Chicken in a Hurry (Oregon, 1974, adapted)

Chicken in a Hurry is a weeknight chicken dish adapted from No Regrets (1974), a compilation of recipes from the Portland (Oregon) Junior League.  The name of the recipe is somewhat misleading – this recipe still takes around an hour start to finish – but it requires very little active time and no chopping.   In……

Tomato Barbecue Jell-O Salad (Georgia, 1960s, adapted)

This is one of those recipes that belongs to another time and place, and probably should have stayed there.   Savory Jell-O salads have always fascinated me, but I don’t get around to making them all that often.  There’s usually a weird crunchy ingredient like celery or chopped nuts that prompts the gag reflex just reading……

Homemade Condensed Cream of Potato Soup (Wisconsin, 1962, adapted)

My vintage cookbooks are filled with recipes that require some form of condensed cream soups.   Cream of mushroom seems to be the hands-down favorite, followed closely by cream of chicken, but there are still a healthy number of recipes that call for cream of celery or cream of potato.  In terms of convenience and……

Eggs and Tomatoes, or American Shakshuka (Wisconsin, 1962, adapted)

Eggs and Tomatoes is a simple main dish from the good women of Arcadia, Wisconsin ca. 1962.  Nestled among a variety of chicken casseroles and chop suey recipes, this recipe is something of an outlier.  No meat.  No condensed soup.  And a keen-eyed observer might recognize this dish looks an awful lot like shakshuka, a North……

Fire and Ice Tomatoes (Tennessee, 1978, adapted)

This recipe has got personality top to bottom, from the provocative title to the spicy flavors to the sassy instructions.  It’s a simple tomato salad with zesty spices (the fire) and cucumbers (the ice).  The original recipe describes the spice mix as ‘sultry’, which seems entirely appropriate.  It’s perfect for a zippy summer salad or even as a hamburger topping.