WALDORF SALAD

Good Morning to you,

As you know, I love cooking.  I am not a 'fancy pants' cook, I am a home cook, who enjoys cooking and baking at home.

Although,  every now and again, I do enjoy eating a slice of pizza, bought from a pizza house and I am also partial to the odd fish and chips from Gorman's Fish and Chip shop.... and of course when I am on holiday, I love trying the local food.... but when I am at home, I rarely buy-in food, because, I love to cook.

Having said that, a few weeks ago, we did buy-in food. I was feeling tired, after a busy day of unpacking, so George suggested we should buy a pizza for supper. I made some salad and I really enjoyed the pizza, but later that evening, I was so thirsty. I drank glass after glass of water. I couldn't understand why I was so thirsty, so I looked at the ingredients in the pizza we had just eaten, only to discover there was a high ratio of salt, no wonder I was thirsty. Just as well I don't eat pizza very often.

So after the pizza had been eaten, the table cleared and the dishes washed and put away, we sat down, George with his glass of wine and me with one of my many glasses of water. The talk turned to food. We chatted about how food had changed during our lifetime and this led to talking about dishes I cooked during the early years of our marriage. George said the dishes he remembered the most were Beef Bourguignon and Beef Stroganoff .... they were always a dinner party favourite. I remember feeling so proud, the first time I presented these dishes at a dinner party, but I have not made these dishes for years.

.... and then George mentioned Waldorf Salad and asked if I remembered the recipe.  My word, I really had to think as it must be 30 years or more since I made Waldorf Salad. At first I confused Waldorf Salad with Caesar Salad and thought croutons were added to Waldorf Salad, which of course they are not.  So I had to rummage through the back of my brain, to recall the ingredients.  

Between the two of us, we got there, as George remembered celery, I remembered walnuts, George remembered apple and grapes, whilst I remembered the sultanas.... and of course the all important dressing, mayonnaise. So between us we remembered all of the ingredients, which as it turns out, were either in my store cupboard or in the fresh compartment of my fridge.

So I thought it would be fun, after all these years to re-create 

my version of Waldorf Salad.

So it's on with the pinnie and the music I am listening to .... I just know you will love.....

is the fabulous Dinah Washington.  I have a couple of copies of this song, but both are on a Cd. I am hoping to find a vinyl record of Dinah singing Mad About The Boy to add to my collection.  So I feel sure you can guess why I love this visual so much.  

So whilst I listen to Dinah and of course sing along with her, it is time to organise my ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

YOU WILL NEED

TO MAKE

MY VERSION 

OF

WALDORF SALAD

Serves 6 as a side dish

Juice of half an orange

50g sultanas

2 celery sticks

100g seedless green grapes

50g walnuts

2 rounded tablespoons of mayonnaise

2 rounded tablespoons of Greek yoghurt

1 red crisp eating apple ~ Royal Gala

1 Little Gem lettuce

HOW TO MAKE

MY VERSION

OF

WALDORF SALAD

An hour before preparing the salad you will need to soak the sultanas in the orange juice.

Juice the orange

and

add the sultanas.

Leave for 1 hour to allow the sultanas to plump up.

15 minutes before the sultanas are ready,

slice the celery.

Set aside for the moment.

Cut the grapes in half.

Set aside for the moment.

Chop some of the walnuts

and 

leave others whole.

Set aside for the moment.

Using a large bowl,

mix together the mayonnaise

and

the Greek yoghurt

Drain the sultanas 

and

add 1 tablespoonful of orange juice to the

mayonnaise and yoghurt.

Mix together.

Finally, 

chop the apple into bite sized pieces.

Add

all the ingredients to the

bowl of

mayonnaise, Greek yoghurt and orange dressing.

Combine all the ingredients together, so that everything is evenly coated.

Separate and wash the Little Gem lettuce leaves and arrange them in a bowl.

Add the Waldorf Salad.

Then all you have to do,

is,

Enjoy.

.... and we certainly did as with the first mouthful, the memories of our youthful dinner parties came flooding back.  I have come to the conclusion that just because a dish is considered 'old hat' nowadays, it should not be relegated to the back burner.  We both thoroughly enjoyed this Waldorf Salad.

.... and yes, it will be made again.

I poached some chicken breasts, sliced them and as they were plain and simple, they paired beautifully with my version of Waldorf Salad.

I feel sure I am going to be delving into my older cookery books and present to the table, other recipes which we enjoyed years ago.

Now that will be fun.

I wonder, do you have a favourite recipe, from 'way back when', which you enjoy making,  I would love to know.

.... and just before I leave you, I wanted to say, thank you so very much for popping over to visit Natasha's YouTube channel, she was over the moon with your response.  She will continue adding YouTube clips, so if you want to follow along, I just know she will love your company. 

You are all such lovely people and I am so pleased to have you in my life. 

You really do make 'my heart sing'.

I look forward to catching up with you next Thursday.

As Always,