Kansas Comfort Foods

This weekend I was in a baking mood.  I started out Saturday whipping up cinnamon rolls from the King Arthur’s website.  While I was adding the filling, I commented to Jay that I should make chili to go with the cinnamon.

I received a blank stare and a response along the lines of “What are you talking about?!?”  I then proceeded to remind him of the school lunches growing up where bowls of chili were always accompanied by big, fat cinnamon rolls and community chili feeds with the same.  Except it didn’t remind him, he still didn’t know what I was talking about.  I told him it was comfort food the sweet, chewy cinnamon rolls were the perfect compliment to the savory chili.  He then told me that breakfast foods (cinnamon rolls) and lunch/dinner foods (chili) do not mix.

Determined to defend my case, I promptly texted my brother to verify this classic combo.  His exact text back was “I vaguely remember something like that in KS.  But I just surveyed the five LeaderShape (he was at a leadership conference in KY and teaches leadership at Iowa State University) faculty, none of them think it sounds appetizing at all-and two asked me whether you’re pregnant :)”

Seriously?  So I googled the combo, and it turned out it is a Kansas/Nebraska thing.  After talking about it with my mother later in the weekend she did remember it for school lunches and commented that they probably couldn’t make that anymore because of nutritional requirements.

But the cinnamon rolls were yummy, even though I didn’t end up making chili.  When it’s 97 degrees out, chili does not sounds appetizing.

Ready for the oven!

Mmm, greek yogurt icing!

 

So on Sunday, I was still in the baking mood and had some hamburger I needed to use.  My solution:  Bierocks!  Apparently this is also something that is not well known.  Jay had only had them because my mother made them for him once.  Beirocks are a German pastry filled with hamburger, cabbage, and onions.

I had to text my neighbor mid-way through making the dough because I ran out of eggs.  She met me half way down the block with her 3 & 4 yr old trading the egg back and forth; they almost had to bring me two eggs so each of them could carry one.  She had never heard of bierocks either!

I finished the dough, steamed my cabbage, and cooked my hamburger and onions to make some tasty bierocks.

Introducing: Bierocks!

Stuffed with tasty goodness (hamburger, cabbage, and onion)

 

To thank my neighbor, I took one down to her so she could try one.  Upon inspection, her 3 yr old declared:  “I don’t want a bierock!”  Luckily her mama was not so afraid and tried it and raved about it.  I’ve converted at least one person to my crazy Kansas comfort foods.

Jay wasn’t complaining either.