So who wants to participate in a retro food cook off?

[wildeyed]

We make Fabulous Food, you know, food in festive shapes with, um, creative combinations of ingredients, take pics and write descriptions, post them in a thread here and at the end of a week or so, we can do a poll to find out who is the Most Fabulous of All.

Here are some recent threads about retro food:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=236x15191

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=236x15716

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=236x15807#15837

Could be fun! Imagine your very own retro themed New Year's Eve party. And the potential to RULE the retro food world on the DU, too ;)

[The empressof all]

1. Put me down for the Meatloaf Cake

I may not make a double layer but I'll be sure to have the Mashed Potato tunnel of yummy goodness.

[wildeyed]

2. I think I will do Spinach Ring Filled with Mushrooms.

It will compliment a roast nicely. I am having a few people over on New Year's Day. Won't they be surprised!

[babylonsister]

3. Here's another site for additional creativity!

http://www.retrorecipe.com/

And I'll add some more:

http://www.tacky-times.com/magazine/retro_eating/

http://www.recipezaar.com/r/q=retro

[wildeyed]

4. So what are you making?

Or is it double super top secret?

[babylonsister]

6. I'm married to Mr. PITA; if I can find something

he might eat, I might be in. I'm lookin'...

[babylonsister]

9. This might work:

[wildeyed]

29. Tres Fabulous! n/t

[Warpy]

5. I still do one recipe my mother found in a newspaper in the early 50s

generally when I'm coming down with something and feel like I need extra protein. She hated to cook, and this turned out to be one of the things she could do really well and have people ask for seconds and thirds. It also keeps fairly well and is open to loads of variations. It's a sort of an American Chop Suey with attitude:

Brown 1 pound ground beef
Add one onion, finely chopped, and 2 stalks celery, finely chopped, cook until veggies are slightly softened.

Season with 1 tsp curry powder, 2 tsp oregano, salt and black pepper (I also add crushed chile)

Add one can Campbell's (no substitute for some reason, subs are awful) condensed tomato soup and about a quarter can of water. Lower heat to a bare simmer and cover.

Boil 1 pound elbow macaroni according to directions, drain, and add to the simmering sauce. Mix well and serve.

I have never met a single person who didn't love this stuff, even people who say they hate one ingredient or another. It's retro food that is actually GOOD.

I suppose to make it Gallery of Regrettable Food ready, you might throw it into a gratin dish, cover with grated cheddar, and broil until the cheese is bubbly and starting to brown, but honestly, it's gilding the lily.

[mike_c]

7. you've never met anyone...

...who didn't TELL you they loved it. Sounds kind of like sloppy joe and macaroni, but with Campbell's Tomato Soup instead of tomato paste. That bit sounds like a real contender for the Gallery of Regrettable Food.

[Warpy]

10. Actually, it's very, very different

which you'd know if you tried it some day when you're out of ideas and desperate for something fast and cheap.

Nobody ever TOLD me anything, by the way. They just dug in and grabbed seconds. And thirds. And fourths.

[mike_c]

12. whoa-- I was kidding....

Put your hands up and step away from the cutlery, please.

:hide:

[eleny]

8. Sounds like your mom invented Hamburger Helper!

[Warpy]

11. Well, whatever newspaper printed that recipe might have

The recipe was an anomaly, by the way. The big push was to get women out of their jobs and into the kitchen, and most recipes required hours of prep time, arranging, stewing, and/or baking. This was a working woman's recipe, a great recipe for a woman who'd been thrown out of her engineering job and who hated the fussy cooking she was now expected to do.

[wildeyed]

26. Ah, Skillet Meal!

I do a similar with leftovers. One part leftover veggies, one part leftover protein, two parts leftover starch. Mix with condensed soup or some sort of sauce. Heat and eat. I have never served it to anyone but my family, but they always eat it up!

To make it Fabulous, put it in individual ramekins, sprinkle cheese on top and brown. Then garnish with radish roses or something or draw a smiley face on it will BBQ sauce :)

[NMDemDist2]

13. how about this beauty?

out of my Betty Crocker cookbook, may i present Artichoke Salad whose ingredients include lemon jello, pimentos, black olives, mayo and other assorted goodies

[eleny]

14. It looked great until I read the ingredients

It actually looks kind of baked and crispy. Who knew?!

Now I see the bit of shimmery shine in places along the top inner edge.

[NMDemDist2]

15. lol it is the retro cook off thread after all.... n/t

[eleny]

16. Oh yeah. Appetite's are being lost left and right!

But truly, doesn't it look good as a baked, flaky ring of some sort? I do.

[Warpy]

19. Why the HELL did they insist on suspending everything

in icky sweet JELLO??? Why the hell couldn't just one of those cookbooks suggest ASPIC??? Hello?

Honestly, some of this stuff wouldn't be half bad if they'd just skip the sugar overload and artificial fruit flavoring. It's the JELLO that makes reading this recipe cause my tonsils to curl and retreat and my teeth to lengthen...

[NMDemDist2]

24. there's no sugar in it is there? i thought you had to add the sugar to

jello???

[Lorax]

23. OMG!!!

I think that's what my MIL tried to serve me once.

[wildeyed]

28. I found a gelatin salad that I will prepare tomorrow night that

may not be completely vile. I will call it Cranberry Sparkle. It is grated fresh cranberries, orange zest, gelatin and I guess some sugar. Will be good with a roast chicken or meat entree.

I am still planning to make Spinach Ring, but I got to thinking I may not have room in my oven for that and the roast. Usually if I have a conflict, I cook the side in my over-sized toaster oven, but the ring thing makes it hugh, so it won't fit.

Hmmmm..... not as easy to be Fabulous as I thought.

[babylonsister]

30. What, no

horseradish in your Cranberry Sparkle? :rofl:
I've got one word for you, wildeyed.
"Applesauce":)

[wildeyed]

31. Ok, but only if I can add gelatin.

Apple Jello Sparklers! :9

[housewolf]

17. Retro Spaghetti Sauce

This is the one my mom was famous for, everybody told her she should open an ..a..a....cough...cough.. (dare I say it???) "Italian" restaurant with it....

Heat some oil, saute some chopped onion until almost burnt. Add 2 cans of tomato juice. Empty 2 small cans of tomato paste into a bowl and combine with 2 cans-full of water, add to the tomato juice. Let it simmer for hours, until your stove and back-splash are totally splattered in red. No spices. Maybe some salt and a spoonful of sugar to "cut the acid."

That's it.... retro spaghetti sauce.

[Warpy]

20. My mother was classy. She used Chef Boy Ar Dee

right out of the box, passed the fake cheese around the table still in its cellophane envelope.

[housewolf]

18. I'll make that "fabulous 50's dessert" ...

Take a box of Famous Chocolate Wafers, sandwich the entire box (horizontally on a platter) with whipped cream between each cookie. Cover with more whipped cream and refrigerate.

(Can't help it, I still like Famous Chocolate Wafers with whipped cream!)

[babylonsister]

25. Ooh, that would be icebox cake in my memory from

chidhood. I gotta tell ya, I LOVED that stuff!

[Sparkly]

21. "Pork Cake," anyone?

I found this in one of my antiquarian books... I have others I can look for too, if this one whets your appetite!

Pork Cake. – One cup of chopped pork, one cupful of raisins, the same of molasses and milk, one teaspoon each of salt and soda, and four cupfuls of flour.

The Complete Home, Julia McNair Wright, 1879

(Btw, that's the whole recipe. I guess you were supposed to bake it, but who knows?)

[spindrifter]

22. I'm torn between two possibilities:

Frito pie--glop som canned chili into torn-open bags of Fritos...
or...
Blind Munchie donuts:

cut holes in refrigerated biscuits (the ones that come in the cardboard tubes) and while they are still warm shake them in a bag of sugar and cinnamon. Have to eat them while they are still warm--otherwise they are icky doughballs.

[wildeyed]

27. Some of those early cookbooks are kind of vague about details.

I guess they assumed you already knew how to do it :shrug:

[housewolf]

32. Woolworth's Frito Pie

For all the retro Woolworth's lunch counter fans....

Woolworth's Frito Pie

2 slices bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pound ground chuck
1 teaspoon salt (more or less to taste)
2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 1/2 cup water (more if necessary)
1 cup canned pinto beans, rinsed and drained
5 cups Fritos corn chips
1/2 pound Cheddar or Monterey jack, shredded
Optional: chopped onion and diced fresh jalapenos for garnish

Cook bacon in heavy skillet until fat is rendered. Add onion and
garlic and cook until onion is softened.

Add ground chuck and cook over medium high heat, stirring and
breaking up lumps, until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Pour off excess
fat and add salt, chili powder, cumin, and tomato paste.

Slowly add water and simmer 10 min, adding more water if necessary.
Add beans until heated through.

Divide corn chips among individual wide shallow bowls, top with
chili. Sprinkle cheese on top.

Garnish with onion and jalapeno if desired.

courtesy of http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/eatingout/eating_w/frito-pie.htm