Super Bowl of snacks

Snacks for the Super Bowl: whether your NFL team is heading to Houston or has hung up their helmets until fall, football snacks cross over team loyalties and define the experience. Here are great vintage snacks from the past that compete with today’s takeout choices.

Hot Chili Dip, Diane Lohr, Lohrville, Iowa Centennial Cookbook, 1881-1981

• 2 cans chili con carne without beans
• ½ cup onions, chopped
• 1 lb. Velveeta cheese, diced into tiny squares
• 1 can green chilies, diced
• Mix all of the above and bake 1 hour in 350 degree oven. Cool 15 minutes. Use as dip for Fritos or tortilla chips.

Crispy mouthful, love the hint of curry.

Spicy Snacks, 1987,

• 6 English muffins
• 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 cup green onions, chopped
• 1 ½ cups chopped olives
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon curry
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup mayonnaise

Cut English muffins into quarters. Mix the rest of the ingredients together. Place mixture on English muffin pieces. Place on cookie sheet, sprayed with nonstick, cooking spray. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.

Italian Appetizer Bites by Dori, Still Cooking on the Mountain, 2010

• 2 packages refrigerated crescent rolls
• ½ lb. sliced deli salami
• ½ lb. sliced provolone cheese
• ½ lb. sliced boiled deli ham
• 7 eggs
• 1 can parmesan cheese
• 2 jars roasted red peppers, drained

Coat a 9x13x2 inch glass baking dish with nonstick, cooking spray. Unroll 1 package of crescent rolls and use dough to line the bottom of the baking dish. Pinch seams together with fingers. Cover rolls with half of the salami, provolone cheese and ham. Lightly beat together 6 eggs and the parmesan cheese; pour half evenly over top. Top with half of the roasted red peppers. Repeat layering with remaining salami, cheese, ham, egg mixture and peppers. Top with remaining package of crescent rolls to form top crust. Light beast remaining egg and brush over top. Cover dish with foil, bake a t 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 30 more minutes. Cool for 1 hour; cut into 32 squares and serve.

Here’s a popular vintage dip using canned shrimp, when fresh shrimp wasn’t readily available.

Today those tiny fresh-frozen shrimp can be found in select markets or use fresh shrimp, chunked into small pieces.

Shrimp Dip, by Betty Morris, Lohrville, Iowa Centennial Cookbook, 1881-1981

• 1 small can shrimp, chopped
• 1 large Philadelphia cream cheese
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 3 Tablespoons chili sauce
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ½ tsp onion, chopped
• ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• Mix all ingredients together.

Chill before serving, if desired.

More Salad Hints from the Kitchen Circuit, Today’s All-Purpose Cookbook, 1982

• To prevent soggy vegetable salads, place a saucer upside down in the bottom of the salad bowl so moisture runs underneath.
• Thin honey with bottled lime juice to taste for an easy, tasty fruit salad dressing.
• Keep salad greens looking fresher longer by sprinkling with lemon or lime juice.
• A muffin tin is a clever double for individual gelatin molds.
• Bring wilted greens back to life by dipping into hot water; then into ice water mixed with a little vinegar of lemon juice.
• Don’t overlook your herb and spice shelf for distinctively different salad flavors.