Lunch Tray Friday Buffet: January 14, 2001

by Bettina Elias Siegel on January 14, 2011

As we head off into the holiday weekend, a few amusing tidbits to share from the week:

Are Veggies the New Self-Tanner?

We’ve all heard about over-zealous juicers who consume so much carrot juice that their skin starts to turn orange.  That’s a bad thing, right?  Well, according to a new study, people judge the “tan” a person gets from beta-carotene as healthier-looking than a sun-induced tan.  So if your kids are old enough to care about their appearance – I’m thinking tweens and up — maybe an appeal to their vanity is one way to increase orange veggie consumption?  On the other hand, there’s always the risk of looking like this:

[Hat tip: Robyn McCord O'Brien]

“The atrocities committed in the name of ‘salad’ are legion.”

That’s a quote from Charles Kuffner who commented this week on my post re: Perfection Salad, a savory, olive-and-veggie-filled Jello side dish (yeah, you read that right) from my husband’s 1974 school food menu.   As regular TLT readers may know, Charles is a political blogger here in Texas (his blog Off the Kuff is required reading for all TX politicos) but despite his busy schedule he never fails to come through for me with crazy foods to write about.  (Who can forget the turbaconducken or the chocolate and vanilla layer cake — with pumpkin and apple pies embedded therein?)

So of course Charles had some excellent links to share re: odd, retro “salads.”  There was this one, called Candle Salad, which, according to the blogger who originally posted about it, was part of her Mormon childhood.  As she notes, “It takes a very, very clean mind to think that up.”  I would have to agree — if I showed you the photo instead of just linking to it, I might have to slap an NC-17 rating on the blog.  And definitely also check out this link provided by Charles about a 1970′s Jello cookbook.  Jello gazpacho, anyone?

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Have a great weekend everyone.  I will most likely take off for MLK day, and will see you back here on Tuesday, January 18th.

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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

Stephanie January 14, 2011 at 2:29 pm

I think you just made me blush! Candle Salad, OH MY!!

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Kim January 14, 2011 at 2:31 pm

I did love how proud the husband was standing in the doorway with his beautiful wife holding her Jello creation. Clearly he was impressed.

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mara January 14, 2011 at 3:09 pm

I like how the wife matched her outfit to her jello salad. I’ll have to think about matching my fashion to whatever I’m bringing. That will require coming up with lots of black foods. I guess I can just burn whatever I bring. All i the name of fashion!

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Stephanie January 14, 2011 at 4:04 pm

Here are the 1974 Weight Watcher cards that were mentioned somewhere in one of the links: OMGoodness!!! The captions are worth a flip through!
There is a card for Rosy Perfection Salad – maybe that is what HISD was going for in 1974 – if its good enough for WW, its good enough for those darn kids!!

http://www.candyboots.com/wwcards.html

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Maggie January 14, 2011 at 5:55 pm

Candle salad recipe can be found in “Betty Crocker’s Cook Book for Boys and Girls” – copyright 1957…minus the whipped cream!

In the “Betty Crocker’s New Boys and Girls Cook Book” – copyright 1965 – the recipe is entitled Rocket Salad, apparently influenced by the steps we were taking in space exploration.

Yes, I guess we did look at the world differently! LOL.

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Donna January 14, 2011 at 6:16 pm

My very PG-rated mother served us the candle salad (no whipped cream, thank heavens!) and the martini glass jello parfaits. Those were the days!

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