Another perky retro appetizer for your next part. Hable cheese is a rich Swedish cream cheese with a nutty flavor. You can substitute cream cheese or a soft creamy gouda instead.

Stuffed Raw Mushrooms

Wash, drain and peel 36 raw mushroom caps. Fill with a well-blended mixture of 6 ounces crumbled Roquefort, 6 ounces Hable cheese, 3/4 cup ground pecans, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire, and 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder.

36 raw mushroom caps
6 ounces Roquefort
6 ounces Hable cheese
3/4 cup ground pecans
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
From Menus for Entertaining, 72 parties and 400 Recipes for the Good Cook & Hostess, 1960

You know you need a gelatin something for your next party. Why go with say jigglers in your team’s colors when you can go with the elegant Caviar and Cucumber Aspic?

Chill 3 plastic egg holders over an oblong pan of cracked ice. Meanwhile, soak 1 1/2 envelopes gelatin in 1/3 cup chicken broth; season with dash of cayenne pepper. Peel and slice 1 1/2 cucumbers. Parboil them, covered in 1 cup boiling water with 1 1/2 tablespoons wine vinegar, for 8 minutes. Place cucumbers and liquid in an electric blender. Add soaked gelatin, blend 10 seconds, and add 3 drops green vegetable coloring to puree. With a pastry brush, apply a thin coating of puree to egg holders, still over ice, and for a few seconds keep applying more gelatin, lightly until set. Place a small teaspoon of red caviar in half of the hollows, one of black caviar in the others, then fill hollows with rest of cucumber-gelatin mixture. Chill in refrigerator until set. Place on pumpernickel rounds slightly larger than the aspics, and arrange on a platter, alternating red and black.

1 1/2 envelopes gelatin
1/3 cup chicken broth
Dash cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cucumbers
1 1/2 tablespoons wine vinegar
1 cup water
3 drops green vegetable coloring
4 ounces black caviar
4 ounces red caviar
36 pumpernickel rounds

From Menus for Entertaining, 72 parties and 400 Recipes for the Good Cook & Hostess, 1960

Yes, that is right a retro food recipe for cigarettes. Not candy cigarettes or even how to roll your own retro smokes-but an appetizer recipe perfect for your Super Bowl or other party. You won’t even need to tell your guests to take them outside! Those folks in 1960 were quite the partiers!

Cigarettes

In small bowl of an electric mixer, beat 8 ounces cream cheese with 1 tablespoon dried tarragon until creamy. Cut 8 slices of prosciutto in half crosswise, or use 16 slices chipped beef. With a spatula spread cream cheese evenly on prosciutto or beef, roll up, and chill for one hour. Cut rolls in half, and dip one end of each “cigarette” in very soft butter, then in finely minced truffle. Arrange on a small rectangular serving dish with bouquets of parsley.

8 ounces cream cheese
1 tablespoon dried tarragon
8 slices prosciutto or 16 slices chipped beef
4 tablespoon soft butter
2 truffles
Parsley

This comes from the very retro cookbook: The Complete Electric Skillet-Frypan Cookbook.(1960) This cookbook is notable in its overwhelming enthusiasm for “America’s Favorite Appliance.” If you don’t own America’s favorite appliance, this works equally well in the oven.

Meat Loaf Ring

Combine 3 pounds of hamburger, 2 eggs slightly beaten, 2 teaspoons salt, dash of pepper, a mashed clove of garlic, 1/2 cup of grated onion, with 1 cup cornflakes. Blend well. Put into 9″ ring mold. Spoon over it 1/2 cup canned tomato sauce. Set mold into skillet in about an inch of water. Cover pan and cook at 325 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. Turn meatloaf out of mold and fill center with buttered cooked noodles, with a ring of baby beets around the outside and fringes of parsley between the beets. Serves 8-10.

This is a family favorite. Be careful not to over-stir after adding the dry ingredients to the wet. (And don’t be foolish like I was last time I made this and add the dry ingredients before the milk and egg and don’t skip the mashing the banana before adding step)

Oatmeal Banana Bread

2 cups Bisquick
1 cup quick cooking rolled oats
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
2 large ripe bananas, mashed, (about 1 cup)

Combine biscuit mix and oatmeal; set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time; stir in the bananas and milk. Add dry ingredients all at once, stirring just until moistened. Put batter into a greased and floured 9×5x3-inch loaf pan. Bake at 350° for 35 to 45 minutes.

It has been rainy and grim around my house today. This appealed to me because of the name…seems like a sunny side would be good. Note-you can skip the cream, mayo and cheese for those un-retro Jell-o folks at your house.

Sunny-Side Salad

1 box lemon gelatin
2 c boiling water
1 can fruit cocktail
Miniature marshmallows
1/2 c heavy cream
Mayonnaise
1/2 lb. shredded American cheese

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water; add fruit cocktail and enough marshmallows to cover top. Cool until firm; spread whipped cream and mayonnaise over salad. Garnish with cheese. From Salads, 1964.

This is as much a retro classic as meatloaf. I rarely ate tuna casserole growing up. My mother had burned out on it long before I was born. This meant neither of my parents would eat tuna. My older sister made it sometimes-she puts peas in hers. Friends parents also made it, so I didn’t grow up totally deprived, and most folks would say I grew up blessed by the lack of tuna casserole in my life. I also never make it. In any case, it is a classic and it is a nice thrifty way to feed a family.

This recipe is from the Better Homes and Gardens Casserole Cook Book, 1961. As usual, I would use real cheddar instead of the processed cheese.

Tuna-Noodle Casserole

6 ounces (about 3 cups) medium noodles
1 6 to 9 oz can tuna, drained
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sliced celery
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup diced green pepper
1/4 cup chopped pimiento
1/2 teaspoon salt
…
1 can cream of celery soup
1/2 cup milk
1 cup (1/4 pound) shredded sharp process cheese
…
1/2 cup slivered blanched almonds, toasted (optional)

Cook noodles in boiling salted water till tender; drain. Combine noodles, tuna, mayonnaise, vegetables, and salt.

Blend together soup and milk; heat through. Add cheese; heat and stir until cheese melts. Add to noodle mixture.

Turn into ungreased 2-qt casserole. Sprinkle with toasted almonds. Bake uncovered in hot oven (425) about 20 minutes or till bubbly. Makes 6 servings.

My children find any dish with the word Surprise in the name as highly suspect. Could it be the natural suspicion of children? Or is it because they know their mother is a retro foodie? I am not sure…but in honor of Meatloaf Monday…I will share the recipe for yes…SURPRISE Meat Slices…from Better Homes and Gardens So Good Meals, 1963.

I actually would am tempted to cube the meat loaf (if any makes it longer than the next day for sandwiches) before coating-then serving with toothpicks and marinara sauce or horseradish as a retro appetizer.

Surprise Meat Slices

Here’s a magic way to use that frozen cooked meat loaf or roast. We’ll bet the family will never guess it’s a leftover!–

2 tablespoons fine dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
5 1/2-inch slices frozen cooked meat loaf or 5 thin slices frozen cooked roast beef
1 egg, beaten

Combine crumbs and cheese. Dip frozen meat slices in egg; coat with cheese-crumb mixture. Cook meat in small amount hot fat over medium heat, turning once. Cook meat loaf 5 to 7 minutes per side, roast beef 2 minutes per side. Serve with catsup or chili sauce. Makes 5 servings.

From 100 years of Female Sex Symbols… some lovely 50s women

I have to confess, winter brings the desire for lots and lots of baked goods. It unfortunately doesn’t bring me time and energy to bake. This means I sometimes cheat by starting with Bisquick or refrigerated dough. Here is an example:

Spicy Apple Twists

2 large apples, peeled and cored
1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400.

Cut each apple into eight pieces. Unroll crescent roll dough; separate into 8 triangles. Cut each in half lengthwise to make 16 triangle strips. Place an apple piece at wide end of each strip. Arrange in 9″ square pan. Drizzle with butter; sprinkle with mixture of sugar and cinnamon. Pour orange juice into pan but not over dumplings.

Bake at 400 for 30-35 minutes until apples are tender. Serve warm, plain or with cream.