5 Cup Salad

Sunday mornings, I visit a senior woman who lives across the street from me. Isabel isn’t your typical senior. She’s got a flat screen TV, a computer and she even has an e-reader. Here’s hoping I’m that up-to-date at her age, but, knowing me, I’ll be wearing acid wash overalls and trying to work an iPod.

A few Sundays ago, I noticed a package of coconut, a can of pineapple and a tin of mandarin oranges on Isabel’s side table. Naturally, my caker senses starting tingling. I asked her what everything was for.

“5 Cup Dessert,” she replied. Needless to say, I got her to write down the recipe.

Now, there’s some debate over whether this is a dessert or a side dish. Isabel says it’s a dessert. I remember it as a side dish. (Of course, I also grew up in a house where Cool Whip was considered dairy.) And, when I found the same recipe in another cookbook, it recommended serving it on a lettuce leaf. So we may never know the answer.

What I do know is that 5 Cup Salad/Dessert has been enjoyed by generations of cakers. The marshmallows get soft and squishy, the pineapple stays crunchy and you’ll have hours of fun picking the coconut out of your teeth.

Thanks, Isabel! And happy belated birthday.

1 cup miniature marshmallows

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup pineapple pieces, partially drained

1 cup mandarin oranges, drained

1 cup sour cream

Make the day before and refrigerate. Isabel also adds in quartered maraschino cherries.

Source: Modern Girl Isabel