TVLand is such a compelling destination, so clean and tidy and glamorous, that it’s downright discouraging to get up from the davenport to attend to the scraping and scrubbing that await in not-TV Land.
Now we have been spared the trouble. Television, that delicious innovation, is available in edible form: the so-called “TV Dinner.”
Here’s the story: A couple years ago, in 1953, the folks at C.A. Swanson & Sons, like the rest of us, found themselves with leftover Thanksgiving turkey. Lots of leftover turkey. Some 52,000 pounds of leftover turkey. So they got up a contest at the office to figure out what to do with it.
A nice young man named Gerry Thomas, from sales, thought they could portion it out into ready-made dinners packed “fresh frozen.” Clever one, that Thomas.
The men at corporate loved it. And here’s where the thrill comes in. Thomas thought of dividing the aluminum tray into compartments, keeping the turkey with stuffing and buttered peas and sweet potatoes strictly segregated.
The boxed dinner-modern, clean and convenient-reminded the marketing men of the modern, clean convenience of television. Outside, they’ve done up the packaging with control knobs, like a TV set. Inside, they’ve given the 8-inch-square tray rounded shoulders, like the standard 8-inch TV screen. They’ve named the $1.29 meal “Swanson TV Brand Frozen Dinner.”
“You’ll munch delicious hot fried chicken in just 25 minutes!” promises one advertisement, graced by a housewife in stylish shirt dress. We are happy to oblige, to glide from living room to kitchen, to slide a slim packet from freezer to oven and return to local programming, letting someone else handle the messy details. We don’t fret about that hungry guest or husband. As the ad copy pledges: “You’re ready for him!”
We have, however, reservations about the name. It will induce customers to abandon dinner-time decorum and attempt to dine on the TV dinner in front of the TV, broadcasting mixed vegetables and Salisbury steak all over the upholstery. Now there’s a situation comedy.
NOSTALGIA LOAF
Serves six to eight
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup ketchup
1 cup fine breadcrumbs
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 pounds ground chuck
12 ounces ground pork
1. Soften: Heat butter in a medium skillet over low heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Cool.
2. Mix: Scrape vegetables into a large bowl, add the rest of ingredients and mix by hand, gently.
3. Mound: Pat meat mixture into a large loaf pan and set it on a rimmed baking sheet, to catch drips. Bake at 350 degrees until crispy on top and bubbly at the sides, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
4. Wait: Pour off any menacing-looking fat that has collected in the corners of the pan. Let meatloaf loaf rest about 10 minutes.
5. Segregate: Slice meatloaf into hearty slabs. Consider sectioning off portions of the plate for glazed carrots, buttered peas and whipped potatoes.
