Saturday, December 14, 2013

The Second Day of Kitschmas: Poinsettia Salad

Poinsettia Salad
from 500 Delicious Salad Recipes (1954)
Isn't this adorable?  It's from the wonderful 500 Delicious Salad Recipes, published in 1954, a pamphlet-sized cornucopia of wonderful ideas (longtime readers will remember the zero-scream rated Banana-Salmon Salad, from the same book.).

It's a little labor-intensive, mostly because of the paper-thin slicing of the pears, but worth it. Here's the recipe:

1 (1 lb 13 oz) can pear halves in syrup
1/2 cup red cinnamon drops (red hot candies)
3 tablespoon vinegar
1 bunch watercress
4 teaspoons grated sharp cheese
French dressing


Combine syrup from pears with cinnamon candies and vinegar and heat to boiling. Cut each pear half into 4 lengthwise slices to represent petals and simmer in syrup 20 minutes or until colored. Chill. 

Arrange watercress on 4 salad plates. On each arrange 8 petals, clockwise, each curving toward the center to represent a flower. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon grated cheese in center of each flower and serve with dressing. Serves 4

I'm not so down with the idea of the French dressing, and didn't feel like I was missing anything by leaving it out.  So add it or not as you wish.

And now, what you all came here for. Stay for the song at the end!



1 comment:

  1. The vinegar may be included to make sure the color gets absorbed into the pear. I remember using a small amount of vinegar when dying Easter eggs many, many years ago. Dog to dog affection is great at the end!

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