That Time We Ate Our Feelings showcases recipes from the Mid Mod era.
Ever want to host an MCM-inspired dinner party? Now’s your chance with That Time We Ate Our Feelings written by actors, producers, activists, and now authors, Lisa Lucas and Debrianna Mansini. It’s a tongue-and-cheek cookbook chock-full of heartwarming family anecdotes and recipes perfect for honoring the Mid Mod era. These mouth-watering dishes include everything from cheese fondue to ambrosia salad and a delightful selection of cocktails that would look (and taste) stellar in some vintage barware or atop a decked out MCM dining table.
Origin Story of a Cookbook with MCM Vibes
Both Debrianna and Lisa agree that their two sets of parents motivated their love of food. The Lucas and Mansini families hailed from Europe (Croatia and Italy respectively) and made their way to the United States after WWII, bringing with them their flare for food.
As recent immigrants to the country, they wanted to make common American dishes, popular at the time. “My grandparents were somehow able to open a fish restaurant in Northern California that incorporated their favorite recipes that had been passed down for generations,” Lisa explains. “But I also remember my Nana talking about how she felt she had to learn how to make the popular dishes of the times to entice people to frequent the restaurant, so things she had never heard of like Ambrosia Salad and Oysters Rockefeller were added to the menu.”
Many of these Mid Mod masterpieces ended up in the recipe book. “Growing up in the late 60s and early 70s,” Lisa says, “cheese fondue made a comeback, and it was always something my sisters and I would beg my mom to make for dinner because honestly, it was just fun and so tasty.” It was this love of comfort food from their childhoods that filled the void during the pandemic and inspired the pair to recreate some of their families’ classic dishes. “We thought, why not stay connected with friends and family on a livestream while alternating cooking our favorite comfort food each night and basically hanging out together to cope,” Debrianna says.
The livestream eventually led to a YouTube series—which they still do live with weekly episodes—and now their book. “Sometimes, there are silver linings to very troubled times. This book was born out of us reconnecting our friendship and leaning on each other, sharing our lives and food and family stories,” Lucas says.
MCM-Inspired Dinner Party
There are plenty of recipes from this cookbook that offer a dash of Mid Mod flavor. The 40-clove garlic chicken is a delicious option for a main dish and has a classic feel without being dated. The meatloaf recipe, “I Wanna Be Curled Up on My Couch with the Cats Stuffed Meatloaf,” also fits the bill. For Debrianna, this recipe in particular evokes family memories. Her mom often had to use smaller cuts of meat that had to be stretched to feed a big family for dinner. “My mother would put her special touches in this recipe that we have enjoyed for years,” she says.
Other recipes worth incorporating into a MCM dinner include: “Longing for Fine Dining Classic Wedge Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing,” “Everything’s Going to be OK Vegetable Deluxe Pot Pies,” and “Queen For a Day Three Layer Chocolate Mousse.” But also, don’t miss the cheese fondue as a starter, or the pink velvet cake for dessert.
Many of these comfort food classics harken back to the nostalgia of the MCM era, family times, and childhood memories—making the recipe book perfect for helping cultivate an MCM dinner party.
“What makes our cookbook different from most is that the stories connected to these dishes are right next to the recipes,” says Lisa. “So, you can read about their provenance as well as our lookback in time as wiser women in our third act of life to what these dishes meant to us then and now,” Debrianna adds. Who wouldn’t want to toast to that?
To order your copy of That Time We Ate Our Feelings, click here. To follow along with more of Lisa and Debrianna’s culinary adventures, find them on Instagram, YouTube and Substack.
Looking for more cookbooks and recipes with MCM vibes? Check out 5 Recipes To Satisfy Your Mid Century Munchies and Vintage 1950s Recipes to Try at Home. And of course, don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube for more Atomic Ranch articles, house tours, and ideas!
