Today is Big Boy’s Birthday. Plus, it’s Big Boy’s Birthday Week (for 2026), which is always celebrated the week of Big Boy’s birthday.
Mom has about 111 Big Boy recipe imitations listed in her Master Index, 12 of which are currently on the Recipes tab (14 with today’s two additions). Several of those are printed in her last cookbook – Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – The Best of the Recipe Detective.
Big Boy Restaurants were always among her and Dad’s top favorite noshes. Wherever they traveled, if there was a local Big Boy restaurant, they’d stop there for a meal because they knew they’d always get great food and friendly service. In honor of Big Boy’s Birthday, here’s Mom’s copycat recipe for…
BIG BOY (STYLE) PICKLE JUICE ITALIAN DRESSING
By Gloria Pitzer, as seen in… Gloria Pitzer’s Cookbook – Best Of The Recipe Detective (Balboa Press; Jan. 2018, p. 47). [A revised reprint of Gloria Pitzer’s Better Cookery Cookbook (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; May 1983, 3rd Edition).]
When you’re in a pinch for a quick salad dressing, do what I saw them do at a Big Boy restaurant, when they ran out of their standard dressing…
INGREDIENTS:
2/3 cup dill pickle juice
2 teaspoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon garlic salt
¼ teaspoon oregano leaves
¼ cup corn oil
INSTRUCTIONS:
Mix pickle juice with sugar, garlic salt, oregano leaves and corn oil. Shake vigorously in a tightly covered jar. Serve it cold. Makes 1 cup.
See also…
