Vintage Foods Nobody Asked For

Aug 28, 2026 4:35 PM

Original source: https://soyummy.com/entertaining/strange-vintage-recipes/

Images edited by me.

Let's start off with something I actually enjoy. Did you know Dr. Pepper was once marketed as a warm drink intended to be taken during winter? You heat it up on the stove and garnish it with lemon. It's surprisingly good — and the sharpness and tartness of the flavor almost completely disappears. You can imitate this process by simply leaving a can in your car on a sunny day.

"In the early 1960s, Dr Pepper promoted the idea of serving the drink hot with lemon slices in winter.[81] This idea appeared in the film Blast from the Past initially set in the early 1960s."

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr_Pepper

Honestly, I'm allowing Fb to show me recipe reels as an attempt to learn to cook with zucchini and eggplant, but the amount of crazy foods based on these and some other ingredients is astonishing. And they "all" look the same, which I'm sure going to change after a while to accomodate new trends.

2 days ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

#3 I honestly couldn’t tell if that was bread or mashed potato. And that’s not ketchup in the center. Maybe ketchup mixed with mayo. Or looks like sriracha mayo to my modern foodie eyes. Might be willing to give it a try. The rest not so much.

1 day ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

#17 I get it now. The writer went blind towards the end and just guessed at an image. Any of the images would probably do since nobody reading this gastric horror novella is ever going to need an image to compare to actually trying anything here.

2 days ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

The AI writer clearly didn't taste anything.

2 days ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

How is the spam one bad

1 day ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Right. I'd eat that. Looks like cheez wiz in the middle

1 day ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

2 days ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

#16 Your macaroni mold not being eaten at the family picnic? Adding two to three cans of vienna sausages will surely turn heads

2 days ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

It annoys me that the picture is clearly of spaghetti-O's though, not macaroni. Even the description says "no sauce". So many of these things don't look like what is being described, which makes me think it's AI generated and told to look "old".

1 day ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

If you think these are funny look up B. Dylan Hollis on YouTube. He cooks out of old cook books and he's actually made a few of these. He's hysterical.

1 day ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

I’m not hungry anymore.

2 days ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

I use my mom's old Woman's Day cookbooks as a keyboard stand. They're great for a random snapshot of the 60's: vol 2, p 322, Cottage Eggs with Rice. 2/3 c rice, 6 hard-cooked eggs, 1/2 c cottage cheese, 2 tbsp mayo, salt, pepper, 1/4 c butter, 1/4 c flour, 1 tsp onion powder, 2 c milk, pinch of paprika. Cook rice, layer with yolks mashed with cottage cheese and mayo. Fill whites w mashed yolks, arrange on rice. Rue flour and butter with onion, milk until thick. Pour over eggs, bake 350, 20 min.

1 day ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

You missed Grandma's favorite: Ring Around the Tuna. Yes, I have Joy's of Jell-o, yes they did have savory Jell-o (celery, tomato, cucumber I think), and yes it is a "pardon me while I throw up"

However Jello cake (broken glass) will always be the most delicious thing in the universe to me.

2 days ago | Likes 7 Dislikes 0

IT'S GREEN?!

2 days ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

It has pimentos and mayonaise and yes tuna. Bring it to a potluck and they will throw you the fuck out. I have tried.

2 days ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

2 days ago | Likes 96 Dislikes 1

I'd love to blame this on my culture. But midwestern white women in the 70s had their entire own subculture back in those days. I mean they still do but back then they were given unfettered access to gelatin.

1 day ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

Appropriate

2 days ago | Likes 12 Dislikes 0

#2 I have done this. It's surprisingly pleasant!

2 days ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

2 days ago | Likes 38 Dislikes 0

Are these the infamous upside down peas I keep hearing about?

1 day ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

1 day ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

ngl i kinda dig it?

2 days ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 0

Not 70s. 50s.

2 days ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 1

Definitely '70s colors and image composition. Aspic remained popular for a long time, well into the '90s in my experience.

2 days ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Definitely 1950s. How do I know? I was there.

8 hours ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Actually I'd try #10.

2 days ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

I tried banana-ham gratin by curiosity. Very bad idea

2 days ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

I've been looking for someone to post what it's actually like!

2 days ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Likes a blasphemy (french here)

2 days ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

#7 That looks like someone colorized Metropolis. Badly.

That said, I've had hot Dr Pepper, and it was pretty good. But hot apple cider is so much better.

2 days ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

#16 That is absolutely not macaroni; it is SpaghettiOs.

2 days ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

#3 This one doesn't actually seem that bad! Replace the cheese with a dipping sauce, or just egg yolk, and it's a breakfast...loaf?

1 day ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

2 days ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

#3 If you do that with bread dough, and the yellow stuff in the middle is cheddar spread, it can be a reasonable low-cost way to feed your family, if not served too often.

2 days ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

u can buy that in german supermarkets actually

23 hours ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

@op you should got through @SwankyGranny posts for more recipe ideas

2 days ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

Thats what happens when your are a housewife with unlimited access to pills and alcohol, and alot of time xD

2 days ago | Likes 7 Dislikes 1

Don't forget the bolstering post-war economy and your husband's livable-wage 9-to-5 union job.

2 days ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

LOL so the first step in the revolution demanding equality? Or rather, along that same journey? :D Like 'Here, eat this, now I wanna go and work instead, your choice, mo'money in the home, or eat this slop every night!'

2 days ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

You seem to have my Mother's Recipe book

2 days ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

I have eaten many of these as well. Every family holiday meal had something abstract in gelatin and #13 was a regular meal.

1 day ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Oof. Think the worst my grandma ever did was orange jello with shredded carrots and pineapple in it, served on lettuce with cottage cheese. It wasn't *bad* after an afternoon of whatever crazy ass landscaping/painting/roofing chores she had us do. But at the same time it was like, "Grandma, what the fuck is this."

2 days ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

I remember Lobster bisque with ketchup

2 days ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

2 days ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

2 days ago | Likes 16 Dislikes 0

Anchovy & Banana (Protein?) Shake: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZacP1aEZ2g8 BRB, gotta buy a new blender.

2 days ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 1

you put that on my plate, you better run off to another universe....

2 days ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

#2 I actually like this!

2 days ago | Likes 8 Dislikes 0

My family used to serve this to us whenever we got sick!

2 days ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

I'm not surprised it's good. I prefer my Dr Pepper when it's been sitting in the car on a warm day. The flavours are far stronger than when the drink is cold.

2 days ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

My favorite video of all time is some kid making a school report about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIRnM6s4GNo

2 days ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

Me too!

2 days ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

Have you tried hot coke with alkaseltzer? Or hot Ribena with nyquil? Both great for when you have a bad cold.

2 days ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I can try the coke, but not the Ribena... Which actually sounds like a good cola.

2 days ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

If you are outside the UK you have to order it online or find it at a specialist place, but its well worth it. It was developed in WW2 to have every vitamin minus D in it and was mixed with milk to give to kids ro ensure no vitamin deficiency. Made from blackcurrants.

2 days ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

Thanks!

2 days ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

There's a reason the sharpness goes away! The CO2 doesn't exist as tiny bubbles under pressure, but as carbonic acid. As it turns to bubbles and fizzes out, the acidity drops, and the remaining solution tastes sweeter. Heating just accelerates the process. :)

2 days ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

The writer's attempt to come across as funny and quirky actually comes across as insufferable.

2 days ago | Likes 87 Dislikes 9

Yeah, that was about the same level as the recipes commented on.

2 days ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 1

It read as AI garbage to me.

2 days ago | Likes 17 Dislikes 3

That's it! It reads like AI slop that was fed the worst of "teehee so sardonic and irreverent and witty" Cracked.

2 days ago | Likes 12 Dislikes 1

A better take on the same topic is The Gallery of Regrettable Food: https://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/

1 day ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

Oh hell yes, Lileks invented and perfected this form.

1 day ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

It's like someone read a bunch of Maddox articles growing up, and is trying desperately to mimic their style.

2 days ago | Likes 19 Dislikes 2

Wow I hadn't thought about Maddox in probably 20 years. Thanks for that!

1 day ago | Likes 3 Dislikes 0

Every now and again, when I see a fire truck, I wanna say “ DING DING! Here comes the shitmobile!”

1 day ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

same, despite i got some of his books :)

23 hours ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

#3 don't lie, you'd all eat this

2 days ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 1

Oddly enough, I HATE Spam.

2 days ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

Right? That one sounds good!

1 day ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I'll say it, I'd smash the fuck out of it.

1 day ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

I believe Joshua Weissman on YouTube made this and said it was actually pretty good as long as you like spam.

2 days ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

For those wondering WHY so many of these are gelatin-based, it’s a class thing. Making gelatin used to be costly, time-consuming, and definitely required refrigeration, so dishes like aspic were largely a luxury of the wealthy. Then Jell-O came along and democratized access to gelatin, and suddenly every housewife worth her weight in salt was jumping on the bandwagon.

2 days ago | Likes 70 Dislikes 3

I've eaten the salmon-gelatin recipe, but made by a real chef and it was excellent. But it didn't look like the picture, it was a whole cooked salmon, skinned, and with a thin (2mm) coating of jelly on top to give it a nice glistening aspect. Some (but not many!!!) other of those recipes are quite okay, like the spaghetti cake.

12 hours ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

A couple of weeks back ASPIC was the Wordle answer of the day, and people ranted about how they'd never heard the word before. Faced with some of these recipes, I can view that as a good thing.

2 days ago | Likes 22 Dislikes 0

Aspic is something ONLY a trained chef should be making. These are recipes for housewives whose only cooking class came in the form of Home Ec.

2 days ago | Likes 8 Dislikes 2

That happens with every major advancement in food technology. Custards when mechanical wisks came out, pate when the food processor came out, ice cream when freezers became common, etc. New tech makes the old luxury accessible and it becomes a massive fad. Sometimes it becomes a staple, sometimes people realize it was always dog shit.

2 days ago | Likes 6 Dislikes 0

Gelatin isn't strictly bad, I just wouldn't use it for... ya know, encasing things in. Gelatin is what makes quality restaurant ramen so good. It's just that ramen isn't made with prepackaged gelatin, it's made from freshly boiled bones (which is what gelatin is). Gelatin is also like, 100% protein, so if you wanna horrify your gym buddies, you can eat gelatin instead of whey protein.

1 day ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

Don't forget the time period, that's also part of it. The post-war economy pushing a lot of stuff towards a solidified middle class did a lot for kitchen experimentation.

Mom had the Betty Crocker cookbook, which was more like a giant 3-ring binder full of weird 1950s recipes like these. Hot Dogs Hollandaise is probably the safest thing in there.

2 days ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0

The Betty Crocker cookbook has some fabulous recipes. I have a reproduction version, Mom has the original

1 day ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

One of the results of my parents passing is i now have so. Many. Recipes. Many of them are usable- but some of the things I got that were my grandmother's (from the 50's) are strictly look-upons

1 day ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

(It might have been the 60's, actually- the really scary stuff. Either way it's neat to have, really)

1 day ago | Likes 1 Dislikes 0

There was also a series of books, "The Joys of Jell-O" that were published yearly for a while. I think I have one or two that I found at an estate sale, and they're hilarious.

2 days ago | Likes 11 Dislikes 0

Yes, somebody mentioned the books!

2 days ago | Likes 2 Dislikes 0

My grandma had some of them. Mostly because she thought they were hilariously bad, but there was actually some decent stuff in there. This thread makes me nostalgic for her lime jello "salad"; lime jello with pineapple, walnuts, cream cheese, sprite, whip cream and whatever other random stuff she threw in lol.

2 days ago | Likes 7 Dislikes 0

Sounds like Watergate salad

2 days ago | Likes 5 Dislikes 0

Looked it up and that's definitely similar. What my grandma made looked more like this:

2 days ago | Likes 4 Dislikes 0