White Castle is an American regional fast-food hamburger restaurant chain; the first of its kind in the United States. Known for its small, square hamburgers. Sometimes referred to, and today trademarked as "Sliders", its burgers were priced at five cents until the 1940s, and remained thereafter while shrinking. For several years, when the original burgers sold for five cents, White Castle periodically ran promotional ads in local newspapers which contained coupons offering five burgers for ten cents, takeout only. White Castle was founded in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas. Walter A. Anderson partnered with cook Edgar Waldo "Billy" Ingram to make White Castle into a chain of restaurants and market White Castle. At the time, Americans were hesitant to eat ground beef after Upton Sinclair's 1906 novel The Jungle had publicized the poor sanitation practices of the meat packing industry. The founders set out to change the public's perception of the cleanliness of the industry. To invoke a feeling of cleanliness, their restaurants were small buildings with white porcelain enamel on steel exteriors, stainless steel interiors, and employees outfitted with spotless uniforms. Their first restaurants in Wichita, Kansas, were a success, and the company branched out into other Midwestern markets, starting in 1923 with Omaha, Nebraska. White Castle Building No. 8, built in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1936, was an example of the chain's prefabricated porcelain buildings. The building measured 28 feet by 28 feet and was made to resemble the Chicago Water Tower, with octagonal buttresses, crenelated towers, and a parapet wall. Anderson is credited with invention of the hamburger bun as well as "the kitchen as assembly line, and the cook as infinitely replaceable technician," hence giving rise to the modern fast food phenomenon. Due to White Castle's innovation of having chain-wide standardized methods, customers could be sure that they would receive the same product and service in every White Castle restaurant. As Henry Ford did for car manufacturing, Anderson and Ingram did for the making of burgers. Anderson developed an efficient method for cooking hamburgers, using freshly ground beef and fresh onions. The ground beef was formed into balls by machine, eighteen to a pound, or forty per kilogram. The balls were placed upon a hot grill and topped with a handful of fresh, thinly shredded onion. Then they were flipped so that the onion was under the ball. The ball was then squashed down, turning the ball into a very thin patty. The bottom of the bun was then placed atop the cooking patty with the other half of the bun on top of that so that the juices and steam from the beef and the onion would permeate the bun. After grilling, a slice of dill pickle was inserted before serving. Management decreed that any condiments, such as ketchup or mustard, were to be added by the customer. Anderson's method is not in use by the chain today, having changed when the company switched from using fresh beef and fresh onion to small, frozen square patties (originally supplied by Swift & Company) which are cooked atop a bed of rehydrated onions laid out on a grill. The heat and steam rises up from the grill, through the onions. In 1949, five holes in the patty were added to facilitate quick and thorough cooking. The very thin patties are not flipped throughout this process. The signature hamburger Since fast food was unknown in the United States in that era, there was no infrastructure to support the business, as is common with today's fast food restaurants. The company established centralized bakeries, meat supply plants, and warehouses to supply itself. It was said that the only thing they did not do themselves was raise the cows and grow their own wheat. Ingram developed a machine to create previously unheard of paper hats. In 1932 Ingram set up a subsidiary, Paperlynen to make these hats and other paper products used in their own restaurants as well as for many other purposes. In 1955, Paperlynen produced over 42 million paper hats worldwide with more than 25,000 different inscriptions. They also created a subsidiary in 1934 named Porcelain Steel Buildings that manufactured movable, prefabricated steel frame structures with porcelain enamel interior and exterior panels that could be assembled at any White Castle restaurant site. This is the first known use of this material in a building design.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts - Cut sprouts in half. Toss in a bowl with liberal amount of olive oil and your favorite spices. I use Italian spices generally with garlic and onion. Spread on a cookie sheet, making sure to leave space between each so they can cook well. Roast at 400 degrees for about 30 to 40 minutes, depending on how caramelized you want them. Gravy - in a skillet, cook just a couple of tablespoons of flour with the same amount of earth balance and some salt/pepper. Cook this on medium until flour starts to brown. Slowly add water or almond milk to skillet to avoid lumps. Add enough liquid to get desired consistency when at a boil. Add Worcestershire sauce or au jus mix or whatever flavorings you want. I generally use some 'gravy starter' which is dark caramelized sugar basically... to make the gravy brown. Hamburger - Mix room temperature (frozen will freeze your fingers) boca crumbles, with lite life sausage and lite life hamburger (1 package each). Best to mix with your hands, as you would meat loaf. To this mixture add liberal amount of olive oil and garlic powder and onion powder and I like to add some BAM! and some parsley. Mix all of this together and form into patties as you would any burger, cook as you would any burger with the exception being that you need to provide oil to brown properly. The burger will not release fat as a meat burger would so you have to have a minimum of a layer of oil covering the bottom of your pan completely to get the right brown when frying.