Food Friday: Fun with White House Food from the 1980s

From the collection of Gena Philibert-Ortega

Today's Food Friday highlights  recipes that bring back memories of the 1980s and beyond. Our cookbook for today is from the White House Volunteers, an organization that helps out around the White House. These volunteers were there during the Reagan administration and their cookbook includes recipes from First Lady Nancy Reagan and the White House volunteers.

From the collection of Gena Philibert-Ortega

Some recipes make you scratch your head a bit as this one that has the intriguing title of Delicious - Quick - Nutritious. Like older recipes, the entire ingredient list is not provided above the directions. This recipe calls for jello and ice cream. Now as you will notice it's deemed not only a quick dessert but also a nourishing food for those who are ill. Now believe me, I  milked the "all you can eat ice cream and jello" buffet provided after my tonsils were taken out  as a kid but beyond that I'm not sure that sugar plus more sugar is "nourishment."

From the collection of Gena Philibert-Ortega

I'm a big fan of sandwiches and this "Pate'" reminds me of  a lunch spread placed on a Ritz cracker. Bologna and peanuts make for an interesting combination.

From the collection of Gena Philibert-Ortega

These next two recipes are basically the same but the top one has the more interesting yet unappetizing  name. Peggy's Goop is a the spinach dip we are all familiar with. Peggy's Goop is the quick version while the Spinach Dip in Rye Bread Shell adds a very more ingredients.

From the collection of Gena Philibert-Ortega

After reading this recipe to my teenager, he talked about how much he liked spinach dip and so you can guess what we are eating tonight.

This cookbook reminds me of a potluck. There's some great stuff and there's some "interesting" recipes but they were all contributed by individuals united by a common cause. While community cookbooks do have some of the weirdest recipes, they also provide us with a glimpse of what people really ate and wanted to share.