Going Ape For Grapes

I know this recipe will never win an award for Beauty Queen, but I promise you it is delicious! I saw this recipe for Sweet Grape Salad on Cassie Craves in late May and I've made it a handful of times since then. It makes a great potluck dish since it can be made ahead of time, a light side dish and even a dessert. Everyone who has ever tasted this, raves over it and tries to hoard it (no joke). And that's why I think you should make it too!

Are grapes a seasonal fruit? If so, then get them before they leave your grocery store! This bowl of goodness starts off with a combination of cream cheese, sour cream, vanilla and sugar. Then you fold in the red grapes and top it with a sprinkling of brown sugar and chopped toasted pecans. The end result is like eating a fruit dip with grapes, but you get the added crunch from the nuts. The textures and flavors in this salad are something I never would have thought of, but it really works.

I have another Summery recipe coming your way, then I promise I'll start adding some Fall flavors to this blog. I just don't want to get burnt out on eating pumpkin so early in the game, know what I mean? Although I did make some killer pumpkin pancakes yesterday :-)

I also wanted to thank you all for the supportive and encouraging comments regarding my first recipe video. I'm glad you all liked it and with every comment I read, I become a little more confident and a little less nervous and critical of myself. So thank you, thank you, thank you!

Sweet Grape Salad from Food.com via Cassie Craves

Printer Friendly Version

• 2 lbs. red seedless grapes
• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1 8-ounce carton sour cream
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons pecans (I like to double this amount and I like them toasted)

Combine cream cheese, sour cream, white sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Gently fold in grapes.

Sprinkle with brown sugar, then pecan pieces.

Cover and refrigerate overnight or until well chilled. Serve very cold.

NOTE: This recipe is easily halved or doubled.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway, you have a couple more days to enter!

A Retro Dessert and A "Green" White Elephant Gift

This is one of two desserts that I made for the Christmas buffet at my aunts house. I was going to make a sausage, apple, cornbread dressing but my mom said she wanted to make the dressing so she handed off her dessert to me. I also made a cake, but today I will share with you a lovely retro dessert- a Jello mold :-)

I've made many a Jello salad in my lifetime but I've never put it into a mold before. I thought this would be fun though since it was for a special occasion. As if you need a special occasion to put Jello into a pretty dish. ha ha! This mold is actually a cake pan from Kaiser that I got at Goodwill for $3! I think I got a great deal on it as it was brand new and not a single scratch on it. I decided to go with orange gelatin with crushed pineapple, marshmallows, whipped topping and coconut. An Ambrosia mold to be exact.

It was really good and I liked the combination of these flavors in this fluffy salad. I did leave out the coconut because my sister *thinks* she's allergic to it. The only change I would make next time is to use the mandarin juice in place of the cold water and to maybe reduce the amount of overall liquid in this recipe by about 1/4 cup just to firm it up a bit. I'd make this again though with the coconut as I think it would be a nice texture.

Ambrosia Jello Mold from Kraft

• 1 can (8 oz.) crushed pineapple in juice, undrained
• cold water
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 pkg. (6 oz.) orange Jello Gelatin
• 1-1/2 cups thawed Cool Whip
• 1 can (11 oz.) mandarin oranges, drained
• 1-1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
• 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Add enough cold water to juice to measure 1 cup. Add boiling water to gelatin mix in large bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Stir in measured liquid. Refrigerate 1-1/4 hours or until slightly thickened.

Whisk in Cool Whip until well blended. Refrigerate 10 min. or until mixture will mound. Stir in pineapple, oranges, marshmallows and coconut. Spoon into 6-cup mold sprayed with cooking spray.

Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm. Unmold.

Tips from Kraft:

How to Stir Cool Whip into Gelatin:

Spoon Cool Whip into slightly thickened gelatin, using the amount of Cool Whip specified in the recipe.Gently stir the Cool Whip into the gelatin until all the Cool Whip has been incorporated and mixture is a uniform pastel color.

How to Unmold Gelatin:

Dip mold in warm water for about 15 sec. Gently pull gelatin from around edge with moist fingers. Place moistened serving plate on top of mold. Invert mold and plate; holding mold and plate together, shake slightly to loosen. Gently remove mold and center gelatin on plate.

I mentioned in the title that there was a "Green" White Elephant Gift as part of this post. A couple months ago, Laura of Hey What's For Dinner Mom? hosted a white elephant gift exchange between bloggers who wanted to participate. The deal was to send a fellow blogger a gift that we didn't want-- a regift of sorts, which was the "green" part of the exchange. I sent my gift to Laura in Alaska and her postal service took 3 weeks to get it to her- crazy! I got a gift this week from Healthy Wife, Crazy Life.

In my little package was a cardboard birdhouse. Which at first sounded odd to me, but I started to look at it, I think it's pretty neat. It's water resistant and folds together pretty easily. I'll have to try it out this spring when the birds come back to my house. I also got a scented pencil made of recycled newspapers that smells like chocolate, some vanilla bean lotion, a mini bottle of hand sanitizer and a small cosmetic bag. Fun!

Thanks so much!

Thank you and A Salad

Thank you all so much for your kind and supportive emails and comments on my last post regarding my son. Some of them made me smile, some made me cry (in a good way) and I truly appreciate each and every one of them...more than you know.

Moving on to carrot salad. Simple, delicious and good for you. It's vibrant and orange so that makes it fun! And it's a necessity on any Southern buffet line, IMHO.

Whenever we go to our favorite mom and pop restaurant we go through the salad bar and get carrot salad. I love it when they add mini marshmallows to it, because they add a bite of tender sweetness that is just so good. It's also something we always get when we go to Luby's Cafeteria or "Luly's" as the folk on King of the Hill call it :-) So I decided to make it at home and it couldn't be simpler and the hubs gave it two thumbs up!

Carrot-Pineapple-Raisin Salad from Luby's

• 2 lbs. raw carrots, peeled and shredded
• 1 cup chunky or crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup raisins soaked in hot water to plump, then drained*
• 1/2 powdered sugar

Combine carrots, pineapple, mayonnaise, raisins and powdered sugar; mix well. Chill until ready to serve.

Makes 8 servings. (I halved this recipe.)

NOTE: *I warmed the pineapple juice (from the drained pineapple) to soak the raisins in.

And another for good measure- Autumn eyeing my carrot salad :-)

Hot Weather Refresher

A couple weeks ago I was searching through back issues of Everyday Food and I spotted a recipe for watermelon salad with rum and mint. But I didn't bookmark it. I just knew I'd be able to find it again when I decided to make it. Then my mom invited us over for Sunday brunch and designated "a fruit dish" to yours truly.

I thought watermelon and cantaloupe! So I went searching for the recipe and guess what? I couldn't find it! So I went to Martha's site and did a little search and found the recipe. Then I made it and didn't like it. The lime, rum and mint sauce sounded so promising, but it was too salty and the rum was overpowering. I tried adding honey and brown sugar, even more lime and it wasn't helping, so I dumped it and started over. You win some you lose some.

I had all the ingredients spread all over the counter, so I came up with my own sauce. And it was tasty and so refreshing. I didn't pour the sauce over the melon though because I wasn't sure if everyone would like it. And I'm glad because all the men in the family disliked it and called it girl food. But my mom and I loved it!

Watermelon & Cantaloupe with Lime and Mint

• 1/2 a large seedless watermelon, cubed or balled
• 1 cantaloupe, cubed or balled
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• Juice of 1 lime (about 2 Tbsp.)
• Zest of a lime, grated (about 1 tsp.)
• 1-2 tsp. mint leaves, finely sliced

Chop melon into bite size pieces or use a melon baller. Place melon in a large bowl.

Add all over ingredients into a small bowl and whisk together. Pour over melon and serve immediately.

NOTE: If not serving right away then don't toss the melon in the sauce until ready to serve.

P.S. Thanks for all your votes in the BFF challenge. No matter who wins, I'm just thankful for your support.

A New Twist

This is another dish my MIL turned me onto. She has made it for years and we love it, but I haven't always. When my husband and I first started dating, my MIL served this when I came over for dinner. I ate all the apples separately and pushed aside all the celery- just like a typical teenager.

She makes hers just the same but uses Miracle whip instead of the mayo and uses sweet relish. I am not a fan of bread and butter pickles, so I use dill relish. You can uses either combination depending on what you have or what you like. Enjoy!

Apple Chunk Tuna Salad

• 2 12 oz. cans tuna in water, drained
• 1/4 c. dry bread crumbs
• 1/3 c. mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp. pickle relish, sweet or dill
• 2 medium Red Delicious apples, cored and chopped
• 4 celery ribs, trimmed and diced
• 4 hard boiled eggs, chopped

Drain the tuna really well and and place in a large bowl. Break up the tuna with a fork and sprinkle the bread crumbs over it. Let sit for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, core and chop apples into one inch chucks, leaving the skin on. Trim off leaves, and the thick white root of the celery and dice into small pieces. Set aside.

Once tuna has absorbed the bread crumbs, stir and in the mayo until creamy. Add relish then stir again. Add the apples and celery and mix til well combined and everything is fully coated. Lastly, fold in the chopped eggs, being careful not to break up the eggs. Serve with Triscuits or your favorite cracker.

NOTE: Don't skip the bread crumb. You need them to absorb the extra moisture in the tuna so it's not wet. And buy the tuna in water, not oil.

Bacon and Eggs

This is my version on honey wheat with spinach.

I love sandwiches. And I love egg salad. So I decided to make--you guessed it!--egg salad sandwiches with BACON! Does it get any better? Just because it's a sandwich doesn't mean it has to be boring. It doesn't have to be PB&J or a piece of pressed ham and American cheese on white bread. Although those can be good and there is a place for them, sandwiches don't have to be blah! they can actually be good and exciting.

Egg Salad Sandwiches

Makes 2 sandwiches

• 4 hard boiled eggs
• 3 tbsp. mayonnaise
• 1 tsp. yellow mustard
• 1 tsp. pickle relish, sweet or dill
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 slices of your favorite bread, toasted
• 4 slices cooked bacon

In a medium bowl, mash egg whites and yolks with a fork or a pastry cutter til tiny crumbles form. With a spoon, stir in 2 tbsp. mayo, mustard and relish til creamy. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Toast your bread and spread with the remaining tablespoon of mayo. Scoop egg salad evenly onto two slices of bread and top with bacon and the remaining two slices of toast. Add fresh spinach or green leaf lettuce for a touch of green.

My husband's version- egg salad and bacon.

NOTE: Boil your eggs in advance and keep them in the fridge (in the shell) for a few days. This recipe can be halved, but trust me you won't want to.

Flashback

I love jello salad- pistachio with cool-whip and nuts, lime with cottage cheese, orange with marshmallow- mmmmm!

I came across a recipe in a newspaper several months back and decided to make it. When I was little and wasn't feeling well, my grandmother would always make something warm and comforting, like soup. My husband was under the weather today so I decided to make him some homemade chicken and noodle soup and strawberry jello salad. All very comforting and yummy!

Strawberry Jell-O Salad

• 1 6 oz. box strawberry jell-o
• 1 1/2 c. boiling water
• 8 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed w/o lumps
• 10-12 whole frozen strawberries
• 1 c. sour cream

In a medium bowl pour boiling water over strawberry jello. Mix til gelatin is fully dissolved. Add in crushed pineapple, and bananas. Add in strawberries and mix.

In a small bowl, stir sour cream til creamy.

In a medium bowl, pour half the gelatin mixture. Carefully ladle the sour cream over the jell-o, then pour the rest of the mixture over the sour cream.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

NOTE: This is not the prettiest of salads, but it's super simple, quick and delicious. This would also be great with orange jell-o and mandarin orange slices. Or cherry jell-o and frozen cherries or...