As you can see by the quantities, this makes quite the cheese roll. However, it is easy to halve and such a yummy retro appetizer. Nini made this often as did my mother for all nature of parties. Serve with crackers, bread, spoon (ok, just kidding about the spoon, but I do like it a lot)

1 lb blue cheese
1 lb Roquefort
1/2 lb Philadelphia Cream Cheese
Tabasco
Worcestershire
Horseradish (lots)
Garlic
Onion juice
Mustard

Heat in double boiler over medium heat until cheese is melted and ingredients are blended. Let harden in ice box. Roll in paprika on waxed paper.

Sometimes you must just entertain on a shoestring. Fortunately, General Mills offered us help in 1971 with this recipe for Chicken Confetti. It isn’t particularly imaginative and I am far more likely to serve it to family than use it to entertain, but it might be a nice choice for entertaining as well.

Chicken Confetti

4 to 5 pounds broiler-fryer chicken, cut-up
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup salad oil
1/2 cup onion
1 clove garlic
2 can tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
2 tablespoons snipped parsley
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon peopper
7 or 8 oz spaghetti, cooked and drained
Grated Parmesan cheese

Wash chicken pieces and pat dry. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. In large skillet or Dutch oven, brown chicken in oil; remove chicken. Pour off all but 3 tablespoons fat. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir until union is tender. Stir in chicken and remaining ingredients except spaghetti and cheese.
Cover tightly; cook chicken slowly 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until tender, stirring occasionally and adding water if necessary. Skim off excess fat. Serve in spaghetti; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. 4 to 6 servings.

Happy National Fruit Cocktail Day! Fruit cocktail is a favorite in this house. I don’t know why. The kids don’t even beg for the overpriced extra cherry kind. Any kind is fine. On this day though…a nice ice box pie from my head or from my mother’s head or most likely transferred there from a magazine advertisement in the 60s or 70s.

Fruit Cocktail Jell-0 Pie

Graham cracker crust
1 4-serving size box Jello (cherry or strawberry banana are favorites for this recipe)
2 cups vanilla ice cream
1 #2 can fruit cocktail

Drain juice from fruit cocktail into measuring cup. Add water to bring measure to 1 cup.  Bring liquid to boil. Add boiling liquid to Jell-o powder, stir until Jell-o is dissolved. Add ice cream, stir until smooth/melted. Stir in fruit. Pour into graham cracker crust. Refrigerate until set. Top with Cool Whip. (Maybe that interesting new strawberry Cool Whip?)

The other half of Friday’s recipe card with the Avocado Cheese Dip, this one uses tuna for an inexpensive tasty dip or even sandwich spread. If using for a sandwich spread, I would reduce the sour cream quite a bit…just enough to stick together and less salad dressing mix or add another hard boiled egg.

1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 envelope Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix
1 to 2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 can tuna fish, drained and flaked
1 hard cooked egg, chopped

Combine all ingredients, blending well. Serve as a dip with crackers. Makes 1 1/2 cups.

A classic Hunt’s recipe

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 onion, finely chopped
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 8 oz cans Hunt’s tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons vinegar
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire

Mix together beef, crumbs, onion, beaten egg, salt, pepper and 1/2 can Hunt’s tomato sauce. Form into loaf and put in shallow pan, about 7 x 10 inches. Combine the rest of the sauce and all other ingredients. Pour over loaf. Bake in moderate oven (350 F.) 1 hour and 15 minutes. Baste occasionally. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

This from a Good Seasons recipe card. It is super easy. I don’t add the sugar. It makes a nice change from guacamole.

3 large ripe avocados, peeled
1 large package cream cheese, softened
1 envelope Good Seasons Old Fashion French Salad dressing mix
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Mash avocados. Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl. Beat with electric mixer until smooth, or press through a sieve and mix well. Makes about 3 1/2 cups dip.

This is an actual recipe card from my mother (as opposed to “You remember me making this all the time” or scrawled in the back of my Joy of Cooking for Boys and Girls). This also is a recipe that I remember as getting rave reviews whenever my mother took it to a church potluck, ladies luncheon, etc. Interestingly, she often bought deli turkey for this or a “turkey loaf” from the freezer section. All the better to cube apparently.  It is good cold as well as hot. (Skip the grated cheese and potato chips)

2 cups cubed turkey
1 cup celery
1/2 cup ground nuts (Mama used pecans)
2 T lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
about 1 t. grated onion
mayonnaise to moisten

Place in individual servers (custard cups–but you can do the whole batch in one casserole dish if making for a potluck) Crumble potato chips and a few nuts on top. Top with grated sharp cheese. Place in 350 oven about 10-15 min till cheese melts and dishes are hot through.

This is not actually a retro Jell-o mold but a remake of a classic from The Passionate Vegetarian by Crescent Dragonwagon. I LOVE this cookbook. You simply must buy this cookbook whether you are a vegetarian or not. Lots of yummy recipes. Lots of great stories. This is a go-to cookbook for me and has been for a number of years.

Carrot Orange Crown Salad

2 lemons
4 oranges
About 3 cups carrot juice
1 tablespoon agar powder (not flakes or bars)
3 tablespoons honey or sugar
3 carrots, grated
Orange twists, carrot curls, fresh mint (optional)

Lightly spray a mold with cooking spray, set aside. Grate the rind of 1 lemon and 1/2 of 1 orange. Set aside. Juice both lemons, as well as the orange whose rind you just grated. Pour the juices into a 1-qt measuring cup, and add sufficient carrot juice to = 3  cups + 2 tablespoons liquid. Whisk in agar powder and let stand 5 minutes.
Peel section and dice the three remaining oranges in pieces small enough to hit with a fork but large enough to be distinct. Set aside.
Combine the agar juice mixture with honey or sugar in medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and boil for a few seconds. Remove from heat and let cool until the mixture starts to thicken, 15-20 min. Then stir in reserved rinds, orange sections, and grated carrots. Immediately turn into prepared mold. Refrigerate, covered, until set, 1 to 2 hours. Serve garnished if desired with an orange twist, curl of carrot and a sprig of fresh mint.

These are the baked oysters I grew up eating from my great-grandmother. Nothing fancy…best with the freshest oysters you can get. So…really not a good choice for a month without an r in the name.

1 qt oysters, cooked in juice.
Saute 3 or 4 stalks celery, parsley, 1 bell pepper, chopped fine, 1 stick butter, 1 large onion (chopped). Toast to light brown 1/2 loaf bread, grated. Pour oysters into vegetables, thicken with bread crumbs. Season with Tabasco, chili powder (lots). Preheat oven to 450. Bake 12-15 minutes or until crumbs on top are toasted and dish is warmed through and bubbly. Serves 6.

I love spinach. I love spinach casserole. Unfortunately, dietary restrictions keep me from my favorite vegetable. My great-grandmother thought this recipe was good-the hard-boiled eggs in casseroles never did anything for me though.

2 pkgs chopped spinach (10 oz pkgs) cooked and drained
4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 can cream of chicken soup (or cream of asparagus/cream of celery)
Grated sharp cheese

Mix all together. Top with breadcrumbs and cheese. Bake at 375 until firm.