Sometimes I regret my habit of reading while I eat. When dining or even snacking alone I tend to reach for a book, a newspaper, a magazine or even the back of a cereal box.
Dietitians would probably say that mindless eating often leads to overeating. Slow-food movement enthusiasts would likely tell me that paying half-attention to a plate means I’m missing the full experience.
And anyone who’s ever tried a recipe from the back of a food product would almost certainly warn against baking Tic Tac Toe Cookies, a peanut-butter cookie recipe found on the Heinz ketchup bottle.
However, reading a recipe when I’m hungry inextricably links the process of satisfying that hunger with the chance to try something new. It’s the opposite of aversion therapy: No matter how improbable the combination of peanut butter and ketchup would sound to a rational person, I was immediately intrigued.
Then again, I once made Tomato Soup Cake. It actually tasted like spice cake; you had to search your palate really, really hard for the barest hint of tomato puree. Even then you couldn’t be sure you weren’t tasting sugar and cloves.
I’ve also made a mayonnaise cake whose other ingredients include unsweetened cocoa and mint chocolate chips. That one’s actually delicious and a great recipe to have on hand when you run out of eggs. Given how expensive eggs are likely to be soon, thanks to the bird flu, that recipe might just come back out of the folder.
The road to ketchup cookies
On Sunday I baked oatmeal cookies because we were expecting a visit from DF’s mom. A phrase from my own mom popped up: “No sense heating up the oven for just one thing.” When I was a kid, we never baked a single batch of cookies or just one pie. It was doubles for everything, and sometimes two or three batches of cookies in a row.
All right, I admit it: This was just a massive rationalization. As an adult I’ve been known to bake just one batch of cookies at a time. The truth was that Heinz recipe had burrowed its way into the Obsession Lobe of my brain.
Yes, I baked them. No, we didn’t tell DF’s mom what was in them until she’d eaten one.
Fortunately she’s an adventurous kind of person who was more intrigued than horrified. She allowed as to how she might taste a little bit of the tomato tang. DF had tried the raw cookie dough and said the flavor was more noticeable there.
I’ve eaten a few of the Heinz cookies myself and my reaction was, “Well, I don’t have to do that again.” It’s not that they were terrible. They were actually pretty good. But so is a basic peanut butter cookie recipe.
So I’ll save the ketchup for French fries and meatloaf, the way God intended. And I know I should cure myself of the habit of reading manufacturer recipes. Now that I’ve made Tic Tac Toe cookies, can Mock Apple Pie be far behind?
Readers: Have you ever tried a recipe like Cream of Mushroom Souper Scramble or Spam-A-Roni Picnic Salad? How did it turn out?
Related reading:
- The call of the Koolickle
- Chowder: It’s not just for breakfast anymore
- The fascination of DIY Cool Whip
Some manufacturers’ recipes are great. My DH is an excellent cook and his go-to chocolate cake recipe used to be on the back of the Hershey’s Cocoa box, and you can’t beat the old Scrumptious Brownie recipe from Baker’s Chocolate. Unfortunately, Baker’s has a newer, healthier version now that isn’t nearly as good. I’m not sure about the cake recipe. I figure my brownies should be totally indulgent and if I’m going to eat something healthy, I should have a fruit and not a second-rate brownie.
Agreed. I haven’t made brownies in ages. Maybe I’ll get some unsweetened chocolate and give it a go.
As a kid I loved the cookie recipe on the Quaker Oats box. At some point they changed it to one that included cinnamon and at least one other spice; those were OK, but not as good as the old one.
Fortunately I stumbled on a version of the original recipe in the “Best of Country Cookies” book. That was the recipe I baked on Sunday, when DF’s mom and her sweetheart dropped by. Believe I’ll have one with my tea before I get back to work.
Thanks for reading, and for leaving a comment.
“One with my tea before I get back to work”.
I’m so impressed. I don’t believe I have ever eaten just one cookie at a time in my entire adult life.
I had to stop baking.
“One” was my plan. That may or may not have happened IRL.
We have a recipe called “Copper Penny Carrots.” It can be served either hot or cold. Carrot rounds served in a sauce; the secret ingredient is a can of tomato soup.
They are fantastic – kind of a sweet and sour effect. No one can ever guess what the mystery ingredient is.
Okay: You can’t drop a recipe name like that without sharing how it’s done. Recipe, please. Pretty please?
Donna I can tell you the Copper Penny Carrots are really amazing! I’ve made this side dish for many years.
heres the recipe…
Copper Penny Carrots
makes 12 servings
2 pounds carrots, pared and sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, thinly sliced
1 10 3/4 ounce can condensed tomato soup
1/2 cup cooking oil (vegetable or canola will do)
3/4 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1 cup granulated sugar
Cook carrots in water until medium done (fork can pierce them) don’t over cook them. Every time I’ve cooked them they took different times due to the sizes of the carrots and how many I make. Drain well.
Arrange layers of carrots , then green peppers, then onions in a bowl.
Combine soup, oil, vinegar, mustard, worcestershire sauce and sugar. Mix until well blended. Pour mixture over vegetable layers. Refrigerate overnight.
Drain well (I save the soup mixture and start the next batch and use this for the next batch adding more soup if needed) Place vegetables in a serving dish or bowl. Serve cold! They care great as a side dish with Ham, Fish, Turkey, Pork, Sandwiches.
I’ve used this recipe for Showers, Fancy dinners, picnics, banquets, church cover dishes. I snack on them instead of cookies or cake at night. This is one dish I would say you should try! You won’t be disappointed.
Oh my goodness, that sounds just like my grandmother’s marinated carrot salad. YUM! Now I have a craving.
Donna, this recipe sounds similar to what Cathy describes, and to what my grandma used to make:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/marinated-carrot-salad/
Yes, this is what I make. It is very very yummy!
Well, I will admit the cookies baked with applesauce or the cake mix where you add a can of diet cola were good, but very, very crumbly. As a matter of fact, they were unedible. My favorite was wieners creole on the side of the sweet and sour bottle. It took an hour to prepare the ingredients, 15 minutes to stir fry, and 1 minute to taste and give to the dog who didn’t want it either.
“Wieners” and “creole” are usually mutually exclusive terms. Props for that, anyway.
In 1980 when I first moved out on my own I bought a cookbook at Kmart that was all Name Brand Recipes. It was a very large cookbook. I think I paid a dollar for it. It was a collection of all of the recipes from the labels/boxes. There were some really good recipes in it.I got a lot of use out of it as I was learning to cook. There were also some really bizarre stuff in it. It was my third cookbook after the basic Betty Crocker and a “Cooking for one” cookbook I also found at Kmart. I just recently put it in the box for goodwill. It was interesting reading. (I love to read recipes).
There used to be a cook book called “From the Back of the Box,” and it was full of recipes from brand-name foods such as Crisco, Heinz, etc. I still use the cook book from time to time.
Donna, I second the emotion about tomato soup cake. It’s delicious! Betsey, try a regular yellow cake mix with non-diet Mountain Dew. Very tasty and moist. (Assuming you can drink non-diet soda, that is)
I’ve always, always wanted to make Mock Apple Pie, but I’m really not that fond of baking, so if I’m going to do it, I want to be sure what comes out will be good. Oh what the heck, maybe this fall I’ll try it. It’ll probably be awful but I’ve been intrigued by the recipe since I was a kid.
Some of my favorite dishes are from a small promotional cookbook: Martha White’s Southern Sampler. It is a 1989 compilation of recipes that had appeared on the flour (and cornmeal, grits, etc.) bags over the years. It’s “Mom’s Apple Cobbler” is the weirdest recipe in print but is foolproof to make and amazingly delicious to eat. So if that mock apple pie doesn’t cut the mustard…
I’ve actually developed of few of those “on the box” recipes for food companies. Not Ketchup cookies, though.
I once saw a recipe for Sauerkraut surprise cake in a Russian cookbook. I never had the intestinal fortitude to make it.
DF made sauerkraut cream pie. It’s not bad — tastes kind of like coconut custard pie.
I’m not a good cook so I don’t stray far from what I know. Even the old recipes at times, don’t turn out for me. It’s a talent really. I leave the way out there stuff for Den. He has a knack for knowing what it will taste like before he makes it and he can fix whatever I screw up. I once hit the side of my bowl and sloshed in way, way, way, more vinegar in a big vat of potato salad. Den fixed it and people asked for the recipe. That time, I was on the verge of tears.