Thoughts while contemplating Vienna Sausage...

[Tom K]

"Thoughts while contemplating Vienna Sausage... "
....or just eatin' out of the can with that jellied clear liquid clinging to them.
Good and good for ya!

*shudder*

Oh yeah, that's some good stuff - repulsive yet irresistable. I like putting two end to end on a slice of white bread and wrapping them up like a little hot dog.

And yeah, a pickup with a four speed meant 1st was granny. Put it in gear, let out the clutch and jump up on back to feed hay to the cattle.

 

[mjr]

bettis1/Bob: I hope you're working on a book of some kind--novel, essays, memories, whatever. You've got the talent for it, for sure.

 

[medxam]

I always thought that rat cheese was that wonderful crumbly cheddar that the butcher cut off of the giant hoop at the market!

medxam

 

[bill2000]

Brought back some memories here too. Rain beating on the tent, wet sleeping bags, flashlights dimming from low batteries, Vienna sausages and happy Boy Scouts.

 

[MSG Glenn]

Vienna sausage, cheese & crackers - that's a meal fit for royalty. That ranks right up there with SOS, corned beef hash, fried egg sandwiches & Spam. (Not all together, lol).

 

[shouldazagged]

I always thought that rat cheese was that wonderful crumbly cheddar that the butcher cut off of the giant hoop at the market!

medxam

And you're exactly right! At least that's we called rat, or rat trap, cheese in East Tennessee in my boyhood.

 

[35Rem]

If you don't get the point of them at this age, you won't ever get it. I'm sad for you.

They bring back memories of simpler times. A packable meal shared between Men and "Men-to-be."

Sharing these "treats" was a part of growing up and becoming a man. It was life. Simple and pure.

 

[snubbyfan]

Pronounced vy-anna sausages. They're a standard staple on canoe trips. We'd keep 'em tucked in next to the beer in the cooler and eat 'em out of the can with the tip of a knife.

 

[handejector]

I use a spoon and eat 'em like I'm eating pudding. Much easier than trying to worry a single sausage out of that tight-packed can.

Amateur.
The true VS aficionado can stick the center one with a fork to proper depth at a slight angle, twist slightly to break it loose, and extract with a gently curving wrist arc to keep the fork from coming out.
It's a skill only us highly refined offal/tripe eaters have.
Biting it is part of the ritual.
Of course, we often had no forks along, so you do what you gotta.

 

[handejector]

Pronounced vy-anna sausages.

There are at least 47 pronunciations for Vienna when it is followed by Sausage.
Sometimes it changes with latitude and longitude, sometimes it changes across a room.

 

[wyccad915]

My parents always tell me as a kid that I would eat vienna sausages like crazy. They were my favorite I guess. I haven't had them in a long time though.

 

[shouldazagged]

There are at least 47 pronunciations for Vienna when it is followed by Sausage.
Sometimes it changes with latitude and longitude, sometimes it changes across a room.

I've seen it change immediately after someone tastes one for the first time. Often to something more...colorful. And concise.

I ate a can of them with crackers today for the first time in many years, and now recall why they are considered one of the major food groups.

Still don't do Spaghetti-O's, however. A man has to draw the line somewhere.

 

[jkc]

I'm thinking you've had some bad memories.

Well, bad memories of foul "food", good memories of discriminating against it.

 

[BerkleyB]

Thanks to Bob's post, I enjoyed a lunch yesterday of Vienna sausages and - wait for it - shoestring potatoes. In the words of Mark Twain "I decided I might as well be hanged for an old ram as for a sheep". Seriously, a lot of nostalgia (not to mention sodium and fat) packed into two small cans.
I did, however, reflect on one sign of progress. Vienna sausages nowadays come in a can with a pop-tab lid. Even a child can open it with ease. But in days gone by, getting into a can of Vienna sausages was not always easy. Long before pop-tops, opening involved a slotted key soldered to the lid of the can. First you had to pry that key off, then find the end of the strip of metal which went around the outside of the can. With luck, you smoothly rolled that strip of metal all the way around and removed the lid. However, most of the time about halfway around the can the strip of metal got tangled, and you had to pry off the partially opened lid without slicing open a finger on one of the sharp metal edges. Ah, the sting of brine in a cut finger - another sausage memory.

 

[bettis1]

Ah, yes! Thanks to Bro Berk for reminding me of that long lost feature that I had completely forgotten...the "key"...a real bit of old time Americana. Now, and for generations to come, they will never know the frustration when the "wind-up" goes bad.

But not all progress is good. At least with the wind-up key, when it was successful it left a half inch of the sausages exposed so they could be removed much more easily.

And "shoestring potatoes"...I had completely forgotten them. Salt and grease; it doesn't get much better than that! They have also just been added to the next grocery list.

Bob

 

[cowboy45]

I haven't thought about shoestring potatoes in years. Do they still make them? I wonder where to look for them at the HEB?

 

[wbraswell]

Outstanding! Shoestring potatoes and Vienna Sausages, it's food tinker toys! I'm gonna make a goat.

 

[shouldazagged]

I could eat a goat...

 

[deanodog]

After by-pass surgery......Nothing good to eat anymore. If it taste good you better spit it out.

 

[pawncop]

As many others have posted, wonderful memories with my dad are stirred with VS. Canned sardines were another favorite.