Robin Wheeler writes the blog Poppy Mom. After years of making and eating fancy food, Robin is sick of it all. She's returning to the basics: recipes that haven't surfaced in three decades. She reports on the results for Gut Check every Tuesday.

While Gut Check is on vacation this week, check out some of Robin's best work:

Friday Franks Make Jesus Cry (March 24, 2009):

I have seen Hell. It happened at 4:32 A.M., eight hours after I ate half of a Friday Frank. Suffice it to say, it took exactly one month of writing "Throwback of the House" for me to encounter a recipe that required an Immodium chaser and lots of prayer.

How terrible were these minced-fish grease bombs? My cat and two dogs, who act like starving refugees when any form of food is concerned, all refused the Friday Franks. Had they eaten it, I'd have to burn down my house to counteract the pure evil of their intestinal distress.

Lousy Loafer (April 21, 2009):

Can someone please tell me about the mid-20th century obsession with shaped foods? In my extensive readings -- two whole pages of Google searches -- I can't find anything to explain the culinary, economical or psychological reasons why cooks felt the need to contort foods into loaves, rings or molds.

Was it an attempt to control something when the rest of the world seemed out of control? Or was it the Cubism and De Stijl movements trickling down into housewifery?

Dad's Denver Nightmare Brunch (June 16, 2009):

Do not serve to dads with heart conditions. The sodium and fat in the deviled ham alone (480 mg and 15 g, respectively) are enough to make a cardiac valve stint a little shaky. The egg, cheese and bacon fat will slam that sucker shut, making it the last Father's Day you'll be celebrating.

Want to read more Throwback recipes? Visit the complete archive.