Sunday, August 31, 2008

The Greasy Five: School Cafeteria Faves


The hormonally-charged buzz of the high school cafeteria is no place for a solitude seeking, food loving soul like myself. As a teacher, I usually stray from the carb heavy meals at school and pack a lunch, but occasionally a meal lures me into the cafeteria line. Today's Greasy five is dedicated to my all-time favorite school cafeteria meals:

  • Bierrocks: My first teaching job was a Centre High School, which is located in Marion county, an area in Kansas settled by Czech and German immigrants. About once a month, the cooks tapped into the area's cultural heritage and served bierrocks, a roll stuffed with a mixture of ground beef, onions, and cabbage. Before I die, I want to return to the Centre High School cafeteria and enjoy one last bierrock.
  • Holiday meals at Centre High School: Most schools serve a faux holiday dinner comprised of turkey loaf, instant mashed potatoes, Stove Top stuffing, and canned cranberry sauce. At Centre High School holiday dinners were made-from-scratch affairs, complete with a bona-fide carved turkey.
  • Pigs in a Blanket: It doesn't get any better than a hot dog wrapped in a pillow of white dough, unless you're dipping it into a swirl of ketchup and mustard.
  • Breakfast for Lunch: It's just nice to break from routine.

  • Cinnamon Rolls and Chili: I don't know how they eat their chili in other parts of the U.S., but in Kansas we like cinnamon rolls served with our chili. When this lunch room duo appears in the cafeteria, you'll find me with a little more bounce in my step.

What's your favorite school cafeteria meal?

3 comments:

Jane said...

We also had chili and cinnamon roll lunches in Iowa. I almost always brought a sack lunch, EXCEPT on "cinnamon roll day." (I didn't care that much for the chili itself.) I never saw the combo on the lunch menu after moving to Arkansas...bummer.

Marilyn said...

LOL. It never fails to crack me up that Kansans can eat cinnamon rolls with just about anything - fried chicken, ribeye steaks and even chili.

I hated all cafeteria food! But I loved the chocolate-vanilla "dixie cup" ice creams - they came with the little wooden scooper. Delish.

April said...

Chili and cinnamon rolls were my favortie lunch too! And we also had beirrocks in western Kansas. When we moved to St. Louis nobody knew what the heck a beirrock was. I make a huge batch of them every fall.