Well, that's okay. Calico Cookbook (third printing, September 1976) isn't actually from the hospital; it's from the Auxiliary of Community Hospital (Springfield, OH). I picked it up in part because I adore the patchwork calico cover (lovingly drawn by Carol, who was apparently famous enough in Springfield that she went by just her first name).
It's been a while since we've had one of my patented Menus of Mayhem, so how about a crazy calico dinner?
We'll start out with a salad:
No, not a boring salad that's mostly lettuce, oil, and vinegar, but one that is mostly Jell-O with extra sugar, cream cheese, canned fruit, and a cup of celery so it won't count as dessert. I picked this from the bounty of Jell-O salads because it came with a bonus appetizer! If you look at the end, you'll see that this should be served with Triscuit mini-pizzas. Pepperoni and Triscuits are a great opener for an apricot salad that doesn't actually contain apricots....
Now for the main dish! Let's go for something easy since we've already made both appetizers and a salad.
Actual macaroni and cheese from a box mix to make this Easy Chicken Tetrazzini would be a little too complicated, so let's just go with canned mac and cheese. Layer it with some sautéed veggies and cooked chicken, dump a few bread crumbs on the top, and nobody will ever know dinner came out of a can. (Well, unless they try it and immediately notice the mushy pasta and the metallic off-note of the cheese...)
Now, you could make a separate vegetable to go with dinner, but there was some celery in the salad, and a few veggies in the tetrazzini. Making one more vegetable seems like a lot of extra work, especially if it can be sneaked into the dessert.
If you're imagining that I'm going to suggest carrot cake, you are mistaken. Dinner should be rounded out with a nice green veggie.
Asparagus Cake! At least this calls for fresh or frozen asparagus. Can you imagine a can of asparagus in the cake along with the pineapple and orange rind? It would be like a dirty gym bag with a little potpourri thrown in to try to cover up the smell.... Now it will just be a tropical fruity cake with green bits everywhere, and the only sweet that will make you remember what you had for dessert the next time you need to take a piss.
I hope you have enjoyed this Menu of Mayhem! Now go try to assemble an entire meal menu out of nothing but cakes. (I offer Bratwurst Cake with Beer & Sauerkraut Fudge Cake and Artichoke Spice Cake.)
Hiding vegetables in desserts has gone way too far. Thankfully our mother never tried to do that to us (that I remember).
ReplyDeleteThis looks like it's supposed to be a novelty more than a hiding-it situation. I think the goal used to be to see what cooks could get away with putting into desserts more than tricking kids into eating veggies, which seems to be the focus now. I guess we just keep getting similar trends with different rationales. (See practically any dieting craze.)
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