70's and 80's party food

For some reason I am lately interested in food from the 1970's and 1980's, when I was a kid. I don't know exactly why, but it probably has to do something with the fact that it often is comfort food nowadays.

Back then the world was far less globalized than it is now and when I read stories about what people in various countries ate for dinner then, there it a huge variation. (And I'm also not particularly fond of what I ate for dinner at that time. Nine out of ten times it was potatoes-vegetable-meat. The only pasta we knew was macaroni and even that was exotic.)

But I noticed here and on other forums that internationally there is much more similarity in the party foods people ate back then. The bites you serve with a drink, before dinner, or later at night. Someone from the US posted a recipe for devilled eggs here recently and that was exactly what my mother made.

So I wondered who wants to share their party food experiences from that time. It's sometimes hilarious, but at the same time I sometimes still love it.

I'll start off with a few from my youth.

1. (I live in Holland.) Cheese cubes, sometimes with a sweet-and-sour onion on top.



2. Russian salad. As a kid I loved it for the amount of ingredients and the thick layer of mayonnaise on top of it. I still love it.



3. Tinned asparagus with ham. It is hard to recreate this (and to find a good picture), because tinned asparagus is hardly sold anymore here.



4. Shrimp cocktail. When I want to recreate it, I use about equal amounts of mayonnaise and ketchup with a few spoons of whisky for the sauce. Though I assume I ate it without the whisky as a kid. My parents served it in their wine glasses, but it was often served in tomatoes as well.



5. Pickled gherkins with luncheon meat. The was the food to treat kids at school to when your parents didn't allow you to serve anything sweet.



What did you eat back then?

 

First thing that came to mind was the Pineapple and Cheese Hedgehog


Chunks of Pineapple and Cheese on sticks stuck in a foil covered potato, yum yum

 

Hahaha, that is classic 70's love it.

 

It instantly popped in to my head from my childhood!!

 

Cheese and meat Fondue..... come on how many have these in their basements?

 

Theres the answer!!

 

Chex mix--the kind you make, not the kind you pour out of a bag.

Shrimp mousse--made with canned tomato soup, cream cheese, canned shrimp and some other things. Always served with Triscuits (a brand of cracker.) It actually was better than it sounds.

Rumaki

Mr. Lucretia was a fan of trash can punch.

And melon carved into a boat and filled with melon balls.

 

Now you mention it, I am sure we have a Fondue set buried at the back of a cupboard that hasn't seen daylight in years!!

I seem to remember seeing HUGE bowls of trifle as well, something like this

 

And don't forget the jello salad with cottage cheese and pineapple in it!

And there was a desert made with coolwhip and pistachio pudding that was everywhere.

 

BARF!
I just threw up in my mouth!

 

70's party

Hop, Skip. and go Naked's... In a trash can... 1 Bottle of Gin, 1 Bottle of Vodka, 1 case of beer, 1 bag ice, 1 can limeade
1 can lemonade, 2 liters 7up

 

You can tell this is an older one because Mr. Lucretia wrote it down on the back of a computer punch card:

Trash can punch

Put trash can into bathtub & add:

2 qt orange juice
(2) 10 qt powdered Tropical Punch Koolaid Concentrate
2 banananananas
2 cans mandarin oranges
1 can chunk pineapple
1 1/2 gallons 80 proof rum
1 1/2 fifths Everclear 190 proof
3/4 fifth vodka 100 proof

Shower until right.

 

Ever eat it?

 

And there were the other classics--celery stuffed with peanut butter or cheese. Cheese cubes on ritz crackers. Sardines and crackers. Cocktail wienies--in or out of a blanket.

 

All these Liquor concoctions. Whatever happened to drinking Bartles and Jaymes wine coolers, vodka and mountain dews, and swillin all flavors of schnapps? LOL!

 

The only thing I would eat out of the list of ingredients is cottage cheese.
Jello=HellNo

 

Here you go, Knerd:

1 box lemon Jello
Miniature marshmallows
1 sm. can crushed pineapple
1 (1 lb.) cottage cheese
Chopped pecans
1/2 c. mayonnaise
Dissolve Jello in hot water. While still hot, add 1/2 pound miniature marshmallows. Stir until they are dissolved. When partly set, add pineapple, cottage cheese, nuts, and mayonnaise.


Christopher, we were busy drinking Cella Lambrusco. And Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill "wine" was also popular. To go with the Swedish Meatballs & plate of raw vegetables with ranch dip. (Hidden Valley mix, of course!)

 

Cocktail franks or mini-meatballs in a sauce of grape jelly and ketchup and/or BBQ sauce.

 

Just stir Rotel into melted Velveeta and add some tortilla chips for dipping, and you're ready to party!

 

Oh, I'm not too young to remember Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill. One of my 1st drinking experiences was with that.
Cella Lambrusco? Is that the stuff with the wicker bottom?