More tomato semi-weirdness

Earlier, I wrote about how the secrets in Home Cooking Secrets of Cedar Rapids (Scarlet Angels Color Guard and Drill Team, 1972-73) are mostly extremely midwestern secrets about things to do with ketchup and Jell-O. As I read, though, I realized that the Scarlet Angels also really liked to do semi-weird stuff with tomatoes, so we should check the recipes out now that it's tomato season.

While I imagined that the recipes calling for ketchup would be made with Heinz, Hunt's, or a store brand, I discovered that Cedar Rapids residents sometimes made their own "Tomato Catsup."

Not being a catsup/ ketchup fan, I don't know what Heinz devotees would think, but I love that this recipe calls for brown sugar, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. I can't help but imagining this as a dessert catsup. Now I'm imagining a world where people celebrate the beginning of PSL season with fries and pumpkin-pie-spiced catsup.

Maybe they would solemnly mark the end of PSL season with a slice of pie filled with Green Tomato Mincemeat.

I'm not a mincemeat fan either, so I have no idea how green tomatoes with brown sugar, lemon, orange, vinegar, apples, coffee, raisins, and fall spices would taste, but it's interesting to know that the meat in mincemeat can be replaced with green tomatoes when frost season starts.

Tomatoes are in season right now, though, so let's make a summery snack.

You've always wanted to spread tomato-hard-cooked-egg-pickle-and-onion-butter on toast or potato chips, right?

Or maybe you'd prefer a nice, cool relish to serve on greens?

Stewed tomatoes in Jell-O sounds just... well, it sounds... The nice thing is, you can use lemon, raspberry, or strawberry Jell-O, so that's an easy way to use up whatever flavor you have lying around the house. And the recipe calls for canned tomatoes, so it will work even if your tomato plants aren't doing so well this year!

Here's hoping you can look on the bright side this tomato season (even if you don't end up trying these recipes).