70's Appetizers - what did you eat? Need Ideas Please

[chicaraleigh]

Greetings - my friend is hosting a "Disco Dome" b-day party for her son this weekend. I offered to whip up some 70's themed apps for the grown ups to munch on.

The following are what I've come up with - but surely there was more?

Fondue
Pigs in a Blanket
Ambrosia Salad
Rumaki

Outside of the standard veggie tray or cheese/cracker tray, I'm at a loss to think of anything else

What did you eat/make for finger foods in the 70's?

[pemma]

What about those meatballs in the grape jelly/ketchup sauce and the little hot dogs in the apple jelly/mustard sauce? Or were those more 80's. Whatever, who's going to know?

[kchurchill5]

Those meatballs are actually good. I hate to admit it.

[rememberme]

Red pistachio nuts, so everyone knew what you had been eating.

[kchurchill5]

:)

[carol land]

Gallo jug wines - the gallo brothers Ernest and Julio. No wine before its time

[chicaraleigh]

OMG! I totally forgot about red pistachios - haven't seen them in ages!

[DaisyM]

I seem to remember my parents having fondue at one of their parties and it was very exciting. I also remember that dessert was always minature french pastries.

[Mary D]

The "big" wine we remember is Castelvetro. It was a major step up from Baby Duck or Spumante Bambino. We were surprised to see that Castelvetro is still available. My husband also remembers Sloe Gin. Omigosh - just looked it up and it too is still available!

[alkapal]

sloe gin fizz. i remember it well from the abc bar when my friend and i would sneak in. that, and gimlets, and...tequila sunrise! ;-).

and for the risqué, a "slow 'comfortable' screw." http://www.cocktailmaking.co.uk/displ...

whew! that one would get ya!

[buttertart]

Sloe gin was a ladies' drink, no? I remember my father (a Wiser's rye man) disdaining it as girl stuff.

[coll]

It's really sweet, but the two people I know that drank it were men. Don't care for it myself.

[laliz]

sloe gin ~~~~ memories

[BeefeaterRocks]

My friend with her head in the toilet!!!!

[nvcook]

The talk of sloe gin reminds me of a very funny thread on CH - "What you ate/drank in college that you never will again." I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes reading it.

[Isabella]

Whiskey Sours would also be on both lists!

[Whosyerkitty]

Sloe gin = underage. In my personal drinking and when tending bar.

[kchurchill5]

Too many memories!!

[Whosyerkitty]

You remembered something after drinking that $4!t ? Good for you.

[kchurchill5]

Remember what??? J/k Remember some very bad mornings that is. No slow gin here..

[AlaskaChick]

Ah the slow comfortable screw - sloe gin, southern comfort, OJ - a staple in the late 70s/early 80s in Alaska - we might not have class but darn we have style!

[kattyeyes]

I don't think that was unique to Alaska, just to the timeframe. ;) Don't forget the "slippery nipple" (Sambuca shot with a Bailey's floater) emerged in the same period. My uncle had a local restaurant and bar when I was a kid and I distinctly remember a woman who clearly didn't need another one yelling to the bartender, "Raaaaaay! I want my nipple!" YIPES!

[kchurchill5]

We did the "screw" too, what a hangover ... And the slippery nipple, another way too sweet drink. We could go on and on and on

[chicaraleigh]

I'm so glad I was able to bring back some many happy, err...ok, let's just say - memories!

I don't want to break the thread in any way but did want to report back that I made the following for the party - please remember, it wasn't my party or I probably would have made ALL of it!!

Pigs in a blanket - w/ a smidgen of cheese packed in each
Bacon wrapped water chestnuts
Pimento cheese (I'm in the south - it's a staple....)
Celery sticks w/ cream cheese & chopped green olive mix
Ritz crackers

Thankfully, I couldn't find any Blue Nun or Lambrusco so we had to suffice with my old secret Sangria recipe.

Many, many thanks for all the memories - I knew there was a ton of stuff I was forgetting, or maybe intentionally blocking.

And Sam - you're 70's appetizers beat most that I keep in my regular rotation in the 2000's

Thanks again - you're posts were WAY better than any of the 70's themed websites I came across in my initial google search.

[purple goddess]

And THAT is why I love this place so much, and get a bit testy with the "Why don't you just Google for it?" crowd.

Where else can you get recipes, a coupla laughs, some anecdotes and a trip down Memory Lane!!!

[chicaraleigh]

i'm doing everything I can to hold my proverbial, literal and physical tongue against the google crowd.

I mean for cryin' out loud - if I could find this board dont' cha think I might know where google is?!?

[Marsha]

I remember crudites coming into fashion - we all felt so healthy eating (or pretending to eat) small carrots, flowerets of broccoli and cauliflower, celery, radishes, etc., but we probably ruined by dipping them into ranch dressing (which also came out in the seventies, didn't it?). But at the end of the party, the dressing was more or less gone, while the vegetables just sat there.

[rememberme]

Yes! Crudites. Always celery, carrots, radishes and black olives, no dressing. Always on a "relish plate", which I've inherited.

[buttertart]

Relish plate: a whole new topic. My MIL (still cooking at 86) always serves one withn holiday meals. Dill pickle slices (no garlic, please, we're in Iowa after all), sweet gherkins, large stuffed Spanish olives, canned black olives each hand-stuffed with 3 toasted almond slivers (actually quite good, the best end for these), celery and crinkle-cut carrot sticks. It's nice to have a bite of these alongside a big meal. My mother used to do the same, wonder why you don't see it much any more.

[alkapal]

we just had a thread around turkey day about relish plates. there are plenty of us "relish platers" out here....

here it is: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/569828
i got some new ideas from everyone's contributions.

[buttertart]

Aha, thanks! I had overlooked the thread before. Good one.

[kchurchill5]

Always have a relish tray for every dinner party. Just food that people like. Black and green olives, carrots celery and pickles. It is just something that people like to munch on.

[AlaskaChick]

Gherkins rolled up in a ham square spread with cream cheese. I recall eating these during a christmas light limo tour - man were we living good!

[alkapal]

i'll take that! ;-P.

but then, sometimes i'll make a dill pickle sandwich -- on white sandwich bread, with mayo, of *course*!

[AlaskaChick]

Peanut butter and dill pickle sandwich on wonder bread. :-P

[kchurchill5]

OMG, I remember those. They were good.

[Cheese Boy]

I still enjoy the occasional pigs in a blanket, and I also love a good ambrosia salad, but I have to admit that I never really associated either of the two with the 70's though. I guess it's because I was eating those in the early 80's. Call me a latecomer I suppose. One strange appetizer I do remember having had in the seventies was flanken cooked in ketchup. As strange as that may sound, it did make for a tasty appetizer if you cut between the bones before cooking. Those one inch or so pieces of meat made for a great little finger food. If you like short ribs, you're bound to like these.

[weezycom]

we served a hot cream cheese and chipped beef dip -- alot of sodium and garlic powder in that. The recipe is in the Virginia Hospitality jr women's club cookbook. Usually served with fat pretzels sticks for dipping. Always a port wine cheese ball with triscuits. Dates stuffed with cream cheese and a pecan half. Frozen chinese egg rolls with duck sauce and hot mustard. Onion soup mix and sour cream for the crudite platter. And the Bisquick sausage balls, of course.

[kchurchill5]

Oh a fave ... still love it the chipped beef. I know, but still good. frozen egg rolls I do remember .

[Sam Fujisaka]

I'm not happy with all of you referring to what your moms (bless their collective hearts) did.

For the first third of the 70s, my first wife and I made and served things like good cheeses and bread, cold thin sliced teriyaki pork, ham and cheese crepes, thin tightly rolled Japanese omelettes with various ingredients mixed in and then sliced and toothpicked, chile bomb mini pigs in a blanket, very thin eggplant slices grilled and rolled up with our cheese made from our ytogurt, and carpaccio.

For the second third in Bolivia, we had the wonderful artisanal breads and the goat's milk cheeses from the altiplano and the Tarijeno Kolberg and Arce (of my next love's family) wines. These were not served to Tarijeno "society" but to the people we entertained.

Finally and to close out the 70s and as I was closing out my PhD work, anticuchos, pates, gravlax, my still cut up and toothpicked thin tightly rolled omelettes but now with caviar and my yogurt, thinly sliced artichoke hearts and aspragus tips with my then nascent French sauces, and, my best, mini tamlaes.

[alkapal]

yeah, sam, rub it in, will ya?!!

[alwayscooking]

Geez - I wish I had been invited to your parties. When I was growing up we only had velveeta and white cheese in the grocery in N Idaho. You were so lucky to have a basis to evolve from - just think how long it took for all of us to escape from the miasma or crawl from the primordial sea!

[cassoulady]

If I had a time machine, I would travel to the 70s and look Sam up.

[alkapal]

look sam up now, i'll bet he's got even *better* stuff here in ought-nine.

[Sam Fujisaka]

Thank you. Love you all. The thread just made me look back at the 70s; and I found them to be good. You are all invited toi my place anytime.

[kchurchill5]

More than we ever had. I couldn't tell you how many mini wenies I hate in a spicy BBQ sauce

[kchurchill5]

I was 10-20 and pretty much everything above is what we served. Not much else. I cooked but so did Mom and maybe I just folled what Mom did but the post pretty much cover it.

[laliz]

Mateus Rose Wine (so grape)

Stuffed mushrooms (boursin and breadcrumbs)

Lipton California Dip

Clam Dip

meatballs w/grape jelly & chili sauce

Cheese ball

[cleopatra999]

my mom used to always have out the following:
smoked oysters
puff pastry filled with a curry baby shrimp mix (i would guess in a mayo base)
our favorite was always mini wieners cooked in spicy ketchup served in a chafing dish, complete with the plastic toothpicks. they are hard to come by now, but you can find them usually around xmas.

[purple goddess]

smoked oysters on crackers were SO posh in the early 70's!!

I remember going to a "do" where they had a smoked oyster dip and thinking I was in heaven!

[karykat]

I actually found some mini-wieners that were organic at our coop! So I made some up with some really good barbeque sauce for a party. And I got a reception like I was trailer trash or something! Instead of bringing the very highest quality primo organic sustainable cocktail wieners!

[alkapal]

you got a bad reception? what idiot snobs!

[nosh]

Needed to wrap them up in little crescent dough and bake them into little piggies in blankets -- now that is haute cuisine!

[alkapal]

i wouldn't turn up my nose.

[kchurchill5]

I love pigs in a blanket, sorry ... organic or not. I love them. I guess my comfort food, guilty pleasures, junk food side. Still good.

[karykat]

Well I did note that they snarfed them all down.

[kchurchill5]

Should tell you something, snobby or not, they just won't admit they loved every last one.

[Whosyerkitty]

Uh huh. Until people start eating them and then they don't stop. Or they do it on the sly. People turn their noses up at chex party mix and that Ritz bits thing with ranch (I admit I've made this), but then they scarf them.

[Karen_Schaffer]

I was wondering when someone would mention the meatballs w/grape jelly & chili sauce. That and the Velveeta/chili dip are the 70's standouts in my memory.

[FriedClamFanatic]

It may be in here somewhere, but here's the classic:

One or more grapefruit
Frilly toothpicks
Ham or spam, cut in 1/2-3/4 squares
Pineapple chunk
swiss or similar cheese in chuncks
sweet pickles in 1/2 slice

make up the toothpicks with the 4 ingredients and stick them in the grapefruit. Heplful Helois tip: If the grapefruit rolls too much, cut a little slice off the "bottom"

[greygarious]

The Food Timeline website has a wealth of info:

http://foodtimeline.org/fooddecades.h...

[leek]

My mom did something that was a mix of cheese, mayo, chopped green onions, put on top of a Triscuit and bake. Maybe some horseradish in there? The topping puffed up a bit, and got browned and shiny on top. It was really good!

[jeanmarieok]

My mom's recipe for this had a little bit of finely chopped cooked bacon, and she called them 'cheesy bacon broils'.... This was a good recipe, she put it on party ryes and baked them , til puffy and shiny.

[bear]

A pint of sour cream mixed with a box of Jello instant french vanilla pudding mix actually makes a delicious fruit dip if you don't read the ingredients on the side of the box. We served it at every get-together back in the day.

[jen kalb]

those bacon wrapped water chestnuts with some kind of sweet glaze were common.
as somebody mentioned, that onion soup/sour cream dip was still around for our carrot and celery sticks, fritos, etc.

for the sophisticated young crowd in NY, cheese plates with brie and boursin cheese as particular faves. Crackers more often than bread.

Sorry I think the sweet jug wines were a little passe by then or maybe its just a stage we passed through quickly, the Giacobazzi, Lancers, etc etc..one try of each sufficed - except for Sangria, now that could be (and is) good.- I remember a lot of mediocre almaden hearty burgundy and chablis served tho - when we were not drinking the second growth bordeaux and superb white burgundies that were about $6 a bottle in those days - that made drinking plonk particularly ridiculous.

[coll]

My gang's favorite beverage back then were the white German wines like Liebfraumilch or Schwatzenkat (I'm sure those are spelled wrong) we were in high school and all these wines cost 99 cents a bottle. There was a big barrel by the liquor store door filled to the brim like a garbage can. We didn't even have a corkscrew, we'd find a branch on the ground and poke the cork into the bottle to get at it. Ah, memories. Oh yeah, I just remembered, when we wanted to get fancy we'd buy that port wine cheese and a loaf of Italian bread and hang out in the park on a blanket, we thought we were very sophisticated.

[jen kalb]

Sounds like a lot of fun!

I think you must be talking about Zeller Schwartze Katz.!
what about Blue Nun?
Took at wine-tasting class right at the end of college and rieslings were the first type I fell in love with. Like i said, the better ones didnt cost a whole lot more than the plonk so we moved on fast.

[alkapal]

blue nun, liebfraumilch, lambrusco. all winners! ;-).

[kchurchill5]

lol, blue nun and liebraumilch, flash back

[purple goddess]

here in OZ, I remember cold duck spumante!!

Emphasis on the spu!

[kchurchill5]

Yikes COLD DUCK OMG!!

[coll]

My Mom's very favorite fancy wine.
I once saw Ripple or Boones Farm in our fridge back then, no idea what they were doing there, guess Mom might have thought it was a version of Cold Duck?

[Whosyerkitty]

EEEWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pimento cheese spread in a little jar on party rye. "Cheese dip" (cream cheese, grated onion, mayo & worchestershire) and potato chips in one of those bowls where the little dip bowl hung over the big chip bowl on a rack. I still make this and so do my sisters, but I WISH I had that bowl.

[alkapal]

whosyerkitty, i got a clear glass bowl set like that with a wire rack (looked late '60s, early '70s) at a yard sale. You'll find one like yours, hopefully. They're out there.

[Whosyerkitty]

I look on ebay once in awhile and end up buying other stuff. I love vintage kitchen things.

I also forgot about 'stuffed celery'. Sometimes with the pimento cheese in a jar, sometimes cream cheese/pineapple/walnuts and peanut butter for the kids' slumber parties.

And, and AND, NOW I just remembered little chocolate cups used for serving shots of kahlua.

[alkapal]

yes! with the gold foil!!!! look here: http://www.amazon.com/Kahlua-Flavored...

[AlaskaChick]

LOL - my mom trotted out that chip and dip bowl at all the grownup parties. And there it was, in a place of honor, at this year's christmas dinner. Clear harvest gold no less!

[alkapal]

oooh, alaska chick and whosyerkitty: look: http://www.rubylane.com/shops/abigail...

[karykat]

Totally cool. And practical!

[Whosyerkitty]

Ours was just like that, well one was anyway, except it was PURPLE. Very cool.

[Gio]

OMG Cold Duck. I remember that and the horrible (now) canned clams in sour cream dip. Don't forget to drain the clams. Eaten with whatever was the cheapest potato chips you could find.

[Isabella]

definite flashback!! Do you remember saving the bottles to draw for still lifes in art class?

Also bean dip & doritos, fig newtons.

We also had jambalaya & mini muffalettas, but we live in New Orleans.

[alkapal]

blue nun bottles are in many a middle-school art class still life! ;-).

and i want a mini muffaletta right now!
recently, john folse

http://www.lpb.org/programs/tasteofla/heart/episodes.html
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/598045

discussed the lore about how muffalettas began from olive purveyors using bread to scoop out the last olives from the barrels.

[kattyeyes]

jen kalb: Do you remember the commercial for sangria that used to play on the radio in the 70s..."Come on over, we're having a party...sangria, sangria, sangria..." I cannot think who made the sangria, but as kids, we used to sing the song all the time. Funny sidebar, across the river from my hometown there's a brick wall that says "COME ON OVER"...when I was little, I thought it was advertising for the sangria. ;)

[coll]

Yago was the big sangria back then.

[koigirl]

This is a hilarious thread. My mom still makes many of these recipes and they were my first party offerings (straight from Mom) as a young cook. Don't forget "sausage balls" - tube sausage mixed with dough made from Bisquick, rolled into small balls, frozen, and then pulled out to bake on a cookie sheet.

Also, Riunite wine (is that the sp?) in either the Lambrusco or Rosata varieties. My husband was at our beach condo this past December. The elderly people in the neighborhood (the only ones that stay year-round) invited him to their Christmas soiree. Yes, an 80-year old gentleman showed up with a bottle of Riunite Lambrusco. My husband was wowed when he saw it - both of us remember our parents offering it up at their parties in Texas in the mid-late 70's. Terrible stuff. . . But he shared a glass with him anyway just for comradery's sake.

[coll]

You think that's terrible, try my favorite at that time, Catawba Pink. An old friend brought some several years ago to a party of mine, since he remembered how I loved it, I had to drink a little to be polite. How tastes change!

[MrsCheese]

I'm way too young for any of this (though was subjected to many of these "appetizers" way later than the '70s in my hometown), but all I could think of when I read this thread was:

Riunite on ice...so nice.

Is it bad that I can remember that from my childhood? :-)

[kattyeyes]

HA HA...am sure that's why they no longer run ads for alcohol in prime time. We used to sing a lot of the alcohol jingles (I'd forgotten about the Riunite till your post) on the playground and on the bus...which prompted me to start a thread, not realizing there already was one. Here's the original:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/457808

[rememberme]

Great!

[buttertart]

chorus ending the jingle: "say yeaaahhhh..."

[katcraig]

My mom used to make little meat pies for thier penny poker club - - cook your ground beef, mix Velveeta right into the pan till melted. Stuff this into crescent roll dough shaped into triangles and bake.
Also ham and cheese bread made from Goodhue's bread dough, rolled out, then the ham and cheese laid over, roll the dough into a spiral and bake.
And a shrimp dip made from jarred shrimp cocktail mixed with softened cream cheese, served with Ruffles.
Thanks for the flashback chicaraleigh!

[dfrostnh]

Don't forget slices of kielbasa and cubed cheese on a toothpick. You are also supposed to cover half a grapefruit with foil and stick all the toothpick delights into it. Very festive. There was a cream cheese ball made with drained, crushed pineapple and chopped green pepper. Can't remember what else was in it. Yes, you have to have bugles and Chex mix. If not meatballs, then sweet and sour sausages in a crock pot. Cheese fondue is very 70s. Also cheese and crab spread on english muffins and cut into wedges.
I hate to say it but we're still serving some of these things.

[carol land]

rumaki (bacon wrapped liver); cream cheese with jezebel sauce and crackers, boursin (garlic cream cheese dip), pepper shooters

[kish]

I just recently made spinach balls for a retro party. I'm not sure what decade they came from, but they were a huge hit! Just google recipes and they are all about the same. You can make them ahead of time and freeze without cooking, and then bake them when you need them. Whatever recipe you use, saute onions and garlic first and then add to other stuff.

[matey]

Chicken Vol-au-Vents!!

oh, the decadence...

[ashland]

ps: i almost forgot - he made a great dip out of rock shrimp and cream cheese and cocktail sauce, served on ritz crackers with little frilly toothpicks!

[ashland]

my piano teacher threw a huge party every christmas; we lived in a small town and he was a "closet" homosexual (we lived in the midwest and never spoke of things we couldn't pronounce); his signature drink was neopolitan ice cream with ginger ale served in a giant punchbowl; he'd pour ginger ale over the entire block and spike adult glasses with whiskey! LOVE IT!

[chicaraleigh]

good grief - it's amazing that any of us are alive after all of the artery clogging that went on!

[alwayscooking]

I didn't get to eat the 'special' food - I just got to serve it on trays to the guests. I also got to mix and serve the drinks too - and don't ask me how old I was when I started. What a great and strange age it was!

[JohnE O]

Wow. That brings back memories. Of course, I always made sure to pilfer a couple of the wedges of salami/cream cheese layer appetizers that I was serving. That was really the only thing worth eating.

[nosh]

I remember a cubed, breaded and baked chicken dish, seasoned heavily with sage and maybe parm cheese -- made from chicken breast and called chicken royale or something.

Also crab rangoons -- wontons stuffed with cream cheese and a little crab and baked crispy.

[kattyeyes]

Mini LaChoy eggrolls...remember the little ditty? "LaChoy makes Chinese food...swing American!" I sing this at least once a week when I open the cupboard and there's a can of LaChoy something (bamboo shoots) right in front of me.

EDIT: Just found the jingle in a vintage commercial on YouTube. Does this bring anyone else back??? It was fun being a kid in the 70s.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SELxpl...

[CurtA]

In keeping with the comment on jug wine - Almaden Mountain Chablis, and Gallo Hearty Burgandy, are on point.

[chef chicklet]

A crab spread
Ham roll ups- with cream cheese, scallion and worchestershire sauce
baked things - bread that had mayo, scallion, crumbled bacon and run it under the broiler
stuffed olives
shrimp butter with crackers
spinach dip
crock pot chili with cream cheese and tortilla chips or fritos
guacamole
and the block of cream cheese with a jar or shrimp cocktail dumped over with crackers
stuffed mushrooms or deep fried zuchinni with ranch
pickled jalapeno split with tuna salad
puffs stuffed with chicken salad, shrimp salad or just about anything

[mvi]

In addition to what has been mentioned, I remember helping my mom make a dip created with frozen spinach, water chestnuts and Knorrs vegetable soup mix, served in scooped out, round loaves of pumpernickel bread, She also offered celery sticks stuffed with cream cheese and sprinkled with paprika. Also popular among her set- spreading a mound of peanut butter on top of Triscuits and sprinkling bacon bits on top. I also think I remember ham spread with cream cheese and rolled up around a little pickle. Glad it's a new century.

[Boccone Dolce]

Hey- I make that Spinch Dip NOW! Two changes: I use the Leek soup, and the bread is sourdough.
Appetizers we had? We ate the entire day- it's hard to seperate them! One of my Aunts used to make these tiny pizza's - it seemed like she would prepare hundreds of them- she'd slice baguette and top with sauce, mozz, spices and throw under the broiler. I used to take them 2 at a time and run around with my cousins, come back and there would be none left!

[alkapal]

the knorr's spinach-veg-dip-in-bread-bowl club is always accepting new members!
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/4801...

;-).

now, if it were the seventies, you'd have to drink "blue nun" at your party!

[buttertart]

Or maybe a nice cold Mateus rosé?

[Val]

LOL...you beat me to it...Mateus rose was what I drank in college in 1977...I thought it was so "refined" of those grad students in my dorm to invite me for chips, dip and Mateus! <holding head in hands>

[buttertart]

With me it was the wine of choice bought either by someone's older brother or with dodgy ID (drinking age was 18 in Ontario at the time). The slight illicitness added a certain frisson...and the empties with candles stuck into them and dripped down all over them made classy decorations, of course - would be good for 70's atmosphere at one of these parties.

[alwayscooking]

Along with glasses cut from wine bottles - we had a full set.

[Glencora]

We didn't do that, but we did cut the bottoms off jug wine bottles to use as cloches to protect seedlings in the vegetable garden. Maybe the whole 70s back-to-the-land, do-it-yourself ethic is timely -- but I refuse to do macrame.

[karykat]

My parents were really into the Mateus and the Lancers. And everyone thought they were so chic!

[Isabella]

and little finger sandwiches

[rememberme]

Or Blue Nun! Or Thunderbird.

For food: Spaghettios! And "rumaki" -- water chestnuts with bacon wrapped around, and grilled (with a sauce?) A variation was chicken livers with bacon wrapped around and grilled.

[enbell]

This might help as well, plus it's just a great resource overall.

[purple goddess]

red and green cocktail onions, on a toothpick, with a piece of "cheese" presented a la stuck-in-a-pineapple.

My Mum's fave was to mix a packet of cream cheese with some jarred horseradish, and then spread the mix on a square of processed ham. Top with more ham and cream cheese mix and ham and mix, and then cut into smaller squares. You end up with bite sized layered... erm... things. Stick a toothpick in them for serving, and if you're ROOLY adventurous, top with a slice of sweet gherkin.

French onion dip.

Prawn crackers (hey, in the 70's in Australia, they were exotic!)

[coll]

Crackers with cheese spread, topped with sliced gherkins or manzanilla olives, were one of my father's favorites. He made them even when there wasn't a party going on.

[Sam Fujisaka]

Where the frickin' heck have you been, your highness?

I like your Mum's fave. And all ham is processed. An' fer us Yanks, gerkhin = pickle.

[purple goddess]

been busy with my state burning. To keep on topic, it's been too bloody hot to cook OR eat. 47.8 degrees Celsius does NOT a happy pg make.

And as for the ham, I guess I mean the uber processed square "luncheon ham".. don't know if'n it translates at all to the US!

[Sam Fujisaka]

Victoria is a tragedy. I sincerely hope that you and yours have not directly suffered. If so, my heart is with you. Because I fled the US in about 1975 to avoid "uber processed square "luncheon ham"..:"

Abrazos!

[purple goddess]

Unfortunately Sam, we have been. Furry lost a cousin, other friends lost their B&B/cooking school that was their pride and joy and their lives work. Plenty of friends are CFA volunteers fighting at the front. Have mates in Kinglake and Marysville.

The home of the infamous Buxton Burger (discussed here in Australia's best burger thread) is no more.

AS for the luncheon ham, it's sometimes call sandwich ham, as it's processed to exactly the same size as a piece of dodgy piece of white sandwich bread.

**shudders**

[umbushi plum]

we haev been affected to my grandparents were two of the people taken to hospital they are ok though thankfully, but no longer have a house. they are stayong with us, i asked my grandmother what she served in the 70's (i'm only 17 so bit before my time) she remembers dried figs were a big thing and mini quiches and stuffed olives with cream cheese and dates stuffed with cream cheese, also very austalian mini party pies and sauasgae rolls.

[kchurchill5]

Hahahaha, gerkhins ... of course. My mom served them too. Just in a big bowl. Still love them, but they were big back then. Usually a small cocktail onion too in a bowl which was nasty.

[alkapal]

we really don't get prawn crackers in most groceries here. asian shops, yes, but not in regular, mainstream grocery stores. i like them when i go to the u.k.

[kchurchill5]

What the heck is a prawn cracker ... I'm lost here. Sorry!

[purple goddess]

A prawn cracker isn't a cracker, and I suspect there is very little prawn in it. You buy them uncooked, from Asian groceries. They come in lurid pink, green and yellow. Uncooked, they look a bit like disks of plastic.

You shallow fry them and they puff up and go all kinda funky and crispy.

In the 70's in OZ, they were the very height of exotic!

[karykat]

I'm picturing some kind of Asian snack mixtures I used to see. Had little mini-cracker like things in weird colors and pea-colored round things with other stuff. Are these the same things as these prawn crackers? I haven't seen them in years in my usual haunts.

(I'm sorry to hear about what's happened in your world.)

[MsMaryMc]

Have a look here--there are tons of suggestions gathered from many online discussions. There have to be a few ideas here you'll like.

Seventies Theme Party Ideas
http://www.casagordita.com/70sparty.htm

[lyn]

I seem to recall escargot, shrimp cocktail, brie (and the smoke oysters already mentioned)at my parents parties. gin and tonic, tom collins and jug red wine too

[adamshoe]

slices of rectangular ham (?) rolled up around boursin cheese!!!
Brick O'Cream cheese with pick-a-peppa sauce dumped on top served w/ wheat thins.
Love the idea of quiche or mini-quiche.
Do they still make Bugles? Can't be a 70's party without them. Adam

[rememberme]

I'm sorry to say that Bugles are still available. I have an embarrassing weakness for them and buy them once a year. Even my teenagers won't eat them!

[Glencora]

My mother made a cheese ball with cream cheese and canned pineapple, rolled in crushed nuts, served with Wheat Thins.

[LaLa]

we do this with the addition of a package of vanilla pudding and serve it with grahm crackers.

[jaykayen]

baked clams, no?

[alwayscooking]

Yes! And smoked clams and oysters too. My parents also served sardines and anchovies in some fashion (don't remember exactly how). It was very exotic since many people ooh and ahh'ed. I think most of it was served on ritz crackers, cream cheese, with the fish of choice - always sprinkled with paprika. Too funny.

[coll]

My mother always did pickled herring in cream sauce for an exotic app. Out of a jar, of course. Also celery stuffed with cream cheese and sprinkled with paprika.

[alwayscooking]

mini quiche
mini or cut crepes
french onion soup dip
meatballs
deviled eggs
chex mix
fondue
deep fried ravioli with a tomato dip

[tomatoaday]

A brick of velveeta cubed and melted, mixed with a log of thawed frozen beanless chili. Kept warm in a fondue pot, dip with Dorito's (only 1 flavor then) Have plenty of ginger ale for the next day ~ 70's alka seltzer!

[Cpt Wafer]

Swedish meatballs
Cheeseballs
Boiled shrimp
Disco biscuits

[adamshoe]

Ok, Captain... what the heck are disco biscuits? Are they covered with silver dragees to resemble a disco ball? ;) adam

[Cpt Wafer]

Finger food for the disco crowd.

[kchurchill5]

Sweedish meatballs for sure
Way over done shrimp ... lol
Cream cheese topped with salsa
Deviled eggs no flavor ... actually my mom really makes them good still does I still love them
I hope I'm not repeating too much
picked herring, my family still eats it
Chili in a crockpot with small corn bread muffins
cream cheese in celery
chicken salad on small crescent rolls, probably different rolls back them ... maybe small puff pastry rolls
Cheese whiz topped with olives on ritz crackers
the toothpicks with olives and a chunk of cheese, can't remember exactly

[Val]

alright, alright....yes, I'm feeling VERY old now...we ate sour cream mixed with Lipton Onion Soup Mix, a sodium mega-bomb...and we ate them on Doritos...at a slumber party! I would also add meatballs in a crockpot with that chili sauce-cranberry sauce-mustard sauce concoction.