Marie Gifford’s 168 Meal Planning Ideas that Start with Armour Star Canned Meats
The meat of good eating… Armour
1959

I like that they stick with 168 ideas, rather than going for the more attractive round numbers. That’s how many ideas they had, and that’s how many they’ll give you. Marie Gifford was the fictional meal adviser character for Armour, like Betty Crocker or Ann Pillsbury. It’s another cookbook filled with recipes requiring ample quantities of the sponsor’s products, helpfully pictured on the back of the book.

Such as Treet, a Spamalike, and a chopped ham in loaf form that proves that there’s more to Spam and Treet than ham!

And while the interior product shots are in glorious meaty full color,

the photos of the dishes featured in the cookbook are in stomach-churning black and white.

Mmmmm! Want some of that? Here’s the recipe!

Breaded Treet Slices
1 can TREET
1 Cloverbloom Egg
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 cup fine bread crumbs
Cut TREET into 8 slices. Combine egg and milk and beat slightly. Dip TREET slices in egg mixture and then in crumbs. Brown on both sides in Cloverbloom Butter or Margarine. Serve with cooked whole cauliflower topped with creamed peas. 4 servings.

And because one of my favorite reads of 2006 was The Psycho Ex Game, I must share this dish, Snow-Man stew, unretouched:

Snow-Man Stew

Heat contents of 1 can Armour Star Beef Stew in heavy sauce pan with tight-fitting cover. When stew is bubbling, spoon drop-biscuit dough made from 1 1/2 cups biscuit mix onto the meat and vegetables. Cover and cook for 10 to 12 minutes. Before serving, make dumplings into snowmen by adding whole cloves for “eyes” and pimiento strips for “mouths.”