old fashioned

You'd think that since I've been cooking this long that I would start making real beef stroganoff, but no. My mother made beef stroganoff this way for my entire childhood, and even though I might make slight changes -- more mushrooms, a little Worcestershire-- I've never strayed far from the Campbell's cream of mushroom soup days of old. I love this stuff. I might make other recipes, but they'll never be beef stroganoff to me. This is my beef stroganoff:

• 3 cans cream of mushroom soup


• 1 pint of sour cream


• 1 pint of sliced mushrooms


• catsup


• Worcestershire sauce


• 1 1/2 lb ground beef


• egg noodles (I like dumpling size No Yolks egg noodles)

Brown ground beef, season as you usually would (my seasoning usually consists of garlic, salt, pepper and random other seasonings depending on how I feel). drain and set aside. Combine cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, 1 can of water and sliced mushrooms over medium heat. Add a little catsup (start with about 2 TBs) and mix. You have enough catsup when the sauce changes color from white to a taupe or so. Add the ground beef and a couple shakes of Worcestershire sauce. Cook until mushrooms are tender, serve over egg noodles.

I'm not sure if your stroganoff would taste like mine; I've been making it for 15 years and I just know how it's supposed to taste, and how it's supposed to look. But fiddle with it until you like it -- it's my comfort food.