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Found a 1966 cookbook with a recipe for 'Mystery Meat' that's just... no

Last Thursday at the Goodwill in Tulsa I grabbed this spiral bound church cookbook from 1966. Most of it is normal potluck stuff, casseroles, jello salads, you know the drill. But there's a whole section called 'Creative Economy Meals' and one recipe is literally called Mystery Meat. No joke, the ingredients are: 1 lb ground beef, 1 can of fruit cocktail, 1 cup of crushed saltines, and a packet of onion soup mix. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Fruit cocktail. In meatloaf. I showed my buddy and he said 'that's how you know it's authentic' but I'm genuinely scared to try it. Has anyone else found a recipe in an old cookbook that just made you question the entire decade?
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ryanh77
ryanh779d ago
Those old "economy" recipes were all about stretching stuff out and using whatever was cheap, so canned fruit in meat makes a weird kind of sense if you grew up during the Depression. It's like every decade had a food trend we'd never admit to now, and this is just the 60s version of putting kale in a smoothie. Ngl, I'd probably try it once just to say I did, but I'm also 90 percent sure it'll taste like a sad version of sweet and sour meatballs.
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