Welcome to one of my absolute favorite sites on the Internet. It’s been around for 20 years and has given me more laughs than I can count. I first discovered it when a friend who knew that I collect old cookbooks gave me a book based on the site.
Writer James Lileks takes cookbooks from the 20 through the 70s and looks at them with a modern lens. The interface is super-simple. When you arrive on the landing page, there’s an explanation of what the site is about and why the author created it.
But if you’d prefer to dive right in, just click under the Collection heading. A particular favorite of mine is the molded salads section. At one time these were all the rage, but today they can look kind of terrifying. Check these out:
The author’s commentary is what makes this page so enjoyable. He’s both snarky and affectionate towards the culinary creations of the past. Honestly, I was laughing myself silly just picking a couple of shots for this article. Like me, I’m guessing you’ll find these recipes both familiar and terrifying. Plus you’ll get a good laugh.
Click here to visit: http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/index.html
Send I love this article. I have several of these books and occasionally I still make one of those salads. They’re beautiful to me to look at I suppose they might scare people off today because we haven’t made them in so long. I grew up with orange Golden Glow salad on lettuce with the little dollop of mayonnaise as a dessert. How about it readers? Do you any of you recall these interesting Delectables on your tables?
The whole site is wonderful. The Interior Desecrations site is laugh-out-loud funny. It’s interesting how molded salads have fallen out of favor.