Thursday, July 18, 2013

Really Gross Vintage Recipes

The other day I was looking through my great grandmother's old recipes, in search of her peanut butter pie.  I got distracted along the way by some rather vile recipes from the 70s.  I couldn't resist scanning them to share. 

First off, the Mousse of Chicken Livers.  Even the garnish in this picture is like a garnish gone wrong...a garnoctopus? 

Now some of you might think Tomato Aspic sounds tasty.  Me?  I don't drink tomato juice (although I do eat tomatoes), and I'm not big on congealed salads, so this looks pretty awful to me.  I might, if hungry enough, pick out the olives to eat.

Finally (now don't get too excited!) we have the ever desirable Prune Whip.  Mmmmmmm. 

Maybe I shouldn't pick on prunes.  Some of you probably like them.  Me?  You can have my prunes and raisins, I'll pass! 
Readers, would do you think any of these dishes sound like the sort of thing you'd like to eat?

38 comments:

Heather said...

well the custard sauce doesn't look all that bad ;-)

Vision By Mila said...

I like chicken livers, though I haven't eaten in a while.. not sure about the mousse though..

Melanie said...

Just not the sort of things we have at our house either. I agree with you about the tomato aspic, pick out the olives and I might pick out the cucumbers too. LOL!!

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

Oooh gross...my mom used to make those molded desserts all the time...yuck, pooey.

Anonymous said...

oooohhh. That first one is especially horrid! My great aunt would always have prune dishes for the holidays. It became a big joke among our family.

Buttons Thoughts said...

Oh Lisa usually when you post recipes I leave here feeling hungry not true this time:) B

Sandra said...

I wouldn't consider myself a picky eater and I can't imagine any of these dishes being appetizing.

Jeanne said...

That first one especially is pretty awful looking. Definitely a pass on chicken liver mousse..... UGH

Sunnybrook Farm said...

Keep these handy in case you need to induce vomiting!

Aodhnait said...

Aside from the peanut butter pie which sounds delish, I would probably dive on the liver mousse. Last Saturday night I had duck mousse for my starter in a very nice restaurant - it was Devine!!!

Anonymous said...

Ya, you couldn't talk me into making or eating any of these recipes. Prune whip? Is that for us old constipated folks??

Nancy said...

Nope.

Anonymous said...

I don't think I would like to taste test them.

Grandma Bonnie said...

That must be a vintage smoothie. I do love old cook books. They just bring back old memories. Thanks for sharing.

Jill said...

While I've never had them, I have heard of the first two. The prune whip is new to me. I'll pass too!

Vicki @ lifeinmyemptynest said...

Not very appetizing - I'm sure there was a lovely recipe for liver too :-)

TexWisGirl said...

oh, these made me laugh!!!

jp@A Green Ridge said...

Thanks, Baby Girl, but no thanks!...:)JP

Tina Fariss Barbour said...

I did eat tomato aspic once years ago. The taste was ok but the consistency was not. I like prunes one at a time--not whipped. Thank you for helping me eat less today. :-)

IanH said...

They are all good if you are hungry enough!

Anonymous said...

My husband's grandma was a big fan of "drunken chicken livers" which were something she brewed up in her crockpot for holidays. The stench was really overpowering.
Prune whip--gee whiz that sounds awful!

mail4rosey said...

How lucky that you have access to old family recipes, I love that fact!!

Sowing Stitches said...

I am So GLAD to know that I am not the only one that actually reads GROSS recipes!!!! You found some 'good' as in really BAD ones!!! :) One of the best worst ones I found recently was 1 cup mayo per chicken breast, no seasonings cook covered until meat is just slightly pink. GROSS But I think your Prune Whip has won the blue ribbon hands down!!!!

Eat To Live said...

I could do the prune whip, but not sure I could do the chicken livers. My Hubs loves chicken livers so he might like it.

Mary said...

Doh! Yuck. Every single one. Lol. Prune whip. Goodness gracious as my grandmother would have said...

Ginny Hartzler said...

Lisa, this was so much fun! I want you to do it again if you can find enough awful recipes. NONE of this looks good and now we know why people died so much younger back then. The prune whip looks like vomit, and the aspic like jelled blood, truly the food of the Addams family! GREAT fun today!

Unknown said...

I would have had to pass on these too! lol

Our Neck of the Woods said...

I actually think the prune whip doesn't look too bad! But the other two - yikes! It's funny to look through old cookbooks from the 70s to see what was popular.

warren said...

Wow...ewww....

Nebrsunshine said...

No, I can live without these olddies. You were right.

LisaS said...

Prune Whip... Oh Cmon Really????

ew..


My mom had stuff like this. It seems more about how creative can you get with anything leftover in the cupboard... ;) probably was.

Michelle said...

You really found some humdinger recipes. lol

Chatty Crone said...

Hey I have to say it was pretty cool looking at what people used to eat! lol

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Unfortunately, I like most foods--including tomato aspic and chicken livers... I also like prunes. So I guess none of your recipes qualify as gross to me... I'm just one nutty woman who likes weird foods... I even like plain yogurt and buttermilk... ha ha

BUT--I don't like sushi nor any of the weird things like frog legs, etc.....

Hugs,
Betsy

Valerie Boersma said...

Only if I wanted to put myself on a starvation diet! ;)

Some vintage things are best forgotten:)

An Apel a Day said...

Ewww...Ewww...and Ewww!

Sue Frelick said...

The photographers probably would have loved to own photoshop so they could have changed some of those ghastly colours! lol In all fairness, peanut butter pie sounds fabulous! I hop you found the recipe you were looking for. :-)

Marianne (Mare) Baker Ball said...

OMG, these look awful. Prune whip? HA! The stuff people used to eat! Although, hummus and tofu might look disgusting in a decade or two! Funny post!