An old-school, cafeteria open-faced sandwich, made with seasoned ground beef, trinity vegetables and pizza sauce, finished with cheese.

Jack and Jills - My Way

I've actually never heard of these sandwiches before and I don't have any memory of them being served in my school cafeteria, although some of you may. 

I also have no idea how the name came about either, but it's another one of those vintage recipes that passed by on my browser start page and sounded good enough to try!

They are delicious! And bonus? They're also super easy to make.

A vintage appetizer made with a seasoned Boursin-style cream cheese filling and pickled okra, rolled up in slices of luncheon ham and sliced.

Pickled Okra Roll Ups

We're going old school here y'all!

I know some of you won't care for these because, well... okra. It's one of those somewhat divisive foods that folks either love or hate. More for me if you're in the latter group, because I love it!

Those of us who do love okra and are of a certain age, will likely remember this party appetizer from year's past. I'm not sure exactly when it became popular, but I seem to remember it from back in the 70s.

An appetizer bread, spread with a mix of mayo, shredded cheese, bacon, nuts and green onion, spread on French bread, baked and sliced for serving.

Million Dollar Cheese Bread

You've probably seen Million Dollar Dip and Neiman Marcus Dip all around the internet at some point. As to bloggers of food, it seems to be offered everywhere!

Million Dollar Dip was originally known simply as Almond-Bacon-Cheese Spread and later as Neiman Marcus Dip because that's where the original developer of the recipe, Helen Corbitt, happened to work as Director of Food Services at the Neiman Marcus restaurant, Zodiac Room in Texas, where it is said many of her recipes are still offered.

A long-held and well-loved casserole, made with chopped cabbage, onions, salt and pepper, and a classic southern combo of mayo and cream soup, topped with a buttery, cheesy cracker finish.

Cabbage Casserole

Any of y'all who have been around Deep South Dish for any length of time, know how much I love cabbage. I especially love the boiled or fried versions, which frankly, is what I make the most, even when my original intention when I bought a new head of cabbage was to write something new for the website!

What can I say?!

Cheese Delights - Broiled Open-Faced Tomato and Cheese Sandwich

An open-faced, broiled tomato and cheese sandwich with bacon and fresh basil.

Cheese Delights

One day, when I was sharing my broiled tomatoes on the Facebook page, Cheryl, one of the readers there, was reminded of an open-faced tomato sandwich her grandmother used to make. She called them Cheese Delights.

You can find a variety of open-faced tomato and cheese sandwich recipes around the net, and while they have different preparations and some with a variation in ingredients, you'll primarily find the ingredients to contain at least:

This loose meat spoon burger recipe dates as far back as the 1950s and has been a favorite of many families all those years. It's made with ground beef, onion, a few standard condiments... and a completely unexpected ingredient!

Gumbo Sloppy Joes

I will be the first to admit when I first heard of this sandwich, I was super skeptical! It seemed a bit, well, crazy to me, as I'm sure it will to some of y'all, but... wait a minute.

Turns out, it is amazingly delicious, and downright addictive! This is how it came about.

A cheesy pasta casserole made with a cream soup and sour cream base and rotini pasta.

Cheesy Rotini Casserole

This recipe is based on one that was popular back in the early 1980s among The Telephone Pioneers of America and was featured in their community cookbooks, Bell's Best and Calling All Cooks.

It was called Macaroni Casserole back then, because it was generally made with elbow macaroni. I used rotini pasta for my version because I had an opened box I needed to use up. Waste not, want not! 
 

A vintage sweet treat, pumpkin pudding is a dessert that falls somewhere between a dense cake and a crustless pumpkin pie. Slice into squares and serve with a sprinkle of powdered sugar and a garnish of freshly grated nutmeg.

Old-Fashioned Baked Pumpkin Pudding

There are a few pumpkin pudding recipes out there, but for the most part, they are just that. Pudding, with pumpkin puree, very often including a box of pudding mix, and usually prepared in individual custard cups.

This, is not that.

Cheeseballs make great party appetizers and the chipped beef version is exceptional. Made with dried beef, green onions, horseradish, Cajun seasoning, Worcestershire and parsley, then rolled in more dried beef and parsley.

Chipped Beef Cheese Ball

Okay y'all... we're going old school today, in the name of cheese balls and this cheese ball in particular! Along with the pineapple one, this has always been one of my favorites in the family of cheeseballs. I don't know why I got away from making them really, but I'm glad I got back to it. They make great party food!

Typically these were made with all of the chipped beef in the cheese ball, and finished with a roll in fresh chopped parsley, but I think that it looks nicer with some of the beef on the outside as well, and it's a pretty good indicator of what kind of cheese ball it is to your guests too.

Just remember, all cheese balls are best made 1 to 2 days in advance whenever possible to allow the flavors to all meld together, and they are also best when allowed to come to room temperature before serving too.

A few basic ingredients: cherry pie filling, crushed pineapple, sweetened condensed milk and Cool Whip make up the base for this old school frozen delight! From there, make it your own with easy add-ins.

Frozen Cherry Fruit Salad

I live on the Gulf Coast, and down here, the humidity is as important as the temperature. Maybe even more so! We've been under 100+ degree heat advisories here for awhile now because of that heat index. In June. Already. I pray we don't see a hurricane this year, well, ever again in my lifetime really, that knocks out power for long. Gotta have that air conditioning down here!

When the weather heats up like this, cooling foods are a steady in my house. Watermelon, cucumbers, grapes, cantaloupe, strawberries are consumed regularly around here! Of course, although they may mostly be relegated to those family gatherings more so these days, we have our icebox and freezer desserts too. This cherry salad is one of those that has been around for years.

Sweetened pear halves, stuffed with a cream cheese and whipped cream filling, garnished with a light sprinkling of mild cheddar cheese, and if you're feeling fancy, finished off with a maraschino cherry.

Pear Salad

This is not so much a recipe, as it is a nostalgic reminder of this delicious holiday side from the past. It's so old school, that some of you my age and older may even remember seeing this at school.

Hardly anybody really thinks about pear salad much anymore, and I'd venture a guess that very few of the younger generation even know anything about it and likely wouldn't be all that receptive to it either.

Sweet and Tangy Russian Chicken - My Way

Sweet and Tangy Russian Chicken, made with bone-in chicken thighs, red Russian style dressing, apricot preserves and a homemade onion seasoning.

Sweet and Tangy Russian Chicken

This recipe is a real throwback to way back that some of you might remember. Grab an old church, community or junior league cookbook, and it's bound to be in there somewhere, though often called by other names and sometimes simply called Apricot Chicken, though it's always been more widely known as Russian chicken.

The name of the dish has nothing to do with the country or people of Russia and comes from the use of Russian dressing, originally a spicy mayonnaise and ketchup condiment, somewhat similar to Thousand Island dressing, and one that dates back to the early 1900s, said to have been invented by James E. Colburn, a resident of New Hampshire USA.

Deviled Ham Salad - Bologna Salad

Old School Deviled Ham Salad, made with ground ham, sweet pickles, pimentos and mayonnaise. My version adds in celery and onion, and a little horseradish, spicy mustard, hot sauce and Cajun seasoning with the mayonnaise.

Deviled Ham Salad

Back in the day, this deviled ham salad was made using an old-fashioned countertop grinder - the cast iron kind, that clamped onto the edge of the kitchen counter or a table. Usually, a slice or two of bread would be run through first, just to sort of clean it of any dried, leftover residue, since they were next to impossible to clean well. Everything else was added to the grinder in order, and then the salad mixed together with a homemade mayonnaise.

Apple Dapple is a well loved heritage cake made with apples and pecans, and glazed with a crunchy brown sugar maple topping.

Apple Dapple Cake with Maple Glaze

This is such a tasty and moist apple cake, and you can make it a day ahead, because it gets even better, making it a perfect addition to the holiday table. I first met this cake 30 years ago, though frankly I'm sure it's been around even longer than that, meaning you can count on it being well-tested and reliable too.

Original Magic Bars with Variations

No matter how you layer them, these classic Magic Cookie Bars are addictive. Most often they are layered with a graham cracker crust, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and sometimes butterscotch, or even a combination of them, coconut and nuts.

Original Magic Bar

If you Google looking for 7 Layer Bar recipes, most of what you will find are bars listing these five basic layers - though many do also add another layer of butterscotch chips - yet they all seem to count the graham crackers and butter as individual layers.

Some recipes do melt the butter, and then simply pour the graham crackers on top, rather than mixing and pressing them in, so I guess that's one way to consider them separate layers.