I'm with Marilyn on jello. I also found out it was made from hooves and was utterly horrified. Ew ...

Since we were on a strict budget, jello was the main dessert when I was growing up, because it was cheap.

I was thrilled on the rare occasion we got pudding, but not rice pudding. Yes, keep it away from me! Ew ...

My mother told me that when she was child sometimes they used to eat lard on bread.

grapefruit1 ... I wonder if especially older folks ground their ham to make it easier to chew? My grandparents didn't have the best teeth as they aged. But I don't know if that had anything to do with it or not.

scott, as to lard on bread, my grandpa said they used to eat that when they were kids. Ironically(?), I've been meaning to buy some lard from the local food coop. I'm looking for a Crisco replacement, not a sandwich!

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one here who likes Jello! Love it with grated carrots, or crushed pineapple, even just plain Jello! Anyone remember the Strawberry and pretzel dessert made with Jello, pretzels, and Cool Whip? Offhand, I don't remember the exact ingredients, but it is soooooo good!

Oh, and another one is a box of cherry Jello, a can of dark sweet cherries and a can of Coca Cola. Topped with Cool Whip. Although I think we used Dream Whip more than we did Cool Whip.

Now I'm wondering if Dream Whip is still available.

Igmd, I've saved your recipe, it sounds good, and I want to try it soon!

Seagrass, I grew up with Liverwurst and onion sandwiches, but we ate them on a good German pumpernickel with butter. But the only place I could get a good German pumpernickel around here was a World Market about 50 miles from me. And it recently closed down. Guess I'm going to have try to find some online.

Rusty

Another one I like. No measuring just use the amounts you want. LOL

Strawberry jello, let cool on the counter, in the meantime soften cream cheese and whip with mixer. Whip one cup of the warmish jello into the cream cheese until lumps are gone than stir in remaining jello. whisk in cool whip and drained crushed pineapple. Stir in crushed walnuts. Put in frig until set. It will be 3 different pink colored layers. But it tastes super good.

Grinding meat had nothing to do with the ability to chew. Sometimes it was an economical way to stretch meats. A chub of bologna made into a spread went further than individual slices. It is the same principle as meatloaf, four burger or something to feed an entire family with leftovers.

Spreads are also something that people just like. Chopped liver, liverwurst, deviled ham or some form of those are a part of just about any international cuisine in one form or another.

It's funny to me how people think about food. Many of the foods people pay top dollar for in a restaurant with fancy names started out as economical "peasant" or "worker class" foods.

I like jello once in a while. I like to put fruit in it. Black Cherry and Lime are the flavors I like.

We have an old fashioned meat grinder used primarily to grind raw meats for burgers, meatballs, and sausage. It looks exactly like my mother's.

But we also love to make cold spreads from cooked meats like chicken, turkey, roast beef, and ham. Depending on the desired outcome, other ingredients are added in the grinding process to complete the dish and mayo is added.

We use the coarse blade on the grinder for all of our purposes. We love our cold spreads; so good on sandwiches, crostini, nice crackers, and as a filling for mini pate a choux, which are a favorite party appetizer. A scoop of cold turkey spread on top of a bed of mixed greens and tomatoes makes a wonderful lunch.

watchmelol, rhizo -- thanks for educating me. I guess for some reason the practice of grinding meats didn't pass down from grandpa to my mom or to me

One of my favorite cookbooks is from 1927, published by the Royal Baking Powder Company. Surprisingly good recipes but some kinda creepy illustrations ... four of these women look identical, what's with that?

Something I enjoyed as a child, was fried bologna (baloney) sandwiches with mustard. This was always done in a cast iron pan.

Pimento cheese sandwiches? A good one is fabulous! It's a local specialty here and many will be served over the next week for Derby entertaining. Needs to either be homemade or made by a really good local gourmet deli - not that processed stuff Kraft used to see in little jars that could be re-purposed as juice glasses.

Actually Jello/gelatin does not come from hooves.

Urban legends claim that gelatin comes from horse or cow hooves, though that's not exactly true. The collagen in gelatin does come from boiling the bones and hides of animals processed for their meat (usually cows and pigs). But hooves consist of a different protein, keratin, which can't produce gelatin.


https://www.livescience.com/42088-what-is-jello-jell-o.html

Rusty, I still make a version of the Coca Cola salad. Dark sweet cherries, crushed pineapple, walnuts, with 1/2 black cherry and 1/2 regular cherry jello, using the fruit juices and either Coca Cola or sherry for all the liquids. Topped with real Mayo.

Sounds interesting, Mojo. I never would have thought to use pineapple and cherries together, I'm gonna have to try that!

Rusty

I like jello shots. Jello made with vodka put into 2oz portion cups. As for different meat, I like headcheese once every few years, but please don't tell me what's it made of.

A friend of mine just started a podcast on this topic - she and her partner focus on an old cookbook each episode and talk about the history of the food in question, then go over some recipes and make one. It is VERY aptly titled "Gag Reflects." https://www.facebook.com/GagReflects/

Jello "salads" containing everything from sweet pickles to prunes to chili sauce to mayo AND cottage cheese have already come up. How did Jello become conflated with salad back then???? To this day my mother makes something she calls "Strawberry Salad" but it's actually a dessert - pretzel crust, strawberry Jello, berries and Cool Whip. NOT A SALAD!!!!!!

When I think of strange old recipes, I also think of those jello mold recipes that were in all the old recipe books. I never had these, thank goodness. My Mom wasn't big into this sort of cooking. She was a simple cook and everything she made was heavenly!

My Mom occasionally made Jell-O. Sometimes green lime jello with shredded carrots. Mostly red jello with friut coctail , Once a three-layer huge ring mold with red jello on bottom, a creamy white layer (who knows what it contained!!) and green on top. , My brother called it Captain America Salad! I rarely make anythuing like that myself.

OMG! I was so happy when watchme posted that it wasn't from hooves and horns....and then she goes and tells me it is from boiling hides. Same ick factor. ;)

I subscribe to a lady on youtube who posts a recipe almost every day, and it is usually kind of southern cooking...and she has been on youtube for several years and has posted hundreds of recipes. She has posted quite a few jello recipes. The reason being, she says the gelatin has really helped her bad knee, since she started eating it several times a week. Her subscribers have posted that since they started, it has helped their achy joints also. I remember reading years ago that about adding gelatin to orange juice, as a remedy for the same.

Nickel.." My grandpa used to run ham through his hand-cranked meat grinder along with some pickle and a little onion"..:) my grandma did the same...we

called it "mud meat" Why, I don't know..because it looked like it? My brother

loved it...me...not so much. Jell-o I loved and still do. But I stir mine a couple of times while it is hardening, so it is just wavy set..not hard!

Marilyn, what about pork rinds? My dh loves them.

Still make deviled ham spread. Will make some next week, because I am baking a ham for dinner tomorrow. We had the jello "salads" as kids, with fruit cocktail or shredded carrots. I think they were just trying to get some fruits and vegetables into us. LOL

That reminds me, mom made something with ham ...... can't recall if it was deviled or not, and lemon jello. Sounds odd, but it was so good, Think I will look for a recipe, for old time's sake.

Seems like jello is still omnipresent. How about the endlessly popular retro tuna casserole? I remember: Tuna. Peas. Cream of mushroom soup. And the potato chips crumbled on top. Too much sodium. But yum. That was a fave when I was a kid.

Scott, I wanted to message you, but see you don't have that option activated. Would you mind dropping me a line? It's not about anything on this forum.

here are some more strange ones. I remember that ribbon loaf, it was good.

Vintage recipes

My mother-in-law used to make a jellied meat dish for Ukrainian Easter.

Studenetz (Kholodets) - Jellied Meat

4 pork hocks, fresh
1 pound veal
1 veal shank and bone
1 stalk of celery, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon mixed spices, tied in a cloth bag
1 to 2 cloves garlic (to taste)
salt to taste

Scrape hocks; wash well, place in a pot; add the veal shank and veal; cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Lift the meat out and rinse thoroughly; put in a clean pot. Strain stock and cool. Cover the meat with stock. Bring to a second boil, skim the scum off, let boil slowly for 1/2 hour.

Simmer until the meat and bones fall apart, about 2 1/2 to 3 hours in all. One hour before end of cooking, add celery, carrots, onions, spices, garlic and salt to taste.

Remove the spice bag, strain the drained stock. Cut the meat in small pieces (if desired leave in large pieces) taking care to remove all the bones. Place meat and cooked vegetables in glass casserole or pan; pour the stock over the ingredients and let stand until cold; place in refrigerator to set until firm.

It looked like jellied mystery meat.

Ha! I thought she was saying “stewed nuts” and I knew for sure then that I was never going to eat it, no way, no how.

My mother liked head cheese too. I think it looked a lot like roxsol's picture. They butchered a hog every winter. I don't think anything went to waste. I was a picky eater and I am just glad they didn't make me eat any of the stuff I didn't want to eat. I usually had a can of soup or a tv dinner.

My mother frequently made jello--lime with chopped celery or orange with grated carrots. That was my son's favorite dessert. I avoid jello whenever possible--it reminds me of all the time I spent in hospitals when I was young.

I'm remembering something that Mother used to make with lime Jello, canned halved pears or pineapple bites, with ginger ale as the cold liquid instead of water. I think she may have put whole cinnamon sticks in while it was still hot.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I liked that.

Who remembers tomato aspic! Never liked it in my growing up years, but my taste buds changed and I really enjoy now. Use my mother's recipe whenever the opportunity arises. And always with a dollop of mayo. I still have her mold.

Thankfully, I have never been served "stewed nuts" nor anything from JoAnn's link. I do remember fondly the pear half nestled on a lettuce leaf and filled with a dollop of mayo, a teaspoon of grated cheese and a cherry on top.

Bobbi, I don't eat pork rinds either.

Glenda, I have never had tomato aspic, but your mom's look so could, I would like to try it. What do you serve it with?

One of my favorite treats when I was little was jello with canned mandarin oranges in it. Mmmmmmm

You want retro recipes? Watch the old Two Fat Ladies episodes. Retro ENGLISH, it's true. But just as odd and fascinating as American ones.

Scott,I loved tuna casserole,minus the peas.

Yummm I really do like jello with mandarin oranges. Today I made the orange jello with shredded carrots and crushed pineapple. Its now set but too late to stuff my face or should I say my hips.

Scott. I try not to make things using canned soups but I do enjoy tuna casserole. I make it very rarely matter of fact its probably been more than 5 years since I've made it. I don't use mushroom soup though since I detest all things mushroom. I use half cream of chicken and half cream of celery. No peas and no chips on top.

Here’s a jello recipe I make a few times:

1 500 ml tub of cottage cheese

1 500ml tub of cool whip

1 box of orange jello

1 can of mandarins drained

mix cottage cheese and cool whip together and sprinkle dry jello over top, stir til all ingredients are orange. Mix in drained mandarins. Chill.

We have noticed that escargot is back on many restaurants menus we’ve been to. I may make some soon.

Always remember my aunt made tomato soup cake. I wasn't a fan but my cousins still love it.

That lime jello with sour cream and pineapple is still a keeper in our house...

One of my grandmothers made a jello dish with lime jello, cream cheese, pineapple, green grapes, mini marshmalows, and English walnuts. I loved it! As an adult I made it, and no longer cared for it. Will never make it again.

Anglophilia, you wrote, "They also made fabulous home made huge cloverleaf rolls, freshly baked embryos morning (nearby halls smelled fabulous!)." I'm trying to figure out what "freshly baked embryos morning" means.

I thought it ment eggs. Lol

have no idea of the recipe, but remember some kind of green jello salad that would appear at thanksgiving/Christmas. i thin one uncle and i might have been about only ones who really liked it. i seem to remember shredded stuff... like ingredients for cole slaw... cabbage, carrots. maybe green olives. probably mayo or miracle whip (hey, didn't know any better then)... it wasn't clear like regular jello.

My grandma used to make this horrifying... thing. Layers of various flavors fruit jello, cottage cheese stuff, ham salad, fruit chunks, eggs... ick. I like all of those things, but not together in one dish!

But I like jello- I often do up 4 half-pint jars with a can of fruit and a box of jello. Today's combo is fruit cocktail and cherry-lemonade jello. Sometimes I will jars of just jello, sometimes I do instant pudding. Makes a handy single-size snack or dessert.

Sandwich spreads are a staple around here. Ham salad, I tend to use the food processor rather than my meat grinder. Ham and egg smear, egg salad, tuna salad, mushroom salad, shrimp salad, chicken salads. Cheese spreads of various kinds.

@glenda_al- what is your tomato aspic recipe? I remember one of my grandmas neighbors made it sometimes. It was tasty. Haven't thought about it in years though.

I have a lot of retro/vintage cookbooks that I like to use. I like doing retro-style tableside cooking, like fondue or raclette dinners.

Sharing my mom's aspic
4 cups V-8 juice **use tomato juice
3 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon cider vinegar **used white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated onion
1 tsp teaspoon salt
dash of Tabasco sauce
1 cup finely chopped celery **Have left off the olives and substituted shredded imitation crab meat for the green olives
1 cup sliced stuffed green olives
lettuce for garnish
mayonnaise
In a large bowl combine cup of the V-8 juice and the gelatin and let soak to soften. In a saucepan, heat the remaining V-8 juice, add it to the gelatin and stir till the gelatin has dissolved. Add the Worcestershire, vinegar, lemon juice, onion, salt and Tabasco. Stir well. Place the bowl in the refrigerator and chill until the mixture is slightly thickened.
Add the celery and olives and stir until well blended. Transfer the mixture to a shallow baking dish or eight individual molds, OR I use my mother's round mold: cover with plastic wrap and chill until firm. Remove from mold and serve the aspic on lettuce leaves and top each portion with a dollop of mayonnaise. For the mold I put the mayo in the center with the dried basil.

Mayonnaise I sprinkled with dried basil

GOOD for potlucks OR with chicken/tuna salad served with deviled eggs and spiced muffins

I love tomato aspic. My recipe is very similar to Glenda’s. My mother frequently served it at luncheons, and she always made it for me when I came “back home” for a visit.

I don't know if this was a recipe or if my mom made it up but with 4 kids to support she made do with what she had. I remember a dessert she made that I highly doubt I'd eat today but as a kid I remember my brothers, sisters and me loving it..its not jello. Lol

Layer graham crackers with sliced bananas, mix powdered sugar with warm water and drizzle over the layers. Put in frig several hours. I can't even imagine eating soaked and soggy crackers today. I have never made it for my grands and I won't..I'm afraid they will like it. Lol.

I bought this back in 2006 and have posted in a couple of discussions here. I love this book - no, I don't actually USE it - because it not only has photos and fun retro ads, but also the recipes:

There's a recipe for cherry gelatin, canned pineapple, applesauce, and a bag of Red Hots candies, formed in a big V-8 can, then unmolded.

There is something called a "Summer Salad" that is almost beyond imagination:

-- lemon gelatin, tomato sauce, vinegar, Worcestershire and Tabasco, celery, pimento-stuffed olives, chopped onions, in a cheddar cheese pie shell.

And then you spoon tuna salad all over the top like frosting!

Do you remember the Cone Heads from the old Saturday Night Live episodes? They called eggs...."chicken embryos". :)

I love most molded salads. Don't make them very often because most people don't love them as much as I do. :-))) One of my favorites is a take on tomato aspic but is called:

Molded Gazpacho Salad with Avocado Dressing:

2 envs. unflavored gelatin, 3 C tomato juice, 1/3 c. red wine vinegar, 1 tsp, salt, dash tabasco sauce, 2 small tomatoes, peeled and diced, 1/2 med. bell pepper, diced, 1/4 c. onion, chopped, 1 Tbs. chopped chives, 1/4 C. chopped celery

Dressing:

1 ripe avocado, 1 Tbs. lemon juice, 1/2 C. light cream, 1/2 C. sour cream, 1 clove garlic, minced, 1/8 tsp. sugar, 1/2 tsp. salt or to taste, 1 Tbs. onion, grated, and a dash cayenne pepper.

Sprinkle gelatin over tomato juice and stir over low heat until dissolved. Remove from heat and add vinegar, salt and Tabasco. Stir Chill until partially set. Add vegetables and stir. Pour into 1 1/2 qt. mold or pan. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Dressing:

Peel and mash avocado with the lemon juice. Stir light cream into sour cream and blend. Add seasonings. Stir in the avocado and chill. Delish!

Also have a cranberry mold with apples, walnuts and celery that I love with chicken or turkey.

Georgysmom, I think you left out tomato juice and have 3c vinegar.

Thank you Ava........that's what I get for not proof reading before hitting submit. I have corrected the recipe and read it over to make sure there were no other mistakes.