Layered Salad

Just found this recipe in my unpublished blogs. Don't ask me why it was there. I may have posted it before and it's not an uncommon recipe, but it's a good one. So here it is again.

This is tasty and a huge hit with guests. My daughter calls it horizontal salad. You can make it big in a fancy see through bowl, or smaller for just a couple of servings. Make a day ahead and let the flavours absorb and meld. The photo at the end is in a normal bowl. I usually take my time to make it look nicer for company and I use an etched footed bowl.

Essentially, you need these ingredients - (start at bottom of list with lettuce to the top cheese). Don't ask me why I  wrote everything in reverse order but this is how it looks in a bowl...lettuce at the bottom.
                   
                       old/sharp cheddar cheese (old is best for taste)
                       a teaspoon of sugar or sweetener
                       real mayonnaise (not miracle whip)
                       frozen sweetlet peas
                       spanish or red onion
                       one red pepper (or other colour)
                       celery
                       iceberg lettuce (or any kind I guess)

I chop enough lettuce to fill about 1/3 of bowl.
Next, add about 2 or 3 stalks of celery (depending on salad size), chopped small, diagonally.
Seed and chop a large red pepper, although I've used other colours...orange or yellow.
Chop enough red (prettier) or spanish onion to create another layer. Use a whole one for big salad.
Layer frozen peas on top of all this but make sure there's no snow or frost on them.
Spread a layer of mayo., sprinkle with sugar or sweetener.
Grate enough old cheddar cheese to create another layer.
For added colour and decoration you can put parsley on top or a very light sprinkling of paprika.

***Variation - For meat eaters a variation is to crumble half a dozen slices of crispy cooked bacon on top.

                           

                     
           

Ding Dong Merrily or Not...

I try not to let too many things annoy me. It's difficult because as we age, it's normal to become increasingly impatient. I've decided that's a fact even if it isn't.

We enclosed the front porch of our house about a year after moving here because we often discovered massive snow drifts piled against the entrance. It had something to do with wind direction and of course, winter weather. Opening our door would cause triangles of piled precipitation to plummet into our front entrance turning our foyer into a slip and slide. In fact, the drifts were so frequent, and so high that had our tiny dog not been reddish, and somewhat elongated, she might have been lost out there until the spring.

The new enclosed entryway provided shelter as well as shoe storage. It now protected my completely useless but beautiful, Newfoundland import, jelly bean row souvenir mailbox from the elements.  (blog - You've Got Mail 2014 - link below)

https://rockinrobinsramblings.blogspot.com/2014/01/youve-got-mail.html  

The inner door was finally safe from the rain, sleet, ice, and snow. Wonderful. The doorbell to the left was still readily visible and easily accessible. Or was it? 

Over the years, people have more often than not, pounded on our front door. Yes, they manage to come in to the enclosure, but for some reason, they feel the need to make degrees of noises from light tapping, to fist banging. There's a doorbell. What do people think it's for?

Perhaps our doorbell isn't as obvious to others as it is to me I thought. Or, maybe they think it's some old fashioned, non functional, ornamental gizmo. Out of desperation, mild frustration, and yes, senior annoyance, I tried this. I created a very large and conspicuous sign which even had a directional arrow pointing at the invisible doorbell. I stopped just short of painting the ringer with bright red nail polish lest people think it was an "I've fallen and I can't get up" type of emergency button.

 Alas, there was no difference. People continued to create what can only be described as dents in my eardrums. and on our front door, with their incessant knocking.

My next tact was to answer the door and casually remark, "Oh, sorry. I didn't hear the doorbell."

To this, the guilty party would look around sheepishly for the bell which I had obviously camouflaged in order to make them appear embarassed and foolish.

I was excited to make the following find one day while shopping. We needed a floor mat outside the entrance and this one appealed to my sense of humour. If people were unwilling to ring the bell, at least I'd have some fun wondering about how the mat would be received.       

I had hoped someone would actually do this instead of knocking. I had to realize however, that if any visitors were to actually read things, they would have seen the doorbell sign. Nonetheless, I placed the mat outside and removed my bright red "ring bell for service" sign.

What was the result you ask? I have no idea how some peoples' synapses connect. The sign clearly says, "Doorbell broken...". Suddenly however, it was as though it occurred to everyone that there might be a doorbell. Yes, the formerly unused doorbell suddenly became a well used commodity. Perhaps they were testing it to see if it actually worked before shouting "ding dong".  

So now I actually wish people wouldn't ring the doorbell. I'd rather they yell, "ding dong" so that I could enjoy a few chuckles. Alas, I've decided to be thankful for small steps. In this case, a doorbell that is finally being used.