The Good News
My mom, my dad, my middle brother, and my husband, celebrated Thanksgiving today.
Mom cooked. I cooked. There was lots of yummy stuff to eat.
Everyone had a great time.
The Bad News
I didn't get to join them.
The Weird News
For the first time in my entire career I am senior enough to hold off Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, a n d New Year's Eve!!!
And yet...
The Rotten News
I couldn't go out to my folks for Thanksgiving, as I have a really crappy cold.
My dad's been having chemotherapy. (He got the cancer-free thumbs up this past week. Yay! Wildly thankful for that news!)
Still, the chemo has made my dad's immune system weak, so, I didn't want to give him (or anyone else) my cold.
On The Other Hand...
More good news (?) is... I pretty much slept the whole time, and even with all that rest, can barely keep my eyes open to finish this piece.So, I haven't had that much energy to be sad about this turn of events.
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The other good news: Mom sent a ton of food home with Michael! So, I can still feast like it's Thanksgiving! ('Feed a cold', don't ya know.) .
And Speaking of Food...
My job was to make the green salad and the red salad.The green salad is pretty much what you'd imagine. There is wiggle room in this responsibility.
It's on the table, chiefly, to help maintain the illusion that we are aiming at eating something other than dessert.
This year I made a spinach salad with chopped apple, pears, sunflower seeds, and a poppy seed dressing.
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The red salad is another matter altogether: It is a sacred task in our family.
It's also not really a salad. It's more of a desert. Not sure why jello salads are called salads. It's not even really the 'various ingredients tossed together' definition of a salad. There aren't that many ingredients. There's no tossing. No dressing on top. Anyway...this 'salad' is much more of a desert. Yeah. I'm pretty sure if candy is one of the ingredients...it's no longer a salad.
Annnywaaay...
I usually look on the internet to get reminded of the ratio of water and applesauce to jello, but I am always shocked at the other things people sully this salad with. They add all manner of pineapple, celery, (which, yes, makes them more salad-y, if not more palatable) and Cool Whip abominations. Hint: If you see a recipe with any of these mentioned it is an Untrustworthy Source.
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If you've never had Red Salad this may sound like a strange combination. But, you must trust me on this: cinnamon and cherry together is heavenly, and the cream cheese and nut filling is the perfect tangy/crunchy contrast to the sweet jello.
The colors are a nice combination too. Very festive.
I usually make it in a copper bundt pan my mom gave me years ago. When I use that it makes a pretty wreath look. Unfortunately, I was too sick to dig for it. (And too afraid to think I may have decluttered it in the purge to clear out our storage in the garage to make room for Michael's office.)
Anyway, here's the recipe the way it
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Red Salad
(...or sometimes called Red Hot Salad. Or sometimes Mom calls it Congealed Salad, which sounds disgusting to my ears. Come to think of it, she hasn't said this in some time. I must have squealed in horror enough times that she doesn't say it much anymore.)
2 c. boiling water
1 c. red hots (sometimes called Cinnamon Imperials)
2 - 3 oz. boxes of cherry jello
2 c. applesauce
Filling:
2 - 8 oz. packages of cream cheese - softened
1 c. chopped pecans
1 c. mayonnaise
Stir the red hots in the boiling water until they are dissolved. Stir in the jello.
Take 2/3 c. of jello and pour into your mold. (So top layer is clear and pretty.)
I was pouring red hots from the bag into the
measuring cup. One fell outside the cup.
It landed in the hole on the handle!
For real. If I was trying to do that
it would take me years to manage it.
Chill until firm.
Mix the applesauce into the rest of the jello.
In a mixer combine the softened cream cheese and mayonnaise, then mix in the pecans. Use a spatula to put a layer of this mixture over the jello. I put scoops around the bowl, then pat it down even with the spatula.
Pour the remaining jello and applesauce over the cream cheese and chill.
Dip the mold briefly into a sink of warm water, put a plate on top, and turn out the jello onto the plate.
Voila! Holiday heaven.
The smell of the cinnamon and cherry evokes a thousand memories of Holiday Feasts Past for me.
Enjoy!
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measuring cup. One fell outside the cup.
It landed in the hole on the handle!
For real. If I was trying to do that
it would take me years to manage it.
Thankful for your posts.
ReplyDeleteThankful for cute readers like you! Rahhrrrr!
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