Entertaining - Dougsploitation Style

I've been thinking about entertaining lately. I'm not sure if it's because of recent acquisition of my mother's old cookbooks and entertaining guides, or seeing JULIE & JULIA, or my little obsession with The Food Network, but something about the quickly approaching season of Autumn makes me want to entertain more than usual. I wonder if those old books can help me out...
Hmmm...I wonder what "The Surprising Difference" was? Let's see, Susie's a California blond in a yellow kitchen, talking on a yellow phone. Her yellow and orange apron matches the wallpaper behind her. She just finished frosting some yellow cupcakes and it looks like a gelatinous "St. Joseph's Aspirin for children" flavored bundt cake is on the counter in front of her. I would guess the "The Surprising Difference" is that the pot of coffee is the only non-citrus item allowed in her kitchen?

I know, not really funny.
Meanwhile, in the rec room downstairs, the triplets (Midge, Kitty and Bitsy) have invited a few cleancut young lads over to a) listen to records b) play the guitar c) dance d) stuff their faces at the buffet. Check out that sexy surfer poster on the wall!
Later that night, with the triplets already in bed. Susie dons her avocado evening gown (you know, the one that came with the matching candles) for a romantic dinner with - hey who's that dude? That's not Bill! Bill's away on a business trip with Uncle Stan.
Well, whoever that guy was - he stayed for dinner AND breakfast the next morning. Susie has baked some fresh muffins and poured some of that coffee from yesterday.

She had time to put her hair up and to give her gentleman friend a gift - a yellow sweater to match her outfit and the "muffin cozy" to a t!
Meanwhile, in a different time zone, Bill is making friends with a lady in red. Uncle Stan has found him a new friend too. These guys really know how to "enjoy the Lively Life!" while they are away on business. Wonder if they can put hookers on their expense reports? So what have I learned so far? Wear lots of yellow, always have a handy buffet nearby and if you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with.

Thanks, Susie (and Stephen Stills).

A Sandwich is A Sandwich but...

Inspired by my post yesterday, I decided prepare a vegan variation on the classic Manwich meal.Substituting for ground beef, I used Yves' Meatless Ground - a staple in my kitchen (mostly as an ingredient in my Kick-Ass Vegan Chili). With no recipe on the can, I just followed my instincts and sauteed the ground soy in a little bit of canola oil for about 5 minutes.
As the "meat" browned in the skillet, I opened up the fresh can of Manwich sauce.

Interestingly, the ingredients are pretty wholesome, aside from the requisite High Fructose Corn Syrup. I wonder if real American sugar was used in the old days?
The sauce smelled exactly as I remembered from the 1970s. Salty, sweet, peppery tomato. Hopefully this can wasn't sitting on the shelf at Ralph's for 35 years.
After the "meat" was brown enough (It's not like it started out "raw"), I dumped the can of sauce over it and stirred up the "glop".
Well, it certainly looked and smelled how I remember Manwich looking and smelling. After about 10 minutes, the concoction seemed like it was ready to be served.

So, here it is - a vegan Sloppy Joe - newly dubbed a Veganwich. How did it taste? Um, kinda like ground soy product smothered in hot catsup. I wouldn't serve it to guests, but for a nice white trash comfort food type of thing, it would suffice. Next week: Hamburger Helper!