Hello all my little Mid-Modlets!
It is that spine-tinglingly, lip-smackingly exciting time again! You THINK I am going to say “Time for the Mid-Century Menu”, but I have to say it is even more exciting than that.
It’s Spam time. Oh yes.
And the Spam recipe comes out of the snappy little Campbell’s cookbook from two weeks ago that gave us the fantastic Spaghetti ‘N Franks Casserole. Which was, of course, pure bliss and didn’t taste at ALL like barf. Not even the Spaghetti-O’s.
In an interesting side note, it was kind of fun to see everyone’s reaction to the dissing of Spaghetti-O’s. It turns out some people really, really like them. Really.
Anyway, this week I was excited because I got to use a product that I didn’t realize even exsisted. Canned mac & cheese. That’s right. For those of you too lazy to make mac & cheese from the box, I bring you the crap stuffed into a can. If that isn’t a convenience food, I don’t know what is.
Now, I know what you are going to say. “Ruth, that recipe is 50 years old. There is NO WAY that they still make canned mac & cheese anymore.”
Oh yeah, Smart Guy??? Check out Exhibit “A” :
Wow, after all these years. It’s still around. Wow.
Making little troll fingers out of Spam.
So, whatever fat I saved by buying “Light” Spam has now been negated by me frying it in butter. Yum.
Nicely browned. A cat’s delight.
Well, this won’t be so bad, right? After all, I like mac & cheese. I will just pour it out of the can and…
Oh. Well. Okay then.
Reminds me of going to Dairy Queen.
Mmmm.
No wait. That wasn’t very convincing. Maybe if I typed it bigger…
MMMMMMMMMMMM.
Yeah, that wasn’t very convincing either.
This TOTALLY doesn’t look like barf.
Nope, larger letters weren’t convincing there, either.
“I didn’t even know they made mac & cheese in a can.”
“This tastes…interesting. Almost like mac & cheese.
“Yeah.”
“With Spam.
“Yeah.”
“And sour cream on it.”
“Yeah.”
“What’s this supposed to be again?”
“Stroganoff.”
“No way.”
“Yeah.”
The Verdict: Great, if you like Spam and mac & cheese together. Otherwise, you probably won’t like this. And this tastes exactly like you imagine it would. Also, for all of you dying to know what canned mac & cheese tastes like, it isn’t completely gross. But it isn’t pleasant either. I would describe the texture as somewhere between raw eggs and snot, and if it gets cold it is just shy of nasty.
“somewhere between raw eggs and snot” – ewwwww! and ha! I love all of the humor that you threw into this post. You had me howling! – and the kitties too, apparently!
Chef Boyardee (I’m not sure if that’s supposed to be one word or not) products always seem like a fun, nostalgic idea to me and then I buy them and just feel ill afterward (I do love me some Spaghetti-o’s though!) I think I’ll take your warning on the mac and cheese.
I think it’s pretty cute that Campbell’s thought that this would pass as an adequate Stroganoff.
Thanks, Eartha!! I am glad you got a good laugh out of it. Actually, Tom didn’t mind eating the canned mac & cheese, but yes, he did feel a little sick after this. 🙂
Yeah, I don’t know what was up with the name, either. “Creamy Macaroni” or something would have been better…if it didn’t sound so perverted…
Tom actually looks kind of excited in that first pic, hmmmmmmm it’s Spam-a-roni! Good thing you got that light Spam – hee! I guess I’ll be staying away from the canned mac and cheese too. 🙂
PS – Your new store looks FAB!
Thanks, Sara! I am really excited about it! (The store, that is, not that canned mac) 🙂
Please make the cover recipe! Looks like intact cans of meat covered with tomato soup served with boiled eggs and green beans. That recipe is the money shot, & it looks horrendous!
Wow, they really are using the term Stroganoff loosely there, eh? Ick. Why am I unsurprised that Chef Boyardee is who produces canned mac and cheese? LOL.
Toni! Oh my gosh. “That recipe is the money shot.” I think that might be my phrase for the month. 🙂 Hey – Did you ever end up buying an elf? Let us know & send pics if you did!
Andrea – Pretty gross, eh? Blah.
I loathe canned mac-n-cheese and can stand spam about once every 5 years or so. I try it just to remind myself why I don’t buy it inbetween times.
BTW…just wanted to tell you that my 2 1/2 year old says that “That bird is mad…realy mad”. He doesn’t like your owl. LOL Oh, and the two women in the banner have on ‘broken shirts’??? You’ve got me? *shrugging* I don’t get him sometimes. He does make life interesting.
Ha ha ha! Hilarious, Lorie! Give him a big hug for me!
You know it doesn’t look bad. But I assume I would not like it because I HATE Chef Boyardee ravioli with and Spam is not a fave.. It always looks good fried but it never taste quite right. 🙂
Well, I would give him a hug from you Ruth, but he “don’t want no love” and shoves you away if you try to give him a hug or kiss. I always tell him he is stingy with his love.
This doesnt look so bad! I do get a Spam craving every now and then … but not sure about the tinned cheese sauce. And what the heck is Stroganoff about it? The mind boggles. Always such a good laugh to see what’s cooking in your kitchen, Ruth!
I do like spam. And mac and cheese. Never had canned mac and cheese, but it looks suspicious.
I really appreciate how you delve into the whole retro mid-century lifestyle. I stumbled across your blog, and it’s great. I must admit that mid-century American cooking, in my opinion, is a dark time in culinary skills. It was a time when we were unsuccessfully dabbling in the new exciting world of processed convenience food and attempting to be overly creative as well. The results weren’t always the most aesthetically pleasing or appetizing. My mother’s old cookbooks from the ’50’s always had pictures heavily laden with food styling.
Hmm.. You know, it might taste a little better with homemade mac and cheese, and maybe scratch the idea of onion- unless you could chop them thin and caramelize them, so it’s cooked all the way and semi sweet. The idea of macaroni stroggie doesn’t seem too bad. BUT the idea of macaroni in a can… blegh. The farthest I would go for this mac would be velveta shells n cheese. One thing about Spam or luncheon meat that you should know is that when fried, it makes it’s own grease, so you may not have needed butter with the Spam, but I have never used light Spam. The sour cream is wonderful with mac. I try to add a little when I make my own macaroni and cheese.
I’ll admit it, I love that canned mac and cheese. Not as much as Stoeffer’s or Kraft or homemade, of course.