Bologna and Cream Cheese Cake, and other weird inexplicable retro Thanksgiving recipes

Ah, the flavors of Thanksgiving. There’s the turkey, the stuffing, the cranberry sauce. And who could forget the seafoam salad?

Not Maya Kosoff’s family, that’s who.

The freelance writer and editor shared her family’s recipe for a curious concoction of green Jello, canned pears, cream cheese and half and half on Twitter over the weekend. “I thought this was a normal thing every family made and served for Thanksgiving next to the turkey and the stuffing until I was 18,” she wrote.

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She shared the gloriously green “salad” as a jumping off point for her followers to share their own “weird inexplicable retro family recipes that end up on your thanksgiving table per tradition or nostalgia or whatever.”

Watergate Salad
Sometimes green, sometimes white always looks like something the cat coughed up.

We’re not sure the responses can be considered Thanksgiving inspo, but they just might make you feel thankful for the good old trustworthy mashed potatoes someone in your family always makes.

Included on the list is plenty of Jello, an actually impressive-looking bologna layer cake frosted with ranch cream cheese icing, many creamy vegetable dishes and Watergate Salad, a pistachio pudding and pineapple dish referred to as “dragon barf” that, uh, kind of sounds good?

Mmmm, nostalgia. And Cool Whip. So much Cool Whip. Satisfy your appetite for wacky side dishes below...

Meatballs in Brown Sauce

Block of cream cheese on a plate. Top with a jar of cocktail sauce and a healthy portion of bay shrimp. Dip with Ritz. I just eat the shrimp and cocktail sauce with a water cracker.

My family does "Dragon Barf" also called Watergate salad which is pistachio pudding, cool whip, cherries, marshmallows, coconut and pineapple

Yeah, gotta get me some Ham Mousse this Thanksgiving!

Asparagas in the Snow anyone?

My grandmother, who had zero cooking skills, used to make this every holiday.

While I miss her presence at the table, I’m definitely happy we don’t have to pretend to enjoy this abomination anymore. And how about these delights?