I know my initial post about Betty Crocker's Dinner Parties (7th printing, 1978) focused on how lazy an entire menu could be, but the book also recommends ways to make easy mixes more complicated than simply following the instructions on the back of the box. My favorite examples of this show how to make pre-packaged potato products into "fancier" foods. For instance, if you want to serve New England clam chowder but want to be fancier than just reheating a can of Progresso, you can turn a box of scalloped potato mix into Quick Trick Clam Chowder.
It's basically making the scalloped potatoes on the stovetop and then dumping in canned clams and a bunch of extra milk. I imagine this would need some salt given how much the milk will dilute the mix's flavor, but it's an interesting use of packaged potatoes.
The recommendation for instant mashed potatoes is even more work (and more puzzling): turn them into a cold mashed potato salad.
And then stuff that mixture of cold mashed potatoes, hard-cooked eggs, pickle relish, instant minced onion, minced pimiento, and vinegar into small (and apparently raw) green peppers to serve at a picnic. Sounds gross AND hard to eat! The perfect combination if the cook doesn't want to be coerced into catering a picnic again...
At least Betty put more work into these recipes than into the one for onion rolls. I'm not sure what this suggests, exactly, except maybe that she tried drugs in the '70s just like everyone else?
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