Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam!

Last week we went to see Spamalot at Lancaster's Fulton Opera House. Great production, full of laughs - and inspiration for this week's theme of yummy SPAM recipes.  I went looking for a picture to go with this post and found that SPAM is everywhere (that's SPAM, registered trademark of Hormel Foods, as opposed to small-s spam, which is also everywhere)! The most surprising thing to me was on the SPAM homepage hosted by Hormel - talk about brand extension! Those folks have been very busy inventing new variations on the theme. Here's their current selection of tasty canned meat:

 Yes, SPAM Hot Dogs. Ugh.  The folks at Hormel seem to have a sense of humor, or at least have decided to make the 'Spamalot' connection work for them.  They've included this link to the Monty Python Coconuts and Cows game on their homepage:

http://spamalot.spam.com/go/game/

 And if you want a link to anything, and I mean anything, else to do with SPAM, check out the SPAM website put together by Dan Garcia at UC Berkeley:

http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~ddgarcia/gifs/CreamOfSpam.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~ddgarcia/spam.html&usg=__kWfyUg1Ba1I4BbZioKCEm5ab22c=&h=480&w=640&sz=83&hl=en&start=92&sig2=DFBEi2VB5wDD_9XtO0WlXA&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=GoQ7iyg7Tf5FyM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3DSpam%26start%3D80%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=rD6iTPLXKMKC8ga-vcyABA

The frightening food of the day comes from Pillsbury's Creative Cooking in Minutes, Especially good and easy meals for all occasions, Pillsbury Publications, 1971. The recipe is introduced with these comments: This recipe is a money saver as well as a time saver. Add color and texture with peas and an orange and carrot salad. I've included their recipe for Carrot Orange Toss after the meat recipe, so you can present your Crunchy Luncheon Loaf properly.

CRUNCHY LUNCHEON LOAF

4 serving recipe Pillsbury Hungry Jack Mashed Potatoes
1/2 cup creamed cottage cheese
2 cups (3-oz. can) French fried onions, crushed
1 can (12-oz.) luncheon meat

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 4 serving recipe of mashed potatoes as directed on package. Blend in cottage cheese and 3/4 can crushed onion. Stand luncheon meat in shallow baking dish.  Make 4 to 5 cuts down into loaf, about 3/4 way through. Place spoonful of potatoes between each meat slice. Spoon remaining potatoes around meat. Sprinkle with remaining onions. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. 3 to 4 servings. Tip: If desired, place pineapple slices in cuts of meat.  Spoon all potatoes in mounds around meat. Or, omit the onion rings and place thin slices of orange, cut in half, in the cuts along with some whole cloves. Bake as directed.

CARROT ORANGE TOSS

2 cups (4 med.) grated carrots
1 cup (2 med.) orange sections
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup dairy or immitation sour cream

In medium bowl, combine all ingredients; mix well.  Chill until ready to serve. If desired, serve on lettuce leaves. 4 servings.

TIP: canned or fresh oranges can be used. For flavor variations, grapefruit or mandarin orange sections can be used for the orange sections.