Kitchen

[ECBG]

My step grandmother, whom I adored, always had a little crystal relish tray.  Celery stuffed with pimento cheese, some small pickles and olives.  She had grown up at the end of the Victorian period which was probably the practice.

She always did Waldorf salad which I never cared.  Mayonnaise and apples aren't a good combination to me.

I serve a big green salad with spring onions, celery, and Mandarin oranges at Christmas since we have beef.  I did a big standing rib roast, but everyone wanted the outside piece!  I changed to grilled ribeyes and everyone is happy!!!!!

[sunshine45]

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@Sooner wrote:

Come to think of it, my aunt always made fruit salad with apples, bananas, orange sections, maybe pineapple and grapes.  Always green seedless grape.  Which she PEELED!

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have to add to my salad list......yes, on thanksgiving and christmas we also have either a fruit salad OR a fruit display. some of it gets eaten and then we have it for breakfast the next morning.

[Mary Bailey]

Somebody always brings a salad of some sort. There are usualy leftovers, that nobody wants to take home.

[loriqvc]

When I was growing up, we definitely never had salad. But nowadays, we often have a nice veggie-packed green salad as part of our Thanksgiving dinner, a trend that started when the steady boyfriend of one of my nieces began joining us, as he is a vegetarian. Surprisingly, quite a few people have expressed gratitude for having salad as an option; some are watching their diets and others just can't indulge in all the traditional heavy food as they once did.

But we have always, ALWAYS had a relish tray, and there are rarely any leftovers on it. One of my brothers has described it as "priming the pump"—enjoying a few nibbles to prepare your body for the feast to follow. 

[Sooner]

To me a relish tray would be those Lindt chocolate balls.  Wouldn't that make a nice relish tray?  

[lOVETOSHOP]

At Thanksgiving, we never have any type of green salad, but sometimes we do have a gelatin salad or fresh cranberry salad consisting of fresh cranberries that you run through the food processor to finely chop, them mix with crushed pineapple and its juice, chill this overnight, next day, mix with whipped cream and chopped walnuts...yum!  I used to make a frozen cranberry salad also but haven't in a few years now.

I usually make a special salad for Christmas, one that we wouldn't have as a usual salad during the year, like a mixed green salad with mandarin oranges and candied nuts or maybe a spinach salad with apples and a special cheese.

Ahhh....the relish tray....my mother and grandmother ALWAYS had one at Thanksgiving. I do still make one in their memory...but no one seems to pay much attention to it! 

[PINKdogWOOD]

As salad-like as we get will be delicious deviled eggs, cream cheese stuffed celery, black & green olives. This would be it.

[Christie B]

I always make a simple Waldorf salad (red apple and green apple with peels left on for color, celery (blanched and iced to retain color and crispness), dressing of half mayo and half cool whip)--make it in my Mom's honor as it was her favorite during the holidays. And we all enjoy it as well.

[novamc1]

After a while, I felt that we needed some relief from all the traditional heavy foods, so I started serving some type of  salad as one course of the meal.

One time I fixed a tomato and mozzarella caprese salad..........it went over fairly well with the group.

Once, when the "event" was hosted at my sister's house, I transported the makings of a salad bar.........a few kinds of cut-up lettuce mixed together in a big bowl,  plus little bowls of extras such as carrots, celery, shredded cheese, cucumber, tomatoes, croutons, etc.

[Harpa]

I eat salad every day for my main meal! I miss salad on holiday meals! I always feel too full with all the other foods!

Good thing I don't eat that way very often. I'd be as fat as Aunt Pitty!