90s food!

[blkery]

I grew up in the early-mid 90s and would like to throw a potluck around the theme (there will be some awesome music). I'm trying to think of signature 90s food that isn't soda or candy, but the best I can think of is Boboli, pizza bagels, maybe burritos (that's when they became popular in my neck of the woods) and hot pockets. I wasn't cooking back then so I'm not sure what the trends were. What would you suggest?

[NoraRebecca]

Salad with cranberries, pecans, goat cheese and balsamic. All manners of bagels. Crystal Pepsi. Fat free cookies loaded with sugar. Fig Newmans. Pesto.

[gingershelley]

Ah yes, to Balsamic vinegar being a 90's trend! Wish it would go back to it's reasonable corner and play nicely where it is warranted, and not be in every house salad dressing anymore.

Love it in it's place - but the GOOD stuff, not the cheap colored version. :)

[Crockett67]

This thread is somewhat regional and reflects where you were during that time. Like in the 90's I never heard of pesto or pine nut. Molten lava cakes did not exist in my universe.

For me it was lumpia, spam mushibi with tamago, saimin, kalbi ribs, mangos still warm from the sun, kola yummies, super lemons, kimchi, manapuas, ramen with slices of red rimmed pork, and mochi.

While these dishes were not new to those around me on the islands, they were to me. So I can't relate to dunk-a-roos, never had them. Teady Grahms was a silly commercial. I remember POG more than fruitopia. While this is a bit of an outlier, you can see the regionality in others posts as well.

[grampart]

Well, since you WERE an outlier for that period of time, it was what it was. ;-)

[Lillipop]

I will always bow down in humility for a properly executed lumpia! ( I married into a mixed Filipino family and my MIL and SIL made them perfectly):)

[Crockett67]

Luck you! Can't find one to save my like here in the heart of the midwest...

[Fowler]

I recall people in the 90's drinking Corona Extra with a chunk of lime that was served on top of the bottle.

[juliejulez]

I know a lot of people that still do that :)

[gaffk]

It's still regularly offered as bar specials in my neck of the woods.

[Fowler]

We have so many excellent microbreweries in the region now that I have not seen someone order a Corona and Lime in probably almost 20 years.

[gaffk]

Funny thing is, we also have a good number of microbrews as well. And yet, you'll see a good number of people with Corona, Coors Lite, Bud etc. No accounting for taste.

[Fowler]

Years ago I had a client in Pennsylvania that prided himself in being some type of beer aficionado. His favorite beer was Yuengling. So yes, no accounting for taste. :-)

[melpy]

Yuengling to PA is simply iconic. You don't even order it by name. If you order lager you get Yuengling. My fiancé who is a beer aficionado, favorite probably St. Bernardis Christmas, is likely going to serve Yuengling at our wedding for the "normal" beer option. PA can be a little biased about that particular one.

[Fowler]

Congratulations on your engagement and may your marriage last as long as Yuengling has been around!

[cleobeach]

"Yuengling to PA is simply iconic."

Absolutely.

Growing up, I remember it as simply a local beer. If you walked into a bar for a draft, chances were you are drinking a Yuengling Premium, it was the house beer at every bar. This was years before the Lager era.

We sort of looked down on it as it was so common, everyone's dad and granddad had it in the fridge. As young snots, we wanted something more exotic.

I remember graduating college and moving back home. My friends would come up from the cities and freak out that Lager was available everywhere and so cheap (in their opinion) They would pack the car with cases.

I agree with Yuengling as a safe "normal" beer option for a PA wedding.

I am not a beer person but I do enjoy a nice cold Premium or Lord Chesterfield Ale on occasion.

[grampart]

"Shaefer is the one beer to have when you're having more than one". That was the truth in NJ in the late 60's when a small draft was about 20 cents and a 6-pack a little over a buck. I don't remember any joint back then offering Yuengling even though it was so popular just "next door" in PA. Imagine my surprise when, in about 1975 at a Florida dive-bar, Shaefer was offered as a Premium beer and priced just under Heineken and Beck's.

[alliegator]

So true. It's spreading south and has taken hold in a lot of places. I remember (pre 9-11) dragging a case of it as a carry on from PA to my husband in Charleston. He was happier to see the beer than me!
Oddly enough, when I'm in PA to visit the fam, my beer of choice is Rolling Rock.

[melpy]

Never thought of that as a nineties drink. But I guess I hadn't heard of Corona before that anyway.

[NonnieMuss]

Lord, how could we have forgotten coffee? The coffee shop boom! Starbucks on every corner! Previously manly-men requesting caramel mochaccinos made with skim and lite whipped cream with cinnamon sprinkled on top! People turning a $.50/day habit into a $5.00/day obsession.

[gingershelley]

I am in SEA, so we had Starbuck's on every other corner in the late 80's (along with the other oposite corners being occupied with wonderful local small espresso shops - my preference).

But then in the 90's - they went out to take over the world.....

[Lillipop]

Fish tacos....pesto......teriyaki chicken or steak teriyaki. I remember my son who was a kid then a teenager in the 90's always wanted me to buy him Hot Pockets....frozen Monterey Burritos......frozen pizza....Pepsi Blue...sour patch candy....gummy bears..Captain Crunch...those soft baked cookies and ice cream novelties such as sandwiches.......Klondikes.....Heath covered etc. He was also into Slurpees that he proudly mixed every flavor in. What he got was not what he wanted:)

[gaffk]

Yes to the terriyaki steak. Especially served on skewers.

And was the 90s when the whole blackened/cajun fad hit?

I was just starting my first real job in the early 90s in Philly. It seems to me my coworkers and I ate an inordinate amount of terriyaki steak skewers, blackened chicken sandwiches and bay breezes and sea breezes.

[grampart]

I believe the whole blackened thing was going strong in the early 80's.

[juliejulez]

My mom went on a business trip to Texas in the early 1990s. When she came back she was obsessed w/ "blackened" things... fish, chicken etc. She had it at a restaurant, and it was a new thing where we lived in ruralish central CA.

While it may have been popular before then in more metro areas, I think cajun/blackened food reached a worldwide audience in the 90s because of Emeril. Hickish blue collar guys like my dad loved Emeril, and he started experimenting with those flavors when he was grilling after watching that show.

[grampart]

Actually, it was Paul Prudhomme, starting when he opened K-Paul's in NOLA in 1979, who was most responsible for starting the blackened craze, although Emeril most certainly had a hand in it. By 1985, there were articles in newspapers warning of a redfish shortage because of the high demand for the blackened fish.

[juliejulez]

I meant Emeril brought it to the masses with his television show. I guarantee you that my dad in central CA had never heard of Paul Prudhomme.

[grampart]

My point is the craze had begun long before the 90's.

[juliejulez]

Where you live. My point was it didn't reach many places until the 90s.

[grampart]

Whatever.

[JMF]

And then Paul Prudhomme open a Louisiana Kitchen in Manhattan in the late 80's. Within months blackened redfish, chicken, etc. was being served everywhere.

Paul is a great guy. I met him at his NOLA K-Pauls back in the late 80's once, and a few years later he was in the NYC kitchen when I went during the first month of opening and he saw me and came out and greeted me. Totally remembered me. Impressed my date.

[Jay F]

<And was the 90s when the whole blackened/cajun fad hit?>

Not where I lived (DC). It became very popular when Paul Prudhomme released his first cookbook " Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen" in 1984. And I remember restaurants in NY in particular where you could get blackened anything even earlier than that.

[gaffk]

Now that you mention it, I do recall Cafe Nola doing Cajun food on South Street when I was an undergrad in the 80s. Guess my friends and I just didn't indulge in the trends then. South Street food was pizza and cheesesteaks to satisfy those late night munchies.

[Mag454]

dunkaroos! you can make some graham crackers (or buy animal cookies) and make some buttercream to go with it.

also, i remember sunny delite being very popular- maybe you could make a sunny d reduction w/ something?

i agree w. the pp about lunchables. id add baked lays too.

[juliejulez]

I've heard this recipe tastes like the dunkaroos stuff http://www.eat-yourself-skinny.com/20...

[madisoneats]

To drink:
Zima
Surge

[Sra. Swanky]

I loved Surge! I always thought it had an aftertaste that reminded me of Flintstone vitamins. (Why I found this a good thing, I have no idea!)

[melpy]

Seriously miss Surge. I don't drink soda but I would love to taste surge again.

[nyfashionintern]

and Orbitz

[JMF]

Krab/surimi. I had it first in the UK in 1984, and it was actually high quality individually wrapped krab stix from Japan, but it didn't show up in the states for a few more years. Now you have a hard time finding the good quality stuff, but tons of sweet mediocre abounds.

Isn't that when pre-shredded cheese in supermarkets first started?

And nasty cholesterol and fat free mayo? And "light" cheese.

The McDonalds McLean Deluxe, Boca burgers, and Turkey bacon (gack!)

Everything became fat free and cholesterol free, and taste free too. Or billed as healthy, natural, organic, vegetarian, and tastes like straw...

Arizona ice tea and V-8 Splash
Tuna lunch kits and salads and Lunchables
DiGiorno Rising Crust Pizza

Supermarket sushi...

[JMF]

Craisins (sweetened dried cranberrys) became big then too. Especially in salads. It seemed every deli attempting to be upscale had them in their chicken salad, sometimes with walnuts too.

[Gloriaa]

I remember everything had goat cheese on it, especially salads. I think it was in the nineties that fried goat cheese became very popular along with pine nuts, raspberry vinaigrette, sundries tomatoes and tiramisu. We can see that food trends that are good will survive.

[gingershelley]

Agreed about the goat cheese being a 90's craze, but I would put raspberry vinaigrette, sundries tomatoes and tiramisu back into the 80's.

Some of these items I think show up on peoples 'radar' more based on the age THEY were at, than the age when they were the rage.

I don't think alot of college students are eating out in decent resto's and ordering fancy salads and tiramisu.

[Wawsanham]

Are the 90s any different than now really?

[grampart]

Not in my opinion. We got enough old farts around here to do a similar thread on 60's food? 70's?

[Lillipop]

Lots of Slurpees.....*missle* pops.....Double Bubble bubble gum and Red Mountain burgundy by the large glass every time one of us lost at poker:) I was a teenager in the late 60's.I do not need to tell you what else was on the menu:) I lived right between San Francisco and Morning Star commune:) GOOD times!!!!

[TXMandy]

These are all bringing back such memories of food of my youth. I was 15-25 in the '90's. Another one I haven't seen mentioned is the Monte Cristo sandwich. A club type of sandwich with turkey, ham, different cheeses, battered and fried and served with raspberry preserves on the side. Crazy combo, but it worked :-)

[grampart]

The Monte Cristo has been around for as long as I can remember and a bit of research tells me it appeared in American cook books as early as the 1930's. It may have had a resurgence in the 90's, but wasn't that when folks started shying away from this type of deep-fried bellybomb? Hadn't though about it in a long time, but now that you've sparked the memory, I believe it's about time for this old guy to whip one up. Thanks for the heads-up!

[TXMandy]

I didn't realize it had been around that long Grampart! I know that my friends introduced me to it in the mid 90's and I was baffled by the idea of it, but one bite later, I was converted lol.

[KayceeK]

Bruschetta!

[prima]

I was ordering a lot of flavoured bagels (cheddar herb, etc), pad thai and penne alla vodka in the 90s.

I trekked 25 blocks out of my way to try a Krispy Kreme donut in 1997.

I seem to remember people ordering a lot of Snapple, Fruitopia, Fuzzy Navels and Long Island Iced Teas.

Lots of 3 layer dips, 7 layer dips and Sex in a Pan at potlucks. Spinach salad with strawberries and poppy seed dressing.

Cool Ranch Doritos and All Dressed Ruffles.

[Fowler]

"Sex in a Pan at potlucks"

What is that? Feel free to be as specific as possible. :-)

[prima]

It's a quickie layered dessert, made of instant pudding, whipped topping and other optional treats. :-)
http://www.tastespotting.com/detail/176828/Sex-in-a-Pan-Dessert

http://www.jocooks.com/bakery/cakes/sex-in-a-pan/

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/361443

[juliejulez]

Ha, I still see that dish at potlucks/bbqs. My SO had one that had banana pudding in it this past summer and he kept talking about how good it was.

[prima]

Ha. It hits the spot. I think it's a little more impressive when a fancier pudding like banana or pistachio is thrown in to the mix. Skor bits are also a good addition!

[chowser]

Hmm, my mom made that all the time but never called it that. I'll have to let her know what the real name of her 4 layer delight was.;-0 But, it was a 70's thing.

[Blush]

During the 90's I was 13-23 years old. Things I remember are:

Canadian Club flavoured water
Mike's Hard Lemonade
Any hard cider
Smart Food popcorn
Miss Vickie's chips
President's Choice White Cheddar Macaroni and cheese
President's Choice Decadent Chocolate Chip cookies
Chocolate croissants

[Sra. Swanky]

You just made me remember Clearly Canadian -- I loved the berry flavored one! And the old Nantucket Nectars. Good stuff - and both discontinued. *sigh*

[itsmejessica]

Yes Clearly Canadian we drank that a lot and snapples (peach iced tea) shaking it and smacking the bottom to pop the top lol. This brings back good memories. I turned 21 in "94" so the 90's were a decade of just fun for me. Watching the real world eating junk and not caring I was eating junk. Lol ok now I sound old :)

[Sra. Swanky]

I did the exact same thing while drinking all those sweet drinks! I stopped watching after Real World Seattle...the show definitely jumped the shark!

I loved the Snapple lady too...I remember my college roommates and I mentioned we'd all like to party with her!

[alliegator]

Haha, Seattle dip jump the shark! And Clearly Canadian, wow--I had forgotten that. The 90's was 14-24 for me, so we have high school, college and marriage, buying my first house, wow! The food memories are widely varying for me during that time.
Another thing that does spring to mind is curly fries. It seems like they were everywhere. That may have started in the late 80's?

[Sra. Swanky]

Wow - the 90s were full of milestones for you! Curly fries - yes!! I remember the spicy curly fries from college that helped me gain my "freshman 15" in 1996!

[alliegator]

The funny thing about those milestones was that food that went with it all. A 10th grader eats what they are served. A 24 year old can choose a nice restaurant they'd like to try for a night out. Makes my head spin in retrospect. But curly fries were always around, haha!

[laliz]

Cream of Broccoli soup (Campbells)
AriZona bottled iced teas introduced
Boca Burger
Hershey's Hugs
Lay's Baked Potato Crisps
V8 Splash

Looks like the makings of a party to me

[KaimukiMan]

A lot of what we eat today has strong roots in the 90's. And I shudder when I realize there are people born in the 90's who can legally drink now.

In my mind two things stand out about the 90's.
1) Americans discovered Asian food beyond Chow Mein and Chop Suey.
2) Americans discovered that there were more spices than salt, pepper, and tabasco.

Of course all trends have their origins someplace, I remember Japanese restaurants from the 1960's in California, but they were few and far between. Pho started to appear in the late 70's, but you had to know not only where to look for it, but that it was worth looking for. Fusion cuisine got a healthy start largely in Hawaii in the early 80's and spread east from there. The recognition of the varieties of Mexi-merican and south of the border Mexican came onto many people's radar around the same time. But all of this came to fruition in the 90's.

[alliegator]

It seems to me that avocado was cropping up everywhere in the 90's. Guacamole and chips could be a good one.
Fajitas is another dish that comes to mind.

[juliejulez]

I was born in '82 so my memories of 90s food are what I ate in junior high and high school. I subsisted largely on Cool Ranch doritos, hot pockets, Little Debbie honey buns, handy snacks, sunny delight, and juicy juice. That's what happens when your parents give you money to buy lunch at school at 13 years old I guess.

Oh and I always had a lunchable before my track meets in high school.

[Sra. Swanky]

Haha! We're both in the demographic (born in '78) that call it Sunny Delight. Most of the youngins now probably have no idea what the "D" stands for in "Sunny D!" (at least my middle school students don't!)

Mystery meat and crackers - Lunchables were even more awful and bad for you back then! At least now, they try to make them a bit more palatable and interesting!

[juliejulez]

I just remembered Snapple as well. I was "mad" for the mango madness flavor. Now I feel ill when I drink it because it's sooo sweet.

[Sra. Swanky]

Yes! And remember those Fruitopia drinks? Waaay too sweet.

[Davwud]

Stuffed or deep fried mushroom caps.

Brie baked in phyllo with cranberries, pesto, insert item here.

Potato Skins.

DT

[NonnieMuss]

Cosmopolitans, and the rise of the ______tini. (Especially appletini). I attended a Tequiza Farewell party once - friends bought every last case fo Tequiza they could find and we all forced ourselves to drink it. Bleah.

[cgarner]

NonnieMuss... Yes! the "cosmo"!
I had to google Tequiza... um no

[melpy]

Was Tequiza that beer with tequila? If so I had it in Switzerland in 2004 and loved it.

[Rick]

Mountain Dew was huge in my area in the 90s.

[ipsedixit]

Dude, it's still huge in my area. Esp. my house.

[Sra. Swanky]

And Jolt cola -- along with Moutain Dew, it got me threw many final exams in college in the late 90s!

[itsmejessica]

The early to mid 90's are a bit foggy to me but I loved cool ranch doritos and Mexican pizza from taco bell and I think the early 90's was the first time I had salt and vinegar chips. Wow I ate horribly.

[Lillipop]

Like from a *party the 90's away* fog?

[itsmejessica]

Lol yep. ;)

[Chinon00]

I remember every date I had during the 90s ending w/ creme brullees

[ipsedixit]

I'm guessing (hoping?) this was after you taking a vow of celibacy?

[Chinon00]

I'm completely clueless as to what you mean forgive me.

[ipsedixit]

No, forgive *me*.

For it it I with the mind awash in the gutter ...

[Lillipop]

At least you admit it:)!

[ipsedixit]

At least you *got* it.

[pdxgastro]

Asian chicken cabbage salad using both the noodles and the spice packet from Ramen noodle packages. That was big in the 90s.

[cgarner]

that and any grilled chicken, fish, or meat over salad
(not that I hate the combo, but I think it really became popular in the 90's)

[masha]

I was thinking the same thing -- chicken caesar salads.

[urfuturewifey]

Dunkaroos, Potato Air Crisps, Sunny Delight, Fruit By the Foot, Cheetos in funky shapes

[ohmyyum]

I have a feeling we're around the same age!

Are dunkaroos gone?

[greygarious]

www.foodtimeline.org has decade breakdowns including sample menus, popular dishes, and products introduced each year.

[cgarner]

banh mi was popular in 1987? man, am I behind the times!

[masha]

Agree. The timeline seems to identify when certain dishes were introduced, as opposed to when they actually caught fire.

[gingershelley]

I would say banh mi is just getting it's justifiable love right now....

[masha]

Creme brûlée.

[adventuresinbaking]

Coconut shrimp! Mozzarella sticks with raspberry sauce, wings with specialty sauces, Alfredo sauce was big by us, and deep fried ice cream.

[Breadcrumbs]

omg, let's not forget raspberry vinaigrette! Thanks for prompting that memory aib.

[Jay F]

Raspberry vinegar is as '80s as St. Elmo's Fire and the Smiths. Sosososososo '80s.

[Breadcrumbs]

One thing I remember for certain was Spinach Salad with Cranberries & Pine Nuts.

Pine Nuts seemed to be on or in everything.

Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip served w heated Nacho chips that were intended to mimic home made

Pasta with Sundried Tomato Cream Sauce and Chicken

Bruschetta (not new but certainly became mainstream) usually and sadly, w under-ripe supermarket type tomatoes!

Loaded Nachos

Stacked Plates - food piled atop food - architectural plates with a smear of a sauce of some sort dragged across the plate in an artistic pattern, with a puddle of potatoes or other creamed veggie atop that and then with a meat atop that starch and finally some sort of strategically placed frizzled leek or other veggie atop that to make everything look oh-so-artistic.

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

If my memory serves me correctly, molten chocolate cake hit the big time in the early 1990s.

Oh, another one that was HUGE and is still around... hot spinach artichoke dip. Piece of cake to make your own.

Oh oh oh how could I forget... California-style pizza! BBQ chicken pizza (BBQ sauce, gouda, chicken, red onion, cilantro) is the standard bearer, but Thai chicken pizza (peanut sauce, mozzarella cheese, chicken, shredded carrots, bean sprouts, peanuts, cilantro, scallions) best embodies the "Why the hell are we putting that on pizza? Why not?" mindset of California pizza.

[Breadcrumbs]

Oh yes, molten chocolate cake was everywhere!! Good one JK!

[maxie]

Asian Fusion
Bagels with flavored cream cheese
Home made pizza
Rosemary foccacia
Vertical/stacked plating
Blue tortilla chips with fresh salsa (mango!)
Grilled tuna (or any fish with salsa)
Risotto

[Fowler]

Maxie, Perhaps I have not moved along with the times because I still make home made pizza as well as risotto. And I always will until I die. :-)

[maxie]

It doesn't mean you shouldn't make them any more, only that they were very big then

[grampart]

I would guess that more folks make pizza at home these days than in the 90's. Probably do a better job at it, too.

[maxie]

I think that's absolutely true. Better flours, recipes, and techniques are available today. This is a quote promoting James McNair's Vegetarian Pizza "Endlessly versatile, easy to prepare, and a fresh satisfying meal in itself, pizza has become a staple of every schedule-driven 90s cook." Pizza stones, paddles, and slicers flooded the kitchenware stores.

[grampart]

and websites like pizzamaking.com.

[chowser]

brie, any form, plain, baked, en croute

food cooked in parchment

tiramisu

The 80's mixes with the 90's in my mind. I remember having sun dried tomatoes in the 80's.

[Antilope]

1992 Reader contributed newspaper cookbook in Google newspaper archive. A lot of popular 1990's recipes.

About 20 or 30 pages. Zoom out using on screen controls (+ & -) , scroll through pages with mouse.

Herald-Journal - Jul 22, 1992
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=...

[pinehurst]

Not much to add to the excellent items already listed, but I remember the unholy creations of "Go-Gurts" and Dannon Sprinklins (spelling?)...turning a wholesome product into something weeeeiiiirrrd.

[cheesecake17]

Don't forget dunkaroos and gushers!

[ipsedixit]

Pizza with sun dried tomatoes with goat cheese

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream

Gourmet pizza

Tuna tartare

Nutella

Rice cakes

Lunchables

McDonald's McRib

Bagel Bites

Zima

Fat-free snacks (e.g. Snackwells)

Tall food (as in food plated vertically)

[EWSflash]

Do they still sell Zima? I thought it was great with a shot ro two of gin added.

[cleobeach]

I thought I was the only one that added gin to Zima. The memory of the taste makes me shudder.

I was in college in the early 90s and remember wings and nachos being huge. We would drive 30 minutes to get wings, it was such a treat.

[Fowler]

Hopefully that 30 minute drive was not after drinking the gin and Zimas! :-)

I remember when Zima came out and the silly rumor on campus was that it would not show up on a breathalizer. I suspect that was one of the original "urban myths".

[grampart]

I think the original myth was you wouldn't get pregnant if you did it standing up. ;-)

[cleobeach]

Heck no! Beer was $4 a pitcher at the wing place. Zima was for special occasions like formals..

[Wahooty]

As I remember it, Zima was the drink of the sophisticated high schooler - those who would never be seen drinking Bartles & Jaymes, but could not yet stomach beer. A triumph of marketing.

[ipsedixit]

Ah, yes, wine coolers!

[ohmyyum]

In my day (albeit not too long ago) it was Smirnoff ice.

[alliegator]

I just drank one of those over the weekend. *disclaimer* I didn't buy it, it was offered to me. And it was tasty.

[cgarner]

zima with a shot of chambord, like raspberry soda
it was delightful

[JMF]

I am so glad tall/vertical food plating mostly passed on. I just hated that. One knife or fork in and it was a mess.

[sueatmo]

White chili. You make it with white beans and either chicken or turkey. It isn't meant to be real hot.

Also, whatever the menu was at "fern bars."

[tardigrade]

Nah, fern bars were 70s, at least around here.

A store-bought rotisserie chicken! Those were getting popular around here (at least I remember buying them on my way home from work). Anything with goat cheese. Artisenal breads. Everything stacked up in the middle of the plate. Takeout sushi.

A lot of newspapers have on-line archives including the 90s: this would be a great place to look for "new" recipes.

[charlesbois]

Second the sun dried tomatoes. Pine nuts. Anything blackened or Cajun. Squid ink pasta. California pizza kitchen style pizzas. Rotisserie chicken. Bistro food galore.

[charlesbois]

http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/f...

Here's a link to a scan of a menu from Menagerie in LA. I got it from the LA County Library menu database. It really hits a lot of the high points of 90s food.

[DuchessNukem]

Dear gawd. That menu is a time capsule unto itself.

[alliegator]

I thought CPK the moment I opened this thread. I actually have the cookbooks that I picked up at a block party sale for $1, haha!! BBQ chicken pizza, Thai chicken pizza, etc...

[gingershelley]

CPK?

[Fowler]

The California Pizza Kitchen chain.

[Paprikaboy]

Just put sun dried tomatoes in everything.
Can't get more 90's than that.

[sueatmo]

LOL. Yes.

[masha]

Pesto too.

[Paprikaboy]

You're right.
Forgot about pesto.
The OP could go for the 90's mother lode and make sundrised tomato pesto.

http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/2349/s...

[Jay F]

Sun dried tomatoes were so '80s. I literally remember going into "gourmet" stores in 1982-83 and proprietors and cheesemongers showing and explaining them to me.

I must be older than most of you.

[KaimukiMan]

I'm guessing you are younger than most of us because you are young enough to remember the difference between the 70's, 80's and 90's.

[Fowler]

When I think of 90's food I think of college and the crimes of fellow students dipping anything and everything in ranch dressing.