Sangria Seventies and smashed silos

Looking at my son's photos of Spain--Malaga, Valencia, Granada, Barcelona, Madrid--the Moorish art, the palm trees outside the fort, the Gaudi cathedral and the bullfight rings. Excuse me! Wasn't that a pitcher of sangria on the metal cafe table overlooking the beach??

Back in the Seventies in Nebraska drinking sangria and eating Doritos was considered multicultural awareness. It was a primitive time, I try to explain to the Woolly Mammoth. Diversity was deciding whether or not to put Everclear in the pitcher of jug red wine with the slices of orange and lemon from IGA and the carbonated soda.

What should one serve at a Seventies retro party?

• French Onion dip made from Lipton soup mix and served with Weavers wavy chips
• Knorr spinach dip made with canned water chestnuts and served in a bread bowl with Rye-Krisp and fresh broccoli florets
• Hot cheese dip melted in the harvest gold crockpot made with Velveeta and Rotel
• Fondue with beef cubes and peanut oil
• Crepes with creamed seafood and spinach
• Iceberg lettuce with alfalfa sprouts and Ranch dressing
• Tab without cyclamates

Does one really need a lighted dance floor for a Seventies retro party?

• Not if one has a disco mirror ball and/or a lot of citronella candles for an outdoor event.
• Be sure to dig out those Grand Funk Railroad and Bachman Turner Overdrive LPs. Three-part names are very Seventies.
• Fake ferns in macrame hangers are essential and cannot be switched out unless you are wearing leg-warmers.
• Not if one has a Foosball table.
• Persons with pseudo wood paneling in their basement rec rooms or chili red shag carpet are exempt from all sangria aesthetic regulations.
• Not if one can fit in a Quiana shirt and waffle-soled shoes.

The images flash by quickly. So many talking heads on the tube tell of floods. ..tornadoes, declared disaster areas... the caved-in silo between the corrugated metal outbuildings looks just like a Frank Gehry masterpiece from a junior's year abroad Spain visit.

Sangria was introduced to the U.S. at the 1964 World's Fair in New York. It is basically a very inexpensive and efficient way to get you drunk with red wine, fruit slices, and 7-Up. An extra spirit is usually added--brandy, rum, vodka or gin-- to send you off bullfighting with windmills, or designing architectural masterpieces. It's authentic Seventies, so dip that Dorito in the Velveeta!

© 2008 Nancy L. Ruder