2026 Marca Relli
When I was a kid growing up in the 1960s food was not the center of my universe – activity was. In fact I didn’t know any kid who would rather eat than play. Lazy summer days up fishing at the lakes – even in the rain. Touch football games out in the street. Playing Mumbly Peg in the front yard (you won’t know what that is so Google it). Snowball fights and sledding in the winter. I could go on but you get the idea.
When we got called in for supper we would groan. We would eat fast then back out the door ready to shoot hoops on a makeshift backboard under a street lamp or maybe a round of flashlight tag. Later, when we got older, we’d hang out, smoke cigarettes and tell dirty jokes. Our parents never really knew where we were or what we were up to. But this was way before they started putting the faces of missing children on the backs of milk cartons. That changed everything. The end of innocence. After that it was organized “play dates,” ballet lessons, soccer moms, Baby-On-Board stickers on the back windows of mini vans and peanut allergies.
During school days I had a lunch box. A metal lunch box. I think it had Batman on it. It was square with hinges and contained a small squat thermos with a red lid for hot beverages or, more often than not, Campbells tomato soup. A sandwich on white (Wonder) bread in a small plastic baggie and sometimes a Twinkie would be in there also. The sandwich was most often peanut butter and jelly, sometimes cream cheese and jelly, and on more rare occasions, tuna salad. But every once in a while it was Deviled Ham – Cha Ching!
Underwood Deviled Ham was the only game in town when it came to deviled ham back in the day. It comes in a little can and a cute little red devil with a pointy tail holding a trident and sporting a big smile on the label. It has a pate consistency that could easily be misidentified today as a can of Fancy Feast cat food.
This recipe is the ultimate in simplicity – and you probably won’t like it.
Need This
1 can Underwood Deviled Ham spread
4 slices of white bread
Do This
Open the can of deviled ham and cut the pate in half down the middle.
Cut the crusts off of the bread slices then scoop out each side of the pate with a teaspoon and spread it evenly over 2 slices of bread.
Top with the other slice of bread and put a diner cut on it (diagonally).
Serve with a bottle of Yoo-hoo. Mmmmm. Just like old times.
Makes two sandwiches. My Cost Approx $ 3.00 total. About $ 1.50 per sandwich.
2026 Marca Relli
Oh I remember the “good ole days”. For me it was hide and seek, roller skating (with the metal skates with the key, you didn’t want to lose) and bicycle riding. And I hated to be called for dinner. When I got older it was ice skating on the pond, and hanging out with my friends. Then the boys! Good times and you didn’t have to lock your doors. Now we are in fortresses! It was bologna, peanut butter & jelly, maybe ham & cheese in the little metal lunch boxes with the little thermos. Times surely has changed😤😩
Yes. Times have changed, but I guess they always do. I never knew even 1 kid with a peanut allergy, Now, at Halloween, I have to ask the trick or treat kids if they can eat peanuts. I always have two types of candy, one with nuts and one without. And now “oldies” music on the radio is from the 1990s. Scary. Thanks for the comment!