Fox host tries to force him into a hole so she can bash him with bigotry. He doesn’t fall for it. Hugs.
tRump / Rubio are desperately trying to drum up a war with Venezuela over their oil. The US handpicked successor to Maduro admitted she would give up the rights to the oil reserves to the western oil companies first thing. Venezuela has more oil than Saudi Arabia. That is why the US crippled the Venezuela economy in an attempt to get hat oil for our own. Maduro wants to use the money for the people, he wants to help the indigenous people, he wants to destroy the class structure that existed when he was growing up. The white people were treated better than the native brown people, he wanted to change that to where everyone is equal. People who are used to privilege react badly when everyone gets the same privilege. Hugs
This next video talks about the “young republicans” who are anywhere from 18 to 40 and these racist bigoted republicans have important positions in state and federal government. These republicans threatened to rape their enemies, and praised Hitler. Hugs
The clip below talks about Chuck Schumer and his actions before the shutdown and after. The democrats have a history of not standing up and taking action. The base of the party is glad the leaders are now taking concrete actions. Hugs
This last one is just for fun. It is a comedian who acts / talks like Cuomo to his face. Hugs
is today in Peace & Justice History. Feeding people is my main “thing,” so I’m featuring it today. There is so very much that has happened on October 16, and it can all be seen on this page.
| October 16th every year |
| United Nations’ World Food Day is recognized every year. |
120 years ago, 11-year-old Frank Epperson left his drink on the front porch on a chilly night. That accident became one of the most successful frozen dessert brands in the nation.
An early advertisement for Popsicle (National Archives)
Whether their favorite is ice cream, popsicles, or gelato, most people would agree that frozen treats are delicious.
While the origins of frozen desserts are unclear, they likely trace their roots back to the Ancient Persians, who used ice houses to produce and store faloodeh and sorbets. First-century Roman cookbooks included recipes of sweet desserts sprinkled with snow. Marco Polo is (probably falsely) credited for introducing frozen desserts to Italy after his travels in China, and Thomas Jefferson popularized ice cream in the United States — his handwritten vanilla ice cream recipe from the 1780s was one of the earliest in the nation.
But one story in frozen dessert history stands out, and it is not about a United States president or a Silk Road explorer: It’s about an 11-year-old boy.
On a winter day in 1905, young Frank Epperson made a beverage mixing soda powder with water to stay hydrated. One night, he accidentally left his cup on the porch overnight with a stirring stick inside, according to popsicle.com. Temperatures dropped during the night, and the next morning, Epperson found his cup where he had left it, no longer liquid, but now an icy snack. He ran the cup under hot water, pulled it out using the wooden stick, and tasted the new frozen dessert. He named it the Epsicle — a combination of “Epperson” and “icicle” — but unlike the process of its invention, the product didn’t turn into a national success overnight.
Epperson continued making Epsicles for his friends, and later, his children — who began calling the treat “Pop’s Sicle” or “Popsicle,” the name the brand keeps to this day — for many years. He also sold popsicles around his neighborhood until 1923, when he decided to expand his market to Neptune Beach — known as the “West Coast Coney Island” — where it became a beloved treat, selling as many as 8,000 in one day.
Following this popularity, Epperson applied for a patent on June 11, 1924, describing the Popsicle as a “frozen confection of attractive appearance, which can be conveniently consumed without contamination by contact with the hand and without the need for a plate, spoon, fork or other implement.”
Epperson’s request was approved two months later, and he immediately sold all of the rights to the invention that had defined much of his life to the Joe Lowe Co., which later started a subsidiary called the Popsicle Industries. Epperson later regretted the loss, saying: “I was flat and had to liquidate all my assets. I haven’t been the same since,” according to NPR. The frozen dessert brand, however, continued on without him.
A few years later, the Great Depression began to weigh heavily on the American public. As the stock market crashed and employment declined, struggling families had to cut out the ten-cent popsicles from their purchases. In response, the Popsicle Corporation devised the first two-stick popsicles so that two children could enjoy a snack for the price of one. According to a 1931 advertisement, “People who could not afford dimes, quarters and halves for ice cream gladly bought Popsicles at a nickel each for children, family and friends.” The two-stick popsicle became a huge success, doubling the company’s sales in a year. The Popsicle Corporation later declared itself “Depression Proof.”
But not everything was as sweet as the dessert itself for the Popsicle brand. The Popsicle Corporation also had rivalries with the company Good Humor — a brand known for their chocolate-coated bars and the first ice cream trucks. The dispute resulted in a series of court cases over patent violations. The initial conflict ended with a compromise: The Popsicle Corporation would sell iced treats with no milk, and Good Humor would sell products containing milk. However, with the drop of dairy prices in 1932, Popsicle ignored the agreement and decided to tap into the ice cream market — coming out with a “Milk Popsicle” that included 4.48 percent butter fat.
Good Humor filed a lawsuit immediately. Both sides fought to define “sherbet.” Good Humor strictly defined it as “flavored water ice,” but Popsicle rebutted, claiming that most state regulators did not categorize the Milk Popsicle as ice cream, but with terms such as “imitation ice cream,” “frozen custard,” “milk sherbet,” or “ice milk.” The judge ruled for Good Humor, and both companies signed their new court-approved agreement on April 7, 1933. Ironically, over the next six decades, Unilever — one of the largest global consumer goods companies — bought the rights to both Good Humor and Popsicle, ending the Cold War between the two companies.
If you remember buying a cold treat from a neighborhood ice cream truck on a hot summer day, eating a Firecracker during a Fourth of July party, or splitting a two-stick pop with a friend, you’re one of millions that probably has nostalgic memories of Popsicles. It continues to be one of the most popular frozen dessert brands, and for that, we have an 11-year-old Frank Epperson to thank.
An old food photos post-
Vanessa Barron
Sat, October 4, 2025 at 9:20 AM CDT
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.
Step back in time and into the kitchens of mid-century America, where no party would be complete without tiny morsels of food elegantly arranged on colorful plates to greet guests. In the 1950s, home entertaining was all the rage thanks to postwar prosperity and the rise of suburban living, and dinner parties became a cornerstone of middle-class American society. Hosts armed with cookbooks like “Betty Crocker” and “Good Housekeeping” perfected the art of elegant yet approachable hors d’oeuvres. Unlike more formal, old-fashioned dining customs, these appetizers were often served in the living room before dinner. In theory, they were meant to stimulate both the guests’ appetite and their conversation; in practice, they gave the host some breathing room to prepare for the elaborate meal ahead. Regardless, appetizers were expected to delight both the eyes and the palate. In the ’50s, presentation was everything.
Appetizers have been around since Ancient Greece, when feasts would begin with small plates of snails, sea urchins, and pickled cabbage to leave guests just a little hungry for the main course. Later, appetizers gained popularity across Europe, from Russian caviar to Scandinavian smorgasbords. By the 1950s, these bite-sized offerings were still relatively rare in everyday American cuisine but quickly became commonplace at formal banquets, weeknight dinners, and casual gatherings. From the ubiquitous shrimp cocktail to the adventurous rumaki, these classic nibbles came to represent hospitality, abundance, and the optimistic spirit of the era. Keep reading to discover the most popular appetizers that delighted hungry guests in mid-century America.
Read more: 15 Vintage Ice Cream Flavors No One Seems To Eat Anymore
When you picture a 1950s dinner party, you might imagine classic cocktails like martinis and highballs in every hand. But if you flip through cookbooks from that era, you’ll find that many hosts actually served fruit cocktails before dinner. These could take the form of diced fruit served in dainty sherbet cups, or a simple blend of fruit and vegetable juices presented in stemware. Far from being an afterthought, they were considered a refreshing and wholesome start to a meal, whether served on their own or alongside other appetizers.
Juice itself was a relatively new commodity at the time. During World War II, scientists developed frozen orange juice concentrate to provide soldiers with vitamin C. This innovation led to the formation of Minute Maid, which made juice more affordable and firmly established it as a household staple by the 1950s. Many baby boomers grew up drinking juice daily as a part of a well-balanced diet.
Cookbooks of the era reinforced the idea that juice cocktails were a sign of good hosting. Betty Crocker cheerfully advised (albeit in very dated language), “The clever wife has a simple appetizing cocktail ready for her weary husband when he comes home at night. Vegetable or fruit juices are at their best when two or three tart flavors are chilled and served ice cold in appropriate glasses.” A 1951 home economics textbook also suggested that a proper informal dinner should begin with cold tomato juice seasoned with spices, served alongside canapés as a complete appetizer. For more elaborate entertaining, Betty Crocker and Good Housekeeping recommended tomato-sauerkraut juice or even pineapple-lemon foam cocktails made with whipped egg whites.
Shrimp cocktail is a retro favorite that’s never really gone out of style. Visually striking and refreshingly simple, it epitomized mid-century elegance. Surprisingly, cocktail sauce was originally created as an oyster pairing; shrimp only took center stage in the 1950s. The shift came about due to dwindling oyster supplies and major advances in refrigeration. By the late 1940s, shipping fresh shrimp by truck had become standard practice, and suddenly, this once-coastal delicacy was available nationwide. Shrimp cocktails quickly became a glamorous staple, especially in the glitzy casinos of Las Vegas.
Cookbooks of the era eagerly embraced the trend, showcasing seafood cocktails with zesty cocktail sauces. Presentation was considered just as important as flavor. Betty Crocker’s 1950 cookbook suggested serving shrimp with chopped celery or skewering them on toothpicks for easy nibbling. Good Housekeeping’s 1955 cookbook offered more dramatic ideas — arrange the shrimp in a lettuce-lined sherbet glass for formal occasions, or, for casual living-room entertaining, serve them on a plate with cocktail sauce tucked into a hollowed-out tomato, grapefruit, or avocado shell. It also suggested adding a green garnish and keeping toothpicks on hand so guests could keep their fingers clean.
A simple recipe with elegant results, deviled eggs have been a crowd-favorite appetizer for ages. In fact, deviled eggs are significantly more vintage than you might think — as in, 13th-century vintage. Medieval cookbooks include recipes for eggs filled with all kinds of ingredients, including saffron, mint, cilantro, and pepper. The term “deviled” didn’t come around until the late 1700s, when it was used to refer to dishes prepared with spicy seasonings, the idea being that the devil loved heat.
Deviled eggs were particularly popular appetizers in the 1950s. Advances in refrigeration made eggs easy to store, and their affordability and versatility made them a natural choice for home entertainers. They were simple to prepare, endlessly customizable, and visually appealing. Betty Crocker’s 1950 cookbook praised deviled eggs with poetic flair, describing them as “Mounds of savory yellow egg yolks in white frames. A stunning garnish and satisfying appetizer…food for picnics and parties.”
The basic formula involves mashing hard-boiled egg yolks with mayonnaise, mustard, or salad dressing and a handful of spices before piping the mixture back into the whites. Mid-century cooks often added their own twists, using ingredients like paprika, pimientos, minced ham, or dried beef to create deluxe versions of the bite-sized treat. Whether served at picnics, cocktail hours, or holiday spreads, deviled eggs embodied the 1950s love of practical and pretty appetizers.
A beloved retro appetizer perfect for summer picnics and cocktail parties, stuffed celery enjoyed a long stretch of popularity throughout the 20th century. Conceptually, it’s not far from deviled eggs — many recipes even use similar fillings, which is why the two often appeared side by side on appetizer platters. The appeal is easy to see: stuffed celery is incredibly easy to make, relatively light, and looks elegant on a serving dish.
Stuffed celery can be endlessly customizable. In the 1950s, Good Housekeeping suggested six variations, ranging from olive-nut and sardine-pickle fillings to pineapple-horseradish for more adventurous palates. Meanwhile, Betty Crocker kept it simple, suggesting a filling of Roquefort and cream cheese seasoned with Worcestershire sauce.
There are all sorts of ways to present stuffed celery, too. The stalks can be served whole, cut into bite-sized sticks, or pressed together and sliced into decorative pinwheels. Betty Crocker even suggested tying string around the stalks while they chill so the celery curls into appealing shapes. As with most mid-century appetizers, appearance was key. But the real charm of stuffed celery was the crisp and refreshing taste that didn’t spoil your appetite.
Pigs in a blanket remain an enduring American favorite, beloved for their simplicity and universal appeal. They’re the perfect finger food: sweet, salty, savory, easy to make, and even easier to eat. Pigs in a blanket are a descendant of the British sausage roll but first started appearing in American cookbooks in the 1930s.
“The Joy of Cooking,” an iconic cookbook from 1936 that’s worth a pretty penny today, included a recipe for “Sausages in Pastry or Biscuit Dough.” By 1944, a U.S. military cookbook was calling them “Pigs in Blankets,” cementing the dish as a mainstay of American food culture.
Despite requiring only two ingredients, there is some room for customization. Betty Crocker recommended using Vienna sausage halves wrapped in thinly rolled pastry or rich biscuit dough, baked until golden and flaky. However, for an even more retro meat choice, you can substitute the hotdogs with Spam. Whether they’re making the rounds at a 1950s cocktail party or showing up at a modern potluck, pigs in a blanket have never really fallen out of fashion.
Dips and spreads were everywhere in the 1950s, a trend reflected in the sheer number of recipes found in cookbooks of the era. Most of these recipes revolved around soft dairy bases like cream cheese, sour cream, or mayonnaise, all of which had become more widely available thanks to the rise of home refrigeration. With reliable cold storage now standard in American kitchens, perishable ingredients could be shipped, stored, and served more safely, fueling a boom in dairy-rich appetizers.
There was also a clever shortcut that made dips a breeze — just one of many forgotten cooking hacks from a bygone era. One of the decade’s most enduring innovations was French onion dip. Sometime in the 1950s, an anonymous home cook discovered that stirring a packet of Lipton’s dehydrated onion soup mix into sour cream created a quick and delicious dip. The recipe caught on like wildfire. Lipton quickly embraced it, marketing the mixture as California Dip in advertisements that doubled as recipe cards. Soon, copycat versions hit the market, using the name French onion dip.
For homemade spreads, Betty Crocker offered combinations like cheese-anchovy or herring-apple, along with the infamous Hollywood Dunk, made with deviled ham, horseradish, onion, chives, and whipped cream. Typically served in the living room with colorful garnishes on a festive tray, dips and spreads epitomized the 1950s love of convenience and creativity.
Cheese balls were the life of the party in the 1950s. Like so many mid-century appetizers, they were popular because they were extremely simple to make, easy to customize, and had an undeniable visual appeal. After all, nothing says “Wow!” quite like a giant ball of cheese at the center of the snack table.
Legend has it that the very first cheese ball dates back to 1801, when a Massachusetts farmer presented President Thomas Jefferson with a colossal 1,200-pound wheel of cheese. However, the appetizer-sized version didn’t appear in print until 1944, listed in a Minneapolis cookbook. From there, the ’50s home-entertaining culture elevated cheese balls to a party staple that would remain popular throughout the rest of the century.
Cheese balls are typically made by combining cream cheese with shredded cheese, herbs, and spices. Some enterprising cooks even include a meaty element in their recipe, fortifying their cheese balls with dried beef. This mixture is then shaped into a sphere and rolled in chopped nuts or fresh herbs for added texture. Paired with chips or crackers, the cheese ball was the mid-century party centerpiece guests could literally gather around.
Special occasions call for stylish appetizers, and rumaki was a trendy mid-century favorite. First introduced at Trader Vic’s in the 1940s, the dish fit neatly into America’s burgeoning tiki craze. The name might not ring many bells today, but rumaki is closely related to the vintage British seafood-based appetizer, Angels on Horseback. Its classic form features water chestnuts and chicken liver, both wrapped in bacon, marinated in soy sauce, and flavored with ginger and brown sugar.
By the 1950s, rumaki was a common feature at prominent U.S. tiki bars and Chinese-American restaurants, often appearing on pupu platters alongside egg rolls and chicken-on-a-stick. By the 1960s, rumaki had crossed into the suburban mainstream — it even makes a cameo on the TV show “Mad Men,“ when Betty Draper serves it at an international-themed dinner party.Trader Vic’s founder, Victor Bergeron, suggested the recipe came from Chinese cooking by way of Hawaii, but it’s more likely that it was his own invention. Authentic or not, rumaki embodied the mid-century appetite for exotic flavors in appetizer form.
Read the original article on Tasting Table.
Hi all. Thank you for being here. Thank you to Ali and Randy who keep the blog from becoming a feel bad for Scottie place. Last night I was feeling overwhelmed by the time I went to bed. I got up and told Ron I was going to bed because I was crying and trying to not let it show. He gets so upset if he comes to the office and sees me crying my eyes out. So I went to bed, hoping I could write a story in my mind to distract it / my mind from my damn first 24 years of my life. I got into bed and felt the void racing to cover me. The void is the huge dark emptiness that in my mind is like a tornado or hurricane. In the past Randy has helped me escape it by using him, his name, his person as a handle that keeps the vortex from being able to draw me in, to suck me down, to rip me away.
So I laid in the bed desperately trying to quickly create a narrative, a story that would keep my mind occupied so it would leave the memories and attach itself to the story I was trying to create. Most of the time, not always, but most of the time I can do it. Last night I failed. So in an attempt to quiet my mind and sooth my soul I turned to my saved music. I don’t listen to music much these days, preferring news podcasts and a lot of music I got from Jill and I owe her thanks, because it was some of her songs that helped me survive last night.
The double edge sword of the music is the lyrics and sounds that drew me to them to help me fight back the demons of my childhood gave them a foothold into my mind last night. But the music was working I was beating them back, not giving into the worst impulses, trying to hold on to sanity, and I was gaining ground. I tried to post them as a way to seek help. But for every step forward I was being knocked back. My pain was soaring.
Then Ron came to bed. Just walking in the room he realized what was happening. He turned on lights and moved the cat and asked me to cuddle with him. He took my phone and shut it down setting it on the bed headboard. He held me close before we even turned out the lights. I was struggling to speak and he simply held me until I calmed down. He kept talking to me and sadly I don’t remember what he said, just that I finally felt safe and warm. Then I feel asleep.
In the night I woke up to feed the cat at 03:30 and worried what I had posted in my pain. Then at 06:30 Ron and I both woke up to the cat wanting his window blinds moved up so he could see the kingdom outside he still feels is his domain. He howled until he got his way. I asked Ron is the same trick would work for me and he informed me to not even think of trying it.
Move to this afternoon. I was trying to answer comments and I have not done a real cartoon / meme post in days when at noon I got up to do the dishes. After I got done with them Ron mentioned he really would like me to make the kind of chili I was talking about the day before. I explained it was only an idea but we could try. I had already done the dishes and was needing to sit down but I started to do the chili with 2 pounds of Hamburg.
But the package recipe called for tomato sauce in a small amount. We had tomato sauce in 29 oz cans but not the small size needed. But I had a plan. I took a tomato paste can and added about the needed amount of water and heating it over the stove and stirred it into a nice paste. Now we could start. Sadly I was already wiped out. So I got out my rolling chair that Ron bought me. It is super high and able to let me look down into the highest posts on our stove sitting on the chair.
So the rest just followed. Browning the hamburger, and doing everything that came on after the other. Pictures will be below.
What we needed to decide next was do we add all the seasoning in the box or adjust to our own. I was used to adding them all and then adding my own. So we did. Then I got to playing. A dash of this here and a shake of that there. I added a couple spoons of garlic, which I love the taste of.
Then I got it to where I had only one thing left to decide, the masa. I had never added it before but I felt I should. What I was hoping was a rich brown smooth creamy sauce that the restaurant chili has and even the canned Wolf chili we get has. Mine did not come out like that. It was good but sadly not creamy reach like the store bought ones or the restaurant kinds. Ron added sour cream to his and said it made a big difference. The chili is not bad, it is very tasty and favorable. It just is more gritty and strong than it is smooth and flowing. Hugs and loves. If you have an idea what to do to make it seem more creamy and flowing brown, then please let me know. Best wishes for all and hugs for those that want them. Scottie
Scottie's Playtime 