salads

My father, the baby of his family, had one sister- our Aunt Lois- and an older brother- our Uncle Gene. Grandma Fern raised all three of her children, through the worst of the depression, each to be accomplished in their own right. Aunt Lois became a nurse, beginning her career in the Big Apple, while her brothers joined the Canadian military.

When we were kids and family events were held at Aunt Lois’s house, it meant a full house of family (there were twelve cousins in all) as well as one or more of the other « usual suspects ». When the food was served, not only was it good and plentiful but it was inevitabley served with a healthy side of stories, jokes and laughter. I guess you might say that those were the good old days!

It’s hard to narrow down my Aunt’s recipes to just a few of my favorites but I did my best. Here’s a salad recipe that I think stands the test of time. Enjoy!

Dressing:
1 ½ cups mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons wine vinegar (red or white)
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 Tablespoons honey
½ cup raisins

Salad:
2 bunches broccoli (tips only), cut into florets
1 red onion, chopped
1 cup sunflower seeds
¼ pound bacon, cooked and crumbled

To make dressing, combine the mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard and honey. Add the raisins and let stand for at least 30 minutes or ideally refrigerate overnight.

Just before serving, combine all of the salad ingredients and toss with the dressing so that the dressing lightly coats all of the broccoli. Save any extra dressing for another day.

I remember my Grandmother Fern usually served a chilled jellied salad with dinner, more often than not a version of this Tomato Aspic. Aspic salads were popular in the 60’s, but you can still find recipes for them on the internet. Here is a version of her favourite recipe.

Ingredients:

3 cups tomato juice
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 lemon slices
1 teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon pepper
2 envelopes unflavoured gelatine
½ cup tomato juice, chilled
¼ cup lemon juice
a splash or two of your favourite hot sauce
1 ½ cups chopped raw vegetables (celery, green peppers, onions)
salad greens for decorating

Ingredients for tomato aspic

Now that I sit back and take a look at the ingredients for this salad, I can see how healthy it really is is though I certainly didn’t appreciate it at the time. I was one of the world’s pickiest eaters, surviving mostly on peanut butter & honey sandwiches and apple sauce & cottage cheese. Well, at least I managed to get my protein!

Directions:

Combine the 3 cups of tomato juice with the celery, onion, lemon slices, hot sauce and salt & pepper in a small pot. Simmer on the stove, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Strain to remove the vegetables and lemon slices.

Meanwhile, soften the gelatin in the chilled tomato juice and lemon juice for about 10 minutes. Add the gelatin mixture to the warm, strained tomato juice, stirring until gelatin fully dissolves.

Chill the combined ingredients for an hour.

Once chilled, add the chopped vegetables. Pour into a fancy mold and chill completely, ideally overnight.

Jelly mould – a thing of beauty

I found this mould at a second-hand shop and it was just what I was looking for. Engraved on the side is an indication that it will hold 3 ½ cups, but I managed to squeeze just a bit more into it to make this recipe.

There are a few secrets to removing a jelly salad from a mould like this. First, run a bread knife around the inside edge of the mould. Then, sit the mould in warm water for a minute or so.

Not too long, or the jelly will start to dissolve (like it did for me).

Next, put a plate, larger than the size of the mould, on top of the mould. Finally, quickly turn over so that the jellied salad falls onto the plate. It helps if the plate has been slightly moistened with a bit of water first so that the you can easily maneuver the jellied salad along the plate to centre it.

Serve on a bed of salad greens, but of course not to picky 10-year olds.

Aunt Lois’ Nutty Broccoli Salad

Tomato Aspic Salad