JoJo's Sloppy Joes and Moms Cucumbers

In no way was this a healthy meal last night, but it was a delicious one! Eric had to work (no surprise there) but so did I. With this new job I took, I usually don’t work Saturdays, but I had to this weekend. As soon as we got off, we hopped in the Jeep and took off to Wilsonville for a family dinner! Since getting Eric's new jeep, this is one of our favorite rides. It is so peaceful and pretty on all the country back roads! Eric had been looking forward to this dinner all week! It was my grandmother’s famous Sloppy Joes and one my whole family loves.

Wilsonville, AL

Ingredients

1lb. ground beef

¼ of a medium sized onion

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1 6oz can of tomato paste (Hunt’s)

3 large tablespoons of brown sugar

2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce

¼ cup mustard

½ cup ketchup 

Instructions

• Brown ground beef and chopped onion. Drain grease from pan.
• Add salt, pepper, tomato paste, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and ketchup. Mix well and simmer on low for 1 hour. Continue to stir to make sure it does not stick to bottom of pot.  
• Let sit for another hour.
• Serve on hamburger buns.

My mom plants a garden every summer and about this time of year, anyone that comes over will leave with a goody bag filled with tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, cantaloupe, and typically watermelon. Right now watermelon is a bitter subject in the York house. The coyotes ate all of them this year and mama aint happy! Every summer when my mom gets a plethora of her cucumbers, she marinates them. They are so refreshing and yummy. It is definitely another family favorite!

Mom’s cantaloupes still growing!

Ingredients 

3 large cucumbers

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 cup water

¼  cup white sugar

¼  cup distilled white vinegar

½  teaspoon celery seed

¼  cup chopped onion

 Instructions 

• Peel the cucumbers and slice them wafer thin. Sprinkle with salt. Let stand 30 minutes.
• In a medium size bowl, mix the sugar, water, vinegar, celery seed, and onion. Then add the cucumbers to mixture. Mix well. Refrigerate 1 hour. Side Note--Mom usually makes these the day before we are eating them. The longer they marinate them, the better! Happy Eating!

If this isn’t a summer meal, I don’t know what is!

Original Recipe- http://allrecipes.com/recipe/13996/moms-cucumbers/