Grandma Lily’s Ground Beef Stroganoff

I am making this tonight, and it is bringing my Great-Grandmother to mind. She died a few years back, at the grand old age of 107, and I am so glad that we made it out to visit her with Glady, and had a five-generation picture done with her. This recipe is in her own hand, and came to me in one of the most precious wedding gifts I received - a recipe box with cards started in it, recipes of my relatives in Minnesota. I don’t know some of these ladies who shared them with me, only that they are related to me by my father’s father. But I have to say that when the time comes for me to reluctantly part with one of my children, this is a gift I would be proud to share.

the Recipe:
1 lb ground beef
1 cup chopped onion (I usually use one medium onion)
1 Cup chopped celery (I don’t use this - we aren’t fond of celery)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can of water or broth
1 cup sour cream
1 small can mushrooms (I usually use fresh, sliced)
Sprinkle of soy sauce

Brown meat, onions, and celery. Add soup and water and simmer 20 minutes. Add water as needed for desired consistency. Add sour cream and mushrooms and heat through.

Serve over rice or noodles (I always do it over wide egg noodles).

And this is Dad’s favorite meal!

I wonder what it was like for her to raise a family in that time - in the first third of the twentieth century. She was born in 1893, and in her lifetime humanity progressed from horse-drawn conveyances to the moon, and she traveled the world by jet. Once, when she was 99, she told me that she still felt 18 in her mind, and I think of that often as I get older, with growing children now. I still feel 18, too, and sometimes it seems strange to hug a child who is chest-high to me and wonder where she came from, and how did she get to be so big?

Cedar Lilania, Great-grandchild of Lillian, Mother of Gladiana Lilyjean. Lilies are a vast family of flowers, varying in color from purest white through the oranges, pinks, reds, yellows and many combinations there of. Like we three, their petals are a multiple of three, often sweet-scented and long lasting.