Adults Only! Orange Dreamsicle Salad

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One of my fondest memories as a child was summer barbecues. It was quite an event at our house. My mother would set up card tables all around the backyard, topping them with matching red and white checked tablecloths that she had made herself. On top of each table was a hurricane surrounded with fresh greenery and a candle that looked marvelous burning at night. At our house, a barbecue wasn’t a barbecue without a slab of ribs, deviled eggs, and my mother’s orange fluff salad. Everyone loved the orange fluff. She had no recipe, and, as such, I don’t have one to share with you, but I do have this one that I think is so much better, largely thanks to the hefty dose of alcohol that I have decided to add to it. This is for adults only, but I guarantee you they are going to love it. And, if you don’t tell them that orange liqueur is one of the ingredients, it’s going to come as quite a pleasant surprise. Do you want to become legendary? Serve this.

Adults Only! Orange Dreamsicle Salad

1 3-oz. box orange Jell-O
1 c. boiling water
1 3.4-oz. box vanilla pudding
½ c. extraordinarily well chilled orange liqueur*
1 8-oz. container Cool Whip**
1 c. miniature marshmallows
1 14-15 oz. can mandarin oranges***

In a large bowl, whisk together orange Jell-O and boiling water, whisking until Jell-O is fully dissolved. Add cold liqueur and chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Remove mixture from the refrigerator, and slowly whisk in the vanilla pudding mix until smooth. Chill in the refrigerator for another 15 minutes until it becomes slightly thickened.

Remove mixture from the refrigerator, and fold in Cool Whip, mini marshmallows, and mandarin oranges. Chill until ready to serve. Garnish with additional marshmallows and/or segments of reserved oranges.

I love to serve small salads like this in my favorite glass yogurt jars. If you don’t have any, I recommend these.

 
*I used Patron Citron, but you can use whatever you like. If you prefer less alcohol in this salad, use ½ cup of cold water and ½ cup of orange liqueur.
**Yes, I know. Chemicals! Chemicals! I’m on lock-down here, leave me alone.
***Reserve a few segments to use as a garnish, if desired.

Strawberry Margarita Jam

 People who read this blog regularly will often ask if I eat like this every day.  Umm.  No.  One night last week (sadly, I am not kidding) I had potato salad and gumdrops for dinner.  Yep.  What can I say?  I was tired, I hadn’t thawed anything, and this was pretty much all that was available without effort.

I also have my share of failures.  Now today’s recipe is not exactly a failure.  I was quite chuffed (And by “chuffed” I mean the British slang version, i.e. “delighted”, NOT the version that my sons managed to find online, i.e. “puffed with fat” something they both found quite hilarious particularly since I tend to be a bit on the, ummm, pudgy side.) with the recent successes of my two marmalades, Seville Orange and Meyer Lemon Vanilla Bean, so I dove right into this recipe that I discovered in the course catalog of Kitchen Conservatory.  Imagine, I thought to myself, a Strawberry Margarita that I could spread on toast!  We’re talking strawberries, lime, TEQUILA and Triple Sec ON TOAST!  Well…it IS delicious, very delicious, but it didn’t quite gel.  Now I am not bothered by this.  I have been known, a la Joey Tribiani from “Friends,” to eat jam right from the jar, but you might want something a bit more solid.

I gave a jar to my aunt who called to enthusiastically thank me for the “Strawberry Ice Cream Topping” so we’ll just go with that.

Actually I do plan to make this again, follow my own direction, and use the frozen plate test that has never failed in the past.  If this works, I’ll let you know.  But here is the recipe that is well worth trying and 100% worth eating.  In fact, try to stop yourself!

 

This post is linked to:

On the Menu Monday