Recipes can be time capsules.

If you think of food from the 1950s or 1960s, you’ll probably think of something like a meatloaf or a gelatin salad. Going back further, you’d likely see the popularity of food designed to be filling and cheap to make. I’m sure a few people reading this have heard of Hoover stew and creamed chipped beef on toast, more commonly known as “$&*! on a shingle.” 

These days, food tends to lean towards healthier food, with the variety of ingredients alone being light years ahead of what was available even a decade ago. Think about what’s available at home, without having to visit an online retailer. In Sweetwater County, I can find something like Korean gochujang paste at any grocery store I walk into. A person isn’t limited to bell peppers and jalapenos if they’re looking for sweet or a spicy pepper. There’s an entire galaxy of different types of oil to cook with. 

When it comes to this recipe, I can definitely say it’s not modern.

Creamy Cheese Corn

Once again, this recipe comes from “Black Tie and Boots: Timeless Traditions from the New West,” the 2005 University of Wyoming cookbook I’ve been sourcing almost all of the recipes for this column from. According to the book, it’s great for a crowd or potluck and can easily be doubled. It’s a simple recipe to follow and while it isn’t something I’d generally make, it tastes pretty good. I made this last week along with a beef brisket for a group that had stopped by my house. There weren’t a lot of leftovers.

What you’ll need:

• 2 15-ounce cans of whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 15-ounce can of cream-style corn
• 8 ounces of cream cheese, cut into cubes

Place all of the ingredients into a slow cooker and stir until combined. Cook on high heat for 2 or 3 hours until the cheese is melted and the mixture is hot. Stir occasionally. It makes 8 to 10 servings.

First off, be vigilant about how hot the high setting of your slow cooker is. About 10 minutes into cooking, I stirred the mixture and found it to be bubbling and beginning to stick to the bottom. I immediately lowered the temperature to low. Also, the time listed seems very long – too long honestly. Melting the cheese and heating the mixture through doesn’t take the amount of time listed – even in a slow cooker, though a slow cooker would keep it warm during a potluck. Finally, I added a handful of crumbled cotija cheese and some ground black pepper before serving as I was concerned the flavor would otherwise be too mild.