The George Bischofs

This entry hails from Pelham, New York--currently under about 20 inches of snow--and was staged on Christmas Day. You will please excuse this bloggers delay in posting--she's been too busy celebrating the holidays.

Steve's brother, George, and his wife Kristin, along with their delightful children Robert and Lucy, made Grasshopper Pie and staged it thusly--bonus points for emulating the original. George would like you all to pay special attention to the Janis Ian album filled with the soft sounds of the seventies. My favorite part, however, is the storm trooper hiding out in the potted geranium.

The Original:



The Pelham Version:



Happy New Year.

And remember, if you haven't sent in your submission yet, there's still time. The deadline has been extended to New Year's Day.

--Lib and Steve

Mark Doyle

This submission comes to us from Oklahoma, where my friend Mark is home for the holidays. I sent Mark and his lovely bride Kate the challenge of jeweled fruitcake miniatures, well...because I thought they were up to it!

Doubting the photogenic nature of his tiny treats Mark writes, "My recipe wasn't too photogenic, but I've done what I could to Seventies-ize it (this mixer is one that my mom has had since before I was born)."

I can vouch for his circa-1970s kitchenware artfully arranged in the background--looks like Betty Crocker's own test kitchen. I hope these were tasty [but I have my doubts]. They look pretty, though!

The Original:



The Okie Version:

Kiera and the Karas Clan

This next submission comes to us all the way from Des Moines, Iowa. My college roommate Kiera and her husband have four delightful young children--Iain, Owen, Rinny, and Elise--and so I thought the Snowman Cake would be an appropriate choice. And boy was I right. The kids played a hand in the baking and the decorating, and I would personally like to compliment them on their superb construction paper background which I personally believe is better than the original!! ;).

Merry Christmas. Only a few more days left--hope Santa leaves some more submissions in my email!

Love,

Lib and Steve

The Original:




The Karas Version:

The Peplaus

Our friend Derek loves cream cheese; I mean, he *really* loves it, or at least he used to ... before we presented he and his lovely bride, Petra, with the cheese ball challenge. Derek tells us: "Upon initial examination, the recipe seemed simple enough. Only a few ingredients, and some of those are to be disregarded to make the Christmas version. Upon closer examination, however, there was more to this one than met the eye.

For starters, if we use the knife and the cheese-its for scale, there is no possible way that following the portions (e.g. 8 oz of cream cheese) will yield a ball the size of the one in the picture. Instead you'd end up with something roughly the size of a tennis ball. I conservatively estimated that to produce an end result roughly the same size as the balls in the beauty shot, it would require the portions listed to be increased at least six, maybe eight-fold.



It was time to go big or go home, so the photos I present to you here are the result of an OCTUPLING of the recipe.

The resulting mass of artery-clogging goodness you see before you is roughly the size of one hemisphere of a standard bowling ball! I felt the example lacked a certain holiday flair, so maraschino cherries and a gumdrop Christmas wreath were added to the end product replacing some of the pimientos and throwing the cocktail onions and olives into sharp relief. The staging pieces were unearthed this weekend in my Grandmother's attic and are of the period."



According to Derek (and we are inclined to agree!) "The look of abject horror on the face of the Santa candle pretty much says it all about this dish."



_____

Merry Christmas!

I hope that cheese ball tastes as good as it looks!

--L&S

The Chrises

Dear Friends,

This submission comes all the way from State College, Pennsylvania, where our dear friends Chris and Chris reside. Apparently today is the disco submission day, and so I present to you another fabulous post. I gave Chris and Chris a tough challenge--they had to recreate a fruitcake that was originally made with a Betty Crocker date bar mix that no longer exists [the horror!] so they improvised...with rum, lots and lots of rum.

Chris tells us: "When you consider how very much we have to do to be out of here by Thursday (including replacing a floor that got damaged in a recent roof leak) it's really absurd that we've put so much time into this. No, it's what has kept us sane. Or at least calm. Another bonus: the fruit bread (with added rum) is actually very good. OK, true confessions, we also added molasses and spices. In fact Betty Crocker would not recognize it all. As I said, delicious." Chris also had a problem selecting just ONE staging, so I present to you their disco progression. And, like my sister's submission, Chris relates that "All fall into the stuff we had in our closet category."

#1 is classy. Just like mom woulda done it (the candle sticks are from an antique store in Taos, the candles -- tiny tapers of a size not made since the 1970s are from my mom's house.



#2 is to show the delicious texture -- smell the rum.




#3 is our disco version... featuring that star of the 1970s, Disco Ken.



______

Thank you gentlemen--the posts just keep getting better.

Merriest of Christmases, and lay off the rum!

Love, Lib and Steve

PS:

The Original Card

Missy and Whitney

Well, my sister Missy didn't exactly inherit the cooking gene, so when I chose to send her a card, I picked the peppermint milkshake with homemade chocolate sauce, figuring this she could handle! So this evening Missy and her roommate Whitney raided the closet and staged a super 70s disco milkshake extravaganza. They want you to know, dear reader, that these things were "just in their closet," and also that the shakes were "delicious, we might have had more than one," and that the "wafers were pretty good too!" Do not mess with these two disco queens!

Merry, Merry!

Love,

Lib and Steve

The Russell Family

It must be Sunday Family fun day in New England, for just after we received the Roy's submission, in came the submission from Steve's sister's family, located just down the road in Cumberland, Maine. Connie tells us this was a real family affair: "Dad assembled the igloo and frosted it, Mom did the chocolate ice brick frosting and Connor and Will worked on the lincoln log and lego buildings. The Spode needlepoint pillow seemed an appropriate background and of course there is always a way to incorporate a bit of Monopoly." The have also cleverly included the original recipe as a point of comparison. Also find attached a photo of my nephews hard at work on the staging!

Thanks, guys. We're going to have to enlist some impartial judges--these are great!

--Lib and Steve

Dan and Sydney: A Father Daughter Submission

This submission comes to us from the Roys, way out in the wilds of Western Massachusetts. The father-daughter team of Dan and Sydney tried their hand at recreating Betty Crocker's "Christmas Confections," essentially rice-krispie treats made with cheerios and marshmallow, originally seen here:



While Sydney chose to stage her trees with some circa-1970s decorations from her father's collection, seen here:



Dan chose to imagine that these trees were new life forms on the planet Tataouine recently discovered by some Star Wars actions figures also circa 1970s:



All in all, a delightful submission!

Thanks guys.

--Lib and Steve

Marnie

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you our second submission to the contest, in two parts--before and after--from Marnie's kitchen! Marnie's notes from the challenge:

MR. BILL WAS EXCITED FOR THE COOKIE CHALLENGE BUT SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO THE WARNING ABOUT THOSE PESKY ROLLING PINS

THINGS I HAVE LEARNED FROM THIS:

It is not easy to bake when all of your measuring cups and mixers are left at work
Dog fur does not make the cookie taste better
Cookies do crumble
clean up is a bitch
Playing with clay is fun
Baking cookies is fun
Being creative is relaxing
Tonka likes cookies

THANKS LIBBY, THAT WAS FUN AND I WOULD TOTALLY DO IT AGAIN.

BEFORE


AFTER


An Addendum:

This arrived in my inbox on December 21st. Literally "Oh no Mr. Bill."

RIP MR.BILL

MR. BILL ENJOYED HIS CHRISTMAS COOKIES SO MUCH THAT HE DECIDED TO BAKE ANOTHER BATCH. UNFORTUNATELY, THAT PESKY ROLLING PIN WAS TOO MUCH FOR HIM TO HANDLE THIS TIME.

Jen and Ben

I present to you submission #1 to our contest: Jen and Ben's Staging of the Betty Crocker Candy Cane Cookies:




And, the original:

The Christmas Card Baking Challenge

A few days ago we sent 20 of our craftier friends a Christmas card in the form of a challenge. The cards were made from circa 1970s Betty Crocker recipe cards and this letter was included inside the card:

We know that when our Christmas card comes in the mail you have grown to expect a scintillating mix of Christmas tunes. This year, however, you're in for a different kind of treat! Steve said that the song selection is growing thin, so he's taking the year off. Instead, you're being invited to participate in the Bischof Family 2010 Super Seventies Christmas Bake-Off. Yes, you. While some of our friends and loved ones will receive perfectly lovely letterpress cards from a small island in Maine, we think you are up to the challenge of something more...interactive. And we hope you'll accept!

You'll see that your card is comprised of a super seventies Betty Crocker recipe card, replete with some seriously amazing food staging backgrounds. This set, circa 1971, was saved from eminent destruction when my parents downsized and I claimed the big yellow plastic box of recipe cards for my own. This year, I culled 20 choice Christmas-y recipes from the collection and decided to pass them on to you. Some recipes have a decidedly holiday flair [like the variety of fruitcakes and steamed puddings] while others were chosen for their Christmas-y color palate [like grasshopper pie, or cherry vanilla fudge]. Your card has been chosen especially for you.

The challenge:

1) Sometime before December 25th, follow the recipe on the inside of your Christmas card, or one of its several variations, and make the item described.
2) Before you enjoy your Christmas treat, take a few moments to stage your food. Feel free to add props, create backgrounds, etc. The more 1970s, the better.
3) Take a picture of your final product. [We've scanned the originals].
4) Send Libby the picture via email: libby.bischof@gmail.com
5) All the images and comments will be posted on the blog we've created for the occasion: http://super70sxmasbakeoff.blogspot.com/

Best staging receives a prize! Check in for blog updates as the season progresses.

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Now, we wait. Can't wait to see what they come up with. The results will be posted here!