One more food that’s not exactly chic these days: the humble and unassuming fish stick.
*At the risk of losing any food-related street cred I may have acquired here . . . * MMMmmmm. Chili with pulverized saltines . . . yum!
But…
If the shows were in black and white, how do you know their suits were brown?
Geez, I’ve bought these in the last year too. The crispy ones labeled as being made from whole pieces of fish (as opposed to mashed fish) aren’t bad.
I don’t think anyone’s mentioned chicken-fried steak yet. Does that qualify as “yesteryear” food?
I thought most of the stuff mentioned here was peculiar to the midwest. It’s an eye-opener to see people from the coasts having some knowledge of it.
One of my mom’s favorite things (don’t know if this is regional or depression era or what) was toast and milk – together, in a bowl. I always wondered if it had any relation to the term “milquetoast”.
You obviously haven’t been around my kids at meal time.
Wouldn’t it be kinda freaky if I was around your kids at meal time?
(I kid, I make a joke…)
Perhaps I should have said, tater tots are something that I haven’t had since Mom or the school cafeteria determined what I ate. And that would include other foods mentioned in this list, like fish sticks, sloppy joes, the hot turkey sandwich, etc.
Jamie Oliver had a recipe for a fish stick sandwich in one of his cookbooks.
Food goes through fads, just like fashion. Most of the recipes mentioned just aren’t fashionable right now. I myself make bread pudding, creamed chicken on toast, pot roast, and lots of mac’n’cheese. My husband would probably like salmon patties. I hate fish, but I should get my Mum to teach him how to make them.
Oh! Minced beef in gravy with onions, on rice or mashed potatoes. Very Canadian/British cold weather comfort food. My parents make it a lot.
In fifty years, people will be saying, “They ate foam! And put balsamic vinegar and wasabi on everything! And why did they insert roasted peppers into all sorts of weird foods and insist on using tons of garlic all the time? If only they realized that the only really cool sorts of cuisine are Visigoth revival and Polish.”
No, HelloKitty is thinking of a guy named Mason Reese, who can be seen as an adult in the third picture from the bottom on this page. This painting depicts Mason as the child remembered by folks who were watching U.S. commercial TV in the 1970’s.
Just Google “Milquetoast, Caspar J.” and see what you get. Ever tried chocolate milktoast? Make some really good hot chocolate., use that instead of the regular white milk. More suited to a kid’s palate some might say, but quite the tasty, and unusual item.
Yeah, I like blancmange; it’s just flavoured milk set with cornflour (corn starch) though, isn’t it?
I’m not referring to any particular show. It’s an image in my mind. And my imagination tells me that the suit is definitely brown.
And speaking of chop suey, there are several Chinese restaurant dishes that seem to have gone out of style … chop suey, mu gu gai pan, egg fu yung, …
Manwich includes meat. All you have to do is heat it up and pour it onto a bun.
A sandwich is a sandwich. But a Manwich is a MEAL!
I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a Manwich.
No, the Manwich you can still buy at the supermarket is just the thin, sweet, tangy tomato sauce that you add to browned ground beef to make the Sloppy Joe. I guess you could call the complete sandwich a “Manwich,” but the product is the sauce only.
Sonic* offers tater tots as an alternative to fries.
*fast food restaurant thingy
Tater tots are excellent. Esp. with fresh-ground pepper and some sour cream to dip them in.
Tater tots are also the main ingredient in a popular casserole – cream of mushroom soup, ground beef, green beans, tots, and fried onions (the kind that come in a can). My neighbor made it for me when I was laid up, and she brought it over with a dish of pickled beets and homemade sugar cookies. 
The cafeteria where I used to work made a great bean dish – several different kinds of beans, ground beef, with a sort of sweet-sour sauce base.
I have several cookbooks compiled by local churches and community groups. They’re a nice mix of yesteryear food and newer items, like the dips that are so popular now.
Mmmm! I usually ask my mom to make almost that exactly same casserole when I’m home for Thanksgiving or Christmas (though not for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner). Instead of fried onions, mom dices onions and adds them as the ground beef is browned. Very comforting stuff. Mom had a couple of other ground beef casserole dishes in the rotation back in the day, but that’s the only one worth being nostalgic over…
I still see chop suey and chow mein listed in Chinese menus; but does anyone ever order them?
Jordan almonds (the ones that are covered in colored hard candy).
Two more Jewish dishes: kishka (stuffed intestine) and homemade gefilte fish (not the crap that comes in a jar).
Malted milk, as opposed to milk shakes.
Any kind of open-face sandwiches, with gravy.
Waldorf salad.
Birch beer.
Popcorn balls.
Chopped liver.
Tuna casserole made with cream of mushroom soup.
An episode of Fawlty Towers led me to seek out recipes for Waldorf Salad, and I found it rather tasty.
The jarred stuff is pretty gross, but I loved homemade gefilte fish when it was served to me. I’m a HUGE fan of chopped liver, and I’d eat it more except that it is expensive and unhealthy. Spread it on a toasted bagel or Ritz crackers for me, or I’ll just go to town with a spoon! Birch beer is great, but I only ever see it at Wendy’s, and only sometimes. (I’m a root beer aficionado, though.)