Fasting and prayer, made simple

The Lenten season comprises forty days of prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial, in preparation for Easter. In the 1950's, the packaged food industry jumped on board that bandwagon with both feet.

In the Catholic church, the rule was (and still technically is) no meat or poultry on Fridays during Lent. Not so many people practice this now, though during Lent is when you still see the fish specials at fast food places--Wendy's has a "new" fish sandwich out right now, for instance. And McDonald's introduced the Filet-O-Fish during Lent (it's still popular with observant Jews and Muslims who have to eat kosher or Halal meat).

But the world had to wait until the 60's for the Filet-O-Fish. In 1954, you got tuna, mostly, though you couldn't necessarily tell.

This is tuna with a can of Veg-All and some Bisquick, and I think there's some white sauce thrown in there for good measure. The result looks like one of those stepping-stones you put out to make path between the back door and the tool shed.