Party Pizzas are more of an idea than a recipe; an easy way to throw together pizza goodness for a weeknight meal or midnight stack. This particular idea/recipe comes from a mid-60s cookbook compiled by the VFW post in rural Round Head, Ohio. The underlying idea is simple: instead of pizza crust, roll refrigerator biscuits……
Course: Appetizers and Snacks
Empanadas de Queso de Crema (adapted from Elena’s Secrets of Mexican Cooking, 1958)
Empanadas de Queso de Crema is a simple empanada pastry recipe from Elena Zelayeta, author of several well-received cookbooks in the 1940s and 1950s. Zelayeta’s penchant for cooking is made all the more remarkable by the fact that she was entirely blind. For those interested, I’ve written a more in-depth biographical sketch in my review……
Polish Porcupines (Indiana, 1984, adapted)
Nearly every church cookbook I own from the 1960s – 1980s has some form of recipes for “porcupines”. They are usually little more than meatballs mixed with uncooked rice. As they cook the meat contracts and the rice expands to form “quills” on the surface of the meatball – hence the porcupine. Truth be told……
Pickled Heart (Wisconsin, 1980s, adapted)
Pickled Heart is a hunter’s recipe, an example of the waste not, want not philosophy that underpins responsible hunting. If you’re going to go to all the trouble to drag an animal out of the forest back to your truck, you’re not going to take the best cuts and toss out the rest. You’re going……
Ranch Oyster Crackers with Sumac (Wisconsin, 1980s, adapted)
Cool Ranch Doritos were introduced to an unsuspecting American public in 1986 and have been a best seller ever since (in spite of those awful Jay Leno commercials). Thirty-odd years later there you can find ranch-flavored anything. There’s a local company that sells ranch-flavored crickets, so I really do mean everything. But in the……
Curry Spread (adapted from Hotpoint Storybook Kitchen Cookbook, 1964)
Curry Spread is a simple appetizer spread made from blue cheese and mayonnaise. This recipe is adapted from the Hotpoint Storybook Kitchen Cookbook, a 1964 cookbook published by General Electric to coincide with their exhibit at the World’s Fair. Curry Spread won’t going to win any awards for originality or flavor but it exemplifies the……