Grape Nut Salad

• 8 oz. sour cream
• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• one-eighth cup sugar
• 8 cups green or red grapes
• 1 cup cashew nut pieces

Mix together the sour cream, cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Pour over the grapes and toss the cashew nut pieces into the mix and stir. That’s it! Some other alternative additional ingredients: banana slices, apple chunks, orange sections, pineapple, etc. Be creative. How about a little crunch by adding some granola at the last minute?

Daughter, Jess, has come up with a refreshing and quick cucumber salad that she has brought to several different gatherings and had lots of good comments.

Quick Cucumber Salad

• One and one-half large cucumbers, thinly sliced
• One large onion, chopped
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• Miracle Whip

Mix all together and use enough of the Miracle Whip to make it as creamy and tasty as you like it. If you like a little touch of white vinegar, add a bit of that as well.

Grape Walnut Salad

• 4 pounds of grapes (2 pounds each of red and green)
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 8 oz. sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream the chesses and vanilla together and pour over the washed and separated grapes. Place in the bowl and sprinkle one cup of chopped walnuts over the top. Top with one-half to 1 cup brown sugar (your preference). Refrigerate until mealtime.

As we work on this newsletter our temperature for tomorrow morning will be -20 F without the wind chill! By the time you read this newsletter Roz will be enjoying a tropical cruise with her husband. That gave us the inspiration for today’s recipe:

Tropical Chicken Salad

• 1 chicken cooked, cooled and diced (use a rotisserie chicken from your local deli!)
• 4 cans (5 ounce) water chestnuts, drained and chopped
• 2 pounds seedless grapes
• 1 1/2 cups slivered almonds
• 3 cups mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 1/2 cups pineapple chunks
• 1 tablespoon curry powder (optional)

Simply mix everything together and chill. This will make 12 nice size servings.

Grandma Meier’s German Potato Salad

• 5 pounds potatoes. Peel, cook, and cool.
• Fry 12 oz. cut up bacon until crisp. Remove bacon from the pan. Set aside.
• Add one-fourth cup flour to the bacon drippings. Stir.
• Mix in a separate bowl until the sugar is dissolved:
• 2 cups white vinegar
• One half cup water
• One and a half cups sugar
• One teaspoon salt
• One eighth teaspoon pepper
• Add the vinegar mixture to the pan with the bacon fat and flour. Boil until it thickens. It should be the consistency of gravy. If it doesn’t seem thick enough, thicken with a mixture of cornstarch and water.
• To the cooled, sliced potatoes stir in:
  • 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
  • Crumbled bacon.
• Pour the warm sauce over the potato mixture and stir.

Serve warm. If it needs to be refrigerated overnight, rewarm before serving.
(you can microwave it to rewarm – or some people like it cold, too)

Serves 10-14

I hope you enjoy this wonderful summer dessert by my husband, David Feyh. It has been a family favorite!

Pretzel Salad

• 1 1/2 c. crushed pretzels
• 3 tsp. sugar
• 1 (12 oz) Cool Whip
• 1 (6 oz) strawberry Jell-O
• 2 (10 oz.) frozen strawberries
• 1/2 c margarine, melted
• 1 (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 c. boiling water

Mix pretzels, margarine and 3 tsp. sugar in bowl and press mixture into a 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 5-8 minutes and let cool. Mix cream cheese, whipping topping and 1 cup sugar until very creamy. Pour over cooled prepared crust. Mix Jell-O with boiling water and add strawberries. Refrigerate until Jell-O begins to set. Add Jell-O to top of cream cheese mixture and refrigerate 1-2 hours or until set.

Last Tuesday night we had the Nordic Needle family picnic. It was a great evening of fun, fellowship, and, of course, food! We have so many good cooks that brought so many great dishes that it was hard to decide what to share with you today. I decided to go healthy this week. Mary Ann brought Albuquerque Chicken Salad.

Albuquerque Chicken Salad

• 2 cups orzo pasta (uncooked)
• 2 cups regular or light mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup half-and-half cream
• 1 T. salt
• 2 T. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. white pepper
• 4 cups cooked chicken, cubed (about four chicken breasts)
• 2 cups red grapes, cut in half
• 1 cucumber, chopped
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup toasted pine nuts or cashews

Cook orzo according to package directions, then drain, rinse and cool. In an extra large bowl, combine mayonnaise, cream, salt, lemon juice, and white pepper. Stir in the cooked orzo and remaining ingredients. Mix well. Refrigerate for several hours. This salad is easy to prepare and tastes better the second day after all the flavors have set in.

Pretty-in-Pink Salad (or dessert)

• 1 – 21 oz. can cherry pie filling
• 1 – 20 oz. can chunk pineapple (drained)
• 2 – 11 oz. cans mandarin oranges (drained)
• 1 – 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 small (8 oz.) bag white mini marshmallows
• 1 – 16 oz. container Cool Whip

Mix Cool Whip and condensed milk together. Drain pineapple and oranges. Add everything together and mix well. Best made the day before and refrigerated.

You can add nuts or coconut to the mixture if you like.

Keeping with the Think Pink theme for October, here is a quick cranberry salad that can be made ahead and frozen! It is really pretty when it is sliced.

THINK PINK CRANBERRY SALAD

• 2 three-ounce packages light cream cheese, softened
• 2 Tablespoons sugar*
• 2 Tablespoons lite mayonnaise
• 1/2 pint whipping cream
• 1 can (16 ounces) whole berry cranberry sauce
• 1 can (9 ounces) crushed pineapple, drained
• 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped

*Healthy Option: unrefined sugar (Sucanat or Rapadura)

1. Prepare a mold or loaf pan by spraying it with vegetable spray or lining it with plastic wrap.
2. Mix together the cream cheese, sugar, and mayonnaise until smooth.
3. Add cranberry sauce, crushed pineapple and nuts.
4. Whip the whipping cream to a stiff peak stage. (Using a cold bowl and beaters will make the process go faster.)
5. Fold the whipped cream into the mixture.
6. Pour the mixture into your mold and freeze. The salad, or leftovers, can be kept in the freezer for up to two weeks.)
7. When you are ready to serve, let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. Turn out onto your serving platter, slice, and enjoy.

I noticed that my strawberry plants made it through the extended winter cold, yards of snow, and even minor flooding. In fact, they have blooms on them. It’s incredible! Soon I’ll have fresh strawberries for this quick, easy, and healthy salad. Serves 8.

Spinach And Strawberry Salad

• Fresh baby spinach leaves from the garden (or one 9 oz package)
• 1 1/2 cups of strawberries, sliced
• 1/3 cup almonds, toasted
• 4 green onions, sliced thin
• Olive oil
• White Balsamic vinegar
• Sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Instructions:
• Clean the spinach and remove any stems. Place them in a salad bowl.
• Add the chopped green onions.
• Lightly coat the spinach with the olive oil
• Chill the salad
• When you are ready to serve, rinse and dry the strawberries, then slice
• Add the strawberries and almonds to the salad to the spinach
• Just before serving sprinkle with white balsamic vinegar to taste
• Add a pinch of sea salt and pepper, toss and serve