We’ll shortly be wading into potting up some dirt cakes, but let’s first wet our feet with a dirt salad.
“My cousin’s wife Eunice McFarlane gave this recipe she called dirt salad to my mother in 1996,” Snohomish cook and faithful Forum recipe-sharer Michael Koznek writes.
Not only does he let us in on the secret for this concoction, he has a great “dirty” story to tell as well. “Doris Hoblitt’s request for a dirt cake recipe brought back a memory for me that your readers may find amusing,” he says. “I was done in by my own cleverness.
“A Christmas party I attended was having a contest for decorated cakes and I thought my idea would stand out for its cleverness. I bought an 8-inch terra cotta flower pot, scrubbed it well, lined it with foil and baked a box-mix cake in it. I adjusted the oven temperature down 25 or 50 degrees, I don’t remember now just how much. I cooled the cake and then topped it with crushed Oreo cookies that I had twisted apart and then scraped off the white filling, for a dirt-like surface.
“I bought a nice big poinsettia, cut it down below the soil surface, washed it, and sealed the sap with a flame, wrapped the stem with plastic wrap and stuck it in the cake. With a ribbon on the pot, it looked very festive and cheery.”
But then… “Well, I placed my poinsettia cake on the table with the other cakes,” Michael says, “and went to enjoy the evening. Later in the evening when the cake judging was being announced, you can imagine my chagrin when all the other cakes were recognized and mentioned in some way, and mine was left on the table…The judges did not notice my entry card and assumed my beautiful poinsettia cake was just a table decoration, a real flower.”
Sounds like a best-of-show to the Forum, Michael. Maybe the judges couldn’t see beyond the end of their noses? Needed new glasses? Didn’t know how to read? It’s a mystery, but bottom line here, it obviously deserved the best-of-breed award!
Now for his:
Dirt salad
3 small packages instant vanilla pudding mix
4 1/2 cups milk
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
16 ounces frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 package Oreo cookies, frozen
Gummy things
In a large mixing bowl, beat together the pudding mix and milk, then add the cream cheese and whipped topping and beat until smooth. Spread half of the cookies over the pan bottom; pour in the pudding mixture, spreading evenly. Top with the remaining cookies and garnish with gummy things tucked into the top. Cover and refrigerate at least several hours or, preferably, overnight.
Makes one 9-by-13-inch pan.
The next Forum will appear in Monday’s Good Life section.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
