# Lilek-esque food fun **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 27, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lilek-esque-food-fun/164553 "2003-03-27T17:03:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lilek-esque-food-fun/164553/1 "2003-03-27T17:03:23Z")
For those of you who enjoy James Lilek’s Gallery of Regrettable food, it’ll be a real treat for you to read through these Weight Watchers recipe cards, c. 1974. [Weight Watchers Cards](http://www.poundy.com/wwcards.html) > [@](#): > > These cards mystify me. None of them have calorie or nutrition information of any kind, and in some instances it’s hard to tell what’s dietetic about the recipes at all, except that they’re unspeakably grim. And yet also, completely insane. They appear to be from a much kookier era of Weight Watchers. There’s a certain serve-it-at- your-next-key-party freakiness to a lot of these dishes. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lilek-esque-food-fun/164553/2 "2003-03-27T17:16:19Z")
God Almighty. Maybe the idea is that they help you to lose weight by killing your appetite. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lilek-esque-food-fun/164553/3 "2003-03-27T17:23:58Z")
Oh my. On a side note, I have a question for those of you old enough to have been alive in the 1960s. Did people _really_ drink beverages centered around cold beef stock as much as old cookbooks seem to think? I mean, I could maybe see treating my dog with a serving of [Pow!](http://www.catesgarage.com/food/stagfood.html), but drink it myself? Never. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lilek-esque-food-fun/164553/4 "2003-03-27T17:45:04Z")
THANK YOU!!! Someone at my meeting on Monday night mentioned these. Particularly the fluffy mackerel pudding. Now I can look at what she was talking about. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lilek-esque-food-fun/164553/5 "2003-03-27T17:51:36Z")
Marcy’s “Enchilada” _snort_ Just a tip for those budding chefs. Any time you are presented with a recipe in which one word is in quotation marks… … **RUN LIKE THE WIND FOR THE LOVE OF PETE!** ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lilek-esque-food-fun/164553/6 "2003-03-27T18:12:04Z")
The only one which looked like it wouldn’t be too bad is the Caucasian Shashlik. Everything else looked a little weird. ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lilek-esque-food-fun/164553/7 "2003-03-27T18:42:21Z")
Heeheehee. Fish balls. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lilek-esque-food-fun/164553/8 "2003-03-27T19:19:13Z")
Great! Now I have to clean the Pepsi off my monitor! ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lilek-esque-food-fun/164553/9 "2003-03-27T19:41:25Z")
Water, sherry extract and…two beef boullion cubes? Gaaak! Okay, somebody find the chef’s stash. That’s some powerful stuff. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lilek-esque-food-fun/164553/10 "2003-03-27T20:12:10Z")
I remember the 60s and NOBODY drank beverages based on cold beef stock. NOBODY. Is Caucasian shashlik made of … Caucasians??? ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lilek-esque-food-fun/164553/11 "2003-03-28T03:47:54Z")
I love the [Mexican Shrimp-Orange Salad](http://www.phule.net/mirrors/www.poundy.com/wwcards/scaryorangesalad.html). “What the hell’s in that bowl-- bong water?!” ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lilek-esque-food-fun/164553/12 "2003-03-28T04:46:35Z")
And somewhere in the background you can hear a small voice saying: "I’m James Lileks. I’m a professional humorist - and you’re not. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lilek-esque-food-fun/164553/13 "2003-03-28T10:29:11Z")
I’ve had fish balls in Malaysian dishes. They’re delicious. I have some in my freezer right now. Yes, I’m serious. The texture is kinda weird (spongier than a superball, less spongy than bread), but they’re really, really good when used in the right dish. Hmm, that gives me some cool ideas for the next time I make hay-bee sambal… “Fluffy Mackerel Pudding” has _got_ to be a joke, though. Mackerel should never be used in anything but Ogden Nash poems. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lilek-esque-food-fun/164553/14 "2003-03-28T16:04:10Z")
I dunno, “Fluffy Mackerel Pudding” does sound like something Homer Simpson would eat. Or possibly something Tom Servo would make for Mike. And of course, it’s a great band name. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lilek-esque-food-fun/164553/15 "2003-03-28T17:19:27Z")
I like the comment from the website: > [@](#): > > Once upon a time the world was young and the words “mackerel” and “pudding” existed far, far away from one another. > > One day, that all changed. And then, whoever was responsible somehow thought the word fluffy would help. > > Oh, and eggs, too. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lilek-esque-food-fun/164553/16 "2003-03-28T21:31:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Athena \* > \*\*Oh my. > > On a side note, I have a question for those of you old enough to have been alive in the 1960s. Did people _really_ drink beverages centered around cold beef stock as much as old cookbooks seem to think? I mean, I could maybe see treating my dog with a serving of [Pow!](http://www.catesgarage.com/food/stagfood.html), but drink it myself? Never. \*\* Oh yuck. Although the “Potatos Men Love” or whatever-is that supposed to be a picture of Potatos Anna? I LOVE Potatos Anna! Snappy Mackerel Casserole-hmmmm…well, as long as it’s “Snappy!”