Tag: side dish recipe

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Blueberry Salad Mold for My Mother-in-Law

Food is my love language.  If I love you or am trying to impress you, I will cook for you. When I was first trying to date the man that is now my husband, I made him homemade pizza dough for his birthday.  A few days later, I invited him over for dinner and impressed him with jerk chicken.  He was maybe more impressed that I was under the sink replacing the faucet when he arrived, but he knew pretty quickly that he wasn’t going to let me get away.

I pay attention to people’s food preferences and dietary restrictions.  My Mother-in-law loves blueberries which means that when she’s coming to visit, I scour all of my recipes for the perfect blueberry dish to make for her. Usually it is some sort of dessert, but sometimes it’s as simple as homemade blueberry applesauce.

The last time they visited, I started menu planning a couple of days in advance to make. When I know guests are coming, I scour great-grandma’s recipes for something impressive to make.   A lot of times these recipes require some planning ahead and the Blueberry Salad Mold is no exception.

I decided to honor my Mother-in-law further by putting this salad into a copper mold that I found for a steal at the thrift shop.  It’s a fair question to ask why this would honor her.  You see, my Mother-in-law is the queen of thrift shopping.  Where there are bargains to be found, she is there.  Road trips with her mean stopping at every known thrift shop along the way, or so we tease her.  I’ve never been with her as she’s stopped, but I’ve heard stories.  Anyway, isn’t this a pretty copper mold?  

It has a little round loop on one side for hanging and I have the perfect spot for it.  Right above my sink with another piece from my Mother-in-law.

Back to this salad.  It’s sweet (obviously), a bit tart, and creamy and delicious.  As per usual, the kids were hesitant to try it because they are kids.  But it turned out to be a perfect accompaniment to the meal.  If I’m not careful I’m going to have to start rethinking my aversion to all things Jell-O.  There are still plenty of concoctions I’ve made that aren’t as pretty as they should be, like Frosty Lime Salad and Cooked Cranberry Salad, but even the strange ones like Zippy Beet Salad are not as bad as I originally expected.  And we all have to admit the Tropical Delight Salad was a hit.  

Someone please reassure me this doesn’t make me lose my cred. 

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Dinner Party, Wine, and Elegant Wild Rice Stuffing

When I was younger, I imagined that I would have this big, fabulous life where I would have a fancy house and throw dinner parties where everyone would dress up in their best black dresses and pearls.  I imagined myself knowing everything about wine and being able to speak intelligently on the subject.  Dinner would be some elegant food served on gleaming white china platters with my best silver.  We’d drink out of nothing but the finest crystal.  The vision was so clear, but for some reason, my life didn’t turn out quite like that.

My actual dinner parties tend to be sort of haphazard affairs.  Friends come over with their children.  We have grown to the point that we can’t fit everyone around a single table.  No one is dressed beautifully unless the kids have been playing dress up.  The plates are sometimes paper.  The silverware is mismatched.  I never feel like I know enough about wine to serve it with confidence.  And my fine crystal is a random assortment of wine glasses collected from Midwestern wineries in an attempt to interject some more adult activities into our road trips.  (Or perhaps that has something to do with me needing a little bolstering after the joy of being in the car for multiple hours with children.)

I have a feeling that my reality is far closer to who I am than the vision was.  I own black dresses and pearls, but tend to prefer black t-shirts and purling when I knit.  When I attempt to serve wine instead of beer,  I have to refer to wine guides like these to tell me what I should buy: Chardonnay and Semillon. At least I have the food thing handled.

Dinner with friends always depends on who is coming over.  With a bit of warning, it’s easy enough to whip up Chicken and these dumplings or Chicken New Boston.  However, sometimes you just want something a little bit more.  You want to be able to sit back with a glass of wine and imagine all the kids are eccentric millionaires with art collections that talk about about plays they’ve seen, not cartoons.  As you sip, you pretend their witty comments did not start with the words “Knock, knock” or end with the word “poop”.  This Elegant Wild Rice Stuffing aids in the dream.  

Elegant Wild Rice Stuffing is almost as simple as stuffing gets.  I think we all have heard by now that you shouldn’t actually stick the stuffing in the bird because the bird and stuffing both need to get to proper temperatures to be safe.  So when you make this, ignore that part of the directions.  It bakes up nicely in a 2 quart casserole dish.  If you like that extra meat juice flavor, simply pour some of the meat drippings onto the stuffing and mix thoroughly.   Of course this is better with fresh oysters and fresh mushrooms, but if all you have access to is canned, make sure to use good bacon.  

My kids ate this without complaining.  They even decided they liked oysters.  They may have been trying to impress Nana and Papa.  Your mileage my vary on this one.  I thought it was delicious and will absolutely make it again.  I even know the right wine to serve with it now.