just use a good cole slaw recipe.
Mayo, red wine vinegar and sugar
You are looking for a sweet and tangy taste
Add the crumbled bacon after everything is tossed. And the nuts too. (added to my above post)
@oregon101 - That was what my mother called cheesecake when I was growing up. I didn’t realize that real cheesecakes were baked until I was in high school!
^^ Thanks!
I get asked my vanilla cake recipe a lot. It’s just box cake–any brand–with an extra two tablespoons of vanilla extract added in.
^ my last post did not take
For the broccoli salad –
blanch broccoli
add some rings of red onion
currants or dried cranberries or raisins
make a slaw dressing
toss
add any kind of toasted/roasted nuts --large or even whole pieces–
top with crumbled bacon.
I like to use dried tart cherries in those kinds of salads that usually call for dried cranberries or raisins, they’re really good in oatmeal cookies too!
Another good way to improve upon boxed cake mix is to add a few extra eggs and use melted butter instead of oil.
If making chocolate, replace water with brewed coffee.
My friend makes a 1970’s style casserole that is surprisingly good. It’s ground beef and onions, browned, then 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 can cream of chicken soup, and 1 can tomato soup (all Campbell’s), all mixed together, and egg noodles. Before I saw her make it I liked it a lot!
Our family fruit dip is equal parts cream cheese and cool whip.
And a fresh fruit salad has to have a box of jello pudding mixed into it with one can of fruit cocktail.
And angel food cake mix mixed with a can of diced pineapple is still one yummy cake!
You guys may enjoy this website: The Gallery of Regrettable Food. http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/
Scroll through “The Collection” pictures.
From @redpoodles link, I love this advertisement. All the babies parked out front while moms shop inside. Reminds me of the Call the Midwife BBC show where they show moms doing the same thing. Boy, times have changed! You’d have CPS on your keister now. http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/ads/10.html
I love the broccoli salad and made it for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Here is the recipe I use:
3 crowns of fresh broccoli cut into bite-sized pieces
3/4 C raisins
3/4 C peanuts (I use lightly salted dry roasted)
1/2 C green onions, sliced
10 strips of crisp bacon, crumbled
Dressing:
1 C mayonnaise
1/2 C sugar
3 Tbsp white vinegar
I am in the midwest where the broccoli salad is popular at summer gatherings. We use cashews, not peanuts, and add them just before serving.
The baked bean casserole with the three types of canned beans, browned ground beef and crumbled bacon is also popular in summer.
We made the cheesey potato casserole over the holidays. It includes a bag of frozen hash browns, butter, cream of chicken soup, shredded cheese, sour cream, and French’s Fried Onions on top for the last 10-15 minutes of baking time.
I never heard of pretzel jello dessert.
My mom used to make that cheese cream dessert with graham cracker crust and cherry pie filling dumped on top.
It would be fun to make the 1970s recipes at the next family gathering.
Anyone remember eating salmon casserole during Lent? Not delicious - especially given the occasional bone!
Same thing, it had repeating layers of gc (dipped in milk to make them softer) and cream cheese, but instead of the “fruit,” chocolate sauce was drizzled generously all over it. 
My mom could not bake to save her life.
I baked a lot of cupcakes for kiddos team functions. I always kept boxes of Betty Crocker cake mixes on hand, because sometimes, I did not know about my baking duties until 11 pm. Not in the mood of baking from scratch late at night! The cupcakes were always a huge hit! I did make real butter and cream cheese frosting…
For small kid functions or bake sales, just stick M&Ms on top of anything - cookies, brownies, cupcakes - and it’ll be a big hit! 
Yup, used those and lots of birthday cake/ice cream sprinkles.
i was thinking about how people ask for the secret recipe and then bring that dish to events. That would sort of bug me – - i make a huge amount of cheesy potatoes for the 2-3 potlucks for summer swim team. The kids on the team beg me to make it - and it’s become my “thing” – if someone else brought them I’d sort of be glad (because it’s a lot of work) - but also I think i’m not quite ready to hand over the torch. 10 yrs down; 1 more to go. My secret ingredient: is adding some ranch dressing to the casserole.
my family loves calico beans @Madison85!
the chocolate cake in the epicurious favorites link is also a family favorite. the “secret” is the boiling water. love it!
For some time, I added pumpkin or applesauce to cakes, instead of eggs and oil/butter, to keep them a bit healthier. There came a point when, before the girls would taste any dessert, they grumpily asked, "What did you add in this time? I gave up and just started making smaller cakes with the usual recipes (have several baking pans smaller than the usual.)
Sprinkles are still a hit with them.
Ooh! I never knew the baked bean casserole had a name! “Calico Beans” is perfect!
I put the instant vanilla pudding in my chocolate chip cookies and it keeps them soft. The problem with secret recipes is if no one else knows it, the recipe dies with the creator. That happened in our family.
My daughter asked if my sister would be making her chicken pot pie for our family Christmas gathering this year. My sister said she planned to serve the ham she had left over from Christmas proper, so I decided to make the pot pie instead. I asked my sister for her recipe but then ended up using a different one that I found in a cookbook. To forestall possible disappointment, I told the other guests that the name of my dish was “Not My Sister’s Pot Pie.” I also said that it was not a competition, unless they liked mine better. (In truth, I think both versions pass muster just fine.)
I used to make baked beans from dried beans in my Crock Pot. I got the recipe from the booklet that came with my Crock-Pot. We’re talking about the 80’s here. When my son was in Little League (in the 2000’s now), I resurrected the recipe for the team’s end of the season picnic. You’d think I was a wizard. Nobody actually wanted the recipe, but they did want the beans. The coach’s wife took the leftovers. I was older than most of the moms, so I felt like a dinosaur. An amused dinosaur, though.