@writersblock -- may not be dissertation worthy, but fun to look at. Did you see a year/meal you liked? Funny, I remember patty shells being very, very, very special.

@grainlady -- remember mock apple pie?:) I never made/had it, but I remember my grandmother talking about it. You've inspired me to search out that Bon Appetit magazine.

@ linda -- HA! There WAS a lot of cream sauce with chipped beef, and I remember the chipped beef being really "chipped." But that could just be my mom stretching her dollars -- ALWAYS:)

Sorry, for all of you lima bean lovers -- that visual reminded me why I still can't eat them to this day.

On a side note, I was just thinking that my kids -- Millennial generation -- have not even been exposed to a lot of these dishes let alone tasted any of them.

Enjoy the day!

Cathy in SWPA

Funny, I remember patty shells being very, very, very special.

Yes, but so was chicken ala king back in the day. I always hated it myself, but to my parents (born at the end of WWI) it was ultra deluxe, not something you'd have on a daily basis, but occasionally for Sunday dinner. (Even after frozen patty shells first appeared decades later, they were very expensive, so not something you squandered wantonly.)

And I agree about the creamed chipped beef, totally. Lots more sauce and much smaller pieces. My mom also made creamed hamburger, which was actually pretty good, especially when served on a baked potato.

BTW, for folks interested in recipes from the teens through the 30s, you can download most of the issues of Good Housekeeping for that period via google books. Very interesting reading, and not just the recipes. I had no idea that GH began as more or less a radical feminist publication.

But the recommended cooking times for vegetables are simply horrifying. 45 minute minimum for green beans, for example.

writersblock- Thanks for the Good Housekeeping info. Sounds like great reading.

I have a friend's sister (in her late 70's) who still cooks CANNED green beans for at least 30-minutes..... Old information is pretty interesting, which makes us have to believe today's information isn't much better (LOL). I have a Mayo Clinic article from the 1940's that states..."bolting hot foods causes cancer". Check the high school cafeteria and you'll find "bolting" at it's best!

Well, my mom was born at the end of 20's and grew up in the 30's and 40's and came of age in the 50's and 60's, and ALL of those foods were staples at our house! Never got into fondue, but the 70's did seem to be an era of food gadgets, from us getting a large electric griddle, food processor, microwave, crepe maker . . . Not quite sure when the bread machine and stick blender arrived.

Anyway, that was FUN, thanks for posting it!

Edited: I do think the stick blender for mass market was a mid to late 90's thing because I got mine for my first apartment back then. Prior to that I had been trying to puree soups by pouring them into the blender which I hated, and I definitely remember doing that at my college apt. in the 80's.

(grump) I can't get the videos on this computer. :(

Interesting: I had to look up "patty shells". I've seen them, of course, but never knew there was a specific name. I only ever saw chicken a la king as a child and then over white rice, but my friend's mother who made it wasn't a good cook and I just remember it being weird. :)

Somewhere I have the menu from my great-grandparents' golden wedding anniversary, 1920's. I'll have to go back and look when I have a chance. I don't remember it having anything odd on it, though it was, of course, of its time.

I may not be 100 years old, but I remember all of these dishes.

Grainlady, would you please share your most excellent recipe for Sloppy Joes?

I was born in 36....and remember when people first "discovered" Jell-O salads...

Patty shells were the stuff of tea rooms....when we had chicken a-la king it was either on biscuits, rice or toast....as was creamed chipped beef.
Roast beef with Delmonico potatoes.....that's not become dated....and those plates are what I use today, pink transfer ware!
Did anyone dip cubes of ham into cheese fondue? I never did! bread or occasionally celery or broccoli.
I have had a stick blender since mid 80's....and it wasn't a new idea then> I remember a few "mock" things....mostly mock apple pie, not because it was hard to get apples, but because it was easier to open a tube of Ritz crackers than to peel an apple. I also remember "city chickens"...which was ground veal formed around a wooden skewer....and perfectly delicious!

CA Kate-

Here's the recipe.... :-)

SLOPPY JOES

(source: Snacks and Little Lunches - July 1963 - Extension Service, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas)

1/2 c. chopped onion

1/4 c. chopped green bell pepper (if desired)

1/4 c. chopped celery

1 T. fat [I omit this because our ground beef isn't as lean as it was in 1963]

1 pound ground beef

1 small can tomato sauce

1/4 c. catsup

1 T. vinegar

1 T. sugar

salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet, mix ground beef, onions, green pepper (if using), and celery. Brown ground beef, breaking the meat into small pieces as you turn it with a spoon and cook the vegetables until slightly tender. Drain any fat/liquid from the meat mixture. Add the tomato sauce, catsup, vinegar, sugar, and salt/pepper (to taste). Put the lid on the frying pan. Simmer the mixture 20-minutes over low heat. [You can add a little water if the meat mixture seems too thick.] To serve, spoon the meat mixture into warm hamburger buns.

[Grainlady Note: We never had anything as exotic as a green bell pepper when I was a kid, so I never made the recipe using it.]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mock Peanut Brittle - uses cornflakes

Mock Egg Salad - uses chickpeas

Mock Mince Pie - a Canadian recipe from 1890

Mock Sour Cream - using 1 small can of Nestle Media Crema Table Cream + 1 t. white vinegar. Stir together. Refrigerate 15-minutes to thicken.

Mock Cream - 2 oz. margarine, 2 oz. sugar, 1 T. dry milk powder, 1 T. milk. Cream sugar and margarine until light and fluffy. Add milk powder and milk, beat well until light and fluffy. Chill and serve.

Mock Miracle Whip - 3 T. arrowroot powder, 1 c. water, 4 T. honey, 1/4 c. + 2 T. Apple Cider Vinegar, 1 T. sea salt, 1/3 c. lemon juice. Blend together.

Mock Apple Butter - uses zucchini puree

And that's just the beginning of them....

The sloppy Joe's I made way back when as a teenager, used a can of Campbell's chicken gumbo soup.....and some onion. Don't ask!! I didn't make it very often!!
Never made those mock things....but I do remember when as a new bride a friend had a cook book with all that stuff....and I do remember a mock apple pie with zucchini, now that you mention it....nasty!! LOL!

Thank you Grainlady. I have the horde coming for the whole of T-week! I will need a lot more meals than just for T-day. I've already made and frozen a huge pot of beef stew and a double pot of two-chicken soup, and the Sloppy Joes sound great for another meal.

The TV dinner looks familiar before they take the lid off, but what's in that tray doesn't come close to resembling the awful stuff that was in those. I remember watery potatoes, thin slices of something that resembled turkey floating around in a salty congealed mass that passed for gravy, it was awful.

I did like creamed chipped beef, like LindaC we had that and chicken ala king on biscuits, never on rice.

We had Spam, but I always refused to eat it, opting to go hungry instead, or eating just the boiled potatoes that invariably accompanied it.

I can't eat those big honkin' lima beans, they are dry and mealy, but I can, in a pinch, eat the small ones.

I used to make sloppy joes when I was in high school in the early 70s, but back then we called them "barbeques" or "barbeque sandwiches". I don't remember when they became Sloppy Joes.

And I don't remember ever eating macaroni and cheese when I was a kid, or a teenager. It wasn't until my girls were born in the 80s that I found out about it. Still didn't like it, but that's the first time I remember trying it.

Grandma used to make a mock apple pie with zucchini, and I still can mock pineapple made of zucchini and pineapple juice. Our City Chicken was made with ground pork, though, not veal.

Annie

How do you eat a SloppyJoe? Doesn't it all fall off the bun?

When I was in junior high, I spent the night with a classmate. The next morning her dad fixed creamed chipped beef on pancakes. I thought it was divine and promptly asked Mom to fix it for me the next weekend. She declined.

The closest we ever came to Sloppy Joes was once when I convinced my mom to buy a can of Manwich. I was probably influenced by the TV commercial - "a sandwich is a sandwich, but a Manwich is a meal." I don't think we had them twice.

@writersblock and @grainlady -- I had a couple of minutes (which morphed into a more serious time drain) and began to search archived Good Housekeeping. Landed here Home Ec Archives Cornell and fell into the vortex. Had to share June 1950 -- Chicken Salad Superb using the "eviscerated or cleansed, drawn market fowl or roasters" with cutting advice to "not mince it; let your guests know it's chicken. Don't shun the dark meat. A pure-white salad does look pretty, but for flavor - no thank you." HA!

@lpinkmountain -- Oh my word! Yes to all of those gadgets. And I still have my red electric wok in my garage:)

@LindaC -- I was fascinated with the skewers in city chicken. I actually have no idea what the meat was, but again the gadgetry won me over.

@plllog -- yep, patty shells. That's all it took for me to feel like things were fancy schmancy.

@CA kate - our sloppy joe recipe is very similar to Grainlady with the exception of no celery/pepper and added worcestershire (where is spell check?) and yellow mustard. Recipe made it into the family cookbook. Sweet and tangy.

@Annie -- "big honkin' lima beans" Yes! Oh my goodness. I literally swallowed them whole with the huge glass of milk that we had to drink. Funny about the mac n' cheese. I so wanted the blue box Kraft, but we weren't "allowed" and my mom made scratch:) I still feel like a rebel if I eat blue box!

@Islay Corbel -- They are kind of messy!

One last memory is of my mother's fondue pot, long forks and burner thingy. We never had cheese, but some kind of beef with various sauces. The thing I remember most is being extremely hungry waiting for this little piece of beef to cook.

Cathy in SWPA

Islay.....that's why they are called "sloppy Joes"..;-)

Thanks, Cathy, that was fun.

Islay, my mom solved the sloppy joe problem by serving them in hot dog rolls rather than hamburger rolls.

When my mother hosted her bi-monthly Card Club in the 1950's, she sometimes served chicken a la king in patty shells, along with molded jello salads containing mandarin oranges and pineapple.

Like Grainlady, I have always been interested in WWII rationing and have a collection of government and food manufacturer issued recipe booklets for "Stretching Your Ration Points".

Imagine cooking and baking with one pound of butter per month for your household. No wonder so many recipes from that era called for margarine or shortening! Upside-down cakes were popular since butter didn't need to be used for frosting.

If you're interested in food history, there is an fascinating app named Vintage Menus, with copies of menus from banquets, restaurants, trains, and ships beginning in the 19th century.

In the 60's we had sliced and fried spam, I actually liked it. We also had SOS which I also liked. But I hated green jello and that was the only one they ever had at school. And yes we had a fondue pot in the 70's. When that fad faded, I put a potted plant in it. We never had Sloppy Joes growing up at home but a friend's mom would make them when we spent the night and we thought they were the best. I still occasionally fix myself a fried bologna sandwich. It HAS to have mayo, yellow mustard and American cheese on it and fried really crisp. And preferably on the plain old store-rack bread like we used to eat. But I don't eat bologna any other way.

Islay Corbel -

We used (3-3.5") homemade whole wheat burger buns, now I use a gluten-free recipe for "Sandwich Rounds" (grilled). Hubby takes the leftovers to work in a microwavable glass bowl and eats the loose meat mixture with a fork - reheated with a sprinkle of shredded cheese on the top.

How "sloppy" depends on the recipe. Some recipes are really loose and liquidy, and others, not-so-much. You can cook the recipes down to reduce the liquid if it's too thin, or even add a tablespoon of flour to thicken the mixture. The grind of the meat can also make a difference. I often use ground turkey for the recipe, and the meat chunks are larger than most ground beef.

It also depends on how much you put on the bun (as well as the bun size). I use about 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of mixture per "joe". You can also eat the Sloppy Joe on a bun, on a plate, with a fork, but where's the fun in that :?)

When our daughter turned 18 (senior in high school), we had a surprise "tailgate" party for her after volleyball practice with around 50-people attending in the high school parking lot, and we served this recipe for Sloppy Joes. There were 7 members of the volley ball team who asked for the recipe when they found out how easy it was to make. I ran into one of these team members the other day and she said she still make this recipe for her family.

I gave the recipe to a fellow church member for a meal for her teenage daughter and a bunch of her friends, and the church friend loved it so much she submitted the recipe, in my name with a recommendation by her, for the Church Cookbook.

Anyway.... It's one great recipe if you need to feed a WHOLE lotta people with a pound of hamburger. -Grainlady

I was a kid during the rationing because of WW II. I can't remember when it started, but we really learned to do without a lot of stuff, and the rationing for many things lasted for a couple of years after the war ended. sugar, of course was rationed. What we were allowed was used for things like putting coffee and sprinkling on cereal. we almost never baked, but when we did it was things like chocolate cake with mayo instead of shortening, and strange things like a cake made with bananas instead of sugar and shortening. Butter was rationed, and we stretched it by whipping a stick of butter with 4 oz of evaporated milk and keeping it very cold! meat was rationed, but Spam took no points, nor did fish, and we lived on the east coast so fish was plentifull. It was recommended that "mother" planned 2 meatless days a week, Wednesday and Friday.
Leather shoes were also rationed and I was a kid and my feet grew fast! And later, after the war was over but things were still rationed, I had a brother by then and he was a toddler and needed shore every few months, so one summer I had rope soled canvas espadrilles. I loved them!! But those ropw soled didn't last long! Cloth was in short supply, so hems in clothing were smaller and dresses shorter. Things like sheets and towels were impossible to buy, and my brother used hand me down diapers....and there was no such thing as rubber pants>
Tires for your car were rationed and scarce as hen's teeth, as was gasoline. You had a sticker on your car depending on if it was used for business or strictly for pleasure and you could by more or less gas depending on your sticker. You didn't drive anywhere without a good reason!
Everyone with a plot of ground had a "Victory Garden" and veggies were in good supply as were eggs and milk.
We all saved grease from anything and either used it for cooking other things, imagine bacon grease biscuits! We saved tin foil, like from gum wrap-pers and cigarette packs. we formed it into a ball and turned it in for more rationing points. Saved fat also bought meat points. There was also a thriving black market for things like gas and meat. I am pretty sure that a few of those steaks my father bought were "dobbin".

Almost as soon as the war was over...literally a couple of months, we could get sugar and butter and meat, things like shoes and sheets and clothing was slower coming, as were cars!
Interesting times, my father was too old to be drafted, but 2 uncle were and the fathers of many many friends. thankfully all I knew well returned.

OK, not to offend anyone, but so many of those dishes just did not make me want to eat them. So many processed and premade things in that retrospective -- I was expecting to be delighted and inspired, but instead was left a little offput. And I eat plenty of premade and processed things, so I'm no angel, but really, mac in a box? I was never served that as a child. I've had spam in Hawaii -- it's very popular there and is tasty with teriyaki sauce on a rice ball (musubi). Or perhaps the sand, water and sun bias one's tastebuds.

The fondue did get me craving some moitie-moitie. (Vacherin Fribourgois is so hard to source).

I recall some old vintage cookbooks from my grandmother filled with recipes like chicken a la king -- and jello molds!

Most meals I had at least heard of the components. My mother (born in 58) loved boxed mac and cheese. As a kid, I detested it but my siblings all liked it. I have no recollection of what I ate instead. I remembered liking Spam as a child although we did not have it often. Then as an adult I bought some out of nostalgia and was struck by number one, how expensive it was for what was not that high quality of a product and how much I did not care for it now, all I could taste was salt. We were not making sushi at home either. The majority of the adults in my life did not cook well so I am very thankful that I live in a time when there is wider selection of ingredients and freer knowledge of what to do with the food.

I still recall my grandmother serving this side of a canned pear half, with a dollop of miracle whip and some shredded cheese. I am so very glad we have moved beyond that although I would be curious to find out why that one dish seemed to stick for so long in the household.

I remember creamed chipped beef on toast ... with a lot of sauce. Also city chicken. No idea if it was pork or veal. My mom made delicious Sloppy Joes and her mac and cheese was also made from scratch. We ate a lot of jello with added canned fruit.

Spam has never touched my lips!

I never ate Spam after the War ended....but for a couple of years ago when I bought a can, just because....awfuls tuff!

My mother made what she called "macaroni milk and cheese" and she cooked elbows and tossed them into a pyrex dish with some flour, milk and shredded chest....mixed it up, topped with paprika and baked it. Sometimes it was thick and gluey, sometimes thin.....but it didn' come from a box. Really nothing but Jello, Duff's waffle mix and a gingerbread mix came from a box.

When more women worked away from home after the war, more "convenience" foods hit the market. If you read "Salt Sugar Fat" by Michael Moss, you'll find lots of post-war scientist ended up in the food science business.

Unless your family grew a large garden, fresh food was expensive and canned fruits/vegetables were more common. My parents purchased celery, carrots, onions, and that's about it from the fresh food bin (it wasn't even an isle at the tiny store they got their groceries - about the size of today's convenience store.)

Things have only gotten worse in the convenience/processed food area. Out of curiosity, I asked a clerk at the grocery store one day what did the really poor people buy? (Mind you, I teach food classes to low-income people.) She said they don't buy groceries, per se, they purchase the 89-cent frozen dinners and entrees, maybe some cereal, milk, bread, peanut butter or lunch meat. Little to no fresh fruit or vegetables. She also added, most pay more for their cell phones each month than they spend on groceries.

According to one source, "61% of Americans calories are from highly processed foods, including refined breads, lunch meat, soda, alcohol, and condiments like salsa and hummus. These foods are also higher in fat, sugar, and sodium than their less-processed counterparts." We've seen food markets grow and grow with more processed foods than ever. Yes, some foods are only minimally processed, which is why I have a 5-ingredient rule. More than 5-ingredients and I won't purchase it. While highly processed foods are "...multi-ingredient industrially formulated mixtures processed to the extent they are no longer recognizable as their original plant or animal source." Frozen Blueberry Eggos have 29 ingredients. Meatless Nuggets, like Morning Star Farms Chick'n Nuggets have 43 ingredients. Nutri-Grain Strawberry Yogurt - 56 ingredients, and be sure to send you kids off to school with a package of Lunchables with 61 ingredients. And don't forget the biggest rip-off in the store - cereal. The average box of cereal contains about 17-cents worth of grain.

"Nov. 2008- Americans spend less than 10% of income on food. It's fallen by nearly half since 1960. Lower than anyone else on EARTH----"

-Grainlady

When I was a kid the mac n' cheese I loved was Stouffers, which is still great. We didn't have TV dinners often but would get that once and a while. Mom made macaroni and cheese from scratch too. We didn't do the boxed kind but many of my friends did. I can count on one hand the times I've had the boxed stuff. I just don't care for it--too bland for my taste. We had fish patties or fingers a lot too, since we all liked them. I just can't afford convenience food. I eat mostly soups and stews pasta and bread. Salad in the summer, coleslaw the rest of the time. Growing up, it was a lot of canned stuff for us too, except for summer when we pigged out on home grown fruits and veggies. Dad was so picky mom didn't bother to make many things from scratch. She made good soups though, and I inherited that gene.

LindaC, your mom's "macaroni and milk" is vaguely similar to my mom's "macaroni and cheese." Mom would boil elbow macaroni until it lost its shape. She would put it in a casserole dish and cover it with a milk and egg mixture. On top of that she'd put a couple of slices of mild cheese. Then it was put in the oven until the macaroni dried out and got crispy. It was awful.

I think I was in college before I knew about the blue box. It's not my cup of tea. Like lpink, my favorite premade mac and cheese is Stouffer's.

My mother's macaroni milk and cheese was good....mostly. Sometimes thin sometimes thick...I was well out of college and married before I knew about the blue box....and likely 40 before I ever bought it.
My parents had a Victory Garden, mostly growing tomatoes. green onions and radishes, with a little garden lettuce for variety. We sure could buy all sorts of good vegetables....during the season and a few out of season during the 50's....but they were expensive. We always had fresh veggies. The only things we ate canned were peas and corn....and fruit.
And yeah, grainlady...I know about how those who can least afford it spend the most on processed foods....no one taught them how to make bean soup or chicken soup out of what's left form something else.
I remember once making dinner for my daughter and her husband when I went when a grand child was born. I bought a 3 1/2 to 4 pound chicken, roasted it made gravy and stuffing and mashed potatoes, next day we had sandwiches ( we were only 3) and then I picked the meat and made a pot pie, and after that I boiled the carcass, added onions, celery, carrots, some dried parsley, brown rice and flour and dry milk. Cream of chicken soup, which was also good for lunch the next day. My son in law was amazed. Another time when eggs were cheap, I used some stale bread, eggs and cheese, onions, celery and whatever else was hanging around and made a strata.....I was a genius!! Amazing!! eggs and stale bread and a hard end of some cheese!
A pound of split peas, some onion of maybe dried onion and water....cook and you have a meal! It's better if you can add a couple of strips of bacon or a ham hock and a carrot and some celery....but its good food without.
Sadly those who should know how to make a cheap easy meal, do not.

Reminds me of my best Christmas present ever - a sack of frozen rotisserie chicken carcasses! My son and his wife and kids love rotisserie chicken from the grocery, but I swear they throw out half of it because they toss the carcass. I told them how horrified I was when I saw them do that one spring day, and the following Christmas they gave me a gift-wrapped sack of frozen carcasses. Best gift ever, I tell you!

Riches!!! One time I was shopping at a grocery store ( as opposed to a dress shop or an antiques store) and they were sampling their own brand of bone in ham. I asked what do you do with that bone when all the meat is gone? she said they just throw it away!!!! I said could you throw it my way? I would be glad to pay?....and when I checked pout there was a warm ham bone for me marked "no charge"....I felt very rich!

Ironically, I just finished off some soup made from a leftover chicken carcass!

I grew up in a farming family (am a total city slicker now) and much of what we ate was made from scratch (just as many of you do) or was taken from the land (fresh fish, mushrooms) -- Pickles were homemade, never vlassic, because Vlassic were too expensive. (exception: noodles were usually purchased) How far I've fallen -- but at last I know what to do with a ham bone (eta -- I just wrote this as lindac wrote about her grocery experience -- I was delighted yesterday to find organic beef bones packed up for soup at the local supermarket --- no one was buying).

Sigh. I remember free soup bones. Nowadays, the butcher buys a lot of cuts already broken down. The one I don't like so well at least will sell "dog bones" for cheap. (Soup bones cost three times as much, but they're the same danged bones!) The better butcher has bones, and often knuckles, but you'd think you were buying steak!

So many meat bargains from years ago are no longer even available, unless you know someone - who knows someone.... It's almost highway robbery what they charge per pound for so-called "stew meat". A neighbor was recently commenting on just such an item and how she wouldn't make stew anymore because of the price. That same week chuck roast were on sale and I said why not buy one and cube it for stew rather than depending on some butcher piling his meat trimmings onto a Styrofoam tray and charging out the wazoo for the privilege. She said she didn't know you could use meat like that for stew!!!! It was difficult to keep a straight face....

Way back I can remember that the grocery could hardly give away things like oxtail, soup bones, skirt steak, short ribs, flank steak, etc. The first time I cooked oxtail I couldn't believe the richness of it. Nowadays it's almost like buying a ribeye.

and chicken wings!!....used to be able to buy a pile for not much, bow they are as much as white meat!

My sister (lives in S. Texas) told me today she can get leg quarters for 29-cents a pound, but wings, like Linda mentioned, are closer to white meat prices. I'm sure the chicken industry thanks whoever launched Buffalo Wings!

It is crazy that wings are that expensive, but in generally, it is beef that still gives me pause. But I try to keep it in perspective -- we do spend a smaller amount on food than any other country, and I recall living overseas and seeing chicken breast for $30 to $35 a pound!

So many interesting and fun posts that make me smile.

I practically heard some of you all in my car today. I was taking my ever-young, savvy, 90-year old friend to the doctor; as usual, we took a great trip down memory lane complete with the requisite line "Do you know what was one of the best things? The GI Bill." We also talked about sugar, butter, gasoline, cars, employment, shoes, etc. Interestingly, she attended the college that my father and daughter also attended. She has always has talked about her ration/coupon book, and taking them to school. I finally asked her how that all worked, and she the University collected all the students books. Hmmmm -- well, that made sense.

We also watched the video on my phone. Of course, everyone probably already knows the origins of name Spam. I, on the other hand, always learn something from Joyce as she laughingly told me "spiced ham." She recognized everything except the quinoa, that tv dinners were considered revolutionary and she still likes kale:)

Cathy in SWPA

Grianlady: when you say small can of tomato sauce which size do you mean?

Speaking of the demise of bargain meats, yesterday the guy ahead of me in line in the grocery store bought 3 small packages of tripe (somewhere between 1 and 2 lbs each) and a beef foot, and I almost fell over when it rang up at nearly $30, just for that. I guess menudo is going to become a gourmet treat for the well to do.

Psst.....I post this in the spirit of letting friends in on a good thing. But there are Mexican grocery stores in and near cities of any size....and they have a lot of those things we can't find any more, like a cut of beef shin. About 3 years ago when visiting my Chicago kids, we were returning from a shopping trip for furniture and saw a store catering to Latinos. My son and I started to salivate and took the rest of the family home and went to shop. That was 3 years ago but I don't think things are that different. I think we were the only people with blue eyes and the only ones who didn't speak Spanish. The other shoppers and the workers were very kind! Took us dummies by the hand and showed us what we might have missed....the produce!! Cheeses!!! meats!! Oh My!!
I suspect you will find similar things in /Asian grocery stores....Break out....there are places besides Krogers and Whole foods!

Ah, yes, but that's for those of you lucky enough to be in a city that has such amenities. We have a generic Asian grocery (no Indian products) and there used to be a little Jamaican store. Nothing Latin at all except for a convenience store. And I would have to drive an hour and a half each way to Whole Foods. It's nice living in a smallish town, but you pay for it in some ways.

CA Kate -

The small cans of tomato sauce are 8-oz. At least the last time I purchased one they were....which hasn't been for a looooooooooong time.

Now, I use tomato powder and make my tomato-based products (tomato sauce and tomato paste) with it + water. I also make tomato juice, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, bbq sauce, etc. all using tomato powder. Tomato powder is a home food storage hero! Not to mention all-around richer flavor and deeper color. You can get small amounts of tomato powder from The Spice House (on-line). I purchase it by the #10 can and I also make a homemade version with dehydrated tomato skins.

Thanks, grainlady. I found an 8 oz. can, a 15 oz. can and the the big brother at 28 oz. I thought I'd better make sure the exact size before ruining a double batch of Sloppy Joes. I haven't ever heard of tomato powder... something new to check-out.

I can say that I have finally mastered Sloppy Joes. Thanks, Grainlady! I had one for lunch on a browned bun and it was great. The rest will go in the freezer for future reference.

LindaC, I had to go to a Mexican/Spanish grocery store for chicken feet so I could make rich broth for Thanksgiving dishes.

The meat department manager at my Publix (my main shopping venue) is a friend of mine. I asked him today "Tony, where are the chicken feet?". He was clueless as to what I was talking about; I explained it to him. I knew he wouldn't have them but was surprised that he didn't know about using chicken feet in broth making.

CA Kate - WOO HOO!!!! I made 1/2 a recipe Tuesday. It's enough for three meals for us. ;-)

Ah, the origin of the name SPAM® The "spiced ham" and "shoulder of pork and ham" myths have floated a long time and not unlike the $200 cookie recipe or the Nigerian General, they never seem to go away.

Either sounds good as a name source but, truth be told, at least according to Hormel®, (the originator and manufacturer of SPAM®) neither story is true. And given that either would be a relatively complimentary story, I'm sure the company would say it's true if it were. I wasn't there at the time so I can't argue with them.

Personally "shoulder of pork and ham" theory would be much more plausible to me than "spiced ham" anyway. What spices are in SPAM® for it to be called "spiced"? Not much besides the two most popular spices in Minnesota (where it originated and is headquartered today) and those spice staples are of course sugar and salt.

I could wonder though if the parent company name was named after a hooker named Melody, or Melanie... Naw. They probably would say if it was! :)

And I haven't had Sloppy Joes in a long time. Used to be a cheap item to make. No more.

Long time lurker, first time poster. Great topic!

My 92 year old mother recently, peacefully passed away. In her eulogy, I mentioned one of her prized treasures...notebooks full of mimeographed dinner menus. In our area in the 1950s, General Electric wanted to sell their appliances on TV. They sponsored Florence Hanford, who I believe was a first TV cook. She broadcasted an hour show where she made an entire meal...from salads to desserts. Following the show my mother would send my older brother to the post office with a penny postcard. In a few days, my mother would receive a sheet with all the recipes for the meal. Then we would be her taste testers!

In her teenage years, my mother worked as a domestic for a well-to-do family. There she learned proper table settings, etc. and she learned to cook a variety of meats. (Her family was extremely poor so meat was rare). Growing up, our table always had tablecloth and cloth napkins, manners were stressed, and table conversation was expected. Although our finances too were somewhat limited, my mother was a bargain shopper, frugal, and never wasted anything. She canned and cut-up whole chickens and no "boxed" food was used. She"did" healthy before it was popular. Thought was given to "eating with our eyes" so color and texture was apparent at our table. Waldorf salads, Ragedy Ann salads, and plain iceberg salads were among her offerings. Scratch desserts of all kinds....what a lucky woman I was!! Many of my memories focus on mealtime and holiday feasts!

Thanks for the thread...memory lane☺️.....Wendy, in SEPA

Lima beans back then were large and rather dry. I remember Spam served fried for lunch sandwiches, never dinner. Chipped beef was very creamy and for lunch. And I certainly remember more vegetables on our dinner plates than shown here. Left over turkey became turkey a la king, and we had it on canned, crispy, Chinese or won ton noodles. And we had many kinds of potato recipes as a side dish for dinner too.

Dad served the plates at the table, which was set with a table cloth and cloth napkins. Chicken was expensive and served as Sunday dinner only. Desserts were made from scratch. My father was in heaven when he bought us a refrigerator with a separate freezer on top with its own door. That meant that we could keep ice cream for any time he wanted some. Every dinner was meat, potato, one or two vegetables, and often a salad. Dessert was served on Sunday only. We learned our table manners as we grew up, and we were expected to observe proper topics for dinner conversations.