This is a tasty retro jell-o way to use up the last of the ham and hard boiled eggs from Easter. Sort of a tomato aspic meets ham salad. I prefer using V-8 in this dish. In fact, I am doing just that later today. Watch for pics.

Chopped Ham Salad Mold

1 tbsp unflavored gelatin
1/4 c. cold water
1 1/2 c. tomato juice, heated
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
3 hard cooked eggs, chopped
1 c. chopped celery
1/2 c. chopped cucumber
1/2 c. bell pepper, chopped
1 tbsp chopped onion
1/2 c mayonnaise

Soften gelatin in cold waater. Add hot tomato juice; stir until dissolved. Add lemon juice and salt; chill until partially set. Soak cucumbers in salted water; drain. Combine with all remaining ingredients; fold into thickened gelatin. Pour into mold; chill until firm. Yield: 6 servings

~Daphne Smith
Winnsboro, TX

Favorite Recipes of America, Salads

I thought about a traditional tuna egg salad since it is Egg Salad week but hey, this one seemed much better. No there is no comma between American and Swiss. Retro, easy, light, frugal, and edible!

Protein Salad Bowl

1 lge head lettuce, torn into large pieces
4 hard-cooked eggs, quartered
4 tomatoes, peeled and quartered
4 thick slices American Swiss or Bleu cheese, cut into bite size chunks
6 dill pickles sliced
1/2 c halved walnuts
1 lge red or white onion sliced into rings
2 cans chunked style tuna, drained
Salad dressing to taste

Toss all ingredients; serve chilled. Yield-4-6 servings

Favorite Salads, 1946

This retro favorite is a great way to use up a few of those extra hard boiled eggs, and if you want…use some leftover ham in place of the prosciutto and leftover tomato sauce. The thrifty use of leftovers makes this a frugal find. I know the hard boiled eggs sound odd..but they are a treat.

Sicilian Meatloaf

1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1 small onion, finely minced
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
2 eggs
salt & pepper to taste
2-3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
2-3 slices prosciutto

SAUCE FOR TOPPING

1 tablespon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup stewed tomatoes

Preheat oven to 350° F. Combine beef and pork. Mix with a fork. Add onion, bread crumbs and fennel seeds. Mix lightly. In a separate bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add to meat. Season with salt and pepper. Using your fingers, blend all ingredients together. Divide meat mixture in half. Shape meat into two rectangles about 7 x 5 inches. Place in baking dish. Make a shallow depression in the center of the loaf. Wrap each egg,in a slice of prosciutto. Place in hollow of loaf . Push sides of meat in firmly to hold eggs.  Place second half of meat on top of eggs, pushing edges together to seal eggs into the loaf. Place in middle shelf of oven. Bake for 90 minutes at 350° F.

If you are looking for a lovely brunch egg dish…particularly one in a nest…this is the one to try. Use a nice sharp cheddar cheese. Maybe a shade more brandy and half and half in place of the evaporated milk. (though evaporated milk can be a healthier, richer choice for this dish) You can get away with less cheese and go with toast if you don’t want to fuss with croutons, but the croutons make a nice festive nest for the dish.

Eggs a la Atlanta

4 poached eggs
2 cups buttered, toasted croûtons
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup Brandied cream sauce

Poach eggs and place in a nest of toasted croûtons. Top with grated cheddar cheese and brandied cream sauce. Garnish with a sprinkle of paprika and sprig of parsley.

Brandied Cream Sauce
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup evaporated milk, heated
1/4 cup chicken broth, heated
2 tablespoons brandy
salt
Melt butter, stir in flour, cooking until bubbly. Gradually add heated evaporated milk and chicken broth, stirring constantly until sauce thickens. Add brandy and season to taste.

~Mrs Harry G. Haisten, Jr.
Atlanta Cooks For Company, 1968

Have an excess of hard boiled eggs? Tired of deviled eggs? Just want a retro appetizer that has bacon?

This recipe from Miss Rita Burnley and contributed to Atlanta Cooks for Company should do the trick. The recipe calls for quite a bit of mayo and salt. I would suggest doing what I do and adding it slowly to taste. You may also want to add some nice shredded cheddar (or processed cheese, depending on the retro mood you are in)

Egg and Bacon Spread

16 hard-cooked eggs, minced
12 slices crisp bacon, crumbled
4 teaspoons horseradish
4 teaspoons onion, minced
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 cup mayonnaise
4 teaspoons salt

Combine all ingredients and chill until serving time. Serve with a choice of crackers, etc.

Now, Luella has a different take on cheese pudding. This is actually similar to how my mother made what she called Cheese Souffle. It is tasty…and retro…and well…I think you will like it. Simple!

Luella’s Cheese Pudding

6 slices toast
1/4 c. butter or margarine
21/2 c. sliced American Cheese
3 slightly beaten eggs
21/2 c milk
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 c dry sherry

Butter toast, quarter each slice. Alternate layers of bread and cheese in 2 qt oblong baking dish with top layer cheeese. Combine eggs, milk, seasonings and sherry. Pour over all. Bake in a slow oven, 325 degrees, 30-45 minutes or until knife comes out cleam. If you wish, decorate after bakign with drained, warmed canned asparagus. Good for Friday supper or bridge lunch. (6 servings) Ursula Johns Gill submitted this to Talk About Good published by the Junior League of Lafayette, Louisiana.

This is a “recipe” based on one, probably from Joy of Cooking. One day, when I had a baby and a toddler at home, a husband out of town (again, he was out of town all the time) and no money, I was pondering another day of cooking essentially for myself. I had started some eggs to boil for egg salad, but wasn’t set on it and so I flipped through a cookbook to figure out what else I could do with what was in my cupboard. Then, a friend of a friend showed up. She was having a rough time and had a couple of toddlers herself. We chatted and chatted. I ended offering her dinner, pointing out that it wouldn’t be much but I would love her to stay. I couldn’t possibly turn out a woman who had been weepy and good southern manners demanded food.

So, there I was, not much on hand, hard-boiled eggs and curried eggs had jumped out at me from the cookbook. (maybe a bit of serendipitous coincidence because this visitor had come from a country where curries were popular.) I didn’t have the ingredients called for in the recipe for Joy of Cooking, so I cobbled together something from another curry recipe. (maybe the American Heart Association Chicken Curry in a Hurry recipe that I also made a lot at that time). I served it on rice, though Joy of Cooking said toast. I think we were out of bread or the bread was dubious at best. It was a super homey meal that soothed both our souls. She had never had curried eggs either, but it still “tasted like home” to her. The kids who ate solid food liked it too! So here is how I do it:

Hard boil six eggs. Make a medium white sauce and add 2 teaspoons or so of curry powder. If you want, add some frozen peas or drained, canned peas at this point. Or some drained pimentos. (or both!) Add peeled, chopped, hard-boiled eggs. Stir together. Serve on white rice or toast.

Curry powder also adds a nice touch to deviled eggs if you want to get away from the traditional type.

There are some Eggs Benedict lovers in our house and an Eggs Benedict hater in our house. Then we have the Eggs Benedict, hold the eggs, lover in our house. In any case, it is popular for the most part and makes for a nice brunch. Though, I do have to say, AVOID Eggs Benedict in any sort of buffet brunch situation. BLECK! Meta uses ham slices, and while I have been known to do this as well when there is leftover ham, Canadian Bacon really is the meat of choice for eggs Benedict. Wonder if this is why she calls them Eggs Benedictine?

As for the Hollandaise Sauce…yes, you can buy a mix. But, it is like white sauce and gravy, you really should take the time to learn how to make a good Hollandaise. Not quite as versatile…but still…a woman (or man) who can whip up a Hollandaise Sauce that doesn’t fall apart and tastes good…can do anything in life.

Eggs Benedictine

6 ham slices, cut thin
Butter or bacon fat
3 large English Muffins
6 eggs, poached
â…” cup Hollandaise Sauce

Pan-broil ham in fat until edges are curly. Split muffins in halves and toast. Place hot ham slices on hot toasted muffins, then put hot poached eggs on the ham and pour Hollandaise Sauce over all. Serve hot. 6 servings.

Hollandaise Sauce

¼ cup butter
¼ cup cream (sweet or sour)
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt to taste
Dash cayenne

Melt butter in top of double boiler; add cream and beaten egg yolks, stirring well. Add lemon juice and salt, and cook over boiling water, stirring constantly, until thick. Remove from heat and beat until light. Stir in cayenne if desired. Makes â…” cup.

Mock Hollandaise Sauce

3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon salt
â…” cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 egg yolks, beaten

Melt butter in saucepan, blend in flour and salt, then stir in milk; cook with constant stirring over direct heat until sauce boils and thickens. Remove from heat, add lemon juice and stir into beaten egg yolks. Place over boiling water and cook with constant stirring for 2 minutes or until sauce is somooth and thick. Serve with cooked vegetables such as asparagus, broccoli, green beans or green onions which have been thoroughly drained. About 1 cup.

The Modern Family Cookbook

Baked eggs always grab me. I don’t know why there isn’t MORE baking of eggs. I have never been able to resist a baked egg recipe.

Eggs Baked in Bacon Rings (Shirred Eggs)

5 slices enriched bread
8 slices bacon
5 eggs
Salt and Pepper

Cut out rounds of bread to fit snugly in bottoms of muffin cups. Pan-broil bacon until half done and remove to a plate. Pour off all bacon fat except 1 teaspoon. Brown the bread rounds on both sides in the fat, then place in bottom of muffin cups. Line sides of cups neatly with 1½ strips of the partially cooked bacon. Break an egg into each cup, then season with salt and pepper. Drop ¼ teaspoon bacon fat over each egg. Bake in a moderately slow oven (325° F.) 20 minutes, covered or uncovered, as desired. Remove carefully with spatula onto hot plate. 5 servings. The Modern Family Cookbook

The one that intrigued you all from the January Menus: the cocoa puff. It is another of those egg white recipes of dubious safety. Of course, there is the plus that it is incredibly low in calories for a dessert that serves 5.

Cocoa Puff

3 egg whites
½ cup sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa
½ teaspoon vanilla

Beat egg whites until stiff. Add one-half the sugar gradually, continuing to beat until very stiff and smooth. Sift cocoa with the rest of sugar and add gradually, continuing to beat all the while. Finally beat in vanilla. Pile into dessert dishes and chill. Serve with cream. 5 servings. The Modern Family Cookbook