Originally Posted by rpenmanparker

Creamed chipped beef is one of those bizarre foods which is almost always prepared so badly as to be inedible but which, if done right, is marvelous. Why is that?

And why have all the old time "on toast" dishes disappeared? Dishes like chicken a la king, creamed mushrooms, and Welsh Rarebit. That kind of stuff used to be the backbone of American cooking. Also horrible when done badly but sublime when done right.

And that reminds me, another thing that has just about disappeared is coffee cake. There are tons of cookies to be had, brownies, cinnamon rolls, donuts and such, but when was the last time you visited someone and were offered coffee and honest-to-goodness coffee cake? See what I mean? It is up to us to save this American classic.