Just after Thanksgiving, as my husband and I were eating quinoa salad leftovers for the fourth night, I told him, “That’s it. I’m not making anything healthy for your family’s dinners any more. Nobody wants to eat healthy foods during holiday dinners and I’m tired of bringing home all these uneaten salads.”
Without skipping a beat, he responded, “You don't win friends with salad.”
OH, REALLY?
Because I immediately started going through the cookbook of my mind and remembered that one of my favorite holiday treats as a kid was a salad that my grandmother made only at Christmas. It’s not what I would eat any more (as a vegetarian, I do not eat marshmallows because they contain gelatin), but I bet a lot of people would enjoy this salad (and I might just eat around the marshmallows). Anyone else remember Watergate Salad? It was very popular in the 70s and 80s. According to Wikipedia, there is some doubt regarding the reason for the name, but Kraft has apparently decided to rename their original recipe (Pistachio Pineapple Delight) in favor of what it was popularly called.
Watergate Salad
from kraftrecipes.com
1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple in juice, undrained
1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) Jell-O Pistachio Flavor Instant Pudding
1 cup Jet-Puffed miniature marshmallows (Holiday Mallows)
½ cup chopped Planters pecans
1-1/2 cups thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping
Combine first four ingredients in large bowl. Stir in Cool Whip. Refrigerate for at least one hour.
Note: this salad—which is delicious—is not to be confused with the erroneously-named Perfection Salad, a Jell-O salad filled with carrots, cabbage, and celery. I remember this being served at Christmas one year and I was so scarred, that I never ate green Jell-O of any sort ever again. Thanks to Nicki Wood for tracking that down.
I do have fond memories of the Ritz Pineapple Casserole that appeared at many family gatherings and tastes much, much better than it sounds (side note: why is there pineapple in everything?). Which reminds me; I need to submit both of these recipes to Southern Cooking for Company, Nicki Wood’s latest cookbook project.
What are all of you looking forward to at Christmas dinner? Or anything from dinners past that you’re thinking need to be revived? I found a recipe in my family's cookbook for "Orange Royal Dove Supreme." As in the dove the actual bird, not the brand of chocolate. That one won't be coming out of my oven.
