Reto Research

Actually did some legitimate work this week. We're doing a special section on economic survival tips and my chosen stories involved coupon useage, a historical account of the other "oil crisis" in 1973 and energy savings in the laundry room.

I love research. I can kill more hours doing that than fiddling around in my studio with scrapbook supplies. And the laundry story is probably gonna cost me a new washer and dryer before the story even reaches print.

In the course of writing the piece on the '73 oil crisis (when jaws dropped over a barrel of OAPEC oil hitting $12) I decided to see what sort of recipes Suzy Homemaker was using to cut costs.

Check this out:

Businessmen's Special

Ingredients:
ground beef
onion slices
American Cheese slices
1 can Tomato Soup

Shape beef into patties; brown in skillet. Place patties in a casserole dish. Top each pattie with an onion slice and cheese slice. Pour Tomato Soup over patties. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

The recipe dates to 1950 but was resurrected in the 70s when produce prices spiked. Oh come on. Can anything be all that bad if it's smothered in Tomato Soup? Christie, I dare you to try this one.

And since filling up the family Truckster cost 55 cents a gallon, folks turned to entertaining at home. Newest trend in 1973? Theme parties. A hot theme was Watergate, go figure.
How's this for a menu: Plumer's Soup, Republican Peeking Duck, GOP Cookie Crumbles and Inouye's Hawaiian Punch.

OK, so now, let's brain storm and come up with a new menu for today's political environment. Anybody?