Food Friday: Cheesy Tuna with Canned Mushroom Soup

Community cookbooks are like city directories in that they are a snapshot of a moment in time. They help document a community in that moment before publication with names, roles, memberships, and taste.

From the collection of Gena Philibert-Ortega

Today's cookbook is A Book of Favorite Recipes Compiled by Ruth Guild of Trinity Lutheran Church. Waconia, Minnesota. 1958.

From the collection of Gena Philibert-Ortega

This cookbook does both a nice job of documenting Trinity Lutheran as it does with the food trends and life in 1958.

From the collection of Gena Philibert-Ortega

From the collection of Gena Philibert-Ortega

Too much to post here but there are pages and pages of tips on serving food, fillings for sandwiches, etc. This list includes advice on how to clean ashtrays.

From the collection of Gena Philibert-Ortega

Today's recipe is oh so mid-century, Tuna Cheese Souffle. Now at first I was thinking that I wasn't so sure about tuna and cheese but then I remembered they are delicious as a Tuna Melt. But really what makes this mid-century and fairly gross (in my opinion) recipe is the addition of mushroom and a can of mushroom soup.

From the collection of Gena Philibert-Ortega

For those following along with this recipe, you'll note  that I cut off the text. The rest of the directions read "with mushroom sauce."

Now as someone recently remarked to me, "those recipes in community cookbooks are disgusting!" Yes, some of them are not appetizing to our 21st century tastes but they are fabulous for documenting our families place in time.