My Mother’s Cookbook — Winter Salads: Jell-o, Salads of the Era, and Pickled Beets

by Margaret Cullison

The winter salad creations of my childhood memory seem quaint, if not downright silly. For instance, the Candlestick Salad, dating back to the 1920s, probably elicited a few adult comments unfit for younger ears to hear. The salad consisted of a canned pineapple ring resting on a bed of lettuce, with half of a banana placed, cut side down, upright in the ring’s center. The tapered banana top received a decorative finishing touch of miracle whip and a maraschino cherry, meant to resemble the candle’s melting wax and flame.

Quick, Easy Jell-O Wonder Dishes, 1930 pamphlet;  General Foods Corp., 1930; LeRoy, N.Y.: Jell-O Co., Inc.Wikipedia

Another salad my mother served during the cold winter months consisted of bananas sliced lengthwise and also placed atop iceberg lettuce leaves. Sometimes I was given the job of grinding the Spanish peanuts on wax paper, with a rolling pin. We’d sprinkle generous amounts of coarsely ground nuts on the banana slices and finish with a dollop of mayonnaise. Sounds a bit heavy to me now, but the combination of flavors appealed to my child’s palate.

Jell-O’s popularity had increased during the first half of the twentieth century and reached its zenith in the 1950s. Everyone who grew up in those years remembers fondly the favorite Jell-O creations their mothers made. Jell-O formed the base for endless variations of salads and desserts that showed up routinely at family tables, club meetings, church functions, and pot luck parties. Jell-O dishes could be prepared ahead of time, allowing the cook to enjoy a social gathering without feeling tied to the kitchen.

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©Margaret Cullison for SeniorWomen.com