Imagine a picnic table at a roadside park, the sun sinking behind picturesque Interstate Highway 75, and a menu like the one given below, ready in 15 minutes: Country Captain, Rice and Green Peas, Hot Rolls, Salad, and Surprise Lemon Cake.
That’s how a section of the “Traveler’s Cookbook” by Ford’s former magazine The Ford Times opens. Can you even imagine?
If you’re not familiar, The Ford Times was a monthly publication produced by the Ford Motor Company for a decade before WWII and then for about 50 years from 1943 to 1993. These are sort of travel-focused general interest magazines in the style of a Reader’s Digest, just with articles about having a light Thanksgiving mixed in with stories about driving a Ford Aerostar through the Texas Hill Country.
I will probably go back through this magazine a few times because there’s just an insane wealth of content here, but for the moment I’m a little preoccupied with what Ford promised to be “impromptu meals the whole family will enjoy” and “you can prepare on-the-spot.” This guide was posted to the Ford Heritage Vault in its glorious entirety, thus saving you the $0.50 you’d have paid for a copy in 1965.
I’m particularly interested in the 1965 version of “The Traveler’s Cookbook” as it’s chock full of advice for how to make the most of a road trip. Why settle for a roadside hamburger when you can have “Freshly-caught brook trout” or a Chef Salad made with sliced tongue “cut into strips” as the magazine offers?
In fairness to Nancy Kennedy, the Women’s Editor of Ford Times, a lot of this stuff is quite standard road trip fare or, at least, the 1960’s version of it. There are chapters on travel kits, grilling meats, and all sorts of fun sandwiches one can make.
Who doesn’t love a little cream cheese and chutney on white bread? Need something a little heartier? Just try mixing some pimento cheese with mayonnaise, chopped dill pickle, and a “scant teaspoon” of horseradish on French bread. At one point the guide implores readers to “remember about peanut butter and mayonnaise” without going into detail. It doesn’t sound appealing to me and I like mayo, but I certainly will never forget it.
Soups are a big recommendation, which makes a lot of sense, though some tend to veer into gastronomical absurdity. I think a can of cream of celery soup combined with a can of deviled ham might be tasty, but this one truly gets me:
1 can of consommé. 1 can of consommé Madrilène, and juice of 1 large orange, serve hot or cold
Excuse me… serve cold?
For all the optimistic ’60s canned-food meals, there’s a sense this magazine gives that S’mores (they call them Some-mores) are a bit too wild for adults:
A dessert sandwich. Toast a marshmallow, place 1 square of chocolate bar on top, then squash down between graham crackers. The warmth of the marshmallow partially melts the chocolate, making the whole thing good and gooey. This is the famous Scout campfire dessert; adults often sneer at the suggestion, but have been known to consume shocking amounts of Some-mores when unobserved.)
In this universe, it’s assumed that anchovies spread on buttered toast and topped with eggs is fine, but S’mores are a bridge too far.
I love to grill hot dogs and use my little Coleman dual burner propane stove to make breakfast sandwiches when we camp and so far nothing mentioned is beyond my capabilities or usual experience. The tastes are not my taste, always, even if the general construction makes sense to me.
It’s the section on one-dish meals that are the “easiest of all” that really get me.
The concept here is a sound one: Make meals ahead and just heat them up when you get somewhere. I just think these are a little ambitious for the average person. Beef Goulash, maybe, but Coq au Vin seems like a lot to prepare while sitting in a national park campsite. While some of these meals are skillet-based, it’s also assumed that you can just bring a pressure cooker with you everywhere you go.
Would I feel confident about being able to prepare stuffed peppers made with canned corned beef hash? Not entirely. I’d probably eat them, though:
I also really don’t see myself making a full bouillabaisse on the beach even if I had a staff with me. I am impressed by anyone who can pull that off, however.
Just in case you’re starting to feel a bit peckish after reading about all this food, I have a simple recipe you’ll likely want to enjoy immediately:
SHRIMP SURPRISEÂ
1 can cream of celery soup
1/4 cup milk
Shrimp (either canned or fresh cooked)
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
2 tablespoons green peppers, sliced
2 tablespoons celery, minced
Combine soup with milk, and mix until smooth. Add shrimp, eggs, celery, green pepper, and curry powder; cover and cook slowly for 25 minutes.
I love pulling up to a roaring campfire and eating some hot milk with shrimp. Yum. I think I’m going to go make some right now, albeit with the addition of three cups of mayo. Never forget mayo.
All photos: The Ford Times/Ford Heritage Vault
Model T and Model A Fords can use manifold cookers. My folks belong to Model A clubs and they have played around with potluck food cooked on their engines just for fun.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=model+a+manifold+cooker&t=iphone&iax=images&ia=images&iai=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mtfca.com%2Fdiscus%2Fmessages%2F708324%2F740149.jpg
I’m laughing because everything shown on that table can be eaten straight out of their container.
Having grown up in a poor island family, where “Guamanian Steak” was a staple in the house (also known as Spam), I find the can of ham to be far too bougie for my taste. <kidding of course>
Having somewhat grown out of the packaged-meat-like-product stage of life, I go a little nuts when cooking at car camp, but anything with a sauce is right out, because I’m lazy and hate cleaning.
I can think of two motorcycle content creators that made cookbooks in the past 10 years. One was FTA Forty Times Around, that book is already out of print, and the new one is As the Magpie Flies just came out with one this year, but I question if she plagiarized from FTA.
Here’s a good car based cookbook
https://www.amazon.ca/Manifold-Destiny-Guide-Cooking-Engine/dp/1416596232/ref=asc_df_1416596232/?tag=googleshopc0c-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=706838297720&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5212938915348649290&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9208084&hvtargid=pla-448676447507&psc=1&mcid=2a35e27056e7353499b5bb952377b9b0&gad_source=1
If you prep literally everything ahead of time and put it in Tupperware, all you have to do is pull out a camp stove and pan and you can have some good food quick and easy.
I use paper plates and disposable wooden cutlery. When done cooking I just wipe out the pan best I can with paper towels. And either toss the trash in the garbage or burn it if I’m in a campground.
SHRIMP SURPRISE: What you get about half an hour after eating cream of celery soup with milk, curry and a generous helping of shrimp that have been in the trunk of your Mustang for the last four hours.
“This will be an unforgettable meal!”
That is a genuine understatement.
Watch the Mythbusters – assisted by Alton Brown! – as they attempt to cook a Thanksgiving dinner in a car’s engine compartment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqABijWMlxA
I have attempted and participated such roadside cooking, and one thing that is easily overlooked is that hot, hot stove. One can’t just cram it back in where had been before without risk of melting something. And then you have to deal with the dirty meal prep dishes, utensils, and plates, etc. I guess they assume that by the time the meal has been consumed, all the messy or hot stuff has cooled down, and someone has cleaned all the stuff. My experience is that by the time the food has been consumed, everyone is already jumping back in the vehicle, leaving that mess for the cleaning fairies I guess?
Chill out, it’s the 60s! Littering doesn’t hurt anybody because I’m the only one doing it
Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Thomas Edison and other titans of industry of the time used to go on what were essentially “glamping” expeditions where they had staff prepare fancy but supposedly rustic meals for them.
https://www.thehenryford.org/explore/blog/camping-with-henry-ford-and-the-vagabonds/
I kind of wonder if the 1960s recipes were influenced by those trips. Were the editors afraid Henry II might complain if they ran a recipe for plain old franks ‘n beans because he had much fancier food tagging along with his grandfather?
Ha!! I have, somewhere in my house, an old 1960’s, (or it might of been1970’s) Ford Truck marketing hardcover book that featured the whole F-Series lineup touting all of the outdoor ruggedness that Ford trucks provide for all of your Camping adventures!
And, in one section of the book they featured recipes one could cook WHILE DRIVING ON THE ROAD! I specifically remember a Pot Roast recipe in which you wrapped your Pot Roast in multi-layers of Aluminum foil and wired it to the EXHAUST MANIFOLD of your truck so you can cook as you cruised. I remember that it gave specific intervals of when to stop and check the roast and when to add potatoes etc.
Crazy, huh? (but true!)
There was once an entire cookbook called something like “Cooking on the road” that was all about meals cooked on the exhaust manifold. I’ve done it several times and it works just fine–as long as you have a vehicle with an exposed, flattish manifold. Ford Falcon Supervan was perfect, and you didn’t even have to go outside!
Ha! I’m curious, was this book a Ford specific publication?
I have a copy of “manifold destiny”, which has some awesome car engine recipes, like Poached Fish Pontiac. Maybe that is what you are thinking of?
Came here to read about Manifold Destiny
I honestly don’t recall. The seventies were a long time ago.
But I do remember that it gave cooking times in miles… at highway speed.
Why do so many of these dishes have ‘Surpise’ in the title? Is Doakes gonna pop out from behind a shipping container and force feed these dishes to you?
“And for dessert – La Bombe Surprise!”
“Looks fantastic! What’s in it?”
“That’s the Surprise!”
Shower Spaghetti Surprise
As a boy scout leader, I can tell you a few of the scouts can cook well, but the adults always eat very well, and cook sometime elaborately. We have made Cordon Blu, Sausage and Peppers, and some fancy stews and Chili
Some people make elaborate dishes when traveling.
Shrimp surprise sounds like an acceptable shrimp chowder. The boiled eggs are the only questionable ingredient imo.
My Grandpa worked for Ford forever. He had these mags. Described them as good toilet reading material.
And we have RFK Jr asking “where’s the damn bear recipe?”
My mother didn’t cook dishes that sophisticated at home. On the road, we would pull over and get PB&J. If the stars aligned, my Dad might cook a burger on one of those nasty roadside charcoal grills.
Henry Ford had a hand in the creation of Kingsford charcoal briquettes for even more outdoor dining fun.
First paragraph menu item: “Country Captain.” I vaguely remember that recipe from the Donner Party Cookbook.
My grandfather was a Ford man. When he died I wound up with a bunch of old Ford almanacs and magazines (as well as probably 100 golf magazines) that I have long since tossed. Vaguely remember there being some recipes that I skipped over to read about the various vehicles.
Cover that sticks out most in my mind was the 1966 almanac. https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31167483017&searchurl=attrs%3Dfe%26ds%3D30%26fe%3Don%26rollup%3Don%26sortby%3D17%26tn%3Dford%2Balmanac&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp0-_-image9
Is that cover art by Charley Harper?
“there’s a sense this magazine gives that S’mores (they call them Some-mores) are a bit too wild for adults:” My personal opinion is “if you can buy it you can eat it”, so go enjoy your smores guys, you earned it.
As someone who has delved into listicles on weird 60s dishes, I’m not discounting mayonnaise and peanut butter together, maybe in a cup, with parsley garnish, served warm… But I think, if that phrase wasn’t out of context, they were simply reminding you to bring peanut butter (for the brats) and mayo for the lunchmeat you brought.
After all after driving for 3 hours pounding Carling Black Labels, dad might issue a backhanded complaint to a dry ham sandwich.
Peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches were a mainstay of my grandmother’s depression era lunches. It was a way to make the peanut butter last longer. My mom still makes peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches to this day.
Banana and mayonnaise is my family’s heritage depression sandwich. Banayannaise if you will.
Peanut butter and pickle is mine.
And? How are they?
Edible, but not good. When I was younger I would object to them. “I thought you liked peanut butter! ” I do, but not like this…
Oh that classic parent line… Like when my mom tried to feed me those red painted golf balls pretending to be tomatoes in the 60’s-70’s “but you like tomato sauce”..
I think I’ll go scream groceries in the corner now…
Topshot: out camping with your electric skillet?
It’s possible in your shiny new F-150 Lightning!
I have never in my life met anyone who sneers at S’mores, nor do I know of anyone who needs to be unobserved in order to consume shocking quantities of them.
If I’m going unobserved, then you can bet nobody else is getting S’mores.
You can have my portion.
Remember that this was published in 1965, when (for better and for worse) indulging your inner child was considered unseemly.
Open the frunk on the Mustang Mach-E; shrimp surprise!
I think these two comments are far too closely related.
Surprise! I made a volcano of shrimp laced vomit!
I’m going to have to imagine that Shrimp Surprise is likely to transform into Outhouse Surprise by 2am.
Ha. The surprise is how long it takes to violently erupt out of you and which side it takes.
I’m sure I’m being generous with my 2am estimate, so I’m going to say *45 minutes after ingestion is my revised guess.
*In this scenario I assume the victim is able to gag it down.
The comment section is set up to put the new addition at the top, before reading what has already been written. You had the same reaction that I had – that eating shrimp that has been in the car for hours (cooked with curry, milk and canned soup) would likely cause a very unpleasant bodily reaction before long.
However, it would get Mom out of cooking duties, and Dad insisting in treating the family to restaurant meals during every road trip in the future.
This is exactly why (well, maybe not Shrimp Surprise specifically) restaurants near the many campsites around here thrive. Day 1, family rolls up with 300$ of food in coolers. By day 2, said family realizes that they have no idea how to cook any of the food they brought with a campfire, or the camp stove that lived in the back of the garage for 10 years is on the fritz, etc. By the 3rd meal disaster, dad exclaims “SCREW IT, WE’RE HEADED TO APPLEBEES” and that’s the end of it.
I keep finding amazing places to insert this video clip, courtesy of Red 2.
https://clip.cafe/share/poo-poos-coming