No special occasion was complete without something served in a gelatin mold. According to the Jell-O Gallery, the lime flavor was introduced in 1930. It became the basis for many molds in the '50s and '60s, showcasing a cook’s creativity.
If your parents threw a party during the late '60s, cheese fondue was on the menu! Fondue is still a fun way to host, so dig around in your parents’ or grandparents’ houses to see if they kept their fondue pots.
Maybe you remember your parents serving this super-hip dish at 1960s cocktail parties. Many different versions exist, but they usually contain beef or pork with a rich gravy, cream sauce, or a side of lingonberry jam. Guess what?
Much-maligned because it doesn’t take much skill, this dish was a staple of the 1950s and 1960s dinner table. It contains canned tuna, canned mushroom soup, and various seasonings that ranged from curry powder to grated American cheese.
This sunny cake with its slices of pineapple dotted with cherries has been around a long, long time. In fact, a pineapple upside down cake won the first Dole recipe contest in 1926.
this meringue-topped ice cream-covered cake dates back to the creativity of a chef at Delmonico’s in New York City in the 1860s (supposedly, the chef borrowed the recipe from the French but named it after the recent Alaska purchase by the U.S.).
This dish contained chunks of chicken and veggies in a cream sauce (often canned cream of mushroom soup, naturally!) served over biscuits, rice or pilaf. It was first served in the early 20th century, but it reached its heyday in the '50s and '60s.
What kid from the '50s or '60s doesn’t remember this “salad” that includes oranges and coconut, and sometimes maraschino cherries, bananas, pineapple, and/or marshmallows? Gelatin and whipped toppings were often added, too.
meatloaf became a staple during the Great Depression when meat was pricey. But growing up in the '50s and '60s, it was a simple, cheap way to feed the family, then have leftovers for sandwiches the next day.
Tiki culture and luau-themed parties were big in the '60s, partly due to the popularity of restaurants like Trader Vic’s, the Hawaiian Room in New York City, and Hawaii’s admission to U.S. statehood in 1959.
The cake develops a fudge-y center as it bakes, somewhat reminiscent of today’s chocolate lava cakes. The recipe used a Bundt pan, popularized by the Nordic Ware company — and sales of this pan went through the roof after the cake won the contest.