Another Salad

We have several apple trees of many varieties on our property and we usually harvest a lot of apples.  We also have a good cold storage building to keep our apples and other harvested produce cool enough to keep it in good shape.  Here are the very last apples for this year, in a box in the fridge.

This fall there was one apple tree that split under its load, although we did see that the crotch of the tree had rotted earlier, making it susceptible to this stress. I used the apples from that tree immediately by juicing them in the Omega.  They made such tasty juice that I started a carboy of wine from it.  That wine turned out very well, and because I left it in the carboy a long time, it is a lovely, clear yellow.

I use apples in a breakfast "coffee cake," in muffins, and in salads.  We like the traditional Waldorf salad, and recently I came across another interesting and easy apple salad.

We buy season tickets to Rosebud each year and attend at least three plays there each season.  They are always excellently produced and enjoyable.  The tickets include a buffet meal (either at noon or at 6 p.m.) and their food is as good as their performances.

The last time we went to Rosebud there was a new salad on the buffet, sliced apples with some other ingredients, so I gave it a try.  It was delicious!  When we were home again I tried to duplicate it, and it turned out well.  So we have a new salad recipe in our "cookbook."

INGREDIENTS:
apple slices
chopped nuts
grapes
CoolWhip
cinnamon sugar

The first time I made the salad there were no grapes in the fridge, so I softened some dried cranberries in water and used them.  They were fine!

Today we did have grapes and they are also fine.  I think that raisins might work just as well.

I always use pecans, not walnuts, because bought walnuts are so often rancid.  I also always keep the nuts in the freezer, not the closet.  Also stored in the freezer: flour and coffee beans (that is, in addition to the usual contents of freezers: blanched vegetables, berries of all sorts, baked goods and meat and fish.)

CoolWhip is not my usual ingredient.  This is the low fat version.  I feel quite compromised by such a "fake" commercial product, but that was how the salad dressing tasted when I met this salad.  Some day I'll try to come up with a substitute.

The cinnamon sugar is stored in an old spice container with a "shaker" top.  It's simple to fill it with sugar, add about two teaspoons of cinnamon and, presto, you've got cinnamon/sugar for your baking needs.