Last month the HH went to the little library in town for the first time and came back with not only a few books and dvd’s for me, but he also purchased a couple of books that were on a card table for sale for $0.50 each.
One of those books was What’s Cooking at Moody’s Diner. Moody’s Diner is a local hot spot here in Mid-Coast Maine and it’s been around since the 1930’s. We still haven’t been, but I’ve heard from a lot of folks that the food is good {especially the pies} and so it’s on our list of lunch spots we want to visit.
Anyway, as I was going through the cookbook, there was one recipe that stood out. The Tuna Wiggle Recipe.
I had never heard of the tuna wiggle before. Intrigued, I scanned the {short} list of ingredients and I was like wait a second…. I’ve had this before.
Like when I was seven and hanging out with my grandparents at their beach house for dinner on a Saturday night and we ate this on tv trays in front of the television as we were watching the Lawrence Welk show.
And it was AWFUL!!!!
But I ate it anyway because you had to eat whatever you were served at my grandparents house and that was that.
So of course, I had to make it.
I had to see if it was as bad as I had imagined it was back when I was 7.
And well, to be polite, it’s not exactly my favorite meal on the planet. 😉
But the HH liked it. And according to the internet a lot of other people like it too so who knows, maybe you’ll love it. Maybe you remember being served the tuna wiggle as a child and you’ve been searching all these years for the recipe and now you’ve found it again and it brings a fond memory back to you.
So here you go. The tuna wiggle.
Go get ’em tiger.
Tuna Wiggle Recipe
Ingredients
1 {10 oz} can cream of mushroom soup
1 {7 oz} can tuna, drained and flaked
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
saltines or toast
a little freshly cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
Combine the first four ingredients in a small saucepan and heat through. Spoon over saltines or toast. Sprinkle a little pepper over the top and serve.
MEM says
If you called it “deconstructed tuna casserole” people might think its something fancy. It seems like the same ingredients to me. I’m enjoying the image of 7 year old Mavis watching “The Lawrence Welk” show 😀
Diane says
We always watched the Lawrence Welk show at our house too! My dad, being Polish, especially loved the polkas! I remember how beautiful and elegant the dancers looked doing all the various ballroom dances! I used to watch Dancing With The Stars too, but some of the outfits and sexy movements were sometimes so risqué (especially for the Latin dances) that I hesitated to let my daughter watch it when she was little.
Wunnerful, wunnerful.
Donna Jantzer says
Diane, I, too, have those memories of watching it with my family. Thanks for the beautiful description.
‘Here’s a wish and a prayer that every dream comes true.”
Bobbie Pickell says
I love this recipe, thank you
We also watched Lawrence Welk with my parents. We used to tease them that during the commercials everyone drank geritsl, in order to dance, and the ‘bubbles’ at the end were really the empty gerital bottles.. Thanks for that memory also
joely says
Nostalgic but just not for me. Tuna casserole is one thing I just can. not. eat.
Jen says
In Ohio, it was called s**t on a shingle. The shingle was a piece of toasted white bread. Cheap and filling, but truly awful.
Jennifer says
My dad, a Navy veteran, fixed SOS every week, but it had hamburger or chipped beef in it.
Mavis, in a word, Ewwww! and this is coming from a Miracle Whip woman who likes tuna salad..
Glenna says
As a veteran we also called it SOS and it was on toast. Much like grandmas house, if the Marine Corp made it, you eat it. Ha ha
Dianne says
Generally, beef was used in S*#T on a Shingle. Military meal!
Ruth says
Thanks for the memory!
We knew it as “Glop.” Sunday nights on TV trays in front of “Lassie” and “The Wonderful World of Disney.”
Today when I make it, I add a good splash of heavy cream, a little butter, a big pinch of dill, and a squeeze of lemon. Skip the Worcestershire and peas. We like it served on buttered toast points.
There’s also a Shrimp Wiggle, which I haven’t made. Wiggles were boarding school “dorm-food” that girls would cook in chafing dishes in their rooms…back in the day….
Brenda says
Another good one is creamed canned salmon with peas on buttery toast. Make a roux add milk salmon and peas…just made some the other day for first time in years..comfort food!
lissa says
sounds ghastly, but it’s essentially tuna noodle casserole without the noodles. Maybe baking it with a dab of mayo would improve the consistency.
Sue says
Exactly! I wonder what makes it taste bad to someone who otherwise likes tuna casserole. The only additional ingredient seems to be the worcestershire sauce — maybe without that it would taste better? Or swapping out the “cream of” soup for a preferred flavor (I like cream of asparagus)
Cindi says
When we married my husband asked me to promise I would never feed him this.
Mavis Butterfield says
FUNNNNNNNNY!!! 🙂
Kim says
Similar to creamed tuna on toast……..or saltine crackers. Make a white sauce, add tuna. We still have it now and then.
Robin in WI says
There was a slightly different version in my childhood. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t horrible either. 😉 I too stayed with my grandparents, in their northwoods lake home, and watched Lawrence Welk. Every afternoon around 4, my grandpa would be showered after a day’s work on projects and sitting in a chair with his cigar and the local paper. Grandma would start dinner and sometimes wander over to hum and dance to a favorite song. She chattered on a lot too with an occasional “Isn’t that right, Bob?” followed by a “Yes, dear” from behind the paper. 🙂
Kathy says
My Grandfather’s name was also Bob and “Yes, Dear” was a common reply of his…lol.
Beth says
New diet plan….put a picture of Tuna Wiggle on my refrigerator door1
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes!
Kristina says
Gosh, did everyone watch Lawrence Welk with their grandparents? My grandmother would never have served dinner in front of the TV though. For them, it was a stiff scotch and for us kids shirley temples, then off to the dining room to eat off china and silver (but we would have totally eaten something like this) and back after to watch An Evening at Pops.
Jeanine says
My husband likes creamed tuna on chow mein noodles. Make the roux, add the drained tuna and dill weed seasoning. Toast the chow mein noodles in the oven to crisp them up. It actually is not bad. Give it a try!
Diana says
Not for me. I love a good creamed salmon on toast, but this just reaffirms that I will never like any recipe with cream o’ somethin’ soup.
Catherine says
Makes me glad I’m allergic to fish!
Bonnie says
LOL!!!!!!!!!
Linda Practical Parsimony says
It looks good except for the peas. I have not had a pea since I was eight and refused to eat them ever again. Turns out I am allergic to peas. The whole idea of tuna in soup is just gross. However, I do like tuna salad with Miracle Whip like the other poster. I was trying to figure out what to have for lunch. Now, I know what to eat–tuna salad.
OregonGuest says
I’m not sure what was more of a bummer on a weekend evening: tuna ANYTHING or Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. Today’s kids have no idea the trials we had to endure…
Bonnie says
I actually liked that show, except for the lions catching zebras. Forgot all about that. I will take watching the animals, but not them eating eachother.
Jessica says
This recipe sounds absolutely horrifying!
Being that I don’t like Cream of Mush OR tuna..
But I appreciate you taking one for the team and trying it out to report to the masses!
Bonnie says
Yes, Mavis was very brave for that. She’s a trooper!
Donna Jantzer says
Oh, my goodness, your description brings back so many pleasant memories of my own childhood!
Here’s a wish and a prayer that every dream comes true…
Daria says
This Mainer puts peas in her tuna casserole, but no Worcestershire sauce. Then I put a generous amount of Kraft deli deluxe slices on top and let it get all melty. (And I use sustainably caught tuna.) My dad calls it “tuna pea wiggle.”
I make it once a year when my husband goes on his fishing trip, because he hates it.
Nancy W says
My mother always made creamed tuna fish and peas and served it on toast, I liked it as a kid and I still like it! Now I add a few special seasoning when making the roux.
Rosaleen says
Classic SOS is creamed chipped beef on toast, although I can imagine any sauce on toast that one doesn’t really want to eat could be dubbed “Sh** on a shingle.” This is in my repertoire of things to make when fresh supplies are low, camping, or I just don’t feel like cooking. Canned peas or mixed vegetable also can work if frozen peas are not available. I would substitute mashed potatoes for the toast, just to get in another vegetable.
Mimi says
I am running from the room screaming, “N-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!”.
Naomi C. says
Mimi, I will be running right behind you! No offense Mavis, but just the sight of green peas and mushy-looking tuna looks awful.
wendy j says
My mother made it with red salmon. Never liked it and never will but my twin sister loves it.
Kippy says
Mom would make this usually if she was going to the grocery store the next day. Sort of a “use what we have in pantry staples because the fridge is being restocked tomorrow” meal. Dont remember it being served on toast. She probably served it over baked potatoes. I remember making this when I first moved away from home.
Kris R says
My adult daughter’s second grade teacher taught the whole class to make “tuna Wiggle”. My daughter was so proud to make dinner we all had to eat it… :0
Champagne wishes and caviar dreams……
Kate says
My mom called it “funny fish on toast” and it was a staple of my childhood!
Annette says
This. This is why my sister gives up fish every Lent.
Lace Faerie says
Looks like Tuna SOS. Had it often, bleech! 50 years later, still can’t stand the thought of it. But, God bless her soul, my late Mama could stretch one can of tuna, a loaf of bread and some frozen peas into a meal for 7.
Carolina Cooper says
What a walk down memory lane!!! Not because of the tuna wiggle–have never eaten it and never will. But Moody’s Diner, oh yes!!! My family would always stop there coming or going to take the boat at Port Clyde to Monhegan Island. I rarely get that far north anymore, but my adult children and grandchildren still stop at Moody’s. Definitely order pie!!!
As for Lawrence Welk, I was flipping though the TV channels yesterday and found a seriously old re-run of the show with The Lennon Sisters singing. I used to watch it with my father when I was a kid. It is one of the first shows that I remember.
Julie says
My grandma used to make this recipe once in awhile but called it Tuna Gravy on Toast. Never had it with crackers.
Cathleen Deleon says
I understand that Moody’s Diner is famous for their blueberry muffins. I actually looked forward to watching the Lawrence Welk Show in the 70’s. One of my very best friends was in the family singing group, The Semonski sisters if anyone remembers them. Diane, the oldest sister is my friend.
Tricia says
This was on the menu at my elementary school, but was called Tuna Pea Wiggle. I did not like it then, but I actually don’t mind it now. I have a very unrefined palate. Ha.
Jude says
Mavis, you have always offered us such good, appetizing recipes, and perhaps this one does taste good. I’ve never had it with tuna. Mom made a white sauce and added it to ground beef and then peas and carrots, perhaps some worcestershire sauce. I believe the carrots would make your wiggle look more appetizing. Just a thought. But then it wouldn’t be authentic…oh well. You didn’t pass it off as your recipe at least. LOL!
Annette says
My MIL used to make something similar. She mixed a can of tuna and a can of mushroom soup together. She then spread it on open faced hamburger buns and put it under the broiler. We just called them tuna buns and every once in a while one of my kids will ask for the “recipe.”
Edward Long says
I live about 1/2 mile from Moody’s Diner and have eaten there several times. At which library did HH get the book?
Taryn says
We made a vegetarian version growing up(creamed hard boiled eggs) and served it on toast. I still make it from time to time. Simple and delicious!
Tanya says
Yes, my Nana would make this for us when we were sick, called Golden Rod Eggs. Roux with milk, add the chopped up whites from the hard boiled eggs, add peas. Serve over toast and sprinkle the top with the crumbled egg yolks. We would have it a few times a year growing up as a family meal, looking back I realize now it was when money and groceries were tight. Cheap meal to feed a family of 5. Love the memories of watching The Lawrence Welk Club at Nana’s.
Susie says
Yes! My mom (and her mom) made Goldenrod Eggs too! But no peas. Comfort food. 🙂
Alison Videto says
Being of French Canadian provenance, I must say that this recipe is not the way my grandmother made it. It doesn’t involve any canned soup or Worcestershire sauce. Make a roux, add milk, tuna, and peas. Season with s&p to taste. Serve over toast OR over boiled potato chunks. One of my most favorite childhood comfort foods.