Natalie Litofsky
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positivelynatalie.bsky.social
Natalie Litofsky
@positivelynatalie.bsky.social
160 followers 170 following 830 posts
Writer | Editor | Pop Culture Nonfiction Publisher | Horror Podcaster
Mainly comprised of coffee, cheese, and zombie movie hot takes.
📚 atbpublishing.com
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positivelynatalie.bsky.social
Don't know if you're familiar with it, but the IKEA Hackers website has been around forever and is a good resource for altering/tweaking their furniture if you find something *almost* right. ikeahackers.net
IKEA Hackers - Clever IKEA Hacks + Ideas For IKEA Furniture
The best IKEA hacks, creative DIY ideas, and smart IKEA furniture modifications are at IKEA Hackers. Inspiring projects to transform IKEA from basic to wow.
ikeahackers.net
November 11, 2025 at 5:45 AM
positivelynatalie.bsky.social
November 10: Kraft Miniature Marshmallows Recipes (1960s?) was likely free in stores. I can't find the exact date, but the Jet-Puffed brand debuted in 1958.

Sweet Potato Casserole with Miniature Marshmallows is lacking seasoning of any sort, so I'd suggest a more modern recipe for Thanksgiving.
Small square pamphlet with flip-up tabs to view recipes. It features a black and white photo of mini marshmallows with red and black text over top. Title reads, "Kraft Miniature Marshmallows. Recipes for Cooking, Salads, Desserts." The dishes listed on the tabs are: Fruit and Marshmallow Salad, Molded Fruit Salad, Broiled Frosting, Sweet Potato Casserole, Caramel Popcorn Balls, Floating Island, Applesauce Dessert, Chocolate "Philly" Fudge, Chocolate Pie, Melba, Caramel Marlow, and Mallow Nests. Recipe and photo for Sweet Potato Casserole with Miniature Marshmallows. The photo is just a bunch of marshmallows floating on top of a bowl, sightly browned on top. Ingredients: 2 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes, 1/4 tsp salt, dash of pepper, 2 Tb Parkay Margarine, 1 cup Kraft Miniature Marshmallows. Directions: Combine the sweet potatoes and seasonings and place in a greased 1-quart casserole. Dot with margarine. Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes. Sprinkle marshmallows over sweet potatoes and bake for 10 minutes more or until marshmallows are lightly browned. 6 servings. Intro page to the recipe pamphlet. It reads, "There's nothing like marshmallows to put the festive touch to a favorite recipe... marshmallows 'pick up' a salad or dessert... add that 'extra something' to a sweet potato casserole... Now you can prepare these tested recipes quickly and easily with Kraft Miniature Marshmalloqa... designed especially for cooking, salads and desserts... in a small handy size you can pour right from the bag... without cutting. Try these recipes for special treats your whole family will enjoy. Or eat them right out of the bag—a delightful confection no matter how they're used." Back cover of the recipe pamphlet. It's done in a realistic illustrated style in black, white, and red. At the top is a drawing of the Kraft Miniature Marshmallows package. At the bottom is a drawing of a spoon filled with mini marshmallows and text that reads, "Each one an individual marshmallow, tender, fluffy and plump. Of uniform flavor and handy size (15 will fit on a tablespoon!), you can be sure of Kraft quality in each bag of this delicious confection."
November 10, 2025 at 3:27 PM
positivelynatalie.bsky.social
He didn't so much lose the raisins as he lost his arms and thus the ability to gather the required two scoops. Which is... horrifying?
November 10, 2025 at 4:07 AM
positivelynatalie.bsky.social
There are a ton of anecdotes in the book about just how much she hates cooking. I think it's supposed to come across like sharing inside jokes with a friend, but mostly it makes you realize you can't trust her recipes because they're more about getting to the other side of cooking than flavor. 😂
November 9, 2025 at 4:44 PM
positivelynatalie.bsky.social
November 9: The I Hate to Cook Book (1960) unsurprisingly contains a LOT of casseroles.

Ham-Lima Supper sounds like something you'd make in a panic or on a dare. What I find more interesting is the reference to a "No. 2 can," which is common in older books: www.thespruceeats.com/can-sizes-fo...
Front cover of The I Hate to Cook Book. It's a pale blue background with the title text in pink and white. Next to that is an illustration of a woman wearing a very tall chef's hat, looking startled, with very red cheeks as if embarrassed. Text on the cover reads, "More than 180 quick and easy recipes—fun to read, simple to use." Recipe for Ham-Lima Supper. Ingredients: 2 cups diced ham, 2 number 2 cans lima beans, 1/4 cup olive oil, 4 whole green onions sliced, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sugar, dash of cayenne, 1/2 green pepper chopped, 3 good-sized tomatoes sliced, and 1/4 cup grated Parmesan. Instructions: Cook the onions in oil until light brown. Add the green pepper, cayenne, sugar, salt, and the drained beans. Throw the juice out. Toss all this for three or four minutes in the pan. Spread the diced ham in the bottom of an ungreased casserole, cover it with the bean mixture, spread the sliced tomatoes on top of that, and sprinkle the Parmesan on top of everything. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes at 350 F.
November 9, 2025 at 4:11 PM
positivelynatalie.bsky.social
November 8: The Natural Way to Good Cooking (1981) offers helpful tips like serving creamed dishes over seasoned Chex instead of rice or noodles. 🤔

Thyme Enough Casserole is an herbed creamy veg mix topped with buttered Chex. Insert "I wouldn't eat that if it were the last dish on Earth" joke here.
Front cover of Chex The Natural Way to Good Cooking. It features food on a picnic table in the foreground, with a farmhouse and trees with autumn leaves in the background. Photo for Thyme Enough Casserole, which is basically a green bean and carrot casserole topped with cereal. Recipe for Thyme Enough Casserole. Subhead reads, "A hearty vegetable casserole seasoned to perfection." Ingredients: 4 Tb butter or margarine, 2 1/2 cups Rice Chex cereal crushed to 1 1/2 cups, 1/4 tsp thyme twice, 1 1/2 cups diced celery, 1 Tb fined chopped celery leaves, 1 Tb fined chopped onion, 1/2 tsp salt, dash pepper, 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 cups water or cooking liquid from vegetables, 1 1/2 cups cooked sliced carrots, 1 1/2 cups cooked cut green beans. Directions: Melt butter in large skillet. Remove 2 Tb and combine with Chex and 1/4 tsp thyme. Mix thoroughly. Set aside. In remaining butter, saute celery, celery leaves and onion until tender, about 15 minutes. Add salt, pepper, 1/4 tsp thyme, soup and water. Blend well. Stir in carrots and green beans. Turn into shallow 1 1/2-quart baking dish. Top with reserved crumb mixture. Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes or until bubbly and top is lightly browned. Makes 6 servings. Tips: Sub in seasoned Chex for rice or noodles under creamed dishes or chow mein. Use crushed croutons as coatings on meat or fish. Still from the Twilight Zone episode Time Enough at Last. It is almost at the end of the episode, and Burgess Meredith is sitting on the steps of the destroyed library with stacks of books behind him. He is holding an book opened to the center and smiling at the pages.
November 8, 2025 at 4:59 PM
positivelynatalie.bsky.social
He's a little TOO insistent that it wasn't a bear. Like, my dude is convinced there's just no way a bear could *possibly* step over the guardrail like that.
a cartoon bear is flying through the air holding a piece of paper
Alt: Yogi Bear is flying through the air on a picnic basket dangling from a string, holding a sandwich with a bite taken out.
media.tenor.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:42 PM
positivelynatalie.bsky.social
November 7: In The Kitchen With Miss Piggy (1996) is more celebrity than cuisine.

Jean Stapleton's Sheba Casserole may be a fond memory for her, but it sounds very bland to me. It's unclear if each person gets a fish fillet or if you cut the casserole into squares. I still love Jean, though.
Front cover of In The Kitchen With Miss Piggy: Fabulous Recipes from My Famous Celebrity Friends. It features a photo of Miss Piggy dressed in a ball gown and diamonds, holding a wooden spoon and standing at a counter covered in fruit and vegetables. Title page for Jean Stapleton's Sheba Casserole. It has a photo of Jean Stapleton on the side, with this intro: "My dear, dear friend Jean is one of the sweetest, most endearing and talented stars in the entertainment industry. Although she has been a star for many years, she has never let fame go to her head. I wish I could be more like her..." Ingredients are listed on this page and include: 1 medium onion thinly sliced into rings, 1 medium green bell pepper stemmed and seeded and thinly sliced into rings, 1 1/2 lbs sole fillets, 1 cup sour cream, salt and pepper. Recipe page for Sheba Casserole. There is a photo at the bottom of Miss Piggy in a frilly gown with her hand on her hip with the text, "A Tip from Moi: What's fish without chips? Don't forget the fries!" There is a quote from Jean Stapleton in the margin that reads, "I call this Sheba Casserole because it was introduced to me by Shirley Booth in Come Back, Little Sheba, her Tony Award-winning role. A long road tour can bring a company together in a real family sense. Dinners are prepared and colleagues are invited. Wilson Brooks, a member of the company, made this casserole for the delight of his friends while we were playing in Chicago." Cooking instructions: Preheat oven to 350 F. Cook onion rings and green pepper rings in boiling water until slightly soft. Drain. Wash the sole and pat dry. In a shallow casserole, layer the sole, vegetable, and sour cream, seasoning each layer with salt and pepper to taste and ending with sour cream. Cover and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the fish is cooked and all is bubbly. Serves 4.
November 7, 2025 at 6:25 PM
positivelynatalie.bsky.social
It's honestly so comforting. I particularly like a broth with spinach and egg, and usually pork dumplings. You can find youtiao frozen and pop them in the oven or air fryer to have on the side. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtiao
Youtiao - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 7, 2025 at 4:36 PM
positivelynatalie.bsky.social
Soup was my favorite winter breakfast when I lived in Beijing! All the fast food places have a few versions of a set meal wirh either congee or dumpling soup + fried dough stick and a cup of warm soy milk. It's the absolute BEST.
November 7, 2025 at 3:47 PM
positivelynatalie.bsky.social
November 6: Toaster Oven Cookbook (1982) is filled with recipes that guarantee dinner guests will never return for another meal.

Minty Lamb Casserole is a lot of time and money that ultimately results in a generic square of meat glop you'll have to insist is "Greek inspired" to skeptical diners.
Front cover of Toaster Oven Cookbook from Better Homes and Gardens. It features a photo of an open toaster oven with two skewers of meat and vegetables on the rack, and two ramekins behind them with what is probably a filled fruit dessert cake of some sort. Recipe for Minty Lamb Casserole. Ingredients: 1 pound ground lamb, 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1 clove minced garlic, 3 Tb butter or margarine, 3 Tb all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp dried crushed mint or 3/4 tsp snipped fresh mint, 1/4 tsp dried crushed oregano, 1 1/2 cups milk, 3 beaten eggs, one 10-oz package frozen chopped spinach thawed and drained, 1 cup cooked rice, and 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese. Instructions: Cook lamb, garlic, and onion in a skillet until meat is browned and drain off fat. In a small saucepan, melt butter, then stir in flour, salt, mint, and oregano. Add milk all at once, cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute more. Gradually stir the thickened milk mixture into beaten eggs. Combine the lamb mixture, spinach, cooked rice, and feta cheese. Stire in hot milk-egg mixture and turn into an 8x6.5x2 inch baking dish. Bake in a 325F oven for 45 to 50 minutes. Makes 6 servings.
November 6, 2025 at 5:19 PM
positivelynatalie.bsky.social
November 5: Bake Off Cook Book from Pillsbury (1971) is from the 22nd competition.

"Best Consumer Value Award was given to Claudia Lynn Stafford, a college student from Ames, Iowa, for this ground beef and cheese main dish. Add buttered corn and a gelatin fruit salad for a tasty, economical meal."
Front cover of Bake Off Cook Book from Pillsbury: 100 Prize Winning Recipes from the 22nd BAKE-OFF. It has a photo of some sort of cookie bars stacked up. Photo of Beefed-Up Biscuit Casserole on a brown stoneware plate. It's a cut square that you can see a mix of meat and chopped vegetables inside, with a biscuit crust. At the top is a heading that says, "Best Consumer Value Award." Recipe for Beefed-Up Biscuit Casserole on the page across from the photo. Text at the top reads, "Best Consumer Value Award was given to Claudia Lynn Stafford, a college student from Ames, Iowa, for this ground beef and cheese main dish. Add buttered corn and a gelatin fruit salad for a tasty, economical meal." Ingredients: 1 to 1 1/4 pounds ground beef, 1/2 cup chopped onion or 2 Tb instant minced onion, 1/4 cup diced creen chiles or green pepper, 1 cup tomato sauce, 2 tsp chili powder, 1/2 to 3/4 tsp garlic salt, 1 can Pillsbury Refrigerated Buttermilk or Country Style Biscuits, 1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup dairy sour cream, 1 egg, slightly beaten. Instructions: Set oven to 375. In a large pan, brown ground beef, onion, and chiles. Drain. Stir in tomato sauce and spices and simmer while preparing dough. Separate biscuit dough into 10 biscuits and pull apart each biscuit into two layers. Press 10 biscuit layers over bottom of ungreased 8 or 9-inch square baking pan. Combine 1/2 cup cheese, sour cream, and egg. Mix well. Remove meat mixture from heat, stir in sour cream mixture, and spoon over dough. Arrange remaining biscuit layers on top and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 375 F for 25 to 30 minutes, until biscuits are deep golden brown. Back cover of Bake Off Cook Book from Pillsbury. It has photos of three recipes: Beefed-Up Biscuit Casserole, some sort of bundt cake, and sesame crescent rolls. The text on the back reads, "Prize winning recipes of the 22nd Bake-Off from Pillsbury. Pillsbury Publications brings you breads, main dishes, cakes, cookies, pies and desserts created by America's prize winning cooks.
November 5, 2025 at 8:52 PM
positivelynatalie.bsky.social
Ok, now how do I imbue these with the dark magics of Lindt?
Screen grab from the game Hello Kitty Island Adventure on Nintendo Switch. A character that looks like a horse with various shades of pink and purple for skin is wearing a witchy black dress with black bows in her hair. She's standing in Hello Kitty's very pink commercial kitchen, holding up a cartoon plate stacked with chocolate balls drizzled with something white. A bubble on the screen says, "You learned a new Recipe! Chocolate Balls."
November 5, 2025 at 12:48 AM
positivelynatalie.bsky.social
November 4: Parks and Recreation: The Official Cookbook (2022) reminds you, "No matter how hungry you are, you're not Ron Swanson hungry."

Ron's pick from JJ's Diner, the Four Horse Meals of the Egg-Pork-alypse, is reimagined as a casserole that may very well be the last thing your guests ever eat.
Front cover of Parks and Recreation: The Official Cookbook. It has a photo of Leslie Knope with an illustrated waffle radiating behind her. Photo of Four Horse Meals of the Egg-Pork-alypse. A slice of egg casserole studded with various meats and huge chunk of sausage is being lifted on a serving tool. In the background slightly out of focus is a stack of pancakes and bottle of hot sauce. Recipe for the Four Horse Meals of the Egg-Pork-alypse. Text at the top reads, "JJ's Diner is a Pawnee institution, whose speciality is its world-famous waffles (according to Leslie, at least). Ron Swanson has been known to order everything on the menu—all at once—so it's no surprise that his contribution to the city's time capsule is the diner's menu. After all, it's the home of Ron's favorite breakfast dish: the Four Horse Meals of the Egg-Pork-alypse: a twelve-egg scramble, bacon, sausage, ham, and hash browns. Try serving it with a side of chicken-fried steak or giant tower of buttermilk pancakes. This homage to the beloved breakfast dish is big enough to share, so don't try to take it one alone. No matter how hungry you are, you're not Ron Swanson hungry." Crust ingredients: 3 cups shredded hash browns, 2 Tb cubed unsalted butter, salt, pepper. Casserole ingredients: 6 strips diced bacon, 1 cup diced cooked ham, 1/2 cup diced onion, 2 minced garlic cloves, 12 large eggs, 1/3 cup whole milk, 1/2 tsp dried basil, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, and 4 smoked sausage links. Instructions: To make the crust, preheat oven to 375 F and grease a 13x9 baking dish with nonstick spray. Press the hash browns into the bottom of the pan, dot with butter, and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 25 minutes. To make the casserole, while the hash browns are baking, in a skillet over medium-high heat, cook the bacon until crispy and remove to drain. In the same skillet, cook the onion and garlic until softened, about 3 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, basil, and onion powder. Stir in the cooked bacon, ham, onion, and garlic. Add the cheese. Pour the egg mixture over the hash browns and nestle in the 4 sausages. Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes, then serve. Illustrated pop-art style collage page drawn in red, white, and blue ink with bacon, fried eggs, and the face of Ron Swanson.
November 4, 2025 at 2:17 PM