Home Ec Teachers Get Quick and Easy!

I love the Favorite Recipes of Home Economics Teachers series just because home ec teachers were often so focused on some specific aspect of cooking-- usually nutrition, but sometimes another factor such as cost or ease of preparation-- that they could lose sight of what actual humans wanted to eat. And that's why I picked up the 1978 revision of Quick & Easy Dishes, even though I already had an older edition.

Since this book covers all types of cooking-- not just one type like vegetables or chicken-- I'm going with my "menu of mayhem" format, picking some weird-ish recipes to put together into a questionable meal. Let's start out with some appetizers.

I have no idea how Mighty Lucy Links got their name, but I'm sure that Vienna sausages dipped in spiced catsup and Fritos would make diners anxious for the next course-- if only to get the taste of Vienna sausages out of their mouths. 

For a main dish, how about this beautiful classic?

Yes, it's everyone's favorite, Baked Eggs-Corned Beef and Bananas!

I get that people in the '70s were likely to have a can of corned beef hash in the pantry and eggs in the fridge, so this was an easy way to make do with what was on hand, but I will never get over the random addition of bananas to casseroles for no discernible reason other than "Bananas exist! And you can put them in things!" 

For a salad, how about Green and Gold Mold?

And yes, the green is lime gelatin, and the gold is grated carrots and Velveeta. Just eat it. We all understand the importance of getting enough Velveeta into one's diet. 

I will admit that I was too lazy to scan the bread recipe, so I'll just tell you the secret: you can make easy southern biscuits by dredging canned refrigerated biscuits in cornmeal before you bake them. At least, that is according to Mrs. Charles Woolf from Morrowville, Kansas. I bet that actual southerners might dispute this claim. 

And for dessert, you better have a big, flat area available in your freezer. Why? Because you're making a cake from a box mix.

If that previous sentence didn't seem to make sense, well, hopefully the recipe clarifies it. Just prepare a yellow cake mix according to the box instructions, fold in a cup of nuts, pour the batter into a 9x13 pan, and freeze the whole thing. Then once it's solid, pour boiling cocoa-brown-sugar water over frozen cake slab before you bake it. So quick and easy! Nothing could be simpler. (Well, except just making the cake from a mix according to the package directions without freezing it and dumping boiling sugar-water over it first... or buying a pre-made cake and throwing out the bakery box before claiming that you personally made it.)

In any case, enjoy the menu! And don't forget to roll your eyes when the home ec teacher turns her back. (Not that I ever did that.)