Since we are having some fun, festive snacks for Christmas Eve, I thought I would re-run this sandwich with the hopes that this will spark some Christmas memories out there for some reader. Tell us, is this Christmas Eve food? I’m guessing it was, but I would love to hear from you if you can remember eating this beauty. Have a great Christmas!
December is here and Christmas is coming up fast, so I thought I would make a little something to get us all into the holiday spirit. Because nothing says “Christmas” to me more than ground bologna on an English muffin!
This is Christmas Sandwich!
AuthorRetroRuth
From Christmas Recipes from Consumer's Power, 1972
Tested Recipe!
[cooked-sharing]
Combine the first 7 ingredients and spread on buns. Place on broiler rack and broil about 4 inches from heat until lightly browned, about 6 minutes (*Ruth's note: Mine took 3 mins). Garnish with cutouts of cranberry jelly.
Slice canned cranberry jelly into ½ inch thick slices. Use small cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes.
Sandwiches may be arranged around the rim of a large plate and decorated with a green bow to resemble a wreath.
Ingredients
Directions
Combine the first 7 ingredients and spread on buns. Place on broiler rack and broil about 4 inches from heat until lightly browned, about 6 minutes (*Ruth's note: Mine took 3 mins). Garnish with cutouts of cranberry jelly.
Slice canned cranberry jelly into ½ inch thick slices. Use small cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes.
Sandwiches may be arranged around the rim of a large plate and decorated with a green bow to resemble a wreath.
Notes
Of course, I chose the bologna over the ham. Ham would have been a bit more Christmas-y, but since I already know what ham salad tastes like I decided to skip it. I was interested in seeing what “bologna salad” would taste like.
And I wanted to see if it felt more or less festive eating bologna rather than ham.
And this is the part that was the biggest pain in the butt. Do you know how long I had to dig through my cabinets to find appropriate-sized cookie cutters? But at least it gave me time to think about the sandwich. I mean, really think about it. Things like: Is it supposed to be party food, like an appetizer? It is something you are supposed to feed your family while they are waiting for Christmas dinner? Is it supposed to be a Christmas Eve snack?
Or is this supposed to be an After Christmas sandwich, to use up leftovers?
In the end, I didn’t come up with any answers, but I came out with some pretty okay cranberry shapes.
I forgot to take a shot of the pre-broiled sandwiches due to a hungry toddler running around my legs and begging for food, but this shot of what was left in the bowl should give you a pretty good idea of what they looked like.
So, like dog food on a bun.
All finished! What do you think? Festive?
Okay, maybe if you cut the cranberry sauce smaller so the sandwiches look like ornaments and then put them in the shape of a wreath on a large plate they might look like holiday-appropriate food.
Maybe.
They kinda just look like pizza with a star on it to me.
Merry Christmas, Tom! Have a pizza star!
“How are they?”
“Sweet.”
“Are they bad?”
“Not bad, just sweet.”
The Verdict: Not Bad
From The Tasting Notes –
The filling on these was surprisingly edible, especially if you like everything you eat to taste like sugar. The best part was actually the broiled English muffin, and since the base was good the rest of this could probably be saved with some tweaks. To make this less sweet, I would suggest using ham instead of bologna, mustard instead of ketchup, mayo instead of Miracle Whip and cranberry relish instead of cranberry sauce.
My great grandmother used to make this exact sandwich growing up, but we’d eat it on regular days. She was Mabel, and we called these Mabelburgers.
Reminds me of the sandwiches my mother made. She would grind Spam and sweet gerkins, then add mayonnaise to make a sandwich spread. She was so proud of the tasty mixture! Garden Club ladies thought it was a fancy ham salad. Cut off the crusts, cut the sandwich into 4 triangles, or use a cookie cutter for more dramatic shapes.
Ruth,
My Dad keeps asking about hamloaf. He is from Ohio and he is 83. I have never even heard of hamloaf, and my mother and I hate ham! Maybe this could be mid century menu test! LOL
Minus the cranberries, my grandmother made these and called them Ham Dreams. They were (at least to a kid) pretty tasty.
My grandmother also made a version of these. No sweet pickle or cranberry. She used catsup and a little mayo. She put the mixture on hot dog buns, wrapped them in foil and put them in the oven. Very tasty!
My mom would make this every year for New Years Eve. It was always one of my favorites growing up because I only got to have it once year. I was just thinking about this recipe the other day, now I know what to put in b it. Thank you.
We never had these, but I thought your comment was awesome because my grandmother was also named Mabel.
I remember my mother making something like these when I was a kid, my sisters and I eventually developed more refi
Reminds me of the sandwich spread Mom used to make. Dad still makes this and I actually called him for the recipe as I was feeling a little nostalgic.
Grind up some bologna, mix in some relish, a little finely chopped onion and some Miracle Whip, spread on bread for sandwiches.
Another variation would be to use Spam, add black olive and grated cheddar and broil on hot dog bun halves in the oven.