The Amazing Mackerel Pudding Plan: Classic Diet Recipe Cards from the 1970s

The funniest thing, my Mom owns these cards and by now they must be quite valuable. (eBay anyone?) But maybe even funnier is that Mom NEVER made a one of these recipes, choosing instead to display her little plastic box in a prominent corner of her avocado green kitchen, "just to look at." Mom honestly revered this collection, was proud of it, and of her membership in Weight Watchers, with all their scientific bulletins and helpful hints they'd mail to her on a regular basis. She felt special, a step above. Not many women in the neighborhood were on Weight Watchers at that time. Slavic cooks go heavy on the pork and sauerkraut and noodles and dumplings. Mom was cutting-edge, in-the-know. That said, Mom thought the food too delicate, too pretty, too TOO ... to actually fix and eat. And in a Cinderella Princess type way -- "nice" pretty, candlelit-restaurant pretty. Too good for your regular weekday when-Dad-gets-home-from-work supper. And also likely a little too challenging for Mom's limited culinary skills, which I've inherited. On and off diets all her life (sound familiar?) Mom stuck to cottage cheese and carrot sticks mostly, which is why she was more off a diet than on. But from time to time she'd eye her little box, dust it off carefully, flip through it reverently, sigh to herself and say, "I wonder if the Jewel has red cabbage or olives on sale this week. I JUST might try and fix this elegant gorgeous beautiful fancy salad .... "

McClure's paperback is a collection of over two hundred Weight Watchers recipe cards, circa 1974. She originally published a subset of the cards, accompanied by her mocking comments, on her web site in 2003. Her web site disclaimer reads, " This site is not affiliated with Weight Watchers International, Inc., whose present-day recipes are very nice and do not look like a-- at all." The book is a terrific complement to the online version, which only offers a few dozen of these delightfully kooky recipes. Ever wonder how "diet" food got a bad rap? Look no further than these full-color pictures taken with "a prop department that was clearly out of control." The dated dishware and table accouterments top off recipes such as Spinach and Egg Mold, Rosy Perfection Salad, Mexican Shrimp-Orange Salad, Fish Balls, and Frankfurter Spectacular. Any criticisms that McClure had an easy job because she just happened upon a recipe card bonanza are way, way out of line. Sure, Weight Watchers provided some great base material, but this book is a terrific success because of McClure's narration, puns, and critical commentary. I wouldn't have had nearly as much fun flipping through a box of recipe cards without the commentary. McClure even inspired me to dig out a 1970's Good Housekeeping book and email around the best photos of molded salmon puree and exotic "Mexican" food.

The recipes shown are truly disgusting, and Wendy's commentary is nothing short of hysterical. If you grew up in the 70s, or even in the 80s, you'll love this book.

Wendy McClure has done it again. "The Amazing Mackerel Pudding Plan" is a hilarious collection of Weight Watchers cards from the 1970s. The book shows the picture side of the cards with Wendy's biting commentary. I was dragged to Weight Watchers meetings in the 1970s, and I (unfortunately) remember some of these "delicacies." The only thing that would have made the book better would have been if the actual recipes were included. These concoctions are so hideous, it's amazing that anyone would have been tempted to eat them. Check out Wendy's first book "I'm Not the New Me" for a great diary of the challenges of weight loss. I'm anxiously awaiting more from Wendy.

Wendy McClure has produced an absolute culinary gem with this book, but not in the traditional sense. She has assembled an amazing array of revolting recipes from the 1970s that are thoughtfully arranged for the gourmet in categories like "Soups, Salads, Snacks, Sorrow," and "Main Dish Malevolence." Most (if not all) of these recipes came from glossy and colorful, yet extremely unphotogenic "Weight Watchers Recipe Cards" that were supposed to be both slenderizing and delicious. I can imagine that the success of anyone dieting using these cards was largely due to loss of appetite. Sample recipe titles selected at random include: "Sloppy Joes Manila" (which is the only Filipino soul food recipe I have ever seen,) "Crown Roast of Frankfurters" (which may well be the most ridiculous looking dish ever made,) "Piquant Salmon on Toast" (I'm not even going to tell you what this looks like,) something called "Frozen Cheese Salad" (which doesn't even conceptually make sense to me,) and "Fluffy Mackerel Pudding," to which words can't begin to do justice. Who, exactly, thought the three words "fluffy," "mackerel," and "pudding" could ever be used as the title of a remotely palatable dish no matter what order they are listed in? (It is worth mentioning that it is garnished lovingly with sliced hard-boiled egg, for extra temptation.) Truly, this is a book of gastronomic nightmares that is comparable only to "The Gallery of Regrettable Food" (which I also highly recommend.) If you are serious, and I mean really serious, about losing weight, buy this book and make these dishes religiously: if you do so you will likely be veritably skeletal in no time flat. This is an utterly brilliant, yet haunting, book.