsa from my fridge to the burger, and I use different lettuces these days other than iceberg. Our taco sauce is Lindy's Red Taco Sauce that I order from a market in So. CA

 
My Mom was very utilitarian when it came to cooking. She did not enjoy...

...being in the kitchen and this "recipe" (maybe "method" is a better choice of words here) is the perfect reflection of that. Anything simple that got her family fed and got her outta the kitchen quicker was the way to go.

No tomatoes, avocados, cucumbers, etc. She was more of a "Joe Friday" cook. "The facts, Ma'am. Just the facts."

Michael

 
Ok, I have to laugh...

about everyone's mom's frying up tortillas and making tacos.

Yeah, that certainly did not exist in my life on the southern Ohio pork and tobacco farm where I grew up in indentured servitude in the 1960-70's.

Yes, we had greasy protein and carbohydrates, but it took the form of pork puddings with gravy, pork roast with sauerkraut and potatoes, ham loaves, bacon, sausage, eggs, and biscuits.

Tacos? Not so much.

Never.

 
you call that indentured servitude

some might call that Spoiled! Farm fresh bacon and eggs and sausage and biscuits in Ohio. Give me some paper and crayons and you've got the Bob Evans farm.

 
I had my first taco in the 60's out of a "taco kit box". I could try to describe the texture

of the taco, but if you would just lift up a writing table, rip off the cardboard backside, fixate on the word "rubbery AND stale" and then take a bite.

This should explain why I never had mexican food again until my late 20's when we move to Albuquerque.

 
East coast Mexican was like West coast Pizza or bagels in my experience

BUT things have improved on both ends.

 
the 1st Mexican restaurant I went to was in Palm Springs, El Torito I believe. so good. July24 is

national margarita day by the way, $5 margaritas(I had to google). I had no idea Mexican could taste like that. this was back in about 1978/79 or so. All I heard when growing up was that Mexican was just too hot to eat. so wrong.

 
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