Saturday, April 30, 2016

TOTALLY Off Topic (and Strange)

I like to read all sorts of blogs and sometimes I discover something classic. 
http://www.midcenturymenu.com/2016/02/beef-fudge1967-a-vintage-recipe-test/

As a mid-century modern baby, I grew up with oddities like this on the table.  I thought I didn't like cheese until I was in college because I'd never eaten anything except Velveeta but labor-saving and economic food were a staple in many family meals in the 1950-60s. (The time my mother mixed lime Jello, cottage cheese, apple sauce and 7-Up is a classic story in my family. It's the only item my mother never served as leftovers, it was so horrible.)

I think this explains a lot about me.  LOL

Enjoy this totally off-topic item.  And if you make it, don't tell anyone I told you about it!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright April 29, 2016 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

6 comments:

Lisa Paddock said...

I think it was the one-two punch of the Depression and WW II. I, too, grew up on Tang, Jello, frozen TV dinners, etc. Convenience foods must have seemed irresistible to moms who had just weathered two severe ordeals, both of which involved rationing.

The Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure said...

You know, Lisa, I think you really hit the nail on the head. My mother's WW2 experience was exciting for her as she and her sister and brothers were able to travel and work in various large cities in the war effort. I think the new convenience foods were something else new and exciting, particularly to small town girls and boys.

Arliss Link said...

I saw this recipe sometime ago and thought it might actually help solve a problem I have (some foods are so sweet that I can almost feel my teeth curling!). I haven't tried it, and I probably won't - mostly because I really don't need fudge, and if I need some chocolate, Dove makes very good chocolates in small pieces.

LIZ said...

OMG Jane! Some things just need to stay in the past - like jello with cottage cheese! Argh! A staple in my childhood home! Kraft Mac n cheese with chopped hot dogs? Still comfort food for me. Ahhhhhh.

Deborah Hubbard said...

Good grief! I am beyond astounded. About 15-20 years ago I was part of a book club but later bailed out, seeing as how I'm no good with novels in general. But one that I did read had a really graphic title, Beef or Meat or some such, and dealt with people in the US and Japan and their, er, eating habits. And part of it was a reference to Beef Fudge, which I rudely assumed had been invented to move the story along and add that subtle frisson of horror ... little did I know. In the book (which must have been quite popular/fashionable at the time or no book club would have touched it) there were the same somewhat overheatedly ecstatic comments about how it added nutrition plus yumminess, as in your reference. Perhaps the author used the same Polled Hereford book?

South Africans in general (count me out) tend to add sugar to cooked vegetables like pumpkin, and my late father-in-law would cheerfully sugar up his rice and eat it contentedly with stew. And we like fruit with meat - an excellent ground beef or lamb dish with spices and raisins, called bobotie, is practically our national meal - but I don't think this kite will fly. And nor should it! Thank you for a reference of vast amazingness!

The Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure said...

Well, I'd never heard of Beef Fudge and I think my mother and her friends tried every oddity known to man when it came to cooking. I think it is rather obscure. We do eat fruit with meats (pork and apples is a classic dish in my house and I sometimes make lamb with fruits) but sugar and meat is not common here.