Pieathalon 10: Aspic Salad Pie (Why, oh why?)

 

For the most part, Farm Boy and I eat fairly mundane meals that don't really inspire a lot of blogging material. So when pie time rolls around, we get really excited. Yahoo! It's time for pie!

When Yinzerella sent out the Pieathalon email, I quickly sent in my submission (I even picked one that I thought was kind and benevolent) and waited in eager anticipation to see what I would receive.

The email arrived and began with:

Here is your recipe.

Don't hate me. You got the worst pie.

Do not blame me. Blame the raffle.

Happy baking!!!!

Not a good sign.

 

Hopes dashed, I proceeded to read the recipe.

This "gem" was sent in by Poppy Crocker and is from the book, Recipes on Parade: Salads Including Appetizers by the Military Officers' Wives Clubs, 1966. Poppy was obviously not feeling kind and benevolent!

 

 

 

Lemon gelatin. Mixed vegetables. Cottage cheese. Tomato sauce. No.

Gelatin salads were not really a thing in my family, probably because my dad had a lifelong aversion to gelatin after eating some at a potluck that was covered with what he thought was whipped cream, but turned out to be mayonnaise (he never forgave that particular aunt, either). So I have no nostalgic frame of reference for them. Farm Boy's mom, however, made all sorts of gelatin concoctions, most of which I would have considered dessert, but she called them salads. So Farm Boy held onto a sliver of hope that it might actually be tasty.

Step 1: Bake a pie shell. So far so good.

Step 2: Cook the mixed vegetables and mix them with an oil and vinegar dressing. This was actually not bad. I would eat this as a side dish or a salad.

 

Step 3: Combine the veggies with 1 cup of cottage. Things are starting to go sideways here. I like the veggies. I like cottage cheese. The two did not enhance each other.

 

Step 4: Now we proceed to dividing the gelatin mix in half. The vegetable/cottage cheese combo is added to one half. An 8 ounce can of tomato sauce is added to the other half. I somehow forgot to take a picture of that, but it was red and smelled like hot lemon gelatin with tomato sauce added.

Step 5: Pour the lemon gelatin/vegetable/cottage cheese glorp into the pretty pie shell. Listen to the "ssshhplooork" sound as it leaves the mixing bowl. Stare at it. Never want pie again.

Step 6: Wait for what seems like forever for it to be "set, but sticky".

 

Step 7: Pour the gelatinous lemon/tomato counterpart on top of the glorp. 

 

Step 8: Chill for 2 hours and top with reserved vegetable/cottage cheese "garnish". Stand back and behold the glory of the garnish.

Step 9: Taste it.

Farm Boy's verdict: Better than expected, but wouldn't want much of it.

My verdict: With so many flavors going on, it really only tasted like the tomato layer. I guess the milder flavors of the lemon, the vegetables and the cottage cheese just worked to dilute each other and cancelled out the flavors. So it tasted like sweet, lumpy tomato gelatin to me. It's one of those things that I would eat it if I went to an elderly relative's home and they served it or if by eating it I was guaranteed to win a large sum of money on a game show, but otherwise, I will pass.

Queen Lily's verdict: This sh!t is awesome!

I really thought she would reject this one, but she ate some green beans and corn, then grabbed a hunk of crust and ran away with it. She did avoid the tomato layer, though. Smart cat.

And finally, step 10: Store the leftovers.

 

Thanks once again to Yinzerella for organizing this event!  Now go check out all those other - hopefully better - pies!

Yinzerella at Dinner is Served 1972: Villa Pie

Dr. Bobb at Dr Bobb's Kitschen: Anthony Hopkins 4-Star Shepherd’s Pie

S S at Book of Cookrye: Peach Glaze Pie

Jenny at Silver Screen Suppers: Beef and Hash Brown Pie

Surly at Vintage Recipe Cards: Hot Fudge Pie

Taryn at Retro Food for Modern Times: Hershey Bar Pie

Poppy Crocker at Grannie Pantries: Coconut Cream Pie

Camilla at Culinary Cam: The Ballymaloe Chicken Pie

 Cathy at Kitchen Confidence: Delicious Apple Pie