Classic macaroni and cheese (not mac & cheese, please), Ritz crackers, Lowry seasoned salt, cube steak, Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup, these and many more are the dishes and main ingredients that I’ve re-introduced to my repertoire of simple home cooking.  They were the standard bearers in American kitchens in the last half of the prior century before we became enlightened to cook local without using processed foods.

Classics from yesteryear still easily found today: Ritz crackers, Lowry salt, Campbell’s soup and butcher’s cut cube steak

But if you look at regional cookbooks focusing on country cooking you encounter lots of calls for canned soup popularized by Campbell’s or cracker crumbs of all kinds mostly Keebler saltines or Ritz crackers that fill meatloaf mixtures and handy-dandy casseroles.  While I haven’t thrown out my whisk to whip up classic sauces, I’ll use those canned soups occasionally as the base for a hearty casserole.   There’s a baked haddock dish, for instance, that I make with Campbell’s cream of shrimp soup mixed with milk or cream, topped with Cheddar and crushed Ritz or saltine crackers moistened with melted butter.  It’s delicious.  Could I prepare a version of the soup from scratch?  Of course, after hours spent making it.

It’s a dichotomy, I know, for someone such as myself who makes his own ice cream rather than buying store bought. I don’t even use canned stocks.  Even in a pinch since I always have the homemade brew on hand either in my freezer or easily assemble the few ingredients (wings and aromatics) for a quick stock that’s ready in less than an hour.

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