I never thought I would find a disgusting vintage recipe to top the famous Liver Sausage Pineapple, but dang if I didn’t find one that is just as repulsive – and maybe, just maybe – a little bit more.
Voilà the “Summer Salad Pie” – a concoction listed as “pretty as can be” in my 1965 Betty Crocker’s Dinner in a Dish cookbook. Um, not so sure “pretty” would be the word I’d use to describe it, but I’m not a cookbook editor – so what do I know? Basically this pie is made up of a lemon jello layer with tomato sauce, celery, olives and onion, in a cheese crust topped with tuna salad. Yes, tuna salad.
Don’t get me wrong – I love tuna salad. I just don’t love tuna salad on top of jello in a pie shell. What is the fascination with gelatin? Why must it be used in every other recipe in 1965? Was Jell-O thought to be space-age? Was it a favorite at Camelot? Were we using it to show the Commies who’s boss?
All I know is that this has got to taste like Barf Pie – summer or not.
nachounderpants.com 
I think that in a post-apocalyptic America, any remaining survivors from WW3 (besides roaches) would have to eke out their existence on the only foods to survive, Spam and Jello.
Hence, the fixation of 60’s era recipes on those two culinary stalwarts.
Oh, and also stringbeans. I think Bob Dylan mentions stringbeans in about 5 of his classic min-60’s tunes (“gimme a stringbean, I’m a hungry man, a shotgun fired and away I ran,” from Talkin’ WW3 Blues on his Freewheelin’ album).
I suppose that Jello is just flavored aspic.
Not that I don’t find aspic thoroughly disgusting. I cannot stomach the texture. Puts me on hurl alert.
Thank you.
You know…until culinary school I thought “aspic” was just something you did when your pants were too tight!
Barf pie is accurate! Fishy jelly is gag worthy just thinking about it, let alone putting it in your gob!