Last month I shared a story about a trip to the thrift store and the fantastic vintage cookbooks I purchased. I was so mesmerized by what I found, the decision was made to do a monthly series on the forgotten recipes hidden in the pages of these circa 1970 cookbooks. Originally I had planned to share one recipe a month. That idea quickly went out the window as I flipped through the pages today. I could not help but notice there was an underlying theme, a connection between many of the recipes. It was evident in the titles and of course the pictures. If you don’t plan on using a mold to shape the food you cook, then you should not bother to cook at all.

From the meat loaf seen above cleverly filled with fries to the elaborate mini molds of gelatin based treats with assorted vegetables and fruits trapped inside seen below, it seems that using a mold to perfect presentation and impress your guests was all the rage.

This “Spaghetti Catherine” from the 1967, Good Housekeeping- Cooking for the Family can be created by cooking the spaghetti according to package directions then “winding layers of spaghetti around the inside of a greased 3-quart ring mold”. Just let it stand 5 minutes then unmold it onto a cookie sheet. Broil at 500 degrees for 10 minutes. Then “transfer ring carefully with the help of two broad spatulas to serving platter.”

In case you couldn’t tell, those are meat strips (canned lunch meat… aka:Spam) and sausage in the center. Don’t forget to pour on the sauce. And they say it slices nicely and can feed 12 guests. Apparently it will float on the surface of a pond or lake too…. or is that a tablecloth?

This last selection is from another 1967 Good Housekeeping book. This one focuses on soups, salads and sandwiches. This absolutely dreadful molded creation is called “Asparagus Mold with Cottage-Cheese Sauce.” Had they simply used some type of fruity jello to act as the host to the asparagus it might not be so bad. But this my friends is actually unflavored gelatin with a little bit of sugar, lemon juice and vinegar in it. And this recipe is not for a beginner. It would even give Martha a run for her money. It takes serious skill to encircle those pimentos around the stalks of the asparagus inside the gelatin.

As someone who is baking challenged and can barely get a cake out of a pan in one piece, I have to say I am quite thankful that this is no longer a trend in cooking. The pressure to keep it in one piece must have been intense. Especially knowing that your guests on their way. Oh the horror!

Thanks to Ebay, you can get a hold of one of these now vintage jello molds and give one of these tasty recipes a try. So if you are feeling up to the challenge and want to see the full recipe of any one of these molded treasures, or if you have a cookbook that features some spectacular molded recipes and want to share, feel free to contact me. GMmosaics@aol.com

This entry was posted on Monday, March 30th, 2009 at 3:54 am 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.