Goodbye Lie Diaries - Miss Ella's Simple Salad

Late 1800s

Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida

    

     Miss Ella Dunnigan writes:  Everyone about town is aware I plan the menus for our Aqua Verde Passenger Line of ships.  My staff and I do our utmost to make our passengers' travels a safe yet exciting sea adventure and that, too, is the case with regard to their taste buds.  Sometimes, easy to prepare food is just as appetizing as elegant.  This is the case with my Simple Tomato Salad.  Four ingredients and you have a healthy delight to serve on board your personal boat or yacht, on a picnic or at your dinner table.

     As is the usual, I want to express my thanks to Jane Marie for photographing her version of my salad. It does look tempting. Find how she made it, below.

Miss Ella's Simple Tomato  Salad

You'll Need: 

(Guestimate the quantities of ingredients as to how many people you'll be serving.)

Tomatoes - chopped or Cherry Tomatoes- halved

Walnuts or Pecans- in pieces

Sharp Cheddar Cheese (jmm used 2% fat), Colby or your favorite cheese- in bite-sized pieces

Salad dressing - (jmm used Avacado Ranch)

Toss all the ingredients and serve chilled.  Individual servings may be prepared by the bowl or salad plate. If tomatoes are out of season where you are, tuck this recipe away or splurge.  (Cherry tomatoes were less expensive here in Florida this time of year.)

This would make an easy Valentine side, too!

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Miss Ella Dunnigan

     Miss Ella, the Dunnigan family matriarch, and prominently featured player in Amelia Island's Goodbye Lie series, is the nearly perfect mother of  the family. Held in high esteem on Amelia Island, Miss Ella is gentle, loving and a thoughtful soul. She would rather turn and run than get "into it" with nosy, nasty Aunt Noreen who lives next door. But Miss Ella's backbone turns iron when need be. ( PLEASE don't tell Aunt Noreen I wrote this reality about her. )     -jmm



Breelan's Pear Salad - Goodbye Lie Diaries

Late l800s
Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida

Breelan writes:  If you have read Jane Marie's telling of my life story in her Goodbye Lie  novel, you will understand my feelings about food preparation. Such a thing should be as simple as reading a recipe from a cookbook.  In this regard, at times, my meals have been less than palatable ... 
 

Breelan

    However, the Pear Salad from my mother, Miss Ella, is tasty and presentable enough to be served on board the ships in our Aqua Verdi Cruise Line.
    Only four ingredients are required and they are:

• one large lettuce leaf
• a square of cream cheese rolled in 
• chopped nuts and placed on
• half a pear

     I feel sure you will enjoy the sweet and soft of the pear in combination with the cheese and crunch of the nuts.
     As Jane Marie says, "Enjoy!"

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Present day

Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island, Florida

Jane Marie writes:  Breelan, dear. Your Pear Salad looks delightful and light.  I wanted to be sure what we call cream cheese in our time is the same cheese as you use.  So, I googled it.  Just like the way we communicate in these Goodbye Lie Diaries, through the magic of electronics, we also have the ability to find most any answer instantly on a program we call Google.  There I discovered cream cheese was invented by a Mr. William Lawrence, an American from New York, in 1872.  By 1880, his cheese was available for purchase, wrapped in foil.  That is still how we buy ours today!  Some things should never change and cream cheese is one of them.  

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The Goodbye Lie, Amelia Island's Velvet Undertow and Amelia Island's Mark of a Man are all part of The Goodbye Lie series.

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