Tribute to Sugar Britton, with Sloppy Joes

Sugar Britton, the beloved second-grade teacher for both my boys, passed away this week. She had that effective teacher combination of sympathetic and sweet with a hefty dose of not-putting-up-with-that-nonsense. She was a large, grandmotherly, comfortable woman who had probably been described as "grandmotherly" way before she had her own grandkids. Both my guys loved her, and she taught, guided and nurtured them well.

At some school function, she must have provided sloppy joes, and I recall one of the guys - maybe both - coming home and announcing "Mrs. Britton makes the best sloppy joes!" and of course, I asked for her recipe.

It makes 100 sloppy joes. Mrs. Britton was not messing around, man.

I had to make use of all my second-grade math skills to whittle this down to a more family-friendly size, which I offer here. Thanks, Sugar. You were the best.

• 3 lbs ground beef
• 1 can tomato soup
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 6 TBS brown sugar
• 1/2 cup diced onion 
• 3 TBS yellow mustard

In skillet, cook the meat and the onions until meat is browned; drain liquid. Add soup, paste, mustard and brown sugar. Simmer 1 hour.