Convenience Was the Name of the Game | Recipes From the 1960's


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Popular recipes from the 1960’s were based on convenience items and flavorful shelf stable add ins. The cocktail party was …

36 replies
  1. Susan Parslow
    Susan Parslow says:

    I was a child in the 60's and my aunty and uncle would throw parties throughout every year. Christmas time/ New years eve in particular were the biggest ones. Proper cocktail parties, but held outdoors. The star of the show food wise were Devils on horseback, ( prunes stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon), baked in the oven. Cheese cubes, green stuffed olives, crackers and green, red and white cocktail onions, along with cabanossi, or kabana sausage. Always served on a plate with toothpicks. French onion dip. Such elegance for a young child.!!! I loved those parties. All my cousins would be there too. Got to love the 1960's, for many reasons. Party food included.! I am Australian.

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  2. Beth Brec
    Beth Brec says:

    Was thinking it might be fun to refer to it as Era cooking. Just has a different ring to it than period cooking. πŸ˜† Also, when my mom made this dip she would use the hand held electric beaters to "whip" the cream cheese first to make it light and airy before adding the soup mix. This might have helped with that sense of heaviness you had that called to you for sour cream. πŸ‘

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  3. Kristy B
    Kristy B says:

    I’m not sure if you have ever had an olive burger (very popular in Northern Michigan where I grew up) but if you love green olives I’m sure you will love it. It’s just a burger topped with green olives and mayonnaise. It is absolutely delicious and a burger I get every time I go back home but it’s super easy to make at home. We make them as sliders for parties a lot and people absolutely love them because they are so different from anything they have in Tennessee.

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  4. Lisa Terry
    Lisa Terry says:

    I love this combination!! My younger brother ate cream cheese and olive sandwiches for lunch every day, for the first part of his childhood! My parents had cocktail parties every weekend on Saturday nights. We were allowed to serve one appetizer to everyone when they first arrived but then we had to go upstairs and stay up there!! Such great memories of that time!!

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  5. Tina Ryan
    Tina Ryan says:

    I make the olive cream cheese for me and my mother in law.. I use a package of cream cheese, chop olives and use some half and half. I whip it up and it’s so good! It goes on our bagels

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  6. Nicole Hubbard
    Nicole Hubbard says:

    Happy birthday to Julian! My aunt always made stuffed celery for holidays. She made the green olive kind, but she also made "pink celery." She chopped maraschino cherries and mixed them with the cream cheese, stuffed into the celery sticks. We loved it!

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  7. Ms. L
    Ms. L says:

    Stuffed celery is still one of my favorites that my family still makes, usually at holidays. My favorite to stuff the celery with are the Kraft tiny jars of cheese…cheddar/bacon, old english, pineapple, all so yummy, but I'm going to have to try your recipe because I love green olives too. Thanks for the idea. Also, my family has always made the meatball recipe with the chili sauce and grape jelly…it is really good served as a meal over white rice too.

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  8. Nancy Culp
    Nancy Culp says:

    I always heard that California dip was made with a packet of vegetable dip mix instead of the onion soup mix. Kinda like the California Sushi ( no raw fish…everything cooked along with vegetables in it). Way back in the late 80’s we had a Christmas party. I had never made the meatballs like you did. My husband at the time was a hunter and loved venison. I mixed half ground venison and half pork sausage and made little meatballs. Baked them in the oven first to brown, then put in the crockpot to cook with the sauce mixture you made. It was a big hit with the hunters at the party. Nothing was left! I also made sausage balls. I had never heard of them until the 80’s. Men love anything with meat in it. My mother would always use cream cheese to make dip…not sour cream. An 8 oz block of cream cheese, little milk to make it creamy enough for a chip not to break and crushed garlic through a garlic press, along with S& P to taste. Only way we thought dip was made! Lol. Finger sandwiches was always made with chicken salad. For a special dessert at Christmas my grandmother would have vanilla ice cream in her fancy compote glasses with Creme de Menthe drizzled over it with a sprig of mint on the side to make it look pretty. Funny how things from your childhood stands out.

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  9. Lisa Ward
    Lisa Ward says:

    We always did celery with peanut butter,saltines with margarine on them was a great snack and chicken salad window panes sandwiches stacked on a nice paper doily lined plate.

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  10. Patricia Durio
    Patricia Durio says:

    I stuff celery with peanut butter with raisins on top. My kids used to call it ants on a log. No thanks to the wedge salad. I don't eat ice berg lettuce nor am I a fan of blue cheese. So I'll pass on the salad. I've done little smokies like you did the meatballs. Mom used to use cream of mushroom soup and 1/4 cup BBQ sauce with her meatballs. Maybe microwave 30 second at a time till cream cheese is soft enough to stir.

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  11. Maria Serpa-Gauvin
    Maria Serpa-Gauvin says:

    Love these!
    My favourite, not sure if from the 60’s or 70’s, mix equal amounts of mayo and sour cream and a packet of Lipton on Knorr vegetable soup mix. Let it sit in the fridge for an hour or longer for the flavours to meld! Serve with veggies or chips. Yum yum

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  12. Melissa Hartsell
    Melissa Hartsell says:

    My grandmaw in FLorida had olive spread sandwiches made for my mom and her siblings when they went to visit her in 2009. We ahd never heard of it. when mama came back home she made it for us and we loved it. we have it often. we use 1 block softened cream cheese, 1 jar drained but reserve a little juice of pimento stuffed green olives and 1 table spoon of mayo. chop the olives,mix the cream cheese and mayo wel and mix in the chopped olives. we eat it on bread. good on crackers as well.
    those meatballs looked good!

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