Another Sign of Antiquity

Back in the 80s, one of my friends and I had an age test. We decided that we couldn't work with anyone who was born after Kennedy died. Their frame of reference just wasn't right. We used this rule right up until the day when, after we explained this rule to one of our co-workers, she gasped and exclaimed "they shot Teddy!?!" After we picked ourselves up off of the floor, we just gave up.

It has taken me some years to come up with yet another example of how old I truly am. When I was a child, every night at dinner, we had a meat, a starch, a cooked vegetable and, during the summer, a salad. Said salad consisted of chopped iceberg lettuce, tomato wedges and, if they were in season, cucumbers. Every night my mother conned me into making the salad dressing because "you do it so well, Sandy". It wasn't till I had kids of my own that I realized how very clever she was. I was reminded of this when I read this recipe in the Food Network Magazine.

Every night, I would mix mayonnaise (Best Foods), catsup, sweet pickle relish, salt and pepper in an old tupperware mixing tumbler my mom had. We did not use store-bought dressing and this was what I grew up thinking was Thousand Island dressing.

How does this make me old?

There was NO ranch dressing! It had not yet been invented. I do remember when it was new. You bought the powdered Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix and mixed it with mayonnaise and buttermilk. Yes, folks, buttermilk dressing actually had buttermilk in it.

So, if you can remember the days before Ranch Dressing, then you just might remember when your choices in a restaurant were Thousand Island, Bleu Cheese (or Roquefort), French, or oil and vinegar.

Maybe I'll mix up a batch tonight!