Last night my daughters came over for dinner and a game of Mexican Train Dominoes. With temperatures in the negative digits, 2 feet of snow on the ground and a forecast predicting more snow for 3 straight days, I needed some fun. Plus, I got to to send care packages home with my girls.
We had escalloped potatoes with ham and a big salad with homemade dressing and some side fixings. Instead of mixing all the salad ingredients together, I put everything on the table like a salad bar. Mixed lettuce, tomatoes and celery went together in a big bowl and then onions, blue cheese, dried cranberries, nuts, avocado, peppers were in their own smaller bowls. Everyone added what they liked to their own salads. I made a basic creamy garlic salad dressing by mixing these ingredients together in a jar:
- 1 small, raw garlic clove, mashed (sprinkle a little sea salt on the garlic before you mash it up to pull the juices out of it)
- 4 Tablespoons sour cream
- 2 Tablespoons mayonaise
- 1 tablespoon vinegar ( I used apple cider vinegar but white wine vinegar is good too)
- 1/4- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- salt and pepper to taste
This tastes better if it’s made a few hours ahead and even better made the night before. It will stay about a week in the fridge. Shake the jar before serving.
For dessert I made vanilla cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting.
I’m ready for the snow.
Saving this recipe. Will try after I have secured buttermilk 😉
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easy and good! It’s great with blue cheese added if you like blue cheese. I think cake always comes out better with buttermilk in the batter too.
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That all sounds lovely, especially the cake!! I like buffet style salads as everyone seems to have different tastes. I can’t eat peppers ~ not even a tiny amount so it makes sense to keep things separate.
I’m so glad you are enjoying life even with the snow! It does look beautiful though x
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Thank you! My husband can’t eat peppers either. My favorite cake is coconut or carrot, or devil’s food…well I guess I like all cake, lol!
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Make your own salad – such a great idea! Especially for the folks who either love or hate olives. I am going to try your dressing for a lunch I’m giving next week. Thanks for the recipe!
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Olives are tricky. They’re good in salad with feta cheese but I don’t like them on pizza. Good luck with your lunch!
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Looking at yours, I don’t think we have real snow
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I just read your blog, lol. Geez, you’re having your rose garden dug over already? I live in the wrong part of the world. Funny, we both posted a game today.
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What a god remedy for cabin fever! a family meal and games…but your house looks lovely in the snow!
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thanks! It was a fun night:)
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I love the make-your-own-salad-bar idea. Anything interactive is fun when it comes to food. Will try this with my kiddos and see if I can get them to eat more of their salad this way. Thanks!
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thanks! I hope it works! Hasn’t helped with my husband, lol.
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What could be more fun than being inside on a cold day with people you like playing a game and eating comfort food? To me, this is what puts the quotation marks around “home.” Love the glimpse into your life. – Ginene
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Thanks , Ginene. That sure is what makes a home! Everybody was in a great mood, the food came out good and we all did a lot of laughing. it was a great night!
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That all sounds lovely and cosy Cynthia, and thanks for the great lunch suggestions and dressing recipe, that would be my favourite. What a good way to beat the weather.
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I recently learned to play Mexican Train Dominoes. Great fun and fills the time during these New England snowstorms!
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It really is fun, quick moving too! My new favorite game
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That salad dressing recipe made me scurry to the store to buy buttermilk – I believe for the first time in my life. It was well worth the trip. I have used the dressing recipe as is, added fresh dill, added bleu cheese, AND – in a moment of grand inspiration, I used it in chicken salad. Really great – and, since I like a creamy dressing, I am often tempted by those premade bottles at the grocery store. No longer, my dear. You have probably added years to my life.
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Oh that is great, I am glad you like it! What a great idea using it in Chicken salad! Blue cheese dressing is my favorite. I think that dressing is just perfect with blue cheese. Leftover buttermilk is great in cakes, even if you use a cake mix. My grandmother used to soak her chicken in buttermilk the night before she cooked it but I’m not sure why. Thanks Jodie!
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The chicken salad was pretty fabulous, I have to say. And just today, I used some of that buttermilk in gluten-free banana nut muffins. Excellent! I think you have created a monster.
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