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Serve Smokey Salmon Cream Cheese Spread when your book club meets to discuss The Book Club for Troublesome Women, and add very 60’s vibe to the menu! This third and final recipe, inspired by the novel, is a little campy, a lot of fun, and as easy to make as it is delicious.

60’s Magazine Recipes – Life Before Food Stylists

In my book, Margaret gets her recipe for Smoky Salmon Cream Cheese Spread from one of the many women’s magazines she subscribes to. Back in the 60s, magazines exerted a huge influence over housewives like Margaret and the other character in the novel.

Though I created this recipe to have an authentic 60’s look, I also created it to appeal to modern palates. Your book club, family, and friends will love it. I’ve served it to all of the above on multiple occasions. People always gobble it up and often ask for the recipe.

However, there were a lot of truly strange, unattractive, downright ugly magazine recipes in Margaret’s era. Researching them was a lot of fun!

Trying to come up with a number one most hideous looking magazine recipe became something of a game for me. I never did decide which should take the top (dis)honor, but here are photos of a few contenders…

Home cooks in the ’60s added gelatin to EVERYTHING! Even hot dogs, hard-boiled eggs, and peas. (Umm…yech.)

From a cookbook titled Knox Dainty Desserts for Dainty People. Not quite sure how tuna salad qualifies as a dessert?

Hard to imagine hot dog as main ingredient for a diet dish. But it’s certainly an…interesting presentation.

Margaret’s Smoky Salmon Cream Cheese Spread – Vintage Look, Modern Appeal

My inspiration for this particular recipe came from a recipe I found for “Tuna Mold” that featured things like tuna, cream cheese, tomato soup, A-1 steak sauce, copious amounts of mayo, and, of course, gelatin.

It looked hilarious, but sounded awful. Nobody today would dream of serving tuna mold at their book club meetings.

So, I set out to create a recipe that looked the part but actually tasted good. When I spotted a teeny, nine-dollar container of smoked salmon spread at my local fancy-schmancy grocer, I knew I was onto something.

Subbing canned salmon for the tuna, and using more cream cheese and way less mayo, plus horseradish sauce, smoked paprika, and few other ingredients resulted in a yummy smokey salmon cream spread that appeals to modern palates.

It really is good! And it didn’t cost a dollar an ounce.

Next, I had to was figure out how to make it look like something my 60s hostess, Margaret, would serve to her book club. As her new friend, Charlotte points out at the first book club meeting, Margaret is, “all about garnishes.”

To modern eyes, molding Smoky Salmon Cream Cheese Spread into the shape of a fish and decorating it with sliced olives to represent fish scales seems a little over the top. But back in the 60s, hostesses like Margaret were indeed all about garnishes.

And you know, I kind of get it. Recreating Margaret’s fictional recipe in real life was a lot of fun. And easier than you might think.

Smoky Salmon Cream Cheese Spread – Making The “Full-Margaret” Version

Making the spread itself is very easy. The recipe directions explain all that, so I won’t go into it here. But I do have some suggestions for creating the fun, retro presentation.

Back in the day, the spread would have been much more liquid, more like a mousse. The gelatin would have bound it together, and it would have been poured into a metal, fish-shaped gelatin mold.

My spread is much thicker, so you can easily shape it yourself. No mold required! No gelatin either.

To make mine, I drew a basic fish shape onto a piece of baking parchment and cut it out to serve as a guide. Then I placed the parchment onto the serving platter. Next, I spooned the spread onto the paper, mounding it in the middle and spreading to the edge of the parchment before smoothing out the top.

The last step was to slice my green olives and then arrange them on the body of the fish to simulate scales. I also used pieces of olives to give my fish eyes and a smile.

When I served it to my own book club, everybody smiled. Some laughed out loud. But more importantly, they ate and enjoyed it.

If you’re serving this to your book club when you gather to discuss The Book Club for Troublesome Women, feel free to go full-Margaret, olive-scales-and-all when making this nostalgic appetizer. It will definitely make them smile!

But you could also just put it in a pretty bowl, sprinkle with chopped parsley or dill on top, and serve it with crackers or crudites.

It’s delish either way, and an appetizer your book club members, friends, or family are sure to enjoy.