Vintage Eats Recipe: 1967 Gooie Looies

Happy National Sandwich Day! To celebrate, I’m featuring a recipe printed in many vintage church cookbooks – Gooie Looies.

This is a new recipe to me. I never ate it growing up and had never heard of it before scanning my old cookbooks.

It is full of what I would call ‘picnic’ ingredients – bologna, cheese, relish, mayo, onions.

It almost has the same ingredients as what Mom called “Ham Salad.” In actual fact, her version of Ham Salad had no ham, only bologna. I didn’t care for it.

But this recipe has an ingredient that is a game-changer: Velveeta cheese.

I grew up eating Velveeta cheese — in fact, we always had a 2-pound box in the frig. Mom used it to make grilled cheese sandwiches, meatloaf, even chocolate fudge! It made everything smooth and creamy just like its advertising touted.

I think these Gooie Looie sandwiches are recommended so often by church ladies because they are inexpensive, quick, and easy to make. They are also filling – after eating one, I was not hungry for several hours and had a good amount of energy.

They can be eaten for breakfast or as a snack for hungry kids who could easily make it themselves, although, depending on ages, they might need help using the oven.

This particular recipe is printed in the 1967 version of a church cookbook: “Our Favorite Recipes, Pleasant Dale Women’s Fellowship (Indiana).”

This spiral-bound copy with a plain green cover has 145 pages and features a black-and-white photo of the two-story country church inside the front cover.

This church is located near me and I recently toured it to observe the extensive remodeling job that occurred during the past year. The building is now larger than ever, beautiful, and functional for a growing congregation with a full-size gym and many classrooms.

The church has a positive impact in our community and I’m proud to say I know many godly people who attend there. I want to give a plug for its GriefShare program which I attended and received much help from. Go to GriefShare.org to find out more information about this biblically-based program.

Give Gooie Looies a try the next time you’re short on time and/or money. Each sandwich costs I would estimate less than one dollar (probably much less). I halved the recipe and had enough for eight hot dog buns.

Have you eaten a Gooie Looie? Was your recipe similar or different ingredients? What is your favorite sandwich?

Enjoy National Sandwich Day!

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Gooie Looies

1 pound ground bologna

4 tablespoons onion, chopped

2/3 cup mayonnaise

1 cup Velveeta cheese, chopped

2 tablespoons pickle, chopped

2-3 tablespoons mustard

Hot dog buns

Combine all and put in hot dot buns.

Wrap in aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

These may also be prepared ahead and frozen. Just thaw for about an hour before baking.

Submitted for the cookbook by Martha Steury