Marti's Letter and Grace's Hamburger Roll-Ups

from Grace's addition to Marti's letter. Aunt Sue moved to Portland, Oregon, in October, 1962, when Marti was 7. This letter is from shortly after that.

Dear Aunt Sue,

I fell in the bath tub. I miss you, and I love you.

With love from Martha.

Dear Sue,

I feel that Martha's note needs explaining. She did not hurt herself badly—banged her elbow and hit her head, I think. She was not taking a bath—in fact, she was brushing her teeth. She decided to step back and lean against the wall (I don’t know why) but the wall wasn't there. You know what was!

It was very funny now that we look back, but at the time it was a little frightening.

Glad to hear you are making friends, and eating well. The following is a recipe the children love, and so do we.

Hamburger Roll-Ups

1 pound ground beef 1 small onion, chopped 2 tablespoons dried onion soup mix, optional salt to tast 3 tablespoons flour 1/2 cup milk prepared biscuit dough 1 can cream of mushroom soup (see note)

Marti's letter

Preheat oven to 400º F.

Brown ground beef in a skillet. Add chopped onion (I use a couple tablespoons dried onion soup mix for extra hot flavor). Add salt, flour, and milk. Stir well and boil 1 minute. Let cool.

Meanwhile make biscuit dough (I use Bisquick). Roll out a rectangular shape, as for a jelly roll. Spread with hamburger mixture, roll up and slice 1 inch thick. Put on greased cooky sheet and bake 15 minutes.

Serve with cream of mushroom sauce (from Campbell's or another canned soup) or tomato sauce or cheese sauce.

I generally skip the dried onion mix and salt, relying on a larger onion, ground pepper, and maybe a clove or two of garlic. The oil biscuit recipe in Joy of Cooking works well, but use whatever you're used to. As I remember, Mom usually made a sauce from canned cream of mushroom soup, thinned with a little milk, and heated through. For me, that is the only way to serve hamburger roll-ups.