Throwbacks are making comebacks
Fashions from past decades make comebacks, and so do certain foods.
Currently, foods from the '70s and '80s are showing up for dinner.
Home cooks, both young and older, are pulling out these recipes that were good then and are a pleasant surprise today.
A guest at a recent seder dinner raved about the layered salad. "I haven't had this in years, but it is so good," she said.
What is layered salad, you might ask? It contains about five to seven layers of fresh vegetables, cheese and a mayonnaise-based dressing. This crunchy salad can be made with cauliflower, broccoli, green peas, water chestnuts, varieties of lettuce and the like.
It's also called a 24-hour salad because the layers have to marry overnight.
One church's Easter potluck meal turned up baked ham with pineapple, brown sugar, cloves, cinnamon and maraschino cherries. My grandmother used those same ingredients every time she made ham; it's still my favorite.
On the dessert side, two cakes stepped back in time, a Mandarin orange and an old-fashioned pound cake. One home chef also brought a pound cake to the seder meal.
Guests at both dinners said how much they enjoyed a plain pound cake. Of course, toppings of fresh strawberries and whipped cream or fro
zen whipped topping do not detract from the basic cake.
Do these recipes bring back memories? Or do you have others that do? If so, please send them to me. I think it is interesting to see the path that food trends take and how the old recipes make their way to 2015.
Here are some layered salad versions and a Mandarin cake recipe. Maybe these will encourage you to bring decades-old recipes to the table.
SEVEN-LAYERED SALAD
1 medium head lettuce
1 large onion
1 large green pepper
2 can drained green peas (I like frozen peas better)
2 cups mayonnaise
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1 layer bacon bits
Note: To be started the day before you plan to serve it.
In large plastic container, put 1 layer of chopped lettuce, one layer of sliced onion rings, one layer of sliced bell peppers, one layer of green peas. Let peas fall around and in salad, but leave top covered. Cover; let stand overnight in refrigerator. Next morning, put 1 layer of mayonnaise; sprinkle cheese on top. Sprinkle bacon bits on top of the cheese. You can add cauliflower and broccoli, optional.
-- From "Indian Springs Campground Cookbook"
LAYERED SALAD
1 small head lettuce, shredded
4 nice carrots, shredded
2 bunches green onions, sliced
4 stalks celery, sliced (I add water chestnuts instead of celery)
10 slices bacon
1 pint mayonnaise
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Layer in a large bowl in this order: lettuce, carrots, green onions and celery.
Fry bacon crisp; crumble and add on top of 1 pint of Hellmann's mayonnaise. Spin blend mayonnaise which is spread on top of first 4 ingredients. Put 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese on top of crumbled bacon. Place plastic wrap over top. Refrigerate 24 hours. Don't toss. Serve.
-- From "Indian Springs Campground Cookbook"
BROCCOLI CAULIFLOWER SALAD
1 bunch broccoli, finely chopped
1 head cauliflower, finely chopped
1- 1/2 cups grated carrots
1 large tomato, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
Dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons vinegar
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Make dressing and pour over finely chopped vegetables. Mix well and chill thoroughly. Serves 10 to 12.
-- From "Lone Star Legacy"
24-HOUR SALAD
6 cups lettuce, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
6 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
1 pound bacon crisp, crumbled
1/2 cup sliced green onions and tops
2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon sugar
1 can English peas
Place 3 cups lettuce in bowl, sprinkle with sugar, salt and pepper. Layer eggs, salt lightly. Drain peas and layer over eggs. Add bacon. Put in 3 additional cups of lettuce over bacon, then add green onions and cheese. Spread mayonnaise over top and seal to edges. Sprinkle with paprika. Refrigerate 24 hours. Serves 12 to 15.
-- From "Cedar Bayou United Methodist Church Sesquicentennial"
MANDARIN ORANGE CAKE
1 yellow or butter cake mix
1 (11-ounce) can Mandarin oranges with juice
1 stick margarine
1/2 cup Crisco oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 whole eggs
Mix all ingredients and pour into 3 (8-inch) greased and floured pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Icing:
1 (12-ounce) carton frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 large box vanilla instant pudding
1 large can crushed pineapple; do not drain
Sprinkle pudding over whipped topping. Mix thoroughly but gently. Add pineapple and mix. Top cake layers with icing. Can ice top or top and sides. Refrigerate to chill. Keep refrigerated.
-- From "Cedar Bayou United Methodist Church Sesquicentennial"
We're jammin'
Darlene Bertram shares her favorite strawberry jam recipe. This jam can be frozen after it jells.
"It is so good," she says.
REFRIGERATOR STRAWBERRY JAM
4 quarts ripe strawberries, de-stemmed, washed and cored, if needed. Cut into small pieces and mashed. Put in deep pan.
Add 3 cups sugar and mix. Bring to a boil and boil 7 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately add 1 large or 2 small boxes strawberry gelatin and mix well.
Pour into clean 12-ounce jelly jars (Bertram reuses her jelly jars). This mixture makes about 6 jelly jars. Place in refrigerator to firm up. Can be frozen after jelled.
-- Submitted by Darlene Bertram
Coconut syrup
Mable Craig of Gulfport, Miss., accidentally picked up a can of grated coconut in heavy syrup. She asked readers what she could make with it.
A fellow reader suggest drizzling the coconut and syrup over ice cream, maybe vanilla, chocolate or butter pecan. Or, make a yellow or chocolate sheet cake. When it's baked and slightly cooled, poke holes like for a "poke" cake, and slowly pour the coconut over it.
"There probably are several other ways to use it. I'd just say, use your imagination," the reader says.
Andrea Yeager, can be reached at ayeager51@cableone.net and takes requests at Cook's Exchange, P.O. Box 4567, Biloxi, MS 39535-4567.
This story was originally published April 8, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Throwbacks are making comebacks ."