Waldorf Salad- With Potatoes?

This recipe is one of those with what I call the ingredient that does not belong. Betty Crocker was trying too hard when they came up with this recipe. Potatoes in a Waldorf Salad sounds truly repulsive to me.

 1 package Betty Crocker julienne potatoes

1 to 2 medium apples, diced

1 cup cut-up dates

1 cup broken walnuts

1 medium stalk celery, sliced

1/2 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

Lettuce cups, if desired

Prepare potatoes as directed on package for Stove Top Method except- omit margarine.  Pour into large bowl, cover and refrigerate until chilled.

Stir apples, dates, walnuts and celery into potatoes. Mix mayonnaise and curry powder, toss with potatoe mixture. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Serve in lettuce cups. 6 servings.

From: Silver Anniversary Recipe Collection- Betty Crocker Potatoes. 1984

Apple Appetizer or apples unappetizing

This time of year you tend to see lots of apple dip recipes on the food blogs. Usually they have carmel and cream cheese or some variation of the theme. This recipe goes very far off the beaten path- way too far. Imagine what this dip would look like. With the pink deviled ham and pimiento then the curdy cottage cheese and black olives, YUK the image is not appetizing. I also can not imagine how they thought this would taste good with apples.

1 cup creamed cottage cheese

1 small can deviled ham

1 teaspoon grated onion

2 tablespoons chopped black olives

1 tablespoon minced pimiento

2 teaspoons dry sherry

3 unpeeled red eating apples cut in wedges

Combine all ingredients except apples and mix well Pile in a small bowl and surround with apple wedges.
Using cocktail picks dip wedges in mixture. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

From: Woman's Day Collector's Cook Book

Pork and Clam Loaf

This is wrong, is the thought that popped into my head when I read this recipe. I know that certain recipes such as Paella have sausage, not breakfast sausage though, and maybe clams. However the thought of them together as a meatloaf is just too weird for me.

Pork and Clam Loaf

1 1/2 pound sausage
2 cans minced clams and juice
1 cup finely diced onions
2 cups cracker crumbs
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk

Combine all ingredients; form into loaf. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, Yield: 8 servings.

Recipe from: Favorite Recipes of The Great Northwest, Meats Edition 1967

Tasty 'Tater Tidbits

I starting laughing when I came across this recipe. It sounds like what a lot of people would call Redneck. Bologna and tater tots as an appetizer. Yes, very Redneck. One of the reasons I thought this was funny was the cookbook I found it in: Famous Brands Great Vegetables Dishes. I really don't consider a Tater Tot a vegetable, but I guess it is a potato product.

Tasty 'Tater Tidbits

Makes 18 appetizers

6 slices Armour Star Bologna, cut in thirds

18 frozen shredded potato rounds, thawed

1/4 cup barbecue sauce

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Wrap bologna piece around each potato round. Thread bologna-potato rounds on skewers; brush with barbecue sauce. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

Fresh Banana Pudding

This recipe sounds truly revolting. It was in an article entitled Visible Treats- "a quartet of desserts anyone would be proud to display at a meal's end". There is a photo of some of the desserts in various clear glass dishes. Thank goodness this particular recipe was not pictured.

Fresh Banana Pudding

2 hard-cooked eggs, peeled
2 medium-sized ripe bananas, peeled (is it really necessary to tell you to peel eggs and bananas?)
1 cup creamed cottage cheese
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon honey

Place all ingredients in an electric blender, cover and blend at high speed until smooth. Spoon into 4 individual dishes and chill 1 hour or more. Makes 4 servings.

Recipe from special edition magazine Redbook's Cooking With Pleasure, 1976.

Sweet 'n Sour Ravioli with Ham

Here is another`recipe from Money Saving Meals magazine. I think is is even more weird than the previous recipe. It is right up there with this previous ravioli post.

Sweet 'n Sour Ravioli with Ham

2 cups diced cooked ham
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 can (1-lb.) sliced pineapple
1/4 cup brown sugar
3-4 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 cans (15 oz. each)
Bite-sized beef ravioli in tomato & meat sauce
4 large, pitted prunes ( yup, I am not making this up)

Saute ham and onion in butter. Stir in 1/2 cup pineapple syrup, brown sugar and vinegar. Bring to a boil. Add Mini Ravioli. Cover and simmer 5 minutes. Top with 4 pineapple slices and place a prune in the center of each slice. Simmer 5 minutes longer. Serves 4.

Grapefruit Sausage Kraut

This recipe is so weird I really don't know what to say about it. I have the feeling it must have come from some Citrus Commission because it specifies Florida grapefruit. I don't see how anyone else would think of combining grapefruit, cabbage and sausage. I guess it is possible that the acid from the grapefruit juice gives the cabbage a kraut-like flavor but I am not about to try it.

Grapefruit Sausage Kraut

1 tablespoon salad oil
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 pounds sweet sausage
1 green cabbage, shredded
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoon dill seed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups Florida grapefruit juice
2 Florida grapefruit, sectioned

Heat oil in large saucepan or Dutch oven. Add onion and cook until tender, but not brown. Cut sausage into 1-inch pieces. Add to pan and cook until browned on all sides. Add shredded cabbage; cover and cook until cabbage begins to wilt, about 10 minutes. Remove cover, stir and continue to cook over low heat, uncovered, 20 minutes; stir occasionally. Add grapefruit sections and heat. Makes 6 servings.

From Money Saving Meals Magazine Winter 1974

Eggplant Quick Bread

There are plenty of quick bread recipes out there that include fruits or vegetables; zuchinni, banana, carrot, tomato even beets. Never saw one with eggplant before though. It was probably thought up by some gardener that had an overabundance of eggplants in the garden. They must have been desperate to use them up to put them in a quick bread.

Eggplant Quick Bread

2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup oil
1 cup honey
2 eggs
2 cups grated and drained raw eggplant
Dates, raisins and nuts, if desired
Beat eggs, oil and honey together until well mixed. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Beat until moistened. Fold in eggplant. Add chopped dates, nuts and raisins, if desired. Pour into oiled and floured loaf pan Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

From Women's Circle Home Cooking- recipe submitted by Ruth Hall

Corny-Chili Pie- Corny as in popcorn!

This recipe not surprisingly come from a popcorn cookbook; Popcorn Potpourri by Larry Kusche.
The book has quite a few tasty sounding recipes for sweet and savory popcorn treats. But then it ventures to where popcorn should not go. Yet another case of trying to use an ingredient where it doesn't belong. There are recipes using ground crushed popcorn in things that would traditionally use bread crumbs. OK maybe you could get away with that but why bother. Then things go truly wrong with Corny-Chili Pie.

Corny Chili Pie
1 (10 oz.) can chili-hot-dog sauce
1 qt. popped popcorn
1 (10 oz.) pkg. corn-bread mix
1 qt. popped popcorn
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 (8 oz.) can whole kernel corn, drained; reserve 1 tablespoon liquid
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Butter a 9x13 in baking pan. Mix chili-hot-dog-sauce and 1 quart of popcorn. Spread evenly in buttered baking pan. In a mixing bowl, add and mix thoroughly the corn bread mix, remaining 1 quart of popcorn, egg, milk corn and tablespoon of corn liquid. Place in a layer over chili-popcorn mixture. Bake for 20 minutes or until a cake tester can be clean from the center. Makes 6 servings.

This sounds truly wretched to me. Just because it makes 6 servings does not mean you could find six people willing to try this recipe!

Sweet-Sour Baked Chicken

I found this recipe when going through my file of vintage chicken recipe clippings. It sure doesn't strike me as an average sweet-sour recipe. However I suppose it makes some sense because sweet pickles are obviously sweet and sour from the sugar and vinegar they are made with. If you get past the idea of sweet-sour in terms of a Asian dish, this might be good. However if you told people you were serving chicken with a barbecue and pickle sauce I am sure they would think it was weird.

Sweet-Sour Baked Chicken
1 broiler-fryer (2 1/2 to 3 lb.), cut in serving pieces
1/2 cup unsifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup salad oil
Sauce
1/2 cup cider vinegar
3 tablespoons light-brown sugar
1/3 cup chopped sweet gherkins
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon catsup

1. Wipe chicken well with damp paper towels.
2. In clean paper bag, combine four, salt, and pepper. Shake chicken pieces in bag until well coated.
3. Heat oil slowly in large skillet. Brown chicken, a few pieces at a time, turning often. Place, skin up, in 13x9x2-inch baking dish.
4. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make Sauce: In small bowl, combine vinegar and sugar, stirring to dissolve sugar. Blend in remaining ingredients.
5. Brush chicken pieces carefully with sauce. Pour rest over chicken.
6. Bake, covered, 30 minutes.
7. Baste with sauce; bake, uncovered, 15 minutes.
8. Serve with sauce spooned over
Makes 4 servings.