Saturday Thoughts...Long ago Mixes

  

There are some mixes that I used for many years that are no longer available. The first years I was married Mixes were very popular as it gave you a good meal or dessert and saved some time. I wouldn’t mind seeing some of them come back on the market.

 One of my favorites and I would still buy it today if it was available was the Date Bar Mix. It was very good and Dates were hard to buy except around the Holidays. Everything was in the box and so handy for a quick treat with a cup of coffee or tea.

Then for a little while you could buy pie crust sticks. I tried them once and no one would eat the crust so never used it again. You still had to roll it out and it was just as easy to make it from scratch. 

 From even earlier, in our house we used margarine that had to be colored. 

We grew up in Minnesota where you couldn’t buy or sell colored margarine. Several other states had similar laws like that. It wasn’t until 1963 that the state legislature finally voted to legalize yellow margarine. And even then, the opponents of oleo did not concede gracefully. A few weeks before the final vote on legalization, state inspectors engaged in a final crackdown on illicit margarine. Among the unlucky was the owner of a Scandinavian restaurant in Minneapolis who was caught serving lutefisk with an illegal mixture of melted yellow oleo and butter.

 Dry frosting mixes were very popular with the Coconut Pecan cake frosting being one I used. Coconut, pecans and I would guess it was powdered sugar were all in the envelope and you added water and frosted the cake. Great when you didn’t want to buy pecans and a large bag of coconut. The famous Tunnel of Fudge cake was made with a frosting mix used in the center of the cake. The cake was popular until Pillsbury discontinued the crucial ingredient to the cake’s success, Double Dutch Frosting Mix, sometime in the 70s or 80s. Angry fans of the cake deluged the company with complaints, prompting Pillsbury to adapt the recipe, replacing the frosting mix with cocoa powder and confectioners’ sugar. 

 Two of the mixes both Sue and I used are still on the market today though changed some from the originals. Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, and Chef Boyardee Pizza mix. The Mac and Cheese came in a dark blue box and had orange cheese powder, the pizza mix was the first pizza I made and I used it for several years. Family and friends loved it and once again it came with everything in the box and you could add your own toppings. I think we mostly used Ground Beef and maybe some olives and canned mushrooms.