Virtual Thanksgiving Potluck

I figured we all have a funny Thanksgiving story, but my husband has the best one. Back in his days as a 911 dispatcher, he had to talk many people through their emergency “my oven is on fire” phonecalls. I wish I could do his impersonations justice. I would tell you the story of the man who refused to bring his family out of his burning house because it was too cold outside. I was originally going to ask my husband to guest post for me, and tell you the story, but right now he’s on the couch watching “Precious” and eating the kids’ Halloween candy.  I’ll just settle your curiosity and tell you that the man eventually put out his own “house fire” by pouring a glass of water on it.

Anyway. The first time I made a turkey (just a small 2lb breast- I haven’t even attempted the real thing yet), I filled the entire downstairs of my house with smoke. That’s why, when Melissa and Kim (Simply Sweets by Honeybee, and The Cookie Puzzle) suggested a virtual cookie swap where we would each “cookie” a dish one may bring to a Thanksgiving dinner, I did NOT volunteer to make the turkey. I actually volunteered to bring the most underrated dish. The salad. It’s the dish that my dad is always asked to bring because he makes the world’s best dressing. I’d love to share the recipe with you, but he’d disown me. Instead, I’ll share with you how I made my cookie salad!

Please excuse the photo quality. I had to use the picture I had on my phone- for reasons I’ll explain later.

I started by dying a third of my dough a light green (I mixed leaf green with electric green), a third dark green (just leaf green), and a third red (a mix of red and orange).  Then I swirled together part of the light and dark green, making sure not to overmix. I rolled it out and cut out some raindrop shapes in various sizes. Next I crumpled up a piece of aluminum foil, flattened it out again- leaving lots of crumples- and laid it on a baking sheet. After spraying the foil lightly with cooking spray, I laid down the green cutouts. After baking, I left them to cool overnight, then peeled them carefully from the foil.

I made the cucumbers by rolling out a portion of the lighter green into a small log and wrapping it in the darker green. Then I cut slices from it (if I hadn’t been too impatient, I would have let it chill in the freezer for a while before slicing it) and dotted the inside with white sugar pearls.

The tomatoes are just balls of the red dough (to keep them from flattening too much, use a dough that holds its shape well, like this one from LilaLoa). The peppers are red dough, rolled and randomly cut with this cutter from Ikea.

Last, I had some leftover icing from this project so I made some RI transfers in the shape of carrot and purple cabbage shreds to sprinkle on top.

Now here’s the reason why the picture of the completed salad is the one I took from my phone. I originally made ranch dressing for this salad. I made a white buttercream, thinned it out and poured in some black sanding sugar. It was perfect. Until I put it in a piping bag and squeezed it all over my salad. The black sugar turned the white buttercream blue, and- although it was delicious- it was so visually nasty, I couldn’t even take a picture. I couldn’t try again, because I had already poured the blue dressing and ruined the salad. If you’re going to make this (maybe for April Fools Day?) I would make the white buttercream, pour or squeeze it on top, THEN sprinkle it with the black sugar.

So I know that salad isn’t very filling and you are probably anxiously awaiting the rest of your dinner, go check out what the rest of my friends brought to our “Friendsgiving”! (Assuming you didn’t fill up first on baked brie, chips and salsa, and crudities? Just me?)

1. Cornucopia — The Sweet Shop Cookie Company

2. Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy & Project Name — The Cookie Puzzle

3. Salad — Ellie’s Bites Decorated Cookies

4. Bread & Cranberry Sauce– Not Your Everyday Cookie

5. Corn — Cristin’s Cookies

6. Sweet Potato Casserole — Simply Sweets by Honeybee

7. Pies — Laura’s Cookies

8. Wine — Sweet Treats by Ansa

I wouldn’t complain, also, if you want to tell me a funny Thanksgiving story! I love reading your stories!!