Hey, my mom used to make that!

Retro Happy Hour: Three cocktails made with chocolate mint cordial

Here are three 1970 cocktail recipes from Hiram Walker.

Misted Chocolate Mint

Pour Hiram Walker Chocolate Mint over crushed ice in a mist glass. Sip with a straw.

Italian Mousse 

Combine 1 1/4 oz. Hiram Walker Chocolate Mint, 1 oz. Hiram Walker's Vodka, 1/2 oz. cream. Shake with cracked ice and serve in a champagne saucer. Garnish with grated chocolate.

Ski Lift

Combine in a mug 1 1/2 oz. Hiram Walker Chocolate Mint and 6 oz. hot chocolate made with milk and unsweetened chocolate. Top with whipped cream. Garnish with grated chocolate and use candy cane as stirrer. (This is really a cold-weather cocktail. I'll remind you of it come winter.)

Click here to see the 1979 cocktail recipe from Hiram Walker.

Retro Happy Hour: Blackberry Sour

Today's cocktail comes from this 1979 ad.

Leroux Blackberry Sour

Mix 3/4 oz. lemon or lime juice, 1 1/2 oz. Leroux Blackberry Flavored Brandy, 1 tsp. sugar. Shake, strain, garnish with orange slice, cherry.

Click here to learn how to make a Pomegranate Key Lime Vodka cocktail

Retro pork roast, glazed with currant jelly

In old TV shows, the ones I grew up with in the 1960s and 1970s, people were always inviting the boss over to dinner. Just look at how often Darrin and Samantha had the Larry Tates over. 

People don't do that anymore, do they?

If they did, pork roast would be the perfect thing to serve — assuming your boss isn't Jewish or Muslim.

A great pork roast is pretty easy to make. Be sure to ask the butcher at your grocery store to provide you with exactly the type of rolled, tied pork this recipe calls for. Trust me, the butcher will be happy to help you. 

Here's the 1979 recipe from National Pork Producers.

Currant Jelly Glazed Pork Roast

4 to 6 pound boneless pork loin roast (double loin, rolled, tied)
1 jar (10 oz.) currant jelly
1/3 cup light corn syrup
2 tbsp. cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tsp. ginger

Place roast on rack in shallow roasting pan. Insert meat thermometer so bulb is in center of thickest park of roast. Roast, uncovered, in 325˚F oven for about 2 1/2 ro 3 hours or until the meat thermometer registers 170˚F. While roast is cooking, prepare glaze. Combine jelly, corn syrup, vinegar, dry mustard and ginger in saucepan. Bring to simmering stage; simmer 2 minutes. Brush glaze over roast several times during last 30 minutes of cooking time. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Click here for three more retro recipes from the National Pork Producers. 

Retro Happy Hour: Whiskey Sour

Today's cocktail recipe comes from this 1979 ad.

Add 1 1/2 oz. Seagram's 7 to the juice of one lemon and one tsp. extra fine sugar. Shake, strain over ice and garnish with an orange slice and a cherry.

Click here for another retro cocktail with whiskey.

Retro Recipe: Souped-up Meatloaf

The beauty of this 1979 recipe is that it calls for shaping the meatloaf by hand rather than using a loaf pan. The result is a moist meatloaf with a crispy crust.

1 envelope Lipton Onion or Beef Flavor Mushroom Soup Mix

2 pounds ground beef
1 1/2 cups soft bread crumbs
2 eggs
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup catsup 

Preheat oven to 350˚. In large bowl, combine all the ingredients. In large shallow baking pan, shape into a loaf. Bake 1 hour or until done. If desired, garnish with parsley and serve with potatoes and sliced carrots. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

It's me again. I make a very similar meatloaf, the difference is that I use onion soup mix and a packet of tomato Cup-a-Soup instead of "catsup." It's dee-lish but probably really high in sodium.

Click here for another retro meatloaf recipe.

Retro Happy Hour: Key Party Punch from the 1970s

Alright, nowhere in this 1970s booklet of punch recipes does Anchor Hocking suggest you have a key party, but they were popular in the 1970s. Or so Hollywood would have us think (e.g. The Ice Storm).

And look at the couples on the booklet cover. They look like a swinging bunch to me.

Strawberry Punch

1 qt. strawberries
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 pt. ginger ale
2 bottles dry white wine

Put strawberries in a bowl with sugar and lemon juice and chill for several hours. When ready to serve, put berries in punch bowl and add the remaining liquids and ice. 

Click here for a 1970s recipe for boozy dessert.

Via alsis35

Retro Pickled Eggs

Leftover Easter eggs? Try this UK favorite.

Here's Heinz's 1972 recipe for pickled eggs.

Slowly blend 2 cups Heinz Distilled White Vinegar into 2 tbsp. mild mustard. Add 1/2 cup water, 1 cup sugar, 6 whole cloves, 1 tbsp each: salt, celery seed, mustard seed. Simmer 10 minutes; cool. Pour over 12 shelled hard-cooked eggs and 2 onions sliced. Cover; refrigerate overnight. Makes 1 dozen.

Via Shelf Life Taste Test

Retro Grasshopper Pie for St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day is as good a reason as any to make a Grasshopper Pie. It's green, contains two kinds of booze and it's delicious.

This Grasshopper Pie recipe comes from a 1975 Better Homes & Gardens recipe booklet. The recipe is originally from the Grand River Inn, in Grand Haven, Michigan. The Grand River Inn no longer exists.

Chocolate Crust

Mix 1 cup chocolate wafer crumbs (19 wafers), 1/4 cup sugar and 5 tbsp. melted butter. Press into 9-inch pie plate.

Pie

1/4 cup milk
6 cups mini marshmallows
1/3 cup creme de menthe
2 tbsp. white creme de menthe de cacao
Several drops of green food coloring
4 cups whipping cream, whipped
whipped cream rosettes
whole fresh strawberries

Prepare chocolate crust. Combine milk and marshmallows; cook and stir over low heat until marshmallows melt. Remove from heat; cool, stirring every 5 minutes until partially set. Stir in liqueurs and food coloring; fold into whipped cream. Pile onto crust; freeze firm. Trim with rosettes and berries. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Click here for another retro recipe for a green-colored pie.

Via Eudaemonius

Retro Recipe: Dippin' Good Drumsticks

Here's Hunt's 1972 recipe for Dippin' Good Drumsticks.

12 to 15 chicken drumsticks
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup salad oil
1 cup whole cranberry sauce
1 (7 1/2 oz.) can Hunt's Tomato Sauce
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 clove garlic, crushed

Coat drumsticks with mixture of flour, salt and pepper. Pour oil into shallow baking dish. Arrange chicken in oil, turning to coat all sides. Bake at 350˚ for 30 min.; turn, bake 30 min. longer. Combine Hunt's Sauce and remaining ingredients, bring to boil, simmer briefly. Serve as hot dip for drumsticks. Makes 5 to 6 servings.

Click here for another retro recipe for chicken.

Via jbcurio

Bacardi rum cake, easy recipe from 1979

 

Here's what you need to make the cake: 

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 18 1/2 oz. pkg. yellow cake mix
1 3 3/4 oz. pkg. Jell-O Vanilla Instant Pudding and Pie Filling
4 eggs
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup Wesson Oil
1/2 cup Bacardi dark run (80 proof)

And here's what you need for the glaze: 

1/4 lb. butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup Bacardi dark rum (80 proof)

Directions: Preheat oven to 325˚F. Grease and flour 10" tube or 12-cup bundt pan. Sprinkle nuts over bottom of pan. Mix remaining cake ingredients together. Pour over nuts. Bake 1 hour. Cool. Invert on serving plate. Prick top. Drizzle and smooth glaze evenly over top and sides. Allow cake to absorb glaze. Repeat until glaze is used up.

Glaze: Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in rum.

Optional: Decorate with whole maraschino cherries and borber of sugar frosting or whipped cream. Serve with seedless green grapes dusted with powdered sugar.

Click here to see a variation of this retro recipe for rum cake.