So I picked up an old magazine at a flea market recently, and was shocked by some of the bizarre foods that people used to eat. The July, 1964 issue of Family Circle Magazine contains a treasure trove of Ripley’s Believe-it-or-not type creations that I hope no one was really eating.

It seems at the same time kids were running out and buying the new Beatles 45’s, their moms were making lots of gelatin based foods. How about Chicken Indienne? That’s  a molded gelatin filled with chicken breast, curry, celery tops and chutney.

Or, as pictured below, the Ribboned Vegetable Relish mold, made with beets, carrots, finely chopped spinach, Italian dressing and lemon-flavor gelatin.

Now my dad used to make a delicious jello creation that include lime Jello, shredded cucumber, and pineapple…which even his grandkids loved. But I don’t think you’re ever going to get kids to eat Jello filled with beets or spinach.

Here’s one that might not be too disgusting. It’s called Ship-a-Heroes, made with cold cut sails and bread filled with egg salad. At least if you didn’t want to eat it you could launch it in the bathtub and see if it floats.

Finally, a national holiday I can believe in. Today is National Donut Day, and lest you surmise that it’s just a holiday made up by the Donut Syndicate and those who profit from filling us with lard and sugar, it actually has rather noble origins.

The first Doughnut Day was back in 1938 to honor the women who served the tasty treat to soldiers back in World War I. It was also a fundraiser for the Salvation Army.

And in honor of all that, Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme are giving away free donuts today.  A lot of good that does me, as Madison has no Dunkin Donuts or Krispy Kreme shops. The closest Dunkin Donuts is in Janesville, and while I do love free things, and donuts, that’s a little far too drive.

Now all of this donut talk has me thinking about the long gone Point Bakery in Stevens Point that served the most delicious donuts of all time. I probably had my first Point Bakery donut before the age of 2 and ate a heckuva lot more over time.

Growing up, my dad got us a big bag of donuts every Saturday morning and they were the perfect accompaniment to Saturday morning cartoons. I loved the chocolate ones with white cream filling..and have never found another  that tasted quite the same. (Although the ones at Copps are pretty close.)

I also loved the eclairs (even though they were more expensive), the French style donuts and the ponzckas (but the ones with jelly, not prunes.)

You know just thinking about this is likely to put me into a sugar coma.

Inspired by all the Farmer’s Markets in the area, comes this week’s Caption Contest.

I don’t think I want to know the REAL story behind this photo, but please give me your best caption and win some random prizes selected JUST FOR YOU!

The deadline is Friday at 4 PM.  As always, have fun, be creative and play nice!

Yesterday was one of my favorite holidays…half-price candy day!

 If you have finished off all your chocolate bunnies and jelly eggs, but still have those , uh, yummy (?) Peeps, what about making Peeps Sushi!

 They look great don’t they! If you wanna make them, just click here for details!

Chocolate is a traditional Valentine’s gift, and for a chocolate lover like me, there’s probably no way you could go wrong with that (especially if it’s good chocolate and not that good-for-you dark stuff). 

Actually, you can go wrong with chocolate. A few years ago I bought chocolate in a heart shaped box at 90 percent off after Valentine’s Day. It was Jeff Foxworthy “You Might Be A Redneck” chocolate.

Then I found some other ideas that sounded pretty awful.

How about chocolate bullets (for when Cupid’s arrow is not heavy enough artillery?) (Buy ‘em here.)

Chocolate covered pork rinds sound tasty. (Snap ‘em up here.)

And then for the realist, or the cardiologist in your life, there’s this chocolate heart. (It’s a heartbeat, it’s a lovebeat!) (Buy here)

I love to cook and lately, I’ve been trying a lot of new recipes. There’s nothing like the warm aroma of a soup simmering on the stove. My favorite new recipe is Roasted Garlic Soup that I found on the website  TheDailygreen . It’s easy to make and all you really need is an oven, a soup pot and a blender.

Here are the ingredients:

INGREDIENTS
2 large whole unpeeled garlic heads, plus 1 clove, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 cups minced onion
1 cup minced carrots
1 large potato (1 1/4 cups), peeled and cubed
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground pepper
1/4 cup heavy cream ( I found this step to be optional, and makes for fewer calories per serving)

PREPARATION
1. Roast the garlic: Preheat oven to 350°F. Using a serrated knife, cut the top off each garlic head so that the tip of each clove is exposed. Place the garlic heads on a large piece of aluminum foil and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the bay leaves and fold the foil to form a packet. Place the packet in the oven and bake for 45 minutes. Cool slightly. In a small bowl, squeeze the garlic head until all of the roasted flesh is released. Discard outer husks and bay leaves.

2. Make the soup: In a large heavy-duty saucepan, heat the remaining olive oil and butter, add onions, and cook over medium heat until translucent—about 4 minutes. Add the carrots and continue to cook for 5 more minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the potato, chicken stock, white wine, roasted garlic, salt, and pepper. Cover and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and continue to cook for 35 minutes.

3. Finish the soup: Using a blender, puree the soup in small batches until smooth. Return the soup to the saucepan over medium heat and whisk in the heavy cream. Heat until warmed. Do not boil. Keep warm until ready to serve.

And it is YUMMY!!!!

Want good luck in the new year? Ringing in 2010 with a glass of bubbly is delicious, but if you want to assure good luck, you need to eat some herring.

At least that’s what the deal was at my house growing up. My dad always bought a jar of pickled herring to eat (apparently the kind in horseradish sauce would not have the same effect.) I’d always wondered about that..so I did a little research on the internet and found out that’s a German tradition. Makes sense, since my dad was German, Irish and French (and maybe Native American).

While perusing the internet for the herring  information, I discovered some other New Year’s Eve traditions that aren’t quite as “fishy.”

In Spain and many Latin American countries, you eat 12 grapes at midnight, one for each month, to bring good luck.

In the south, you’re supposed to eat black-eyed peas. Apparently they resemble coins, and thus bring you prosperity in the next year.

But here’s the tradition I like the best. I’m not really sure where it originated, but at midnight,  you’re supposed to eat anything shaped like a circle, like doughnuts, to bring you good luck in the next year.

I figure if it brings you luck at midnight, why not eat them every day for a little added assurance?

One of the fun things about the holidays is a big dinner, whether it be ham, turkey or a roast. And a big dinner usually means leftovers.

If your kids ( or you ) get tired of the same old sandwiches, check out these amazing creations:

If you want to see more, including the Hello Kitty sandwich, just click here!

Happy creating and happy eating!

I love Thanksgining dinner, but I hate the calories. I mean, really, who wants to eat a 3,000 calorie meal?

The turkey is healthy, so that’s cool. Veggies can be steamed ( forget the green bean casserole this year) Stuffing can be made with whole wheat bread and sweet potatoes can be made even sweeter with pineapple instead of yummy mini-marshmallows. But what about the pumpkin pie? You can’t skip that, right? Well you can if you follow this easy recipe I found on line.

Pumpkin Pie Tartlets                                                         

 16 (2 1/2-inch) foil baking cups
Nonstick cooking spray
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites
1 (15-ounce) can LIBBY’S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 (12-ounce) can NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Fat Free Milk
1 cup fat free whipped topping
12 small gingersnap cookies, broken into 1/4-inch pieces

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF (175ºC). Place baking cups on baking sheet with sides. Spray each cup with cooking spray.
2. Combine sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, ginger and salt in small bowl. Beat egg whites in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Spoon 1/4 to 1/3 cup of mixture into each prepared cup.
3. Bake for 25 to 28 minutes or until knife inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool on baking sheet for 20 minutes. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Top each with whipped topping and gingersnap crumbs.

Prep: 15 min | Cooking: 25 min | Cooling time: 1 hrs refrigerating | Yields: 16 servings

Nutritional Information Per Serving (1/16 of recipe): Calories 100 Calories from Fat 10; Total Fat 1g; Saturated Fat 0g; Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 135mg; Carbohydrates 20g; Dietary Fiber 1g; Sugars 15g; Protein 3g