I still make some of these. My pavlova disappeared fairly rapidly on Boxing Day, mind you. And also sometimes do trifles which go down quite well.
My Mum used to make sweet and sour in the 70s. It would be chicken or pork battered and deepfried served with a sweet and sour sauce which involved peas, pineapple, ketchup, vinegar, lemon juice etc and also stodgy white rice and chips. That was my favourite. My sisters were keener on sausage, egg and chips, or bacon, egg and chips, or leftover meat, beans and chips which were served rather more regularly. This was the 70s but I was only 7 in 1980.
The 80s saw us become more exotic with mexican chicken from a schwartz packet. My Mum's version of spag bol etc. She also used to make quiches which she called flans with whole sausages in them.