Tuna Tango

by Millie Bentley

Greetings. Did you ever notice that recipes found in magazines, cookbooks, online and in newspapers these days are so fancy that it stretches your imagination when you try to figure out how to make them in your own little kitchen? And the ingredients! I hadn’t even heard of a lot of that stuff 10 or 15 years ago.
I have a bulging 4-inch notebook that I got from Bonnie Himschoot at her housemoving sale back in December of 1998. She and Bob lived in hospital housing and were moving to Dillingham as I recall. Bonnie had been collecting those recipes since at least 1953 and it was all organized by types of dishes. It was fun to look through that book – it would take a year of “spare time” to scratch the surface. Reading that was what made me think of the difference between today’s and yesterday’s recipes. Life was a lot simpler in many ways.
Here is one of Bonnie’s recipes cut out from the Des Moines Register – fancy for its day.
Tuna Tango
6-ounce box of noodles
2 (7 oz.) cans tuna
1 cup ripe olive wedges
1 (10 1/2 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup commercial sour cream
1/4 cup chopped pimiento
3 to 4 tablespoons minced green onion
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
METHOD:
1. Cook noodles according to directions on box and drain.
2. Drain tuna and combine with all remaining ingredients except cheese.
3. In greased casserole, layer noodles, tuna mixture and cheese, using 2 layers of each, ending with cheese. Bake uncovered at 375 degrees about 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and casserole bubbly. Makes 8 servings.
Doesn’t that sound good? Until next week, dear Reader, vaya con Dios.