With the holidays fast approaching, I’m starting to dig through favorite recipes to get a jump on some of the cooking.
While it’s true that my cookbook tastes lean toward the East, as in Middle Eastern, Indian, Japanese… I do have my old American standbys for everyday and not-so-everyday dishes.
For instance, I still have this Betty Crocker cookbook my parents gave me when I moved into my first apartment waaaay back when.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I have dozens of its recipes committed to memory, from such frequent use. Sometimes simple and straight forward is best.
I will also admit that there is some pretty weird schtuffff in here that I can’t believe anybody made then–or now.
Just take a gander at this front page of the appetizer section.
Yep, your eyes are seeing correctly! That spikey smorgasbord of toothpicks stuck in that pineapple are holding black olives, shrimp, and pineapple pieces, with some kind of mystery dip in the center that I’m too scared to look up. : )
Now I’m going to share one of those weird recipes with you that I actually love. I discovered this recipe back when I was just getting started and I really needed to stretch my grocery dollar.
I’ve updated some of the ingredients– I use Dijon mustard in place of powered mustard, and I use a combination of sharp cheddar and Gouda cheeses. And I leave out the sliced pimiento. But, other than that, I let ‘er rip! What’s your favorite “old-fashioned” recipe?
Belated Merry Christmas. My gift to my kids this year was volume of their collective favorite dishes from childhood. I started it 4 years ago but decided this was the year to finish, edit, format and print. I did not have it “published” as such; instead assembling it in sturdy binders in sheet protectors and saving the final in a pdf that can be used to reprint if anybody’s copy goes missing.
Merry Christmas Deb!
What a great idea! Hope they love that you made both a hard copy and a pdf they can use.