Month of Martha - Day 8

I love the idea of being on sabbatical! That's it exactly!

So, in my best Martha impression--which stinks so far, but I'm working on it--I'm trying to plan menus ahead of time. Those who have been to dinner in my home will find that especially funny as I regularly make things up as I go along and have been known to have to convert what was going to be a breakfast entree into Italian meatball sandwiches. But I don't believe anything is impossible. Improbable, yes, but not impossible. I might actually be able to do this.

I decided to check to see what the library had in menu planning and came across this:

Good Housekeeping published this "Menus For a Whole Year of Dinners," and I grew up browsing the recipe section of my mother's Good Housekeeping magazines, and I have memories of some spectacular stuff. I should maybe have noticed that this book was published about the time I was born, but I am never bothered by details.

Sometime before I learned to read, there might have been a little theme-shifting at Good Housekeeping. I remember recipes for baked Alaska, fabulous roast turkeys, wonderful sandwiches--what we got with this book:

* fish sticks with tomato sauce
*Mexican liver
* Frankfurters "garni," which turns out to be hot dogs cooked in beef gravy
* "man-style" baked eggs (no idea)
* deviled-tongue salad
* creamed dried beef on toast points
* jellied ham loaf, which seems to be for those who just can't get enough of that jelly-covered meat we now call "Spam"
* peanut-butter ham steak, which involves coating ham with corn syrup, broiling it, then topping it with peanut butter. ??????????
* lettuce with dried-beef dressing
* luncheon meat mozzarella (picture eggplant Parmesan but with bologna)
* cheese-topped beet mold

On a TOTALLY unrelated topic, does anyone know if divorces skyrocketed around1972-73? Just curious.

I'm going to keep the book around for another week or so just to frighten Andy, and I think it will make a fabulous conversation piece during Monday's Soup Night. :)