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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.
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.
Yum. I have only adults coming to my delayed Easter dinner and I think this sounds like it would also go well with ham...
ReplyDeletePerfect for girlfriend night!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic fruity salad! I have never had anything like this...definitely on my list to try!
ReplyDeletefirst off - wow i would love to see photos of your mom's decorating for the backyard barbecues - it sounds great and something I would certainly remember from childhood. And oh that orange desert cloud thing...yum!!
ReplyDeleteWe lived in a suburb (so to speak) near Kansas City. Back in the day (the 50's) the biggest special thing my mom did for entertaining was when she and her sister and SIL - would make Mexican food and everyone in the family would come over to eat outside in the backyard and then we kids would catch fireflies. They had to go to a different section of town back in the day to buy the ingredients for mexican food - because the local grocers didn't carry all that yummy stuff.
This is a vivid memory for me....Happened for several summers.
Thanks for sharing that wonderful memory, Sandy! Eating Mexican food outdoors and catching fireflies sounds wonderful to me. We, too, caught fireflies, and on the Fourth of July we kids would get as many sparklers each of our hands could hold, and would run around the yard waving them. You couldn’t do that now, of course, or your parents would be carted off to the police. Fun times!
ReplyDeleteYour summer memory really brought back memories for me. Our Moms were both wonderful hostesses. Mine was the Jello salad queen, and she used to make one similar this, minus the liqueur.
ReplyDeleteOrange Fluff Salad was so popular back in the day (and completely different than the Green Fluff aka Watergate Salad). The version I remember my mom and grandma making had orange jello and orange sherbet in it as well as mandarine oranges. Your grown up version with the orange liqueur sounds so good I'm def going to try it next time we have a barbecue.
ReplyDelete