Eyes on the Pies!

It's time to start sending out teasers. Remember last year when I participated in the Pieathalon? There's a new one this year, and I'll be making another vintage pie, sent from another food blogger! You won't see the results until June 8, but I'm starting to get excited about this.

That's why today we're looking at the "Party Pie Book" from Good Housekeeping's Cook Books (1958).

I almost sent this recipe for another blogger to make just because it seems soooo very '50s:

Not only does it contain "gelatine," but also a No. 2-1/2 can of fruit cocktail. (That is a LOT of fruit cocktail: 27 ounces. It's still less than a No. 2-1/2 square can, though, which is 31 ounces. I enjoy looking up can sizes.) 

Toss in a banana, fold in some whipped cream, and you have pure '50s "goodness." (I didn't pick this recipe though. This post doesn't have any spoilers.)

I was interested in the next recipe because I'd heard of fried green tomatoes, but I'd never heard of this:

I'm not sure, but I'll bet "Green-Tomato Pie" tastes a lot like apple pie with its cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon juice.

I just love the little drawing with the fancy designs in the top crust. I would NEVER have the patience for that kind of thing.... I'm lucky if I can make a pastry that doesn't fall apart on every single one of my 513 attempts to put it in the pie plate.

Most of the pies looked pretty good, but I did see one picture that scared me a little:

What is this? It looks like a crust filled with canned mandarin oranges. Some kind of alien pods with exposed brains are gathered on a pastry ledge to feed on the juices below.

I'm wrong on all counts. This is...

..."Walnut-Prune-Cot Pie." Loaded with dried apricots and prunes, this pie once again hints at Good Housekeeping recipe writers' obsession with regularity. I'll bet they were no fun to talk to once they were in nursing homes (and probably for years before that, too)!

Now you know what I didn't send for the Pieathalon... Keep tuning in and eventually you will find out what I sent and received! Have a suspenseful weekend.