Last week’s thrift store run introduced me to a whole new world of vintage fun. Not only did they have a special “Stuff a bag for $5.00″ which was a pleasant and enjoyable surprise… but I happened upon a large collection of cookbooks, circa 1970. Not only do I love retro, but I love to cook. Surely these books were going to be the perfect addition to my own collection of cookbooks. A super vintage score! I added them to my bag and continued on. Some cool ribbon, a few frames and a couple of vintage ironstone plates, a bag of charms, a few jewelry pieces. The bag was stuffed and I headed home.

I sat down with a cup of coffee to leisurely flip through my pile of cookbooks. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw.

Caption reads “First stop- appetizer table. Remember, this is only the start!”

Sure it was only the start, but could it get any better than that “Trio of egg-and-olive penguin guards and the anchovy stuffed eggs.” (Bedded on ice on a lazy susan of course!)

The colorful array of tasty treats both above and below can be found in Better Homes & Gardens “Meals with a Foreign Flair” from 1971. They are not illustrations. They are actual photographs with lavish displays, weird props and food that looks as synthetic as the polyester pants worn by the photographer that snapped the shots.

The caption with this photo reads “Here’s dinnertime drama a la Old Mexico. The star-zingy Enchiladas. Tickets to a bull fight afterward?”

Was it the lighting in the pictures? Was it the age of the paper of the pages? What in the world could make all of this food look like the plastic props from Munchkin Land in the Wizard of OZ? And did people actually think this food looked good? Good enough to purchase the book and whip up a dish or two? I had so many questions.

As I flipped through, my moments of bewilderment began to mix with a bit of fascination. Fascination and the need to share these seemingly lost pieces of culinary history with my modern day blog readers.

In a effort to get the word out, I will be sharing an authentic, circa 1970 recipe from this new found collection every month in my new blog feature ~ReTRo Cookbook Classics~ I will also be accepting submissions! So if you have a super 70’s cookbook find that you would like to share, hit me up!! GMmosaics@aol.com

In the meantime, help yourself to some “Sweet and Sour Pork atop fluffy rice” and don’t forget the side of abacus.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 2nd, 2009 at 11:08 pm and is filed under mosaic pictures. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.