The pie! That makes! Its own crust!

I bet you had a slice of Bisquick Impossible Pie in the 70s. I bet you liked it.

This isn't a food blog, but I'm a foodie. I'd like to share with you some of the good stuff from my childhood, which I bet a lot of you will remember.

Put down the Crisco-crusted, high-calorie quiche and try some Impossible Pie. It's easier and better for your waistline. Feel free to switch out the flavors and add-ins once you've learned the basic method. I've made this with broccoli, corn, red potatoes, and asparagus. There are even dessert versions available, though I haven't tried those.

Green Chile Cheese Impossible Pie

Preheat oven to 425. Spray 9- or 10-inch pie plate with cooking spray.

2 cans (4 oz. each) chopped green chiles
1 1/2 cups grated cheese (cheddar or pepperjack)
1 1/2 cups milk
4 eggs
1 cup Heart Smart Bisquick (tm)

Combine green chiles and cheese and spread on bottom of pie plate.

Beat remaining ingredients until smooth. Pour into pie plate.

Bake until knife inserted in center comes out clean (25-35 minutes).

Serves 6.

Dearly departed : Big Bob's Pipe Dream in Burien

Seattle readers will probably remember Big Bob’s Pipe Dream, but if you grew up in the 70s, you might have had a similar restaurant in your neighborhood, too. Eating at Big Bob's was a huge deal for us kids. I remember a few kid birthday parties there…maybe some Bluebird events as well.

Now Bison Creek Pizza in Burien, Big Bob’s was cavernously huge, with several levels of seating. And the organ itself just seemed to surround you with its many pieces and huge sound. And didn’t it literally surround you? Does anyone else remember there being parts of the organ installed on the side walls as well? I remember looking over my shoulder and seeing musical instruments move. This could have been a dream, though. I was high on pizza and root beer at the time.

I don’t think there are many Wurlitzer organs left, except for those in churches. I imagine Chuck E. Cheese has replaced Pizza & Pipes in the pizza-and-entertainment-for-kids category. Pity, that.

The Puget Sound Theater Organ Society has a great piece on this 70s Seattle/Burien institution, including pictures and an old newspaper ad. The organ at Big Bob’s was a 1918 Wurlitzer originally located at Seattle’s Coliseum Theater at 5th and Pike.

Dearly departed and dehydrated: Mug-O-Lunch

Who knew you could have sooo much fun and tastiness in a mug?

Mug-O-Lunch tasted kind of like the Kraft Easy Mac and operated on the same principal: add boiling water to salty powder and macaroni that would never get fully tender, wait a few minutes, and your lunch is in the mug. Sounds kind of silly now that we live in the age of prepared food and instant everything, but this felt inventive and exciting at the time.

Here's a newspaper ad that promises three flavors: Macaroni and Cheese, Spaghetti, and Beef Noodle. I seem to remember a Chicken Noodle one available at some point as well.

My brother and I had to talk Mom into buying these; she would say they were too expensive and that she'd be happy to make us a sandwich. She was a stay-at-home mom, and she probably would have made us anything we wanted from scratch. But of course, we wanted the dehydrated salty crap in a mug.

Little Brown-Haired Girl in utero

It's my parents' anniversary today. I love this picture of them. My mom is pregnant with me (Christmas 1968.)

Dad is holding our dog, Penny. More about Penny in another post. Meanwhile, how cute are my parents here? They used to call my mom "Gidget", for her personality as much as her appearance. My dad reminds me of a cross between Jim Morrison and Buddy Holly.

Love to you both, Mom and Dad.

Slippery summer shenanigans

I'm not sure you could have too much more fun during a Seattle summer than you could while playing on a Slip 'N Slide.  A very thin yellow plastic sheet with tiny sprays of water keeping it really too slippery than was wise combined with the hill in our front yard made for an excellent summer afternoon.

I used to slide tummy-first, like the first kid in this old 70s ad. I would often wake up the next morning with my tummy so sore that I could hardly move.

Check out how many cool new versions there are of the Slip 'N Slide today! In my day, we only had ONE kind of Slip 'N Slide. Sheesh.

In case you're thinking about adding dish soap or something to make it even slippery-er, don't. Trust me on that.

Dearly departed deliciousness: Seven-Up bars

A candy bar that was actually seven candy bars in one is even better than a doll that's two dolls in one, or a mint that's two mints in one! Man, do I miss the Seven-Up candy bars.

Seven-Up bars had seven separate flavor sensations. According to Pearson's Candy Company, the flavors changed based on consumer taste. When it was discontinued in 1979, a Seven-Up bar had butterscotch caramel, cherry cream, fudge, orange jelly, nougat, coconut, and butter cream. You just couldn't find any candybar that compared to one of these--not even the Uno Bar, my other favorite.

Pearson's won't make this for us again, no matter how much we beg. They no longer have the proper equipment to do so, and they don't own the rights to the name. History and candy freaks should check out Pearson's website, which includes pictures of old Seven-Up wrappers.

And if you close your eyes, you can pretend the Sky Bar is a Seven-Up bar...okay, half a Seven-Up bar. But with different flavors. Sigh.

For Dad's and Jim's birthdays

Note the faux wood paneling in the background. Yes, it covered our family room.

My dad and my little brother both had birthdays in the last couple of weeks, so this picture seemed appropriate. I'm about age 7 here and my brother is probably about 2. My hair was so light brown as to be almost blonde.

Dinner at Grams' house

Plasticized melamine plates are kind of tacky today. But they were kind of cool in the 70s.

These are the plates my grandmother used every day...

Details for you antique freaks: these were Melmac Beverly by Prolon. We got rid of most of the set when my grandmother passed away in 1997. I kept this plate, and looking at it makes me wish we'd kept the whole set, which included small red bowls and mugs. I couldn't find details on this particular pattern, which I think probably goes back to the 50s.