My Mother’s Cookbook — Winter Salads: Jell-o, Salads of the Era, and Pickled Beets
Out-of-season produce didn't appear often in grocery stores during the frigid Midwestern winters of the mid-twentieth century. Mothers who wanted to serve well-balanced meals to their families relied on bananas, oranges, apples, dried fruits, root vegetables, onions, and the ubiquitous iceberg lettuce. Canned fruits and vegetables, both homemade and commercially produced, augmented these choices. Such a limited selection can't compare with the abundance of internationally grown produce available in chain supermarkets today, although a retro trend now focuses on buying only locally grown products.
The winter salad creations of my childhood memory seem quaint, if not downright silly. For instance, the Candlestick Salad, dating back to the 1920s, probably elicited a few adult comments unfit for younger ears to hear. The salad consisted of a canned pineapple ring resting on a bed of lettuce, with half of a banana placed, cut side down, upright in the ring's center. The tapered banana top received a decorative finishing touch of miracle whip and a maraschino cherry, meant to resemble the candle's melting wax and flame.
Another salad my mother served during the cold winter months consisted of bananas sliced lengthwise and also placed atop iceberg lettuce leaves. Sometimes I was given the job of grinding the Spanish peanuts on wax paper, with a rolling pin. We'd sprinkle generous amounts of coarsely ground nuts on the banana slices and finish with a dollop of mayonnaise. Sounds a bit heavy to me now, but the combination of flavors appealed to my child's palate.
Jell-o's popularity had increased during the first half of the twentieth century and reached its zenith in the 1950s. Everyone who grew up in those years remembers fondly the favorite Jell-o creations their mothers made. Jell-o formed the base for endless variations of salads and desserts that showed up routinely at family tables, club meetings, church functions, and pot luck parties. Jell-o dishes could be prepared ahead of time, allowing the cook to enjoy a social gathering without feeling tied to the kitchen.
Mom used Jell-o mostly for salads, except for the unflavored gelatin she needed to make puddings and pie fillings set properly. The contributor of one of the two Jell-o salads included in her cookbook was one of my grandmother's friends when she lived in Omaha. These ladies got together regularly to share meals, rides to church, and sedate conversation. They never called each other by their given names, a politesse of an earlier generation that seemed odd to me, even in the relative formality of the 1950s. This salad would be a nice alternative to serve with holiday turkey or baked ham.
Miss Custer's Cranberry Salad
1 cup cranberries
1 orange
1 cup sugar
1 package lemon Jell-o
2 cups water, including juice from the orange
Mix the sugar, Jell-o, water, and orange juice. While letting the mixture partially set, chop finely the cranberries and orange, including rind. When the Jell-o mixture is ready, fold in the chopped fruits and pour into a 9- by 11-inch oblong pan. Refrigerate overnight. Serve portions on lettuce cups garnished with Miracle Whip, mayonnaise, or whipped cream.
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